Hey there everyone, I thought I’d take the time to go ahead and update you all on what I’ve got iLoveQatar sponsoring these next few months. For those that don’t know, ILQ spends profit made off of any advert banners you see on charitable causes and to support the local community. The goal at the end of the day is simple, to make Qatar a better place! Somewhere that everyone can be proud of

Filipino Movie for Tribeca Film Festival

A bunch of guys from the Filipino community put together a great Filipino film as a submission for the Tribeca Film Festival. When they got into a bit of a jam and needed some support, ILQ jumped in to help them finish the project. This is Qatar’s first Filipino movie and we’re proud to have supported Global Pinoys and to be a part of another great first

It’s called “I Love You Maam”, a story about a girl who fell in love with her teacher back in college. Two years later they meet up again, in Doha… In the same school… Both as teachers… That’s when things get complicated. My favourite scene is when they’re surfing ILQ

Trailer - http://iloveyoumaam.com/

Ministry of Sound World Tour

Global DJ’s contacted ILQ to help support their latest event. This time the Ministry of Sound decided that they’re stopping by Doha as part of their World Tour on the 29th of September at the Intercon Beach. I don’t really like simply sponsoring a project with funding. I think that it’s a bit… cold, so I prefer helping to ‘activate’ an event. We help get the word out, provide some gifts, fun giveaways, I(Heart)Qatar shirts and stickers, take photos, and of course no party would be complete without some ILQ beachballs thrown into the crowd. I’ll be giving away some FREE tickets! So stay tuned! More information here.

QSports

Now these guys are doing something that I’ve been waiting for, for ages. Not only is QSports supported by the Qatar Olympic Committee but they’re now supported by ILQ as well. We’ll be sponsoring teams who can’t afford basic entry fees or uniforms on a case by case basis Interested? Registrations is FREE. So what do they do? They organize sports tournaments that you can register to be a part of. Want to play football and don’t know where to go or even have enough players for example? QSports solves that!

They’re still looking for more sponsors in case you work for a company that might be interested! Visit qsportsleagues.com for more information or to sign up!

They’ll also be posting their latest events and sports related news in the Sports sections of our forums

Evo Sports Academy’s Super Sports Day

This one’s thanks to Bassam. Evo Sports Academy decided that they wanted to get people active in Qatar. They went to Bassam with a mission; they wanted to help youngsters in Qatar pick a sport they’re good at, perhaps one that they never thought of trying before. Bassam gave the Evo Sports team an excited grin and we were in. Imagine! Helping people live a more active and healthy life-style! Oh and did we mention that it’s free? Yep! 6-16 year olds can enjoy football, basketball, netball, dance, and karate! Just come on down to the Doha Rugby Club on Saturday September 17th from 9am to 2pm. There’ll be coaching sessions, live DJ, BBQ, giveaways, competitions, and a bouncy castle too! Oh and if you go on down, you can probably get a free sports shirts with the ILQ logo on it too! Visit www.evosportsqatar.com for more.

Qatar Investors Window

The team over at UCI International contacted us and let us know that they were organizing a partnership with the Qatari Businessmen Association. Their focus is to showcase investment opportunities Qatar has to offer, bringing potential investors to the region to share knowledge and discuss valuable business opportunities. Since winning the 2022 World Cup, there’s definately going to be a lot of people that get attracted to Qatar. It’s exciting to think about all of the change that’s going to happen in the coming years. We’re their supporting partners and as such I think I should it would be best to give you the more information don’t you think? It’s on the 21st of November at the Grand Hyatt and one their keynote speaker is James Caan, the CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw and one of the Dragons from BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Did you know that Peter Jones from the Dragons’ Den is also a partner of mine? More information at www.uciinternational.com

Humanisation of Cities of Tomorrow

We partnered up with Naseba many times in the past. We think we make a good team actually. Last year, ILQ also supported this event and we got a standing ovation since Bassam was a speaker. So what’s it all about? Well on October 4th and 5th, global city leaders, ministries and influential people will get together and share their insights and thoughts as to how we can all work together to build a better future. There’ll be different pavilions under different themes “Knowledge”, “Urban”, “Power”, “Well-being”, “Hospitality”, “Green” and “Infrastructure. I’m very excited about the summit and hope that some great change will come out of this. One of the things that Bassam and I often talk about is encouraging future businesses to focus on partnership models and coopetition. More info at www.cityhumanisation.com

Green Programme for Schools

I’m going to start to start this off by saying… I’m disappointed… This is a fantastic cause. The goal of GPS is to educate children in schools as to the importance of taking care of the environment. Sounds like a great cause right? Well why haven’t many people ‘liked’ their facebook page then? Look, it takes two seconds and it shows them that you care! Go on visit http://www.facebook.com/GPSQatar I’ll wait…. I’m waiting….. Done? Hope so!

Inshallah partnering and sponsoring these different events makes Qatar a better place. What do you guys think? Good job?

To many people this is incredibly obvious, but alas, I’m always reminded of someone’s profile that I once read that said ‘Qatar – the land that logic forgot’.

It’s incredibly important to show some love back to the sponsors of events. If you’re an events organizer, showing them that they are important enough to be recognized, means that you’ve got a sponsor that will come back to you. If you’re someone who’s enjoying an event, recognizing the sponsor (or even using that sponsors services/products) means that they can afford to sponsor more events.

But who’s job is it to support sponsors of events? It’s everyones! Let’s say that Qatar Airways decided to go ahead and sponsor an event happening in New Year. Website’s (and magazines) that list the event, should ensure that sponsors logos are on materials (I’ve seen some places CUT OUT sponsor logos!). A lot of people complain that there aren’t enough events happening in Qatar (I’m sure that twitter.com/qatarevents would disagree), but rememember, if sponsors stop.. sponsoring.. events, then there’ll be less events. Less events means less content to cover. I mean, an events guide isn’t really useful when there’s nothing to cover right?

I really appreciate the Filipino community in Qatar. They work hard, they’re fun, they’re friendly, and they’re amazingly social!

So when one ILQ’s supporters told me that they wanted to spread some ILQ love, it was my pleasure to give them some support! I’m definately going to try and make Fiesta Pinoy 2011.

A few photos:

More here: ILQers go to fiest pinoy 2010

So on February 21st, we mentioned that we’re working together with some very talented individuals in trying to create a great conference forum for those interested in developing the Arab online world. In case you didn’t already know by now, it’s called Arabnet (see info below). You can visit their website over at www.arabnet.me

So if you’re passionate of doing something worthwhile online, would like to meet some pretty talented people, or would like an excuse to visit Lebanon’s party central, then be sure to sign up on their site!

Our fantastic friends over at Qatar Visitor will also be covering the event, so be sure to click on over to their blog!

Think Pink was a great success yesterday. iLoveQatar.net has been seriously involved in ensuring that the event received as much coverage as possible. It’s all about Breast Cancer awareness. Over 400 people showed up and the event was fantastic. Karen did a great job (the founder).

I was slightly disappointed that the media did not even bother to mention ILQ’s involvement (although you would have thought it would be clear with the ILQ banners). I think that they don’t realize the importance of mentioning sponsors. It encourages sponsors to actually ‘sponsor’. *sighs*

I sponsored this event because I felt it was important. My grand mother, God rest her soul, died of a rare form of cancer. She was the only one awake when I went off to uni and travelled to the UK for the first time many years ago. She was the best. I also sponsored the event to show that it’s not something people can take lightly. Many people suffer from it and we’re inching ever closing to finding a better cure.