ANONG RAKET MO? : A Leads and Needs Gathering
by: Daena Resurreccion, Thames Undergraduate Student, and Emmanuel Santos, School Counselor and Head of Student Affairs
During this pandemic and community quarantine, most of the business owners are having trouble addressing the needs of their businesses and looking for potential new leads to address those needs. Fortunately, one of the strengths of the Thames ESA Community is networking and sharing of business opportunities.
The recently launched program “Anong Raket Mo?” has successfully brought together alumni, parents, students, and employees within the Thames ESA Community in two rounds last August 15 and September 5. This casual virtual gathering on a Saturday morning aims to provide a “Needs and Leads” session for business opportunities matching exclusively to the members of the school community. In both rounds, the gathering was co-facilitated by Thames International School President and Co-founder Joel Santos, and by former Thames Academics Director and current mentor of Entrepreneurship students, Ed Silva.
In each of the two rounds of this gathering, the presenters share the details of their respective businesses. They provide ideas to enlighten possible partners and provide for the needs of their businesses. This aims to widen the connections of the owners and create links between them. The rest of the participants are then given the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and eventually provide potential leads to addressing the needs presented by the owner.
Last August 15 during the first round, alumni participants Hans Chua, Lars Vinluan, Camille Singson, Bel Mojica, Kerri Guico, all shared that the session was indeed a very helpful way of building new networks for their respective businesses. Moreover, current Thames parent and alumnus of our ICE Postgraduate program, Mr. AJ Dimarucot, shared that “It’s great and we will connect with others for sure.”
During the second round last September 5, Yana De Villa, a graduating student who participated with her parents, presented their family’s business, which aims to promote healthy living through black and red rice consumption. Yana shared, “As we presented our business for the event, we were surprised that the attendants were able to give us multiple suggestions or “leads” to further expand our connections. With that, we also found similar businesses and exchanged contact details to keep in touch- this was a wonderful opportunity to showcase our company and meet other business owners!”
Overall, the program for both rounds went well and left a line to those who are interested in doing a collaboration between businesses. It opened doors to many opportunities concerning the growth of the businesses and connections within the very strong and tight-knit Thames ESA community.
The 3rd Round will be held this coming September 19, 2020 from 10:00am to 12:00nn. Interested presenters may register via: bit.ly/Thames09192020
