May-2015-ICE-Today-PDf

Must knowsFeatureWhen we see that some people are not interacting freely, we go upon stage and start with the ice breaking sessions to make them feelmore comfortableAlong with his partners, heintends to do so with DrinkEntrepreneurs Dhaka.“I believe that thiscommunity exists because ofmy partners and their goals. Iam passionate about workingwith women empowermentand Rafique is enthusiasticabout helping youngentrepreneurs in Dhaka andDrink Entrepreneurs alsoworks for womenempowerment which is aglobal concern,” sharedMahenaz. Through thisinitiative, they want tosupport them as much aspossible by making themmeet potential investors andventure capitalists andpotential mentors. Theybelieve that such a platformwill sustain in Dhaka becauseit is new and so far everymeeting they’ve held alwaysbrought in engaging audiencemembers. “As it’s an informalatmosphere, it’s always easierfor the audience to socialise,”added Rafique.They’ve held three events sofar. It’s a monthly event, andin the first meeting, they hadsixty six guests. The secondevent, which was held at theUpstairs Lounge and Bistro,had about forty individualsand the third meeting whichwas held at Mozzariarestaurant had close to sixtyguests. According to Rafique,one of the biggest challengesthey have faced is that themeetings are scheduled onweekdays, which makes itinconvenient for people toattend given the trafficcongestion. Despite theobstacles, they are confidentthat this platform willcertainly bring about adifference in the businesssector. “In order to attendthe events, individuals haveto register and buy tickets.During our last event, wesold two hundred tickets in aday. Through ourprogrammes, we alsopromote new cafés andrestaurants as well,”mentioned Mahenaz.They have faced challenges insetting up this platform atfirst; they came up with acouple of activities to breakthe ice and it was receivedwith great appreciation. Theaudience engagedproductively, even more sobecause it was informal.Individuals have to wearnametags in the meetings,however, instead ofwriting their names theyhave to write theirdesignations. “When wesee that some people arenot interacting freely, wego up on stage and startwith the ice breakingsessions to make themfeel more comfortable,”said Rafique.Drink EntrepreneursDhaka has received anofficial confirmationletter from SeedstarsWorld (SSW), a Swisscompany whichpromote startups fromemerging economies viacompetitions. Theplatform is globallypartnering up withSSW.They also saidthat throughthis platform,they will begatheringinformation and theright people to work onstartup businesses withtheir available resourcesand technology. Theyhave plans forexpansion by openingup a branch inChittagong. They intendto host events inChittagong from nextmonth and furtherdown the line, theywould like to supportstartup communities inevery possible way.it’s an informal atmosphere, it’s alwayseasier for the audience to socialise21