Entrepreneurship Socity at the University of Notre Dame

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1st Annual Notre Dame Conference for Entrepreneurial Leadership

The Notre Dame Entrepreneurship Society plans to host The Notre Dame Conference for Entrepreneurial Leadership in partnership with the Mendoza College of Business and the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, as an opportunity for Notre Dame students to discuss leadership through the lens of entrepreneurship in a collegiate setting with students, educators, and business professionals.

Harvard, Babson, Northwestern, and Stanford are just a few of the national entrepreneurship powerhouses that host prominent conferences in order to foster entrepreneurialism. Now, the Notre Dame community wants a piece of the action. The proposed conference will take place during the weekend of the annual Notre Dame McCloskey Business Plan Competition in the spring of 2009 (April). The Conference will include a Keynote Speaker, breakout sessions, mingling sessions, possible competitions, and panels of speakers on different topics including Intellectual Property, Innovation, Sports Business, Venture Capital, Real Estate, Corporate Strategy, Leadership Issues of the Future, Employee Engagement, etc. The Conference is intended to be marketed to the Business School and the entire university at large. Attendance by other surrounding universities business organizations / entrepreneurship chapters (Indiana, Purdue, Michigan, Northwestern, Miami OH, etc.) will be highly encouraged.

As the culminating event of "Entrepreneurship Week" at Notre Dame, this event would incorporate Notre Dame Students & faculty, finalists from Notre Dame's own business plan competition, visiting entrepreneurship clubs from top-tier universities, and business professionals who have considerable experience and knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurial leadership. Such an event will bring national attention to the university's already highly acclaimed business program, highlighting the business school's support for providing its students with access to educational opportunities concerning entrepreneurship, a value that has long been a part of the Notre Dame spirit. Even the words of Notre Dame's first president, Father Edward Sorin, in his letter to Blessed Basile Moreau, "This college will be one of the most powerful means for doing good in this country," memorably embody the entrepreneurial zeal of our university's founders. It is the standard operating procedure at the University of Notre Dame, that if an endeavor is worth undertaking, then it is also worth striving to be the best in that endeavor.

In such a high-caliber educational setting, the Notre Dame Entrepreneurship Society knows that it will flourish and grow, and The Notre Dame Conference for Entrepreneurial Leadership will be a vehicle for promoting entrepreneurship on campus through an engaging and exciting agenda with high educational value for students of every academic background. This event will also help to foster dialogue and strategic partnerships with other universities and their entrepreneurship clubs. A conservative estimate of the potential cost of this event would be $7,500, covering refreshments and lunch, literature, lodging and meal expenses for speakers, tour guide wages, photographer fees, and other similar expenses.

Hosting a national conference for those passionate about entrepreneurship would be a milestone for the entrepreneurship program at Notre Dame, the Mendoza College of Business, and The Notre Dame Entrepreneurship Society. This event would be sure to garner interest among the student body, and promote discussion about innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. This may quite well prove to be a defining event for the society.