This Friday (16Aug) I’m going to USA invited by the US Embassy for International Visitor Leadership Program for around 3 weeks. The goals are to learn how the social, economic and political factors influence & encourage the development of private enterprise in the US and see the essential role of nongovernmental organizations in supporting & empowering the development of small business. More or less it’s similar to what I experienced when invited to visit Ireland by Enterprise Ireland back on March 2011.
I will be in Washington DC (17-21), New York (22-26), Kansas (27-30), Las Vegas (31Aug-4Sept), Los Angeles (4-6), and additional days alone in Chicago on 7-8Sept only to attend Michael Buble live concert as a special birthday present for myself =D I will also transit in Hongkong, Tokyo, Detroit, and Taipei. So in total, there will be at least 10 cities I’m going to visit within 25 days ^.^
During my trip, I will visit offices and/or meet people from.. *inhale* US Small Business Administration (SBA), US Dept of State, Google, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Coalition of Service Industries (CSI), Women’s Bureau, Dept. of Labor, Small Business Department Center (SBDC), Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) Venture Creations, High Tech Rochester (HTR), The Entrepreneurs Network (TEN), Rochester Women’s Network (RWN), Synthesis Management Group (SMG), Wegmans, Jill Bates Fashion, Ukrainian Federal Credit Union, Kauffman Labs, The Kansas City Startup Village, Google Fiber, Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), Kansas State Capitol, Kansas University, The Enterprise Center of Johnson County, The National Federatio of Independent Business, Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Zappos.com, Downtown Project, The InNEVation Center, University of California (UCLA), Entretech, Pacific Coast Regional (PCR), and the Southland Farmers’ Market Association (SFMA).. *exhale* :))
If you asked how am I get invited, well I didn’t apply or do some test nor interviews. Out of the blue, I just got the great news by phone, a day after my Bangkok trip last May. They just nominated me as one of the candidates, then reviewed thoroughly and finally chose me as 1 of 6 lucky eligible participants. All the expenses are on US government and we even got allowance during our stay in US. Praise the Lord!
I’m super excited with this trip. I hope I can keep on sharing what I learned there, given sufficient internet connection. Be it livetweet on twitter @nuniek or pics on my facebook /nuniek or writings on this blog nuniek.com =) If you have questions or wish to get connected with any of those institutions above, feel free to leave comments here or you may also email me directly to nuniek @ nuniek.com . But please, do expect slower response =)
Cheers!
Nuniek Tirta A.