On 23rd November 2023, history was made when Lahore had its first Notion community meetup at 10Pearls Lahore hosted by Notion Lahore, a user group chapter operating within the Middle-East, Pakistan region geared towards enabling individuals and organizations to build with Notion. Whereas, Notion is a freemium no-code productivity tool that blends everything into one application.
The event was a huge success and was attended by Notion enthusiasts, community leaders, IT professionals, startup founders, and even students from across the city and beyond. The meetup stood as a testament to Notion’s growing influence in Pakistan and its ability to bring together individuals passionate about productivity and collaboration.
The event was headed by an opening keynote by Usman Aslam, Notion User Group Leader Middle East – Pakistan. Emphasizing the significance of Notion within the technology and entrepreneurial ecosystem, Usman underlined how it is a part of major organizations. Moreover, Usman highlighted how this all-in-one low-code productivity software can be used by individuals for their day-to-day, how startups can streamline their workflows, and how businesses are using Notion to provide a collaborative environment to employees. While discussing Notion as a versatile platform, he shed light on its various features such as Notion API, Notion AI, automation, and the recently launched Q&A feature.
While sharing his intrigue for no-code and low-code applications, Usman stated the following:
“The aim that we have within the ever-expanding techpreneurial ecosystem is to empower individuals within the Pakistan region to expedite their work, personal life, and even their startups through tools like Notion. The power of low-code and no-code has had such a paradigm shift in our ecosystem that today one does not have to get into the technicalities of building anything that comes into mind.”
The stage was then presented to Usama Waheed, Co-Founder of Dli5 and Visiting Faculty at LUMS. Usama demonstrated the collaborative functionality of Notion by showing case its utility in product design and education. He showed how product design collaboration, organization, and iteration can be seamlessly executed. He also highlighted how Notion has revolutionized education by making it easier for creative ideas to flow, encourages engagement, and facilitates the generation of original concepts and more.
While addressing the audience regarding the impact of Notion on creative collaboration, he stated:
“Notion fosters idea exchange and collaboration among students. Its intuitive features create a dynamic learning environment, where seamless teamwork and idea-sharing thrive. Notion has helped me greatly in managing all the work submitted by the students and helping my students score impressive results.”
Next came the anticipated session by Syed Mohammad Mohamman, Co-Founder of Product Soch, the Middle East’s largest Product-centered organization. He discussed how product management can be streamlined with Notion where all the tasks can be managed and the updates can be communicated to the company effectively. He also explained how Notion’s productivity software can handle complicated project management needs.
The event also featured a community showcase of an innovative coworking space, Focused. Their workspaces with a focus on productivity and flexibility are situated in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi.
The stage was then presented to Saad Hasnain, Notion User Group Leader Middle East – Pakistan, who shared the use cases of Notion with the audience. Saad discussed how Notion can be used as a personal management system and a student dashboard where classes, courses, and assignments can all be managed in a unified place. He further talked about how Notion can be used for your personal usage as well like tracking your daily habits, journaling, and whatnot.
The event progressed to an enjoyable icebreaker session, including segments with engaging activities and the chance to win exciting prizes.
Next came the highly anticipated session by Abid Jamal, Engineering Manager at Dubicars, where he delved into crafting engineering excellence with Notion. Abid shared insights on how Notion is a helpful tool in the development process, fostering collaboration, streamlining workflows, and enhancing overall engineering efficiency. He emphasized on power of Notion as a transformative tool, allowing teams to seamlessly organize and communicate the engineering tasks effectively.
Including professionals from different industries and major enterprises, the most anticipated panel discussion followed, featuring esteemed panelists: Hassan Nadeem, Community and Partnerships Manager at Remotebase; Saad Aslam, Senior Software Engineer at i2c; Maria Sadaf, Lead Business Strategist at Devsinc; and Ambreen Gul, Senior Executive Talent Acquisition at 10Pearls. The panelists shared valuable perspectives on promoting innovation within the local tech community, the role of startups in driving economic growth, and the importance of cultivating a collaborative ecosystem.
The Notion Community Meetup: Lahore Edition wrapped up with a sense of achievement and inspiration, providing attendees with a valuable networking opportunity. The event highlighted the impact of Notion in different sectors, influencing businesses, corporate settings, and education. The event organizers gave their gratification to partners and sponsors, including 10Pearls Pakistan, 10Pearls University, Focused, ACM UET Lahore, Bytewise, Product Soch, We Talk Startups, Ali Chaudhary Films, Daftarkhwan, SOFTEC, and INDEX.
