Kent Round One

Seven student groups presented their ideas for their Student Led Volunteering Projects.  The candidates were of a very high standard, and the Dragons (three from BAE Systems, one from the Heart of Kent Hospice) faced a tough decision in where the £250 would go. 

The Dragons decided to split the prize money, Stefany Duah and Aileen Lifa (SSPSSR) won £200 to take their art scheme forward with the WRVS in Chatham, and £50 was awarded to Patsy Amadi (Social Work) to start her ´Medway Right to Read´ scheme. 

Back row left to right: Maryam Abdolhossein-Mazrei, Tamara Amobi, David Woolley, Ethan Sacré.  Bottom row left to right: Caroline Walsh, Stefany Duah, Aileen Lifa, Sherwin Joseph.

Many congratulations to all those who entered.

Winners of the University of Kent BIG Ideas Competition were awarded at last Network612 of the year on Thursday 7^th April at Canterbury Innovation Centre.

The judges had a very difficult job in Canterbury, and in the end decided to divide the prize between three candidates, with a cheque of £1500 to each. By a whisker, they decided that the winner’s certificate should go to Jack Kemp, who had an innovative docking station, which allowed you to play sound through any receiver wirelessly. Jack had a prototype to show the judges and they were very impressed with the idea.

The other two runners up were Ella Corner for her business Belle Vintage  

and Seema Argwaal, a budding entrepreneur in the music industry, with her new start-up Resonance Music. All the judges commented on the passion of the three winners, and how entrepreneurial they all were.

In Medway, the judges also had an extremely difficult job, but eventually decided on a winner and runner up. The winners were Nicola Gough and Sue Bagnall, who had developed a CPD programme for dental nurses

 The students will use the prize money of £3000 to develop their website.

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A wonderful social enterprise won the runners-up cheque of £2000, which was awarded to Betsy Aidinyantz. She has developed a project with a commercial partner to produce an innovative new planter called Greenstack, which employs and trains disenfranchised people from the local Medway community.

 The judges also commended the eco friendly ideas from Vincent Read, whom they awarded a special prize of £500 to help him develop his ideas in more depth.

Student Enterprise Officer, Tracy Crowther says ‘Going through the process of committing your idea to paper, following the application template, having an opportunity to present ideas in front of a panel of expert judges is a great experience, and a very useful skill in the employability market.

It was great to have so many entrants this year – and we look forward to next year’s competition in 2012!’

The Hult Global Case Challenge is an international case idea competition open to undergraduates and graduates around the world.  In partnership with Water.org this competition offers the opportunity for a team of up to 5 students to find innovative solutions for the global clean water crisis and present it in New York City in the Global finals on April 28^th 2011.

As today’s water issues have become a problem of access, rather than of scarcity, the theme will focus around innovations in clean water supply. Although leading business schools have already entered the competition and will be competing in the regional finals, your team can still submit an entry online starting with the 5^th of March 2011.

 After the case is distributed, all you need to do is upload a video on Youtube with your team and a business plan with your recommended solutions.  The online winner will be announced on March 21^st, 2011 and will win an all-expense paid trip to the New York finals where US President Bill Clinton will be handing out the award. Moreover, a prize of US$ 1mn will be donated from the Clinton Foundation towards implementing your solution.

The competition is fairly flexible in terms of entry rules: you can either enter it as an individual or as a team of up to 5 members and not all members need to be from the same university. Although the competition is tough as many top MBA students have already entered, last years’ winner was a group of 2^nd year students from Imperial.  More information is available on http://hultglobalcasechallenge.com/index.html  and or their Facebook page: Hult Global Case Challenge.

Tuesday 30^th November, 18:00 – 19:00

Richard Francis from Make Ur Move will be discussing his business and his journey to where he is now.

Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/638924113

Getting Free Advertising
Wed 1st December, 18:00 – 19:00

Dan will be showing you different techniques for marketing your business with little or no cash.

Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/500646568

Guerrilla Marketing
Mon 6th December, 18:00-19:00

As growing businesses, Guerrilla Marketing is great to help promote yourself. Guerrilla Marketing favours smaller businesses as they are more agile.  This show will help you to create a creative Guerrilla Marketing campaign can create great buzz on your business.

Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/457560752

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Barry Cotgrave, creator of Mediterranean Direct Ltd, importers and distributors of Italian gourmet products, will be sharing his experiences in managing the challenges faced by young businesses.

Based in Whitstable, Kent, and Bologna, Italy, Mediterranean Direct Ltd is a young company specialising in the import and distribution of high quality, artisan produced Italian food and wine. Founded over a good bottle of San Giovese on a balmy Appennini night, the business is driven by a passion for authentic Italian cuisine.

Each of their products is individually handpicked by the Italian-based team, led by
Umberto Carboni (renowned chef).

Refreshments will be available.

An opportunity to come and talk with like minded people about business ideas and developments, and to enjoy a relaxing drink.