On Friday, June 17, 2011, NetworkPRD's David Shomaker hosted an event in Shekou entitled "The Art of AID", a that's PRD Magazine and GIVES. The charity event included an art auction and several dance performances, All proceeds from the event went to support victims of the Wenchuan Earthquake that occured three years ago in Sichuan province. Their struggle to rebuild still needs support and Friday's charity offered a helping hand.

At NetworkPRD, we are happy to lend our support to causes such as this and will continue to do so in the future.

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Dear Friends,

Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our first PRD Salon last Thursday night at the Ritz-Carlton, Shenzhen. It was a great success with other 70 people in attendance. I was very pleased to see a lot of new faces and a great international mix of Westerners and Chinese nationals. Furthermore, many of you visited our help desk and spoke with our team members there. We have a list of your needs and requests and this will be posted on the website early next week. Hopefully other community members can assist you with those requests. Continue to check NetworkPRD for details and updates on events, etc.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Shenzhen and that's PRD magazine. Also, a very special thanks to all of our speakers including:

• Keynote: Professor Edward Tian
• Company Case Study: Mr. David Mu from Pro Management
• Mr. David Ho from Solidrank
• Mr. Mike Michelini discussing e-commerce meetups
• Mr. Woody Potgieter from WSC Fight Club
• Mr. Michael Yang from NOCRA
• Ms. Christy Cai from that's PRD
• and, Mr. Mike Zhan for the wine raffle.

We will organize another event next month. The date will be a Thursday evening at approximately the same time as this past event, 8pm - 9:30pm. Details are being arranged now and will be posted on our website next week.

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On Saturday, November 27, 2010, NetworkPRD participated in the European Union Chamber of Commerce’s 10 year anniversary Gala and Charity Event here in Shenzhen. The event was MCed by NetworkPRD’s own David Shomaker and was host to over 200 members of the EUCCC here in southern China. In addition to the 10 year celebration of their presence here in China, the EUCCC also supported Captivating International (www.captivating.org), a charity organization that NetworkPRD has worked with several times in the past.

While previous collaboration with this charity went to support their Seng Girls home in remote Qing Hai province, this one focused on their sapling project in Sichuan, http://www.captivating.org/project/details/3. During the event, Mr. Shomaker invited guests to visit the Captivating Sponsor table where they could purchase tree saplings for impoverished families in Sichuan. As the website link can explain, these donations are part of a large effort to get these families out of poverty over the next several years. NetworkPRD believes in wholesome causes such as these and will continue to support them in the future.

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LOVEQTRA, an on-the-ground Chinese NPO, runs a high-altitude school deep in the mountains of Qinghai. Taking in abandoned or abused girls, The Seng Girl's Home educates and opens up opportunities for them that they would probably otherwise never encounter. Captivating International, which fund-raises for several similar on the ground projects, held their Seng Girl's Home Annual Charity Event in conjunction with NetworkPRD on October 16th in Shenzhen. At the end of the night, 600,000RMB had been raised, donated by wealthy individuals in Shenzhen who live on a completely different economic plane than those they were helping.

China's rising GDP recently propelled it (according to most economists' assessments) past Japan, to be the second largest economy in the world. This growth allowed an estimated 600 million people to rise out of poverty from 1981 to 2005. But this economic miracle was not evenly spread, and large parts of the China missed the good news. The poverty lie in China, as set by the World Bank, is defined as $1.25 per day, or a little over 8 RMB. Theoretically, income meeting the poverty line should be enough to subsist on, if not comfortably. But where in Shenzhen or Guangzhou could one survive on that little? The discrepancy between rich and poor, and the accompanying disparity in opportunity is what is prompting some of China's most fortunate and successful to assist. Forbes magazine's annual list of global billionaires states that China has 64 of the world's 937 wealthiest people, second only to the United States. This has not been lost on Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who last September hosted an exclusive meeting with 50 of China's wealthiest citizens in a mansion on the outskirts of Beijing. Discussing philanthropy, many expressed an eagerness to become involved, or more involved, but reservations remained.

Goverment regulation is an issue. There is often little incentive for local officials to assist fledgling charitable organizations, and the ability of private organizations to independently accept and distribute resources is limited. Another is image. Charitable giving on a large scale, being new in China, attracts attention, and many want to give without feeling that they are making a larger statement than simply showing a desire to help people. One benign area is disaster relief; the Sichuan earthquake especially was a catalyst of making charitable donations in China more common. Bill Gates commented: "...you want to make sure your gift can have the impact... ...the notion of what the role of the government versus philanthropy is still being developed."

The 450 people who attended the Seng Girl's Home Charity Event demonstrated that giving in China can have positive results and is growing in popularity. Personal connections brought a large portion, and that is how charity in general will spread too. It is making its way into the culture of wealthy Chinese, and their money, considering the vastly different scales of economy in China, can certainly go a long way. And eventually this can only further economic growth with everyone, as productive students from schools in the remotest areas wield the power to have their own input on the economy, and the future of China.

On Saturday, October 16th, 2010, NetworkPRD helped to to organize Captivating International’s (www.cativating.org) Seng Girl’s Home Annual Charity Event. Mr. David Shomaker, managing director at NetworkPRD, MCed the evening at the Futian Shangri-La Hotel. The night was a great success for the Seng Girls who live in remote Qing Hai province.

Seventeen of the ninety-six Seng girls were flown down to Shenzhen for the event and sang and danced for the Shenzhen crowd of 450+. It was a very moving event where 50 girls were sponsored and over 600,000RMB was raised via ticket sales, silent auctions, and a live auction. China is still a developing country and events such as these are just the beginning of the philanthropic movement here. NetworkPRD is excited to be a part of this movement and we want to thank all of your for helping us contribute in this way. We will continue to support the Seng Girls, Captivating International, and other approved charities in the future.

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Thank you to everyone who attended yet another successful networking night for the Huizhou Young Professionals Club this August 26, 2010. The event, in collaboration with NetworkPRD and the Norwegian Wood Club, started at 8pm and ran through 10:30 during which attendees learn from each other through playing a networking game called Autograph Bingo.

The Huizhou Young Professionals Club aims at promoting the personal and career development of the young, innovative, and creative entrepreneurs and professionals in Huizhou interested in social and business networking opportunities, professional learning opportunities, learning about business etiquette, and building friendships. The club will host events on a monthly basis. View the website at www.wix.com/networkprd/hzyp.

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