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January 07, 2013
YP London Hosts Annual Networking Event with Keynote Speaker Dr. Armen Sarkissian
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Members of the AGBU YP London Steering Committee gather at its Annual General Networking Event, which featured Dr. Armen Sarkissian and was chaired by Anita Manukyan (sixth from right). Photo Courtesy to Vahagn Gulakyan. -
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Armenia’s former Prime Minister, renowned entrepreneur, and philanthropist Dr. Armen Sarkissian engages the crowd at the YP London Annual General Networking Event. Photo Courtesy to Vahagn Gulakyan.
As the former Prime Minister of Armenia, a leading entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist, Dr. Armen Sarkissian has a vast knowledge of the business and civic world and an ever-growing network – one that the AGBU Young Professionals of London (YP London) recently had the opportunity to join.
On Friday, November 23, 2012, more than 100 career-minded diasporans from across the UK gathered to meet Dr. Sarkissian, the keynote speaker at YP London’s signature Annual General Networking Event. They arrived at the city’s Kensington Royal Garden Hotel with a host of questions on ways to advance professionally, while also giving back to Armenia, and they left with inspiring answers.
The evening opened with remarks from the YP London Committee, which outlined its mission to create a strong network of Armenian professionals, facilitate networking through industry-focused events, and develop cooperation between a large number of Armenian youth organizations in the UK. During his talk, Dr. Sarkissian applauded each of those objectives, noting that he was pleasantly surprised to see such a diverse group of young Armenians joining together for the occasion. It is their dedication and enthusiasm, he declared, that will help their homeland develop and prosper. As he told the crowd, “You shouldn’t think Armenia is poor because it doesn’t have oil or other natural resources. It has the greatest natural resource – its people. It’s a very rich country and you as a generation, we as a nation and Armenia as a state have a new chance, and we have to take it. For that we have to start from education and be ahead of others.”
Dr. Sarkissian continued to detail his own educational background and career path. Citing his experience as founding president of Eurasia House International, Director of the Eurasia Programme at The University of Cambridge Judge Business School and his recent participation in the World Economic Forum in Davos, he offered insights on how to take advantage of the rapidly changing field of business. He stated, “The world is becoming a world of entrepreneurial people, who can come up with an idea and start and manage a business. I am guessing that very soon people will prefer Entrepreneurial Arts to MBAs.” Dr. Sarkissian engaged the audience at every point in his lecture and they, in turn, engaged him during the event’s question and answer (Q &A) portion, which lasted over two hours – more than twice what had been planned. The Q&A was followed by a prize draw and a networking session.
Throughout the night, several attendees expressed an interest in joining the YP London Committee, which currently consists of 14 volunteers living in and around London. The Committee’s priority projects are networking events, including ones for professionals from all industry sectors as well as industry-specific networking events, such as banking, finance, and IT, which are especially popular. Apart from these main projects, YP London organizes other events by popular demand. YP London was also instrumental in restarting the British Armenian Lawyers Association.
To watch a video from the YP London Annual Networking Event, please visit http://www.youtube.com/agbuvideo.
To learn more about YP London and its activities, please visit http://www.agbu.org.uk/ or write yp@agbu.org.uk.
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