National e-Week
Students mingle with business founders and peers at WPI Venture Forum and other CEI entrepreneurship events
Celebrating American Entrepreneurship Heritage across the USA
The WPI Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Gordon Library will host several business-related events Feb 20-24 across campus. Please stay tuned for upcoming event descriptions. The events below are from our last celebration in February 2011. They offer the flavor of the weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship.
Please register in advance for all events so that we may provide enough materials and food.
What is National Entrepreneurship Week?
In 2006 the US Congress established the need for National Entrepreneurship Week as a celebration of American entrepreneurs and the lifelong learning opportunities that prepare the NEW business leaders of the future. Read the US Congress Resolution. The founder of this great celebration is the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education.
Christine Drew,
Associate Director
Instruction and Outreach
WPI Gordon Library
PAST FEBRUARY 2011 EVENTS
MONDAY, February 21, 2011
12:00-12:55 p.m. - lunch included
WPI Gordon Library - Anderson Lab A
Christine Drew, Associate Director, Instruction and Outreach
Company Research
Co-sponsored by the Library and the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, learn about COMPANY RESEARCH tools such as Hoovers, LexisNexis Academic > Business, and other databases which are useful for business plans, finding competitors, and more.
Pizza lunch provided by the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
limit of 20 seats
William Scaglione
President
ProfitVu Software
TUESDAY, February 22, 2011
11:00-12:55 p.m. - presentation and working lunch
Campus Center - Mid-Century Room
William Scaglione, President, ProfitVu Software
Executive Summary Workshop
An effective Executive Summary is one of the best ways to attract the attention of potential investors and people who can refer you to investors. The challenge is to distill essential parts of your business plan into an attractive, descriptive one page summary.
Carefully examining the purpose of each section, Bill will explain what investors will be looking for. He will also share two different formats for consideration. If you have a Business Plan, please bring it along as a guide. If not, this exercise will help you develop an outline for your business plan.
Preparing an Executive Summary is like writing a resume. There are several acceptable formats. If possible, please search the Internet and come prepared to offer alternative suggestions to those that are presented. This will be a great opportunity to get your 'sales' materials in order. A working lunch will be provided.
limit of 24 seats
Scott Hopkinson, P.E.
Arch Convergence Inc.
TUESDAY, February 22, 2011
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Campus Center - Mid-Century Room
Scott Hopkinson, P.E., Arch Convergence Inc.
Start-up Veteran Shares Perspectives on New Ventures
Scott Hopkinson is a veteran of several start-ups including spin-ins, consulting services, product development and most recently spin-out of enterprise core networking equipment from a multi-billion, multi-national. He will share his perspectives on the various approaches to a new business venture.
Mr. Hopkinson is a registered professional engineer and experienced system and integrated circuit designer. Mr. Hopkinson was one of the Q-Logic and Emulex (micro-devices) founders and he has managed a consulting service in the northeast for the past five years.
limit of 24 seats
Lisa Hamaker
Principal
Kaliday Marketing
WEDNESDAY, February 23, 2011
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - lunch included
Campus Center, Mid-Century Room
Lisa Hamaker, Principal, Kaliday Marketing
Beyond the Triple Bottom Line: Conscious Capitalism
Do you trust today's business institutions? Would you like to? Conscious Capitalism (CC) believes that a more evolved form of capitalism provides excellent corporate performance while simultaneously advancing the quality of life for billions of people. Today's best companies already GET IT. From Zappos to Whole Foods & Patagonia to Google they are generating every form of value that matters: social, emotional, and financial--for all their stakeholders, not just Wall Street. And, not because it is politically correct or for a headline; they are doing it because it is the ultimate path to long-term success for their organization, the communities they live in, our planet, and all the people associated with the company.
In this workshop you will learn the why the time has come for Conscious Capitalism, understand the basic tenets, and gain ideas for implementing CC ideas today and for the long-term.
About Lisa Hamaker
Lisa Hamaker, principal of Kaliday Marketing, brings more than 20 years of experience to helping you have the best offerings and most effective communications with your customers. She has a passion for doing what best meets your needs and the needs of your customers. From her work in marketing, sales and as a coach in "Solution Selling™" workshops she can quickly evaluate product offerings from a customer perspective and help you to effectively reach your customers and prospects. With a background in electronic design, marketing and sales for hardware and software companies, she brings a combination of technical and people skills to enhance your business successes.
limit of 24 seats
Christine Drew
Associate Director
Instruction and Outreach
WPI Gordon Library
WEDNESDAY, February 23, 2011
12:00-1:00 p.m. - Get to Know Your Competition (pizza included)
1:00-2:00 - Get to Know Your Market (pizza included)
Gordon Library Conference Room 303
Christine Drew, Associate Director, Instruction and Outreach
Business Plan Research: Get to Know Your Competition
Learn research tools and strategies to find information about your competition as well as how to benchmark using industry standards. Co-sponsored by the Library and WPI's Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, learn basic resources and research strategies for creating a business plan.
Business Plan Research: Get to Know Your Market
Learn research tools and strategies to find information about your industry, target market, and potential customers. Pizza and beverages provided by CEI. Co-sponsored by the Library and WPI's Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, learn basic resources and research strategies for creating a business plan.
INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION Please register for each workshop you want to attend!
Laura M. Foley
Principal
Laura M. Foley Design
WEDNESDAY, February 23, 2011
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Campus Center, Hagglund Room
Laura Foley— Laura M. Foley Design
Cheating Death by PowerPoint - Keeping Your Audience Awake, Alert, and Responsive
Have you ever sat through a boring PowerPoint presentation where the speaker basically reads the slides to you, or the colors are so loud they give you a headache, or there is so much stuff packed onto each slide that you don't even know what's going on? Or maybe you're guilty of creating your own bad PowerPoint...? If you want to avoid making "Death by PowerPoint" presentations, this workshop is for you. This discussion of PowerPoint design will help you transform your presentations into powerful marketing tools.
In this 60-minute workshop you'll learn about some common PowerPoint mistakes and how to avoid them. You'll also learn how to create effective leave-behinds that will reinforce your message long after your presentation is done. At the end of the workshop, you'll view some PowerPoint presentations and use your new skills to brainstorm ways to make them better.
Here's what past attendees thought of "Cheating Death by PowerPoint":
"Bravo, Laura! Your presentation was very professional and eye opening! Funny, after leaving your talk, I then attended another that was 57 slides of black-and-white bullets. The guy read the slides to us, with a couple of interjections for emphasis. Yawn! Thanks for the tips!"
— Jim Girouard, Sr. Program Development Manager, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
"Laura pointed out some striking examples of what I should avoid in order to better connect with my audience using visual media. As someone who prepares hundreds of slides each semester for students and other professionals, my approach has changed dramatically, and I am seeing the results develop in making connections!"
— Walter Towner, Certified Financial Planner, TD Corsair, Towner & Co.
About Laura Foley
Your instructor, Laura Foley, has been improving PowerPoint presentations since 1989 for organizations such as Atlas Venture, Kodiak Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and Tufts New England Medical Center. As the principal of Laura M. Foley Design, she helps her clients communicate their messages with effective corporate branding and marketing materials.
limit of 35 people
Allison Chisolm
Founder
Choice Words/Chisolm & Co.
THURSDAY, February 24, 2011
12:00-1:00 p.m. - lunch included
Campus Center, Chairman's Room
Allison Chisolm, Choice Words/Chisolm & Co.
Chew on Some News - A lunchtime workshop on how to write a press release that grabs attention -- and gets published
Are you starting a new company or an organization? Do you have great news to announce to the world? Bring your business or organization's news ideas -- and see what we can accomplish in the space of an hour. Or, just come and learn how the world of press releases works.
Veteran public relations writer Allison Chisolm has been drafting press releases for corporate, academic and non-profit clients since 1984. While the news business has drastically changed, the business of generating news remains timeless. Everyone has a story to tell. Finding the right audience for that story is the challenge – and the opportunity.
Come to this workshop on crafting a message the press can't ignore. Learn the essential ingredients for a press release and other ways to attract media attention. Leave with some ideas to chew on to shape your news that is worth sharing with the world.
About Allison Chisolm
Allison Chisolm has generated award-winning writing for business, healthcare and educational institutions. She founded her public relations company, Choice Words/Chisolm & Co. in 1996. Allison previously was an editor with Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. She began her career with Ogilvy Adams & Rinehart, where she served corporate and financial public relations clients in both New York and London.
limit of 24 people
Jerry Snee, Jr.
President
Squidget, Inc.
Friday, February 25, 2011
1:00-2:00 p.m. (lunch included)
Campus Center - Chairman's Room
Jerry Snee, Jr., President, Squidget, Inc.
To Sales Pitch or Not to Sales Pitch - And It Better Be Remarkable
This high energy and interactive program will address the following topics and provide some real life examples from Mr. Snee's personal experience as an entrepreneur,
- What makes a Sales Pitch work and what makes for an effective '30 Second Elevator Speech'?
- How can you leverage your Sales Pitch across multiple target audiences and why invest money in Rich Text Media for your Sales Pitch?
Participants will get the opportunity to share their own '30 Second Elevator Speech' on a product of their own choice. Participants will get the opportunity in teams to leverage their Sales Pitch across two or more target audiences. Participants should come prepared with their own 'new product idea' and some 'market research' on who is their target audience to get the most out of this interactive session.
About Jerry Snee, Jr.
President & CEO of Squidget, Inc., Jerry had also previously founded a successful consulting firm called Pegasus Training Systems, Inc. Squidget, Inc. provides a unique device which addresses the issue of non-productive or self-destructive fidgeting. Mr. Snee's previous firm provided Leadership Training, Sales Training and Teambuilding. He has spent over three decades is Sales, Sales Management, Marketing, Teaching and Organizational Coaching.
limit 24 people REGISTER
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Last modified: February 24, 2011 15:06:53