Greek America Foundation's National Innovation Conference 2012

Greek America Foundation's National Innovation Conference 2012 

27-28-29th April 2012 

New York City

The Greek America Foundation's National Innovation Conference got off to a very successful start yesterday in New York City with kick-off events and welcome parties... a great way for people to get to know those they will be mixing with over the next couple of days. 

Greek Food Guru Diane Kochilas, Coaching and Communications Consultant Leda Karabela, Brand Strategist Peter Economides, Coco-Mat Founder Paul Efmorfidis, Media Mogul Arianna Huffington, Greek Filmmaker Stephanos Sitaras,  Innovation Accelerator Founder John Pyrovolakis  and many other successful Global Greek leaders and innovators are taking the time to share their 'ideas worth sharing' at the second National Innovation Conference.

Read more about the speakers and presenters here.

This year, there will be a certain emphasis on how the Greek Diaspora, including Greek Americans, as individuals, and as a community, can address the crisis and support people, institutions and organizations trying to weather the current storm in Greece.

 
As Greg Pappas, dynamic founder of the Greek America Foundation and instigator of NIC2010 and 2012 says,

 We will designate a part of this conference to the discussion of what we can do to get more involved in helping Greece and Greeks through this crisis and how we can strengthen our own institutions, goals and vision as a community in the process.


As a diaspora community that has largely assimilated into the comfort of U.S. and Canadian society, many of us are immune to the images of starving children on the streets of Athens, or homeless people waiting for hand-outs at a soup kitchen in a neighborhood that didn’t have—or even need—a soup kitchen only a year ago. 

I am a firm believer that without Greece, Greek America cannot exist. No matter how far removed we are generationally from Greece, a hyphenated ethnic community such as ours, cannot exist without a strong and stable mother country.

Congratulations to Greg and the Greek America Foundation team on another great initiative for sharing 'ideas worth sharing' that relate to how our Global Greeks can interact and relate, influencing and showcasing matters that are of great concern to all of us in our Global Greek World.

Check out the NIC website and the detailed programme of this weekend's events here.

Follow the conference via Twitter here  


Kali Epityxia! 


Good Luck!

 

Today we are TWO! Happy Birthday to us!!! Χρόνια Πολλά και Καλά!!!

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

Today, 21 March, officially the first day of Spring in Greece and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, and we at Global Greek World are celebrating our second birthday!

This post is dedicated to our readers and wonderful friends around the world who have supported our efforts and helped this blog develop and grow!!!! We've had a great two years and we would like to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to visit, read our posts and leave comments.

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

We thank our followers on Twitter, or our friends who 'like' our Global Greek World Facebook Page and all who have participated in the discussions there!

We have had some lively discussions and debates on that page and some great laughs!

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

Some of us are still laughing at one of our recent posts on facebook which had someone trying to speak Greek in an episode of Xena, Warrior Princess. The writers obviously hadn't done any research on the Greek to be spoken, so the result was something totally ridiculous for anyone who can speak the language! The only thing one could do was laugh...or cry...

You can check it out for yourself - we'd love to hear your comments! Don't be misled by the title, Gabriella's Greek has some Spanish mixed in with it...Yeia sou Kalimera, Yeia sou Kalinyxta, Yeia Sou Kala Noches! (Thanks Vicky D - Sydney for posting it)

Over the last year we have also made a lot of wonderful new friends; we have had readers visit us from 161 countries, up from 117 last year, with the USA, Greece, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom still topping the list .

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

Above all, it has been another great year for our Global Greeks who have worked hard and made headlines in many parts of the world.

• Chris Pissarides from the London School of Economics won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics;
• Dr Nicholas Christakis and Greek PM George Papandreou were named amongst Foreign Policy's 100 Top Global Thinkers;
• Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth, Mary Zophres, Alexandre Desplat - three Global Greeks made it to three different categories of the Oscar nominations;
• Greek America Foundation's Greg Pappas inaugurated the USA's first gathering of global leaders, innovators, thinkers and doers who share Greek heritage, the first-ever National Innovation Conference (NIC) in Chicago;
• Greek Australian Dimitris Dollis was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Greece;
  
• Greek Russian Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin went back into space and
• Ethniki Ellados, under the guidance of super coach Otto Rehhagel, the architect of Greece's Euro 2004 soccer victory, qualified and competed in the World Cup in South Africa.

We all know that it hasn't been such great a year for Greece economically and we have spent a lot of time discussing the economic crisis with those who care about this country, who have worked hard to keep the flag flying in every corner of the world and who want to know more about what is happening in Greece.

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

We continue to believe Greece will pull through but not without hardship in the short term of course. In the long run, we think the Prime Minister George Papandreou, a Global Greek himself, is on the right track, but we need to stop blaming everyone else for Greece's difficulties, and get on with the job, making many difficult and often painful decisions in the process.

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

We continue to believe in Greece and the achievements of our Global Greeks wherever in the world they are, and will continue to highlight and promote all the positive things we see.

Greece has much going for it.

Despite the economic doom and gloom and the many natural & man made disasters that our world is going through right now, we need to keep thinking as positively as we can, so that the positive thinking catches on...

We at Global Greek World are certainly trying!

With your support we will continue to spread the word until we're well into our 90's, just like the Global Greek ladies that the cakes below were made for!

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey

Efharistoume Poly!! Ευχαριστούμε Πολύ!!!

Source: (c) Frosted Pink by Stacey made for her grandmother, Kyria Evangelia.

Regrettably Kyria Evangelia died late last year far away from her beloved Arcadia but surrounded by her loving family...

PS The delicious-looking birthday cakes are courtesy of Frosted Pink by Stacey.
Talented young Greek Canadian, Stacey Korolis Sherlock, works from home in Tisdale,Saskatchewan. To get a taste of the rest of her top class creations on Facebook - Click here.

Efharistoume Stacey!