Today, Melissa Gerrow talks about the exciting Student Enterprise Conference coming up this weekend. Melissa is a 4th year BBA student currently completing a Co-op placement within the Department of Business & Tourism. She plays a crucial role helping to organize events including the Caritas Day food drive and this semester's Career Week.
_________________________________________________________
Social Enterprise for a Day - Defining a new form of success!
The Social Enterprise for a Day Conference is right around
the corner and I couldn’t be more excited!
MSVU’s Department of Business and Tourism, along with CEED
and the Norman Newman Centre for Entrepreneurship at Dalhousie, have
collaborated to create a hands-on, multi-day event to teach students about
social enterprise.
On Friday, Feb 3rd and Saturday, Feb 4th, students from Mount Saint Vincent
University, Dalhousie University, the Nova Scotia Community College, and some Halifax
Regional Municipal High Schools will all be focused on redefining what it means
for business enterprises to achieve success. What a fantastic opportunity for
networking! Student teams will engage in an intense, but friendly weekend
competition. Their goal – to create the best possible social enterprise, one
that works on multiple levels: financially, environmentally, and one that
invests socially in their region.
Why is social enterprise important? An entrepreneur’s
success is generally measured financially, by dollars and return on investment.
But social entrepreneurs take a ‘big picture’ perspective, looking at how the
outcomes of their ventures improve communities. They consider how a business
idea can play a positive role on society and make our world a better place.
As a business student, it is easy to get lost in the numbers
and the rat race of getting ahead of the competition, in earning more revenue
or making greater profits. Perhaps this focus is short sighted and we complain
about issues within our community when, as potential future entrepreneurs, we
could be doing something about them.
Sometimes the best ideas come from the sources closest to us.
Take our Friday night conference keynote speaker, Mr. Ben Barry as an example.
He was only 14 years old when he started his modeling agency in his parents
basement, all because a friend of his was told she was “too big” to be a model.
Challenging this barrier, Mr. Barry took matters into his own hands. He began sending
out her photos, building a business around the images of real women. That is
how the successful Ben Barry Agency developed to now have a client list that
includes: Holt Renfrew, The Gap, Macys, and Armani. Mr. Barry has won a laundry
list of awards including, the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award and
the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for his
leadership in advancing the equality of Canadian women. He has also been the spotlight
of many conversations around business and social matters, including interviews
with Fashion Television, CNN, and Oprah Winfrey.
I am ready to be inspired by Mr. Barry’s journey. It’s not
every day I get to meet a successful business and fashion icon- not to mention
meet someone who is been on the Oprah Winfrey Show!
“The best part about being successful is you can carry forth
your ethics and values and let them make an impact on the world you live in.
And when you see their impact taking effect, that’s what’s incredible and
that’s a cool job.”
–Ben Barry, speaking on the Oprah Winfrey Show
Mr Barry will kick off Social Enterprise for a Day Conference
this Friday night. After that, the students will be divided into groups to
compete against each other for the best social enterprise idea. Putting our
heads together on Friday night, we are bound to come up with some great ideas.
On Saturday, we get to hit the streets of Halifax, putting our
social enterprise concepts into action! At the end of the day, we meet back at
Mount Saint Vincent University for the judging and a debriefing.
This weekend will be exciting and energizing. I know there
will be lots to learn. I know that I’ll meet some great people, and I’m
positive that everyone will have a lot of fun.
This conference is an event that you don’t want to miss!
Want to follow along with all the action? Look up #SE4D on
Twitter for all the action.
Submitted by Melissa Gerrow
BBA Co-op
_________________________________________________________
Do
you have a story you would like to share with the B&T community? We
would love to hear from you: students, faculty, alumni or any community
stakeholders connected to the program. Drop us an email with your idea!
No comments:
Post a Comment