ASSOCIATION OF CROATIAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONALS
HOST 2ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO
Conference aims to empower Croatian-Americans to expand network and outreach
CHICAGO – The Association of Croatian American Professionals released details today about the agenda for their second annual conference in Chicago on May 12, 2017. The event will be supported by the Consulate General of Republic of Croatia in Chicago and the Chicago Chapter of the ACAP. Organizers hope the conference will attract a variety of Croatian-American professionals, academics, students and community organizers from around the country.
The 2017 conference will feature panel discussions and themed breakout sessions aimed to inspire engagement and action. Panel experts from the U.S. and Croatia will discuss a variety of themes including education, entrepreneurship, startups/emerging ventures, journalism/media, athletics and special interest “task force” topics. The agenda also includes a hands-on social media workshop aimed at empowering audience engagement opportunities for grass-roots community organizers.
This year’s event will also launch a first-ever Croatian-led startup competition aimed to bring together creative entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas to the conference attendees. Top entrepreneur Renato Libric will help judge the competition. Libric was recently named “Top 50 Inspirational Entrepreneurs To Watch” by Entrepreneur.
“We’re excited to build on the synergy and relationship-building from last year’s inaugural conference in Washington, D.C.”, said Marko Zoretic, president of the Association of Croatian American Professionals, “Our organization is unique – it offers Croatian-Americans from a wide variety of professions – an opportunity to expand their network and empower their brand.”
The event is open to the public. For more information about the conference, visit www.acap2017.com.
The one-day panel conference will take place in Chicago’s iconic Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel. A limited number of hotel rooms will be available at a special discount until March 25, 2017. For more information about the special ACAP discount rate, visit www.acap2017.com/hotel.
2ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE AGENDA
PANEL & BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Chicago, May 12, 2017
Session 1: Education
The panel will discuss the history and current state of Croatian-language schools in the U.S. & Canada. The conversation will explore ways for organizations to improve the experience, enhance engagement and expand support. Presentations will also feature information about opportunities for Croatian study abroad, both for short-term learning like the accredited programs at Croaticum and Matica Iseljenika, in addition to Milivoj Markovic, PhD who will discuss options for Rochester Institute of Technology programs.
Session 2: Pitch Competition
A select group of Croatian-led startups from the U.S. and Croatia will showcase their companies in a “Shark-Tank”-like pitch presentation. Each startup will present a 3-minute pitch followed by 5 minutes of Q & A from the Entrepreneurship panelists. The esteemed panel will vote for the best pitch. The winner will be announced at the ACAP 2017 Gala Dinner where they will receive a monetary award.
Panel Session 3: Entrepreneurship
The panel will feature valuable insight from inspiring Croatian entrepreneurs and their outlook on current and future Croatian startup ventures. Panelists will include serial entrepreneur Renato Libric, CEO & founder of Bouxtie Inc.; Mark Begich, former U.S. Senator (Alaska), former Mayor of Anchorage, and president and CEO of Northern Compass Group; Davorin Štetner, president & CEO of Croatian Business Angels Network and Representative of the Croatian President’s Council for Economic Affairs and Ante Lucic, CEO of A-Link & Kampus.hr and founder of Cronnection.
Panel Session 4: Legal
The panel will focus on key legal issues for startup and emerging ventures. Experts will review best practices and challenges for basic company start-up needs including logistics, such as choice of entity, founder-vesting and issues specific to Croatian businesses entering the U.S. market. Legal experts include Dorothy Vinsky, Mauro Viskovic, Marko R. Zoretic and John Kosir. Additionally, the panel aims to address capital-raising issues and intellectual property matters affecting new companies.
Breakout Session: Medical Tourism
The session will engage in a panel discussion to review options for Croatia as a year-long destination for tourists and retirees. This will include a range of influences including medical programmatic, logistical, marketing and public-private strategies aspects. This program will be co-chaired by Dr. Steven Pavletic, senior clinician at NIH and Dr. Eugen Halar and will include a special presentation on the “Current Status of Health Tourism in Croatia” by Dr. Miljenko Bura, PhD from Zagreb, Croatia.
Panel Session 5: Journalism & Media
This panel will discuss the voice of the Croatian diaspora in traditional and social media channels. Leading journalists and editors from U.S. and Croatian media will be joined by communication strategists Anna Rozenich and Maria Dugandzic-Pasic to discuss best practices and opportunities to enhance story-telling for the Croatian-American brand.
Breakout Session: Social Media Workshop
This hands-on session will be hosted by Mary Lesina Strbich, Client Solutions Manager for Facebook/Instagram. The workshop hopes to empower community grass-roots organizations to enhance
their brand and increase audience engagement opportunities. The session is ideal for members of cultural, educational, athletic and other Croatian community-based organizations seeking insight to improve engagement on their social media sites.
Panel Session 6: Athletics
This panel will discuss the role Croatian athletes have had in building brand identity and awareness about Croatia and the Diaspora in the U.S. Panelists will include David Diehl, NFL SuperBowl champion and FOX/NFL Game Analyst, Korie Hlede, former WNBA player and co-founder of Flow Basketball Academy and professional race car driver Romeo Kapudija. Nada Pritisanac Matulich will discuss opportunities to compete in the Croatian World Games. The organization is hosting its 4th competition this summer in Croatia.
Panel Session 7: Task Forces Update
This panel will discuss the current status of ACAP task forces: (1) Double Taxation, (2) Medical Tourism, and (3) Domovina (an explorative conversation for a path to establishing a Croatian “Birthright” program to enable Croatian-Americans to visit and learn more about their ancestral homeland).
ABOUT US:
The Association of Croatian American Professionals brings together professionals, business leaders, academics, students and community organizers. Our mission is to foster leadership, collaboration and to promote the advancement of issues relevant to the Croatian-American community. ACAP is a non-profit 501c (6). For more information about becoming a member, please visit www.croampro.com.