Emerge 2011 Fast Approaching... 09/19/2011
So we are entering the final planning stages for emerge2011 and, as every year, it looks like its going to be even bigger and better than the last. The conference has gone from strength to strength and this year we’ve been inundated with speaking requests from some of the worlds best and brightest. Aside from the almost obligatory lineup of over 40 inspiring speakers coming to us from across the globe, workshops from some luminaries in the field and hacking to your heart's content, this year has yet more in store. This year Emerge is partnering with Dell who will be delivering their Social Innovation Competition over the weekend climaxing in a final pitching event on the Saturday night at Student Hubs' very own Turl Street Kitchen. Attendees will have the opportunity to enter the event as they register, and we have high hopes and a few treats in store for the winners. On top of this, Sunday lunch of this year’s event will see the hosting of our very first Emerge Marketplace in which attendees will get the opportunity to sample the produce of some of the incredible enterprises currently operating in the UK. If you came to emerge last year then you’re probably already registering. If you didn’t, why not check out this video from last year? After that, get yourself and all your mates registered. You won’t regret it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEcG8-Z7hYo Add Comment Reflections on Emerge 2010 12/03/2010
"While science may lead you to truth, only imagination can lead you to meaning." Tim Smit during his keynote at Emerge Emerge 2010 brought together some of the most incredible social entrepreneurs from around the globe. Tim Smit (founder of the Eden Project), Bunker Roy (founder of Barefoot College) and many others convened in Oxford on 27/28 November 2010 to share their stories and lessons with students from across the UK, Europe and the USA. What we learned over the weekend made us imagine a different future together. We heard about the challenges of delivering basic services to the bottom billion from the likes of Joe Mediath (Gram Vikas) and Jack Sim (World Toilet Organization), learned about driving change from within large companies, debated the impact of microfinance, and engaged in discussion about how to raise startup capital and to create a brand for new social ventures. The magic took place in and out of sessions - attendees and speakers alike were engaged by each other's passion and interest and many connections were built throughout the weekend. There was overwhelmingly positive feedback (one attendee remarked "Bunker for President!"). To get a snippet of the weekend, we recommend the following blog entries by some of our attendees and speakers: 1) Ken Banks on Emerge. 2) Tim Smit's video message to the young generation. 3) Paul Cheng of Venturesome. 4) Reflections from Sandbox. 5) Social Compass Blog on Emerge. A big thank you to all our speakers and participants, as well as to our sponsors! We hope to see you at Emerge next year! The Emerge Team Am I Investable? 11/28/2010
Probably not, but after this session, I'm one step closer to being investable. One of the first steps that Anya Navidski of Jumpstart-Up pointed out, investors are looking to see if you have any traction behind a venture. They want to see proof of concept, even if it's just $50 sales of books out of your closet, like it was for Xavier Helgesen, Co-founder of Better World Books. The workshop went back and forth between Anya's point of view as an investor and Xavier's experience from taking investment funding for Better World Books -- mixing practice with theory. "If you go to an investor seeking money, you'll get advice; if you go seeking advice, you'll get money." A few takeaways from this energetic session: Investors want you to have clarity over your ideas > a 50 page business plan. Once you have clarity over your ideas and you begin taking small steps forward -- celebrate and don't forget your small victories. If your venture does not offer commercial rate returns be sure to negotiate the value of your social impact. And a final take away for impact investments -- use metrics on 2-3 of your most important impact areas to demonstrate your impact to your investors and to the world Investing for Impact 11/27/2010
You could feel the excitement in the room -- no seats were left, the audience spilled into the aisles. Money, or at least a breakout session on social investing, naturally attracts ambitious students. SOCAP for students When Jonathan Jenkins of Unltd was introducing himself, he made it clear that there were two Unltd staff members in the room ready to make investments in social enterprises. Suzanne Biegel, Caroline Tulloch, and Lars Johansen joined Jonathan to discuss the dynamic field of social investment and tell students how to get involved. The panel of investors described the landscape of social investing, and pushed the following points that energized the crowd: We say 'no' to 1,000s of entrepreneurs... As investors, they find themselves saying no to ventures ventures that lack 1. A management team -- investors carefully look at your team 2. Know your numbers -- do your homework, provide investors with evidence for your profitability 3. Understand your market 4. Coachability -- don't defend your venture to death, show that you are willing to learn The field is dynamic While conversations about how to measure impact, return on investment, or develop standards in the field, social investing is here to stay. There are many ways to get involved and much of the talk encouraged students to consider the following qualities that firms look for in emerging student leaders: 1. Willing to work (hard) 2. Do not allow their own bias get in the way -- take the stakeholder bias 3. Have a personal story to go along with their resume 4. Have diverse experience, not just an MBA in finance 5. Can handle many, high-level relationships The bottom line coming out of this session is that the wave of social investing is happening now and 5 years from now it will have peaked. Those of us lucky enough to be in this panel received insight into this field directly from practicing leaders. Charmain Love's Top 10 11/27/2010
Charmain Love is the CEO of Volans, a mission driven, for-profit think-tank/consultancy/broker. As part of the DO IT, "Breaking into the Sector" breakout session she gave direct advice to students entering into a career in social enterprise. Her top 10 list for starting a career in the field: 1. Never say 'no' 2. Balance your work & life 3. Where shoes, not sandals (be professional) 4. Surround yourself by smart, inspiring people willing to teach you 5. Collaborate and partner with others 6. Avoid analysis paralysis 7. Empathy -- learn from those that you hope to benefit 8. Use a positive "glass half full" perspective 9. Think about your legacy -- how will the world be better 10. Aim, shoot, fire -- know your target before you fire Skoll Emerge 2010 begins... 11/27/2010
The tone for Emerge 2010 was set by Liam Black's opening keynote address this morning. Despite snow flurries and frost outside, hundreds of students came in early to hear Liam open with a frank conversation (his dress of blue jeans and plaid shirt as proof) about how social entrepreneurship is about passion, ambition, and commercial ability of ideas. His address made it clear that Emerge is not about defining the field of social entrepreneurship, or other arguments better left for academics. After being introduced by one of the leading academics in social entrepreneurship, Pamela Hartigan, Liam quickly made the disclaimer, "you won't get any academic theory from me" in front of an audience of students from all over the world, Oxford MBAs, and practitioners in the field. He went on to set the tone of the conference by speaking on the importance of tapping into "the unacknowledged talent of young people." His practical advise is reflected in the line up of speakers that are almost all practitioners the field. Every breakout session at Emerge 2010 falls into one of the three categories: LEARN IT, INNOVATION; DO IT, CAREERS; and BUILD IT, SKILLS. It appears that this conference is about getting students out of their classrooms and into the social enterprise field. Emerge is one of those events that sees a tremendous amount of energy unfold when its participants and speakers get together and start sharing experiences. It is the kind of event that energises you for weeks to come and inspires to do great things. And the kind which you always hope you had some way of documenting in a way that preserves its unique character. It is in thinking about this that the Emerge Team conceived the Emerge Blog Competition, and we are pleased to announce or three winners, who will be reporting in real time on this blog straight from our conference!!! 1) Twitter-Entry Winner: @socialcompass (Will Skillman) 2) Blog-Entry Winner #1: Ian Carter, University of Colorado (AshokaU Campus). Read his entry: Now, more than ever, young adults are characteristically impatient, hard to please, and acutely aware of the issues throughout their communities. All three of these characteristics are vital in explaining the unique opportunity that this generation has to systemically change the world. Youth today are impatient, and as a result, are unwilling to wait for others to address the issues and opportunities for improvement across their communities. We are not satisfied with slow or minor improvements. Instead, we demand substantial change. Because we do not care to wait for others to improve things for us, Youth are taking the lead and creating social innovations and enterprises around the world to lead the charge towards a better world. There are countless examples of this generation creating social impact. Led by AshokaU, university campuses throughout the United States are being transformed to educate beyond the textbook, creating opportunities for real world application and empowering youth to become involved in social enterprise. The tide has turned, and traditional businesses are now expected to have social benefits. Large examples of this include the Pepsi Refresh project, the legal infrastructure of L3Cs and “For Benefit” Corporations, and the increased focus on CSR. The characteristics of this generation will continue to define us and will result in continuing social impact across sectors, ideology and geography. We are Changemakers. We are the Millennial Generation. 3) Blog-Entry Winner #2: Michael Youngblood, George Mason University (AshokaU Campus). Read his entry: In generations past, leaders faced many of the same issues we face today. Today’s generation of emerging leaders, however, is making social impact through novel efforts that create social value in places where it previously did not existed. Economist measure it, authors write about it, policy makers try to replicate it, and academics study it, but this generation of emerging leaders is out there – in the field – actively changing the world through efforts that start with an idea and ends in the most fundamental principle that defines history: social change. The social impact they create is different in shape, accessibility and reach from previous generations. First, its shape is deep and systemic. This generation is challenging the root cause of problems, and thereby creating social impact that snowballs through entire systems. Second, accessibility is a defining feature of today’s emerging leaders. The generation of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet learned to make a career out of money, and then, in the minute chance of success, consider creating social impact with their wealth. Today’s emerging leaders are defining their entire careers through social impact. Last, the reach of social impact is further today than ever before. Today’s emerging leaders are entering an economy that is truly global in reach; an economy where, for the first time in human history, every person on earth will enter the global market. Today’s emerging leaders understand this, and they are using it as an opportunity to create social impact on a global scale. Emerge09 alumnus Alex Handy about his society Beyond Profit and his expectations for Emerge10 11/03/2010
This guest post is written by Alex Handy, a student social entrepreneur at Cambridge University. My name is Alex Handy and I’m a student at Cambridge University. My involvement in Social Enterprise primarily comes in two forms. I run a student society called Beyond Profit which helps students either find a career or start an enterprise in social and sustainable business. I have also help set up a business plan competition for students in Rwanda called the African Innovation Prize. All this has happened since and in part because of Emerge 2009. I came to the conference last November seeking to learn about the practical next steps of launching my ideas. It has often troubled me that sometimes the ideas of aspiring social entrepreneurs can seem so far-fetched that locating the tangible next step can appear almost impossible. What greeted me at Emerge was not just practical support but the genuine sense of a collective movement. I must admit I am naturally quite cynical towards contrived forms of interaction but what really impressed me about Emerge was that no one had to try too hard. Speakers were approachable, workshops were relaxed, ‘networking’ was not a chore. As a 19 year old undergraduate with no business background to feel this relaxed and accepted at a conference is an asset I hope the social business community never loses. What about Emerge 2010? On a personal level I am excited about building Beyond Profit’s collaboration with Oxford. I expect to be inspired and informed by the people I meet and hope that in return I can somehow help those looking to make the next step into social and sustainable business. On a broader level I hope to find further evidence of a critical mass being reached in the rapidly growing social enterprise community. It seems almost every student I now meet whether an entrepreneur or young professional actively seeks to have a positive social impact in some form. Transforming the enthusiasm of our generation into effective mechanisms for change is a task Emerge can play a central role in. For more information about Beyond Profit do take a look at www.beyondprofit.org.uk and sign up to our weekly newsletter for regular updates. Also feel free to drop me an email at alex@beyondprofit.org.uk. Win a free ticket to 2010 Emerge Conference! 10/25/2010
We’re giving away 3 free tickets to students who can blog, tweet, video blog, photograph and capture the energy and excitement of the Emerge Conference. Sound like you? Here’s how to enter: Three Ways to Win 1) The Twitter Entry Simply click here or tweet the following: I am a student social entrepreneur and I want to win a ticket to the 2010 Emerge Conference! #Emerge10 You can tweet up to two times per day. Each tweet is an entry to win. We’ll randomly draw one winner. All tweets must have the #Emerge10 hashtag included. 2) The Written Entry Submit your thoughts on how this generation of emerging leaders is creating social impact. You can write your thoughts on your own blog and send the link to us, or submit it as a comment below. No more than 250 words please! Click here to enter. 3) AshokaU Changemaker Campus Entry Are you part of an AshokaU Changemakers Campus? If so, we’ve got an extra spot for you! We’re partnering with AshokaU to offer a third spot exclusively to students at an AshokaU partner University. Submit a written entry as described in point 2 above for your chance to win. Entries close November 5th, 2010. Winners will be announced by November 10th, 2010. Good luck and hope to see you at Emerge! The fine print
Bunker Roy, Founder of Barefoot College and selected as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time Magazine: With his abiding compassion for the rural poor in his native India, Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, 64, has nurtured a grass-roots social entrepreneurship that is redefining the way the world thinks about fighting poverty. Roy's Barefoot College has trained more than 3 million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs. This bottom-up approach is designed to make poor students feel comfortable. The college's "barefoot professionals" then return home to use their new skills — as solar engineers, teachers, midwives, weavers, architects, doctors and more. Roy combines humanitarianism, entrepreneurship and education to help people steer their own path out of poverty, fostering dignity and self-determination along the way. His simple formula holds a key to what nations and aid organizations might do to build a more just world. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1985478,00.html#ixzz12pZlgufl Barry and Andrea Coleman, Founders of Riders For Health featured in the New York Times: Riders for Health, a British-based organization founded by a husband and wife team, Barry and Andrea Coleman. The idea began in 1988, during a visit by the American motorcycle racing star Randy Mamola to Somalia. Mamola had given a sizeable donation to Save the Children, and had been invited to see its work in person. He asked Andrea Coleman, who did public relations work for him and helped him raise money for charity, to come along. She had young children and declined, but suggested Mamola take her husband, Barry, who wrote about motorcycle racing for The Guardian newspaper.It was the first of several trips for Mamola and the Colemans. In Somalia, they saw a woman in distressed labor being pushed towards the health clinic in a wheelbarrow. They visited villages and heard that no one had ever come to vaccinate children. Yet they also saw a graveyard of dead motorcycles and ambulances behind the clinic, some of them discarded for want of a $3 part and a little know-how. “Some of them were relatively new,” said Andrea Coleman. “This was crazy. It’s been 100 years since the internal combustion engine was invented and nobody knew how to deal with these vehicles. What a waste of money and lives.” Today the Colemans run Riders. Read more: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/health-care-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/?hp |
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