Guest Blogger: Bilal Saeed

Bilal Saaed has led the sales effort for Pakmode Media + Marketing from its inception. He has now settled into a role of managing the EMU Athletics contract, being the lead on the entertainment partnership with Prime Social Group, growing Pakmode's sports marketing business, and handling the bulk of sales for the company. The name Pakmode refers to Bilal's Pakistani heritage which he reminds everyone of constantly. It also serves as the number one excuse of why he's never in the office before 9am.

A proud member of the A2Y Regional Chamber board and Young Leaders Society of United Way Washtenaw County, Saeed is very active in his community. Saeed spends his free time traveling and thrives off adventurous thrills such as jet skiing, white water rafting and skydiving. But don't let his adventurous side fool you; this ex Mathelete (an algebraic nerd-a-thon), failed rapper and amateur debater is as cool as the calculator watch on his wrist.


Why YPs?
 
A common trend we continue to see in large organizations that have been around for years is launching an initiative to engage young professionals to better position the future of their organization. Time and time again, I've heard different young professionals referred to as the future of our economic climate. As the chair of the A2Y Regional Chamber's young professional initiative I've learned that the YPs of Washtenaw County are not only the future, but the present.   
 
A2Y Converge engages the YPs of Washtenaw County by being the all-inclusive group offering social, philanthropic, and of course professional development opportunities. Through the different events we've put on over the past year, it's become very apparent to me that the YPs are making a bigger impact economically on the area than people realize. Our membership includes a great deal of successful young entrepreneurs including Rishi Narayan, co-founder of Underground Printing. Rishi and his team operate a 55,000 sq. ft. print facility in the area, and own and operate four local retail storefronts and employ a number of people in the region. And Jessica French, a partner at Sidetrack Bar & Grill, has done much to help grow and expand the business. With the recent purchase of the former Bird Brain space (the building next to Sidetrack/Frenchie's) the company continues to grow and employ a number of people within the community. As our organization continues to grow, we are continually adding amazing young professionals such as Rishi and Jessica to our group, making it a true driver for economic impact.
 
Our professional initiatives remain our key focus. Last year, we kicked off our "Breakthrough Speaker Series" with a talk from Zingerman's co-founder and CEO, Ari Weinzweig and we have Bank of Ann Arbor CEO, Tim Marshall scheduled for our next talk on April 24th. It's events like these and "How to Network" that we host for our members that allow for professional development, networking and access to high-level business professionals in the area. We create a diverse schedule of events offering opportunities to entrepreneurs and employees alike, with an overall goal of helping one another grow professionally.
 
By having an approach that encompasses professional development, social interaction and philanthropic initiatives for our community, members are able to pick and choose what events suit their personal and professional needs most. This create a platform for us to build meaningful relationships based on common ground that really encourage one another to do business together. I myself do business with a lot of the Converge members including Quack! Media, FlockTag, SnapFuze, Kelly Klever Massage, Peninsular Place Apartments, Sandler Sales Training, SOS Community Services, Underground Printing and Bank of Ann Arbor, to name a few.   
 
While other YP groups are successful in their initiatives, our emphasis on professional, social and philanthropic makes us the most fun YP group in Washtenaw County (tied with YP Underground of course). And if we are able to work together and build relationships as YPs now, our impact in the community will grow exponentially.