However, the 3rd Jerusalem Business Conference, organized by Lesley Kaplan with AACI at the Nefesh B'Nefesh Campus, was held in Jerusalem, Israel on Monday, November 18, 2024, with a full and satisfactory attendance.

As stated by media consultant Linda Lovitch who trains diplomats and business people in presentations, "Yes world, we are still doing business in the throes of war?! ...You bet, and networking and learning how to grow our business. That's how we roll in Israel."

The first presenter in the morning was the Former Minister of Science & Technology and  Member of the Knesset Izhar Shay. After losing his son in the horrific attack on October 7th, he founded a non-profit 'Next October' connecting victims and the families of October 7th to companies in Israel to keep the names of the fallen alive. His mantra, "They came to destroy, we came to build a better world." Business with a heart!

Dov Maisel Vice President of Operations of United Hatzalah added his personal story of having his son's Bar Mitzvah celebration on the morning of October 7, 2023, as the emergency news was being reported of devasted communities.

Miriam Schwab, Head of WordPress Relations. Elementor, Former CEO & Co-Founder, Strattic (acquired by Elementor) was the third keynote speaker. 

Featured speaker Fleur Hassan Nahoum, the former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem is now Israel’s Special Envoy for Trade and Innovation. Unexpectedly, she had to attend an overseas meeting and sent in a video.

Maayan Hoffman, Zoe Bermant, Baruch Swinkin,  Arnie Draiman, Tiffanie Yael Maoz, Shelley Fishel, Norman Chait, Avnur Goldfus,  and Mark Feldman gave informative and well-received sessions. 

Meeting and connecting with Brian Wallace was a bonus of the day.  His company in the US, NowSourcing offers web, media, and marketing services. Not only was he at the conference, but he also did a live stream on LinkedIn as he spoke. 

Infographics are NowSourcing's specialty. His research team creates the blueprint for the infographic - "the emotion, story, and data," states Wallace.

There were booths to buy from Israeli small businesses, round table speed networking, kosher food, and Playback Hamra Production led by Toby Klein Greenwald to end the long but successful day.

Israeli small business owners and entrepreneurs were finding things better after the pandemic, only to be shocked by the devastation on October 7, 2023. 

However, as Shay emphasized at the start of the day, Israelis want to build and are determined to make the world better. The Jerusalem Business Conference was one positive step. #JLMBIZCon was the hashtag for the event.

The photo essay attempts to capture a sample of the energy along with some of the participants.