I was looking for an outstanding video telling the story of Gaza from an optimistic point of view and I can't find better than this one! :)

Despite everything happened in Gaza, Gaza lives on..



If you are viewing this post via email you go to this link on Youtube to enjoy the video!

posted by Mohd Khawaja in gaza, palestine @ 11:52 AM

Our little angel Mahmoud has celebrated his first birthday last night with a small crowd of family kids!

365 days ago, Mahmoud came to life to change the world in his own way! :)

As passionate parents, we can't wait to see Mahmoud growing up and becoming an independent mature man who takes decisions on his own and chooses his own path for life. I think that would be the best day all along our lives!

I think the Mahmoud's charming smile can say a lot, so I just want to conclude with this nice short quote for John Bowring. It says: "A happy family is but an earlier heaven."

Happy birthday, little Hammodeh... keep growing :)

P.S. a previous post predicting the future of our kids is posted here. enjoy reading it!

posted by Mohd Khawaja in amman, Eid, family, Jordan, Love and Passion, Mahmoud, My daily life, passion, Photos @ 12:14 PM

100+ online fans rushed after Iftar time to join the 2nd Amman Twestival on the evening of 13th of September and at the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship. The event was co-organized by Malik Shishtawi and sponsored by Aramex.

A Twestival or Twitter-Festival is a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause. Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit; although the organizing teams do work closely to outline an achievable and measurable fundraising target. Twestival also sets out to identify key skills of volunteers and match these with the needs of the cause; particularly communications strategy, tech integration and social media training.

Twestival this year took place in over 140 cities around the world, Amman was not just another hosting city, but the capital that produces the most prominent Arab entrepreneurs in the domain of social media.

The discussion about social media was very interesting. I started by introducing the panelists: Razan Khatib, Zeid Nasser, Laith Qasem and Laith Zraikat. after that we went into and open discussion about the current situation and the future of social media in Jordan & the Arab world.

Lina Shehadeh -CMO of Aramex- talked about the value of twitter for a big corporate like Aramex and how is it utilized by the customer service department when it comes to B2C services aiming to resolve any raising issue with customers in effective manner in order to vent frustration quickly.

Hana Ramli was there as well. Her story was about how social media (facebook) helped her to recruit over 3000 volunteers in her impressive initiative "Ketabak Ketabi" and it is now becoming a regional initiative for Palestinians in refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Co-founder of Nakhweh, Kamel Al Asmar, talked about how Nakhweh is utilizing social media in promoting volunteering opportunities announced at Nakhweh.com and how people trust social media leads over other means of marketing.

The active blogger Osama Romoh described his fan page on facebook as primary source of traffic to his blog. He also believes that twitter functionality is embedded in Facebook feed, and that makes him more excited to use facebook over twitter.

Sabri Hakim -the co-founder of Talasim- shared his story during Amman bombs and how his photo was featured on CNN. According to Sabri, Talasim is now utilizing twitter as an alert/reminder for latest updates on their portal and this creates more traffic & interactivity.

Mohammed Alzubi - the managing partner at Arab Seed Ventures, a venture capital fund focusing on seed stage investments in the Arab region & Silicon Valley - elaborated on what attracts Angel investors to invest in the business of social media in the Arab world and how web startups are becoming a sizzling opportunity for VCs and Angels specially after the Maktoob-Yahoo deal.

Majd Shwikeh -CEO of Orange- talked about her personal experience with twitter and how she became addicted to it! :). Generously, Majd promised to send a special iPhone offer to all participants of Amman Twestival. The offer is available here.

I was so glad to see the audience interacting by talks and tweets, which were displayed live on the big screen behind the panelists (check #AmmanTwestival). I think that setup kept everyone active until the last moment and even after that during the "Qatayef" (Ramadani Sweets) reception! :)

The last and most important portion of event was announcing the donation from Aramex to Al Aman Fund. The donation was followed by a mini-speech through which Maha Saqqa -Director of the Fund- invited attendees to volunteer their time to support & empower orphans in Jordan.


Enjoy this short video about the best tweets during the event.



I also recommend visiting the following interesting blog posts about the event:

• iReport : Twestival in Amman,
• Ali Dahmash's blog,
• And Then There Was a Tweep,
• Top 10 Quotes at Amman Twestival

posted by Mohd Khawaja in amman, business, donation, Entrepreneurs, innovation, Jordan, Love and Passion, media, Photos, qot, Royal Jordanian, startups, success, technology, twestival, twitter, Voluntary Work @ 12:03 AM

Before 27 years, Israel invaded Lebanon and killed over 2000 innocent civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps with cold blood on the 17th of September, 1982. The striking thing is totally ignored by the west. Try a web search for "Sabra and Shatila" and look for western sources. For example, the Time Magazine website just headlines the invasion as "Israel Strikes at The PLO" and barely mentions the massacre!. Yet everyone agrees that it took place.

The massacres at Sabra and Shatila provide an clear comparison to the September 11th tragedy. Both killed thousands of innocent people (although the exact count at Sabra and Shatila may be slightly higher). Both were probably guided by men with a history of terrorism. However, while Sepember 11th is remembered in the west -and all over the world, Sabra and Shatila are largely ignored. why?

I leave the floor for your elaboration, and share a short report from Al Jazeera English Channel that illustrates what happened..

posted by Mohd Khawaja in blood, Islamic, lebanon, massacres, palestine, Politics, video @ 5:12 PM

Last Tuesday, we were were invited to a special Iftar at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology organized by the IEEE Jordanian Student Branches.

The event was really very exciting and full of entertainment and fun activities. Members of DART -the student Entrepreneurship Society- joined the event and spent great time with others. The nice weather, dynamic audience and interactive program contributed to make it such a remarkable event! :).

The title of my potion was: "Your Path For Life". Basically, I talked about the choices you may have after graduation and what the best decision to take. The most interesting part was when I invited a jobless fresh graduate to share his daily life with the audience -with some sense of humor :-D.

As per the request of the audience I share the presentation here...



Few other photos are available here.

Interested to join IEEE or DART? drop me a comment here to guide you where to go!

posted by Mohd Khawaja in amman, Entrepreneurs, IEEE, innovation, jood, Jordan, My daily life, passion, Photos, success, Voluntary Work @ 2:13 AM

Early this year, we took a great decision to go for a full week of adventure, fun and entertainment in the charming Sharm! (Egypt)... the 30-second video can tell you the most exciting parts of story! enjoy :)



Wait for more special "short" videos.. stay tuned!

posted by Mohd Khawaja in beach, dontsend, egypt, family, innovation, jood, Love and Passion, passion, Photos, Royal Jordanian, vacation, video @ 7:32 AM

posted by Mohd Khawaja in amman, business, donation, Entrepreneurs, innovation, Jordan, media, passion, queen rania, startu, startups, success, technology, twestival, twitter, Voluntary Work, Work @ 9:19 PM

posted by Mohd Khawaja in بالعربي @ 3:18 AM

posted by Mohd Khawaja in business, Entrepreneurs, Google, innovation, Jordan, passion, Politics, queen rania, startups, success, technology, video @ 5:41 PM

Do you have a plan to create an innovative business? Do you want to meet the different players in the field of entrepreneurship (investors, entrepreneurs, professionals)? Do you have a taste for challenge and want to compare your entrepreneurial talents to those of entrepreneurs from across the Arab world? If yes, this post is for you.

The Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship as a regional partner would like to announce the launch of the MENA 100 Business Plan Competition, which is organized by the MENA-OECD Enterprise Financing Network, in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank and the MENA Center for Investment.

The MENA 100 Competition addresses innovative entrepreneurs, from the 18 Arab countries participating in the MENA OECD Investment Program (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen).

The primary objective of the MENA 100 business plan competition is to encourage existing and inspire potential entrepreneurs and connect the 100 best of them in the Middle East and North Africa region with potential sources of finance to generate business transactions.

What you can expect as an entrepreneur:

• Forming networks with your counterparts in the region but also worldwide to conceive new ideas, to enter new markets and find new resources.
• High-level exposure to winners through the awards ceremony and the promotion of your business idea through the media.
• Connection to a network of professionals providing technical support to help innovators develop their start-ups and ventures, and offer financial and in-kind support to candidates.

Applications will be accepted until 31st August. For more information and to access the on-line application form available in French and English you can visit our website: www.mena100.org. For any additional questions please contact the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship.

Please do not hesitate to forward this email to potential candidates you believe could be interested in this competition. The MENA region needs your creativity, your dynamism and your foresight more than ever before. This competition will give “entrepreneurship” a face, maybe YOUR face, and would be the occasion to recognize your significant contribution to your society and community.

posted by Mohd Khawaja in Entrepreneurs @ 10:40 AM

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