Dear All, Depending on what mailing lists and FB groups you read, you may have already heard about the IT Startup Association of Thailand's pledge drive we have been holding. We have been seeking pledges to help cover the costs to become an officially registered Thai association. We already have a website up here: http://www.itstartups.org/
On our website we talk about a range of activities and programs we plan the association to work on to support the IT entrepreneurial community here in Thailand. Many of the people who are working on founding the official association are and have been strong supporters of IT community related events like Barcamp. The IT Startup Association of Thailand could be a reliable vehicle that helps moves the Thailand IT community forward. As an official Thai association, the organization would have the ability to manage funds for one time events, ongoing programs or other activities and programs to support the community and accept tax-free donations. The association could partner with other community groups to provide them support, which may be particularly critical during a group's startup phase. The number and types of activities that the association will be involved in will be almost entirely guided by its members. Beyond Barcamps, there are other potential international events and programs the association could help to bring to Thailand. Additionally, the association formation committee has already been playing a role in being a central point of contact and connection point for the IT community here in Thailand. We would like to continue and strengthen this role in the community as an official association. We started our pledge drive in February and are very near our pledge goal needed to formally register our association with the government. We are looking for more people within the community committed to being founding members of the association. We are asking that these initial founding members pledge to pay their first year membership dues upfront. The amount is up to the individuals but we are asking for a pledge in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 baht. Of course, more would be appreciated. A lot of our efforts have been spent on this pledge drive and coordinating with law firms. This has delayed us from moving forward to providing direct assistance to Thai startups. Additionally, our unofficial status has prevented us from fully engaging and securing commitments from both prospective corporate sponsors and partner organizations. The future status of our association will determine the type of support we provide to the IT community in Thailand. We have decided that if we can not reach our pledge goals by September 15th that we will likely discontinue pursuing formal registration as an Association and pursue the goals of the Association as an informal group. Unfortunately, not being formally registered will not allow us to accept corporate sponsorships and any future events or activities the members wish to organize and will require a request of funds from individual members on an event or project basis. If you have not had the opportunity to pledge your membership dues please do so by September 15th so we may successfully conclude our pledge drive, commence the formal registration process and eventually pursue our ambitious but worthy mission. Pledging is simple, merely email one of us with your pledge amount with your full name (or name of your company) and we will record your pledge. Once we have the full amount needed to move forward, we will email all of you that have pledged with the account into which you can deposit the money. Written confirmation for receipt of funds can be provided if requested. If you would like more information beyond what is on our website, please feel free to contact one of us. We thank you in advance for your support. Sincerely, Ian Korman ([email protected]) and Dave Shelters ( [email protected]) -- Barcamp Bangkok 4: October 23-24, 2010 More details at http://www.barcampbangkok.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Barcamp Thailand" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/barcamp-thailand?hl=en
