Coalition of Iranian Entrepreneurs (CIE) in Los Angeles has regular meetings in a Persian cuisine restaurant in Beverly Hills called the Camden House, every Monday evening from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The coalition was established more than 20 years ago and was inactive for the past few years. The new board took over a year ago and made the organization active. We had a new election two months ago and I was elected as a board member. CIE acts like the Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. In our weekly meetings, we have a one-hour networking session starting at 6:00 pm accompanied by hot tea, and Persian h’ordeauve. Guests talk to each other and exchange business cards and their contact information.
Persian dinner is usually served at 7:00 pm. Around 7:30 pm, the president of the society, Dr. Shay Maghameh welcomes everybody and announces the program. Then I as a board member introduce the new guests who participate in our event for the first time to the audience. Then we have an economic news section for 5-10 minutes and afterwards, we have a keynote speaker for a lecture of about 1/2 hour followed by a 10-minute question-answer section. Roughly, around 50-60 members and guets attend our regular Monday evening meetings. The number of the participants depends on the topic of the speech we have on each Monday.
Last night, we had a panel of three who talked about real estate and its present condition in Southern California. I forgot to mention that the annual membership fee is $100 and each member pays only $20 to attend each meeting. This covers the h’ordeauve and the wonderful Persian food provided by the Camden House Flame Restaurant, and of course enjoying the fun informative and educational lectures and presentations which are delivered in Farsi, the Persian language. In some occasions, we have had non-Iranian guest speakers such as Sheriff Lee Baca of the Los Angeles County. Khosrow Sobhe
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