Two organizations, Nutshell and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE), organized the "Lahore Management Summit 2009 Tiecon", a conference in this summit titled "Managing in turbulent times - the way forward", mainly held for entrepreneurs, to counter the economic downturn with a message of available entrepreneurial opportunities and creative innovations. Speakers shared experiences and ideas of how an innovative marketing strategy drives consumers for the successful entrepreneurs.

Taking the current international economic scenario into consideration, the subject on how entrepreneur's can counter the economic downturn was an important one for the business sector as the conference advised on how to successfully and profitably manage enterprises. As profitability is largely dependent on the use of effective marketing tools, this quandary included the smallest local businesses to the largest multinationals. While the strategies and tactics for these organisations may differ widely, the aim is the same - to maintain sustainability and run a profitable business.

The 2009 Tiecon summit provided an opportunity to learn business strategies and tactics from national and international experts. It also gave the attendees an opportunity to share experiences with cross cultural and multidisciplinary corporate. Other benefits derived from the summit included giving the attendees a chance to network and build professional relationships, gain ideas from the latest research, and evaluate current business strategies with internationally recognised practices.

During the conference the speakers challenged the budding entrepreneurs to deliver a better solution, product and service. They encouraged the entrepreneurs to "seize the day", as customers are once again interested in information technology. As, one of the speakers stated, "everything that has been done can be done better, including the Internet."

The conference kicked off with a key presentation titled "recession, survival and an opportunity" by Ted Marra the chief strategy officer of Sybrid. He discussed how companies confronted failures with failed leadership and included a mixture of techniques and ideas of how to energize and rebuild under a recession. He suggested entrepreneurs have to be more focused on organizational capabilities and develop effective internal relationships.

Parvez A Shahid, co-chairman, executive committees, bank Alfalah Limited and director, Warid and Wateen Telecom, gave a presentation titled "managing in turbulent times - the way forward". Parvez stated, that "We have noticed in our country that quality leadership is absent, that is why there is a need now to introduce educated leadership. To achieve this target, the institutions have to make proper use of an individual's capability, individuals who possess the quality to achieve their vision and convey their message to the right people at the right place".