Event Speaking

An interactive workshop that focuses on leadership insights from foreign-born as well as American leaders in Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley is still at the top of its game. Come hear the best and the brightest innovators talk about the sacrifices they make and challenges they face on their fast pace to success.

Angelika Blendstrup, Ph.D. Principal, Angelika Blendstrup & Associates – Moderator
Daniel Zimmerman, Attorney, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP – Moderator

Panel:
Loïc Le Meur Founder, Seesmic.com
Hubert Nguyen, Eliane Fiolet Co-founders, Ubergizmo
Soujanya Bhumkar Co-Founder & CEO, Cooliris
Dominique Piotet CEO, L’Atelier, BNP Paribas

Job-hunting for all of us can be discouraging and overwhelming, especially in this market. Come and work through some of the steps you can apply to your job searches today.
In this 2 hour workshop/presentation together we will go through: • Identifying your core competencies • Formatting the cover letter • Positioning yourself before the interview • Understanding how to manage interview questions • Following up after the interview.

Workshop about the “secret sauce and recipes” Silicon Valley’s international entrepreneurs used to make it here.

Five Recipes for Success in American Business Communications
Two workshops for international students looking to successfully interview for a job in the US.

Many people who come from overseas to the US to work think they understand how Americans speak and, in turn, how to speak to them. However, uniquely American forms of business communications are more complex than is first evident.

In this session, we will review how to recognize some of the nuances to watch out for in US business communication, and whether what you hear is really what you get. In addition, we will address how international businesswomen can identify what tone to use in work-related discussions and team briefings. Discussion and group exercises will make this an interactive and lively event.

CSIX Connect helps individuals in career transition significantly improve their job search success through education, in-person networking and mutual support.
In today’s job market, more than 80 per cent of jobs obtained result from successful networking. CSIX Connect provides the means to tap into and leverage the power of a network that is already more than 2000 members strong.

THEY MADE IT! Great leaders have been the stuff of many business books over the years. However, few books have focused uniquely on foreign-born entrepreneurs and executives, specifically ones living and working in Silicon Valley.

The book, They Made It!,is the result of conversations with these foreign-born Silicon Valley entrepreneurs such as Eric Benhamou, Jean-Louis Gassee, Raj Singh, Wu Fu Chen, Suhas Patil, Omid Kordestani, Qi Lu, Dan Maydan, who tell it as it is.

“You Can Make IT! Success for Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs & Executives”
Based on Angelika Blendstrup’s book, They Made It, come hear her talk about success stories of Silicon Valley’s international executives who have made it.

This workshop – presented in French – will look at the concepts of US leadership with a special focus on Silicon Valley. They Made It!, features personal interviews with 36 foreign-born leaders of Silicon Valley [Eric Benhamou, Jean-Louis Gassee, Marc Onetto, Raj Singh, Andy Bechtolsheim etc] as well as 6 American leaders [John Hennessy, President Stanford University, Vinton Cerf, Evangelist Google & Internet investor, Steve Westly, former Controller, California etc]. Based on their insights, a leadership profile has been put together and will be presented for discussion.

In addition, we will look at some of the cultural differences – France/US – which are important to consider when doing business in the US in a leadership position.

Ever wonder why, despite your good language skills, you don’t always get the results you want with your colleagues or your boss? Do you your meetings spin out of your control? Are your emails ignored or trashed? Are your presentations too formal? Do you have trouble getting to the point
In this meeting we will discuss pointers from the book Communicating the American Way, guide on U.S. business communication practices for international professionals.
art of interviewing successfully.

Panel:
Angelika Blendstrup, Ph.D. Author and Coach, Blendstrup & Associates
Kimberly Wiefling, Coach and International Consultant,
Kedric Van de Karr, Marketing Director, Vator.tv
Other panelists include marketing consultants and coaches to help learn how to network and pitch Silicon Valley style.
This is a closed session only for NASSCOM delegates.

Hear Dr. Blendstrup’s insights regarding: the way leaders in the Silicon Valley from different countries and cultures act and think; how these cultural differences can and have influenced Silicon Valley and the greater US; and, revealing personal and professional anecdotes from leading entrepreneurs from around the world.

Jean-Bernard Guerrée Managing Director
In preparation for the California Tech Showcase and Transatlantic Green Platform in La Baule, France, you are invited to join us for the 2008 European Business Workshop (EBW 08), April 30, from 12pm to 6pm in Menlo Park.
This workshop will feature European experts on finance, legal issues, human resources, business development, public relations, and cultural issues. You will receive the tools and information you need to be successful in Europe and also meet the other selected companies who will be presenting in La Baule.

Great leaders have been the stuff of many business books over the years.However, few books have focused uniquely on foreign-born entrepreneurs and executives, specifically ones living and working in Silicon Valley.

The book, They Made It!, is the result of conversations with foreign-born Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, such as Eric Benhamou, Jean-Louis Gassee, Raj Singh, Wu Fu Chen, Suhas Patil, Omid Kordestani, Qi Lu, Dan Maydan and more, who tell it as it is. In addition, conversations with successful leaders working outside of the US, such as Khaled Olayan [Saudi Arabia] and Allen Wang [China], are also highlighted. The leaders share a unique, personal story of how they ultimately made it in the US and the global market as a whole.

As the cost and challenge of recruitment increases, companies recognize the need to develop their existing employees and managers. Professionalism, skill and behavior development through either internal ‘coaches’ or outside experts in trained in coaching skills has proven very effective for many companies and people. To meet the growing need for coaches by and within companies but also from individual employees, consultants, business owners and entrepreneurs, the number and types of coaching has grown quickly.

If you are considering hiring a coach for yourself or your employees or if you are interested in developing your own coaching skills, this program will provide you with insight into the types of coaching available, key coaching techniques and results that can be expected from coaching.

Authenticity, passion, vision, an understanding of collaboration, respect for others’ opinions – these are some of the attributes Silicon Valley’s foreign-born entrepreneurs have in common that transcend country and cultural boundaries.
Their roles as leaders and their ultimately fulfilling careers (to which their stories attest) happened because of the way they approached their career paths and lives. If you understand their choices, you can gain key insights (recipes for success) into these executives’ behaviors.In an interactive workshop, we will discuss the ones that fit to you and how you can use them to direct your own path to success (whatever that is for you).

Do you say something in a meeting or to colleagues and get an unexpected reaction? Do your presentations fail to get the response you were expecting? Do you wait for colleagues to respond to your emails?

This workshop will address some typical challenges foreign-born professionals face when communicating in a US business setting. We will cover the most important tips for you to remember to make working in a US environment a positive and successful experience.

The International Career Fair is organized by APEC, a French agency specialized in employment for engineers, managers and executives. APEC has been involved in international recruitment fairs since 2002, when it co-organized the very successful “Forum USA” in the San Francisco and Boston areas.

Do you want to know how to build a network of business contacts in mainstream American society, so that it can be helpful for you to achieve your entrepreneurial dream in the U.S.? Are you curious about western culture, and want to have more friends that are American? Do you want to know how to get a promotion faster in an American company? We will have the honor of having Angelika Blendstrup, Ph.D, who is a long-term business communication coach. She will conduct a two-hour workshop that will disclose tips on effective communication in a multicultural environment.

In the past, we invited Angelika for a workshop named “Understand and Excel in American Business Culture” that received an overwhelming positive response. She will conduct this workshop in a question and answer (Q&A) format, so please send me your questions along with your registration request. I will be consolidating all the questions for Angelika before the meeting. This will help Angelika tailor the workshop to cover topics that everyone is interested in discussing.

The workshop covers how to understand some different cultural nuances while doing business in the US. The focus will be on two cultural values which play a significant role in US culture. Come and analyze cross cultural business situations and see how you would interpret them and how you would have reacted. Also, willing participants are needed for some lighthearted demonstrations in accent reduction techniques.

Cultural differences between Americans and Israelis and how they relateto each other in the unique culture of Silicon Valley.