Global Entrepreneurship Week
- Release Date:Monday, November 17, 2008
- Dateline:Charleston, WV
- Contact:Julie Norman
Today, entrepreneurial individuals appear from all walks of life to exploit business opportunities for both economic and social gains. From November 17 - 23, 2008, Global Entrepreneurship Week will connect young people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others will participate in a range of activities - online and face-to-face - to harness the energy of social networking, to connect people taking action in their local and global communities and to celebrate entrepreneurship across the globe.
Overall, the Week will tap into a culture with a passion for networking. It will blend into the fabric of everyday life, engaging young people in school, at home, on the web and at work. Through this initiative, the next generation of entrepreneurs will be inspired and emerge. In doing so, they will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills, networks and values needed to grow innovative, sustainable enterprises that have a positive impact on their lives and the lives of those around them.
Global Entrepreneurship Week seeks to:
Inspire.
Introduce the notion of enterprising behavior to as many young people under the age of 30 who otherwise might not have considered it as a path in their life.
Connect.
Network young people across national boundaries in a global effort to find new ideas at the intersection of cultures and disciplines.
Mentor.
Enlist active and inspirational entrepreneurs around the world to coach and mentor the next generation of enterprise talent as they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Engage.
Demonstrate to opinion leaders and policy makers that entrepreneurship is central to a nation's economic health and culture and to provide different nations with the opportunity to learn from each other on entrepreneurial policy and practice.
As a Global Entrepreneurship Week host, the University of Charleston has coordinated several events for our students and the community to enjoy. Note that ALL students will have an opportunity to participate in various events and challenges that have significant prize money at stake! (not to mention lots of FUN!) If you have any questions, please call me at ext. 4864 or email me at julienorman@ucwv.edu.
10 Cool Things to Do During the Week
Unleash Your Ideas
Unleash It! www.unleashingideas.org will showcase the power of ideas. Innovative thinkers are invited to explore solutions across cultural boundaries — such as connecting virtual 3-D environments with real businesses, developing eco-friendly nightclubs or finding new ways to distribute potable drinking water to sub-Saharan Africa. Anyone can post a challenge — government or business, big or small, global or local — and bright, young minds are invited to “unleash” their creative and innovative ideas to find solutions. This online challenge, launched in October, will run through and beyond Global Entrepreneurship Week. Some challenges offer cash prizes of up to $200,000!
Global Innovation Tournament
The Global Innovation Tournament is an "Apprentice-style" competition open to student teams around the world. Local hosts will conduct the competition in their respective areas and submit local winners to Stanford University, who will then judge and select global winners. Any student can register to participate at http://eweek.stanford.edu/global2008/signup.fft The tournament will launch on Nov 12, when the mystery item will be announced. Submissions will be due Nov 17. Local winners will be announced November 19 and global winners on December 5. To get participants excited, we invite all host organizations to screen a 15-minute preview of the second edition of the acclaimed documentary film, Imagine It! on November 12. It will also be available for viewing online; the full documentary will debut in early 2009. It captures the dreams and excitement of the last two Innovation Tournaments and features numerous students from around the world. The film's host is television star and Last Comic Standing Season 6 winner, Iliza Shlesinger.
Mad Mentor
The New York Stock Exchange, one of the Week’s global sponsors, will host Mentoring Madness at 10 a.m., Friday, Nov. 21. It will feature Russell Simmons and other successful entrepreneurs discussing how they got their start and what challenges they faced and advising the next generation of entrepreneurs. Alexis Glick from Fox News will moderate the discussions, and students in the audience will have an opportunity to ask the entrepreneurs questions. The event will be Web cast at www.unleashingideas.org
Lunch and Learn
Sponsored by the Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence, “Take an Entrepreneur to Lunch” is designed to connect aspiring entrepreneurs with someone who has successfully made the entrepreneurial journey. Each participant will be asked to identify a local entrepreneur in his or her area who has qualities he or she admires, then schedule a 30-minute meeting, interview that person and submit an entrepreneurial hero nomination. Once all nominations have been collected, 100 individuals will be named semi-finalists and selected to create a short story about their nominee. Semi-finalists will receive $250 for their educational expenses. From the nominations, 25 entrepreneurs will be chosen as heroes. With permission, their stories will be published and shared across America to inspire others. Finalists will receive an expenses-paid invitation to attend the 2009 Acton Entrepreneurial Journey Summit in Austin, Texas. Click here to access the registration forms or to learn more about the activity
Speed Network the Globe
As one of the signature activities of Global Entrepreneurship Week, join countries across the world that are Speed Networking to unleash energy, share ideas and make connections – fast. Speed Networking provides the opportunity for everyone to meet new people or find out new things about people they already know. Speed Networking is a very simple format – it involves only a whistle and at least 20 people. When the whistle is blown, everyone has to find someone to talk to. Every 3 minutes the whistle is blown, signaling that everyone has to talk to someone new. Speed Networking online with people in different parts of the world via webcams and Skype will make it even more interesting! Be part of something big, as people all over the world start talking ideas to address some of society’s biggest issues. Speed Networking is a fun, high energy way to connect people. Every participant will create a new network of useful contacts. Speed Networking is the easiest way to get connected – fast! Speed Network the Globe will take place on November 19 from 12:00 – 1:00 in the Appalachian Room of Geary Student Union.
Ten Thousand Villages Festival Sale
One day all artisans in developing countries will earn a fair wage, be treated with dignity and respect, and be able to live a life of quality. Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. The University of Charleston will be hosting a Ten Thousand Villages Festival Sale on campus November 17-21. Beautiful handmade art and craft items will be for sale to the general public, with proceeds going back to the artisans in the country of origin. Students may participate in a variety of activities in preparation for the event as well as during and after the sale.
Global Experts Panel Discussion
Come listen to a panel of experts, including several entrepreneurs in West Virginia who have penetrated the global market with great success. Their insights into what it takes to enter the market and compete on such a grand scale will be inspiring to anyone interested in starting or expanding a business. The panel discussion will be held on November 20 from 12:00 – 1:00 in the Rotunda of Riggleman Hall.
World’s Largest Friendship Bracelet
Unleash your creative spirit today by sending in friendship bracelets that reflect your school colors, your state flag, or simply your favorite combination of string. The BizWorld Foundation will connect all the bracelets together and auction the bracelet off on December 2, 2008 with all proceeds going to support and enhance BizWorld programs. All schools and organizations submitting bracelets will be entered into a drawing for prizes ranging from a pizza party to a $300 AmEx gift card.
Viral Marketing: Run Your Own Show
Here’s an opportunity to run your own show and send your entrepreneurial idea or message out to the world. Gather fellow students and/or entrepreneurs and produce a short 1-3 minute video of them talking about entrepreneurship or performing a skit on entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, submit the individual short clips to YouTube and harness the power of viral marketing to ignite interest in entrepreneurship.
Video Mania
Thanks to the advent of online video capability, a variety of resources, insights, latest news and best practices is now available to anyone with internet access. Go to any of the websites of participating sponsors of Global Entrepreneurship Week to view one or many of the free entrepreneurship related videos available. Here are a few to choose from…
http://www.kauffman.org
http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/index.html
http://www.ibm.com
http://www.ey.com/growth
http://www.nyseeuronext.com
