About the Event
AMA Blast off is an annual, one-day event that is a convention that consists of a series of talks given by professionals in their perspective fields that is catered to all college students from different universities- not just limited to Ateneans. This TEDx inspired event is a way for students to learn and hone their entrepreneurial skills through acquiring knowledge from the experiences and wisdom from these professionals. Activities of this event may include: a performance by the AMAcoustics (the organization’s singing and musical group), dance number by the AMAneuvers (the organization’s dance group), games for the participants, and of course the main event: talks and seminars by successful entrepreneurs. This event will take place on a Saturday, November 19, 2016, at the Henry Lee Erwin Theatre.
Speaker 1 ECCI
Topic: Idea Generation
Mr. Sreeni Narayanan
Founder & Group Managing Director, ECCI Group
"If you want something you have never had, then you've got to do something you've never done"
Mr. Sreeni Narayan is the founder and current Group Managing Director of the ECCI group. His company is the leader on process improvement solutions provider in the entire Southeast Asia. Their main focus is in the channels of process consulting, automation solutions and learning outsourcing services. Currently, ECCI is operating across 5 countries throughout South and Southeast Asia; Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Philippines.
Mr. Narayan received his MBA from the Asian Institute of management as well as other professional qualifications from both Japan and Germany
Speaker 2 Coins.ph
Topic: FinTech Start Ups
Mr. Ron Hose
Founder, Coins.ph
“In the Philippines, more people have a Facebook account than a bank account. We'd like to make access to financial services as easy and approachable as getting a Facebook account"
Mr. Ron Hose is one of the founders and is currently the CEO of Coins.ph. The company’s main mission is promoting financial inclusion through its company’s actions. This is mainly creating a freemium banking mode that operates mostly on an existing retail infrastructure.
Mr. Hose has also other endeavors outside coins.ph. One of his notable projects would be TokBox; a video conferencing company that he cofounded.
Topic: Financial literacy and convenience in age where people have more social media accounts than bank accounts.
Speaker 3 Nuworks Interactive
Topic: Innovation in Marketing
Mr. Manolo “Manny” Gonzales
Head of Strategy and Analytics, NuWorks Interactive
"In a time when things move and change at the speed of culture, the future belongs to the agile ones"
Mr. Manny Gonzales is a brand and marketing communication expert who just recently took the jump into the exciting, yet ever changing waves of the digital revolution.
He is now currently the Head of Strategy and Analytics of the country's multi-awarded and biggest independent digital agency, NuWorks Interactive - where he oversees the strategic digital directions for clients such as Nestle (Ice Cream, Nestea, and Nesfruta), Unilever (Sunsilk, Clear, Close-up, Toni&Guy), Nike, Burger King, Chowking, Greenwich, Goldilocks, Chevrolet, Belo Essentials, Monde Nissin (Lucky Me, Skyflakes, Voice, Grahams), to name a few.
Prior to his digital adventures, he spent 11 years in Publicis Manila Inc. where he held positions of Associate Strategic Planning Director and Account Director during his stint - handling brand and marketing communication strategies for Bear Brand, Nescafe, Milo, P&G, Meralco, Metrobank, ABS-CBN, TV5-PBA, and Honda.
Topic: "The importance of innovative marketing in a traditional business landscape”
Speaker 4 Happy Skin Cosmetics
Topic: Global Competitiveness
Mrs. Jacque Yuengtian Gutierrez
CEO & Co-Founder, Happy Skin Cosmetics
“Take Risk. Hustle. Be Scrappy. Live your passion and make your dream a reality”
Mrs. Jacqu Yuengtian Guitierrez is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Happy Skin; the local cosmetics brand that has grown exponential over in the past few years. To back her up is almost a decade of experience holding different managerial positions for the skin products Unilever, a multinational company, produces. She is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University aswell.
Topic: How Local Brands Can Compete Against Foreign Brands
Speaker 5 Citi
Topic: Leadership
Mr. Aftab Ahmed
Citi Country Officer, Citi
“Learn from the past, live in the present, and have an eye on the future”
“Leadership is all about shifting from ‘me’ to ‘we’ as you have a responsibility beyond yourself”
Mr. Aftab Ahmed currently holds the country officer position for CitiBank in the Philippines. He has with him over four decades of experience in different positions and managerial roles for this company; ranging from experiences with international banking, treasury and much more. Mr. Ahmed has also worked in over 11 different countries in his stint with CitiBank.
Topic: "The ability to adapt to every possible setting, landscape or position to be an effective leader."
Speaker 6 Uber
Topic: Social Responsibility
Mr. Laurence Cua
General Manager, Uber Philippines
Mr. Laurence Cua is currently the general manager of the worlds fasting growing startup in the Philippines entitled, UBER. The main objective that his company is trying to fix is the ever-increasing traffic situation in the country. Before all of this, he was a graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University with a management engineering degree. He also had experience in multinational companies such as Unilever and T-Mobile USA.
Topic: How organizations and startups are working together in solving social issues such as traffic