Letter of Intent for Membership Chair - Sonia Rai

November 13, 2008

Mr. Tushneem Dharmagadda

President

NetSAP Boston

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am writing to officially declare my intent to run for the Membership/Marketing Chair for NetSAP-Boston.

To briefly introduce myself, I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I graduated last year from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, and minor in Accounting. During my undergraduate years, I was the Legislative Representative for the Associated Students of UCI (ASUCI), where I presented in front of the Board of Regents on matters regarding tuition increases and promoted awareness on campus to gain a strong membership within student government. I was also an Academic Advisor for the School of Social Sciences, where I not only advised students on academic performance, but came up with innovative ideas to get students to come to advising.

Over the last year I have been working for Marsh USA as a Risk Analyst. My responsibilities include researching potential Property, Casualty, and Financial risks organizations may face, and developing solutions to mitigate those risks. In addition, I also work with different insurance companies, where I market and negotiate insurance programs on behalf of our clients to obtain the most lucrative deal for them. Through this position, I have learned that successful collaboration requires open communication and compromise. Therefore, as Membership/Marketing Chair, I realize that only as a collective whole will we be able to achieve our goals.

I moved to Boston last year and joined NetSAP as a means to develop my professional as well as social network. The first event I attended was the Chai Chat. This event was a great platform for us to discuss and share our opinions on different issues we face as first and second generation Indians. I would like to give others in Boston the opportunity not only to meet people and develop networks but to also make lasting friendships like the ones I developed. I feel events such as these will increase membership because people who are not aware of this organization are more likely to attend informal social events like Chai Chat, where they can learn about the various aspects of NetSAP, which develops their interest in joining.

Furthermore, people want to join an organization like NetSAP in hopes of not only establishing professional and social networks, but also to stay connected to their culture. India is such a diverse country with so many unique cultures, but a holiday like Diwali unites us, as we can all come together to celebrate our heritage. People tend to get very nostalgic around this time and it could serve as a great opportunity to attract new professional and student members.

In addition, I would like to add a fresh perspective in terms of gaining membership and marketing events. For example, Meetup.com is an online organization which has various subgroups depending on a person’s interests, including a group of about 400 Indians in the Boston Metro Area, many of whom are not members nor know much about NetSAP. I would like to set up an event where we collaborate and create awareness of NetSAP. Through the use of media and technology, such as Meetup.com, Facebook, Orkut and Myspace, I feel we will be able to obtain promising membership growth, especially in the student population.

In the end, it is our goal to make NetSAP-Boston known for their professional, social, and cultural excellence and to be a renowned chapter worldwide.

Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,

Sonia