With the concept note almost ready (yes, it's been dragging on for a while now, we hope to wind it up soon), the next step would be to freeze on individual tracks. "Tracks" or sessions last for a few hours, with a panel of speakers voicing their opinion on a topic related to the theme. For example, Insight '08 had industry-wise tracks like Infrastructure, Real Estate, BFSI etc.
As I was leafing through this week's edition of Outlook Business which focusses exclusively on "Social Entrepreneurship" (SE), several new and exciting business models in this area caught my eye. According to the legendary Bill Drayton, Social Entrepreneurs are "men and women with system-changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems". Mr.Drayton was the one who coined the term in the 1980s.
Would it be a nice idea to organize a track exclusively focussed on SE? We could invite Ms. Saloni Malhotra, who runs four rural BPOs across Tamil Nadu, providing livelihood to 100 employees who earn Rs.5000/month. Is this a game-changing business model? (http://www.desicrew.in/) A vital input (HR sourcing) has been altered. Could BPOs flourish in villages, which was hitherto restricted to urban areas alone?
Or maybe we could invite Mr. Stan Thekaekara, who wants to create an alternate trading system directly linking producer and consumer groups, thereby helping adivasis in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu take control over prices, and thus, their lives.
These are just a few examples of interesting innovations which might shake existing business models from the ground up. The team at Insight is still debating on whether to include such a track on Social Entrepreneurship or not... what our decision is, only time will tell. Watch this space for further details.
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