OPEN: To What?
By Imran Hussain Khan Suddahazai
Saratoga, CA
On Saturday, 14th June 2008, the SAP building in Palo Alto, California, played host to a propitious occasion for all those associated with the OPEN organization. It was at this venue that the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs held their 5th Silicon Valley Annual Conference.
The event was an all -ay affair and revolved around the issue of ‘Leading through Change’. Guest speakers ranging from ‘A’ listed politico hotshots to local icons were invited to enlighten and impress upon the even greater star-studded audience the necessity for good housekeeping and proactive administration at the onset or in the midst of their entrepreneurial berths.
Issues such as the environment made a fresh appearance in this seasons range and the world of gaming and virtual reality found new converts from within an already tech savvy crowd.
The organization was flawless, the hospitality gracious and the overall ambiance for those who can relate, was one of Caviar and Cuban cigars!
A truly wonderful exposition of ingenuity and wealth as personified in an emerging class of Pakistani ‘technocrat’.
The incubator that is Northern California has become the fertile ground upon which this Pakistani caste has sown its seeds of imagination, innovation, and evolution.
As a Pakistani outfit, OPEN embodied all the expectations of what Pakistanis can attain when they synergize, cooperate, and organize.
The event went off without a glitch, presentations were punctual and even the food queues were civilized and orderly, this is an area of usual concern as Asian events usually degenerate at lunch and dinner time into a tardy mess, but this was a mellifluent undertaking and the organizers must be thanked. Hence, one can quite categorically imply that the exterior of the show on display sold its purpose and punters bought into the OPEN dream.
Venturing onto the other side of the coin and reflecting upon the substance, the overall program was embellished by a galaxy of speakers ranging from the former CFO of California Steve Westly to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Gov. Howard Dean. In-between the mélange Husain Haqqani was thrown in too! The current Pakistani incumbent in Washington seems to have made a living out of being thrown into the mix! However, Ambassador Haqqani has yet to play the role of a ‘masala’ designated to spice up the Anglo-Pakistani dish. He is more your fruit salad or cream and crackers to begin the discourse and not the main dish.
The range of issues discussed were interesting at best and time fillers at the other end of the scale. At times the event tried too hard to please and the topical experts that presided over the backroom conferences were only minor league.
However, this is not a critical commentary, nor analysis or feedback. It is the veracious observations of a keenly interested observer.
The game point to note is how the conference maintained its ethos and purpose in lieu of the invited speakers and their own vested agendas. The articulate Dilawar Syed (OPEN SV President) did it must be said try and keep things on track and by and large he succeeded. However, the only point of contention was focused on this track and its eventual destination.
This was in essence a networking event between the predominant ex-patriot Pakistani community along with a smattering of ‘outsiders’ and natives. Thus, by default the agenda of ‘Leading through change’ becomes a communal issue. Yes, there was focus on global affairs, technology and even an ‘Entrepreneurial Idol’ to pitch the latest ideas to an ever burgeoning yet influential segment of the American society.
The audience was entertained and enthralled as one participant put it ‘The Americaness of it all’.
However, we should not be deceived by the glitz and the glamour, all that glitters is definitely not always gold. All in all there were three key note addresses throughout the day. All three received a great deal of attention and precedence. The morning keynote speech by Mike Mortiz, the afternoon keynote by Steve Westly and the closing keynote rally held by Gov. Howard Dean! Do you see a pattern emerge or am I just being paranoid? There was one other speech and presentation of significance and that involved the Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani. Ambassador Sahib did not qualify the stipulations to take centre stage and thus his show item piece was classified under the ‘Spotlight Forum’ in court number one. Some people didn’t even know that he had arrived, regurgitated a whole section from the archives of wikipedia on the ever perilous Pakistani economy and then subsequently collected a whole plethora of business cards from the patriot and opportunistic businessmen on his way out. His dissemination of information created more questions than answers. His mannerism and presence is open to debate. The US embassy is arguably a pertinent and glamorous post in the portfolio of any modern day diplomat. It also panders to the most crucial role in International Relations. Ambassador Haqqani must be given a fair crack at the job. Although his credentials do not stand him out above the crowd like a Shaukat Aziz, Dr. Maliha Lodhi, Professor Akbar Ahmed or a Munir Akram, he overcomes these factors by garnering key support! You know the old adage; it’s who you know rather what you that counts! So we should hold onto the reins of despair and withhold our judgment for the man as he reminded us ‘has just walked into this post’.
In contrast to the subdued Haqqani, Howard Dean did not hold back and conducted a rally befitting any democratic National Convention. The crowd clapped and cheered and Dr. Howard Dean reeled off a speech that attacked the Republicans, promoted the DNP. Attacked the Republicans, promoted Barack Obama, attacked the Republicans and even admitted to knowing very little about Pakistani politics! Um…!
I wonder if he would have said the same things if he was standing before the AIPAC crowd? Well OPEN is not AIPAC and I assume it has no desire to be like it either. However, what we must note is that the room in which Dr. Dean spoke was crammed full to the rafters with some of the most influential, well to do entrepreneurs and business men in the United States and Pakistan. The fiscal value of the personnel present at the conference could well compete with most cities and improvised nations of the world. It was an occasion of clout and power! You see what we must realize is that one is not being critical of OPEN and its handling of the situation. I support their work and I advise others of my ilk and background to do the same. However, a message for Dilawar and his boys and girls is this: You have created a fantastic platform, a meeting point, a communal focus, in short a medium for change! People who attend OPEN conferences do not need to be schooled in the advent of modern day technology or forthcoming trends as espoused by guest speakers who have a vested interest in that industry or field. The attendees of OPEN conferences are the very people who are usually driving these new innovations and leading the changes that the conference addresses.
The purpose of the conference was honest, forthright and in good taste. However, it lacked direction; it lacked the spice for action and coordination beyond increasing the membership of OPEN. These conferences should be rethought through and the focus for change should begin on collaborative efforts to make change and influence the guest speakers to address issues and concerns that the Pakistani community is facing. By giving Dr. Dean a free license to orchestrate his campaign speech on behalf of Obama places us in a vicarious position. We no longer have any cards to play and the bluff is on us! Allowing Ambassador Haqqani a virtually free ride to read of his sheet placates us as collaborators and in amongst the ignorant masses who fail to act when the time is right.
By not having one single Pakistani keynote speaker highlights depravity and incoherence within our own community. A message of complete incompetence and failure is delivered to all those non-Pakistanis who witness outsiders lecturing to our communities. When we cannot acknowledge our own as possessing any substance from which we can learn then how can we expect the wider world to take our issues seriously?
Even the Pakistani Ambassador was relegated to a back water space as a fringe item for those so inclined.
I congratulate OPEN for their efforts and their progress. This is a learning curve and one which must be reflected upon and lessons learnt with immediate effect. OPEN has set the scene, garnered the support and written a script that must be followed. However, they must in future ensure that their lead acts reflect their target audience and inspire change through collaboration and leadership through their agenda and vision. OPEN must ensure that it does not close its doors to its own community and becomes indistinguishable from any other social networking community. OPEN must provide its own leaders the platform from which they could ‘lead through change’.
imran.khan@pakxpats.com
