http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8401603/ceo_chats_live_with_the_young_entrepreneur.html?cat=4

“Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network with chapters on university campuses across North America. Our mission is to inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation.”

CEO is best known for their chapters in over 180 campuses throughout America and several international chapters. CEO holds an annual National Conference and also hosts multiple business competitions open to college students for cash prizes and exposure.

2011 National CEO Conference

The 2011 CEO Conference will be held in Fort Worth, Texas. The conference will feature over 80 entrepreneurs as speakers in sessions and will have over 1,600 students all eager to learn and network. The 2011 CEO Conference will be held at the Omni Forth Worth Hotel on October 27-29th.

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization is currently taking sponsors for the 2011 conference. They will be accepting promotional material that will be given to the over 1600 visitors in a gift bag that will be given at check-in for the conference. There are exhibit tables available and recognition in the official program, on the gift bags, and other opportunities. For more information on being a sponsor or even a speaker at the 2011 National CEO Conference, e-mail us at CEOSponsorship@c-e-o.org

CEO Regional Conferences

Other than the annual National conference, CEO also helps to host regional CEO conferences with competitions and keynote speakers from the areas around where the conference is held. Regional conferences around the country are expanding and growing at a fast pace. The 2011 Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference (SEEC) in Tampa, Florida, saw a 100% increase in attendance and had 24 competitors in their elevator pitch competition. A regional event also took place at Eastern Michigan University, and Chris Miller, co-founder of the SEEC is also working on bringing a regional conference to Omaha, Nebraska.

CEO Social Network

CEO has created a social network for CEO members to network together, learn from mistakes, and come up with new ideas. This is a private network, membership with the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization is required, visit C-E-O.org for more information or contact at CEO@c-e-o.org.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Student Businesses

The students who are a part of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization are not only just interested in entrepreneurship, many of them are already entrepreneurs and have created businesses through their experience with CEO. The following are businesses that current or former CEO members have started:

www.birdcagebridal.com
www.collegecardboard.com
www.dailymav.com
www.oneselfventures.com
www.Bridgeye.com
www.auditrax.com
www.vanarsdalephoto.com
www.myspace.com/boredstudentrocks
www.wallstreet1929.com
www.belmontevents.com
www.HarrisonJlloyd.com
www.northshoresolutions.com
www.newaperio.com
www.nineapair.com
www.tyten.com
www.goingoutrules.com
www.simpleesocial.com
www.tanquis.in
www.inspiregreeninc.com
www.thirstyclothing.com

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization on the Internet

Links to CEO Related Blogs and Social Media

CEO has many ways to keep updated on competitions and the current ventures of college entrepreneurs around the country. See below for more information.

Official Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Facebook Page
Stay updated on Facebook with CEO’s Official Facebook Page

Official CEO Website
Visit C-E-O.org for information on the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, events, partnerships, and more.

2011 Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization National Conference in Forth Worth, TX
Information on the 2011 CEO National Conference in Fort Worth, Tx.

CEO Online Community
The online community for CEO members to network each other. This private community helps students connect across the country without the clutter of a larger social network atmosphere.

2010 National Elevator Pitch Competition Winners
Interviews with young entrepreneurs. The top three finishers from the 2010 National Elevator Pitch Competition by CEO were interviewed by Michael Luchies, Special Projects Coordinator of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization on Twitter
Follow Twitter updates from CEO!

2011 National Elevator Pitch Competition
Information on the 2011 National Elevator Pitch Competition.

CEO Elevator Pitch Competition

“The CEO Elevator Pitch Competition presents students with a great opportunity to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges and a chance to win cash prizes. Elevator pitch is a frequently used term, which literally means “tell me about your business within the time that it would take to ride up an elevator.” Presenting yourself effectively is an essential tool in the business arena. A well-planned elevator pitch can open the doors to success in your future endeavors. Please note that ideas may be at any stage of development from creation of concepts or ideas to an established business.”

The 2010 Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes:

1st Place: $2,500, Featured in the CEO Newsletter and website, and participation certificate

2nd Place: $2,000, participation certificate

3rd Place: $1,500, participation certificate

Up to Four Final Round Honorable Winners: $500 each, participation certificate.

For
more information
please visit: http://www.c-e-o.org/bin/pdf/natl_conf_page_10/Elevator-Pitch-Competition-Guideline-Booklet-2010.pdf

CEO Startup Simulation Challenge

In 2011, CEO launched a new competition for teams of 3-5 students. The 2011 CEO Startup Simulation Challenge consisted of 22 teams and was narrowed down to just 6 after the first round of competition. The competition is operated through the Marketplace game.

1st Place: Clarkson University 2nd Place: LSU, 3rd Place: Quinnipiac University

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7974403/2011_ceo_startup_simulation_challenge.html?cat=4

CEO Chapter Websites

CEO Chapter Websites:

http://www.clarksonceo.com/
http://leeds.colorado.edu/club/ceo
http://www.emich.edu/studentorgs/ceoclub/
http://jmi.fsu.edu/Students/Collegiate-Entrepreneurs-Organization-CEO
http://www.isuceo.org/
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~entre/ceo.htm
http://sluceo.com/
http://www.siueceo.org/
http://www.tcuceo.com
http://www.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=2715
http://www.uic.edu/cba/ies/ceo.html
http://www.unoboss.com/
http://uncgceo.awardspace.com/Site/Welcome.html
http://www.ceofresno.com/
http://www.uwwceo.org/

RoommateFit is in its first year of operation and has serviced several customers. Mares will soon be in front of actual Angel Investors to present his pitch for venture capital to help his business grow.

“I decided to compete in the competition because my professor of entrepreneurship suggested that I do so, and it ended up being a fantastic experience”, said Mares about how he came to enter the competition. The competition happened only months ago, but he has been very busy since, “I have signed a new customer, incorporated, been asked to present in front of an angel group, and further developed the technology behind the matching algorithm”

A portion of the funds have been used to pay for the creation of a new logo. Using the crowdsourcing site 99designs, RoomateFit now has a trendy new logo. The funds have also been used to allow the company to incorporate, buy a domain name and create a basic website for the business.

Finding compatible college roommates can be a difficult challenge for many and can result in added stress. Finding a compatible person to share a living space with is important for your mental health as well as physical safety. Many articles have been published outlining problems that you can encounter with potential roommates and how to avoid them, but often even good friends can turn out to be bad fits when they are thrown into an apartment together.

During the 2010 National Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Conference held in Chicago, Mares was able to meet Sam Yagan, founder of OkCupid. Yagan provided guidance and advice that has helped Mares to grow his business. “This has been especially helpful, as we have similar businesses that target different audiences. I also met several other students who I am still in contact with and who provide a good network of young people interested in entrepreneurship.”

Mares has advice for aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs ;”You can take as many classes as you want, read as many books as you want, and attend as many conferences as you want, but if you don’t take action and take a few risks and implement what you have learned, that knowledge is just sitting there and not doing any good. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people who can push you, and then go do something.”

According to Jennifer Wright from California State University, Fresno who helped organize the event, there were 60 students who competed this year in the National Elevator Pitch Competition hosted by CEO. They competed in 4 rounds of 15 students and from each round 3 competitors were selected to advance to the final rounds. The 2010 National Elevator Pitch Competition awarded 3 winners and 4 honorable mentions. The 1st place winner received $2,500, 2nd place received $2,000 and 3rd place received $1,500. The four honorable mentions each received $500.

First Place: Alexandra McCoy, St. Mary’s University, It’s a Snap! Convertible Heels
Alexandra McCoy and her father designed a high heeled shoe that has interchangeable/detachable heel shafts. This design allows one pair of heels to become comfortable flats when walking or standing for long periods of time. McCoy is currently working on finalizing the design and acquiring a patent to protect her business idea. McCoy pursued this idea because it was related to one of her deepest passions, shoes!

McCoy said that the business was originally a school project that is now blossoming into an actual business. She felt that the passion behind her idea is what drove her to success during the CEO elevator pitch competition. When asked to give advice to others who were interested in bringing their idea to the elevator pitch competition, Mccoy had this to say; I would tell them that they need to make sure that they have passion behind their business idea. If the idea is mediocre, the passion behind it will be mediocre as well, making the elevator pitch unsuccessful.

Second Place: Justin Mares, University of Pittsburgh, RoommateFit
Justin Mares was inspired by his professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Pittsburgh and decided to enter the 2010 National Elevator Pitch Competition with his company RoomateFit. RoommateFit creates compatible roommate pairings based on personality traits, much like an eHarmony for roommates.

RoommateFit is in its first year of operation but has gained the attention of a local Angel investment group that Mares will be presenting in front of in the near future. Mares has incorporated his business and worked on further developing the technology behind RommateFit since the completion of the competition in November.

Justin credits his practicing to his success in the competition, “I practiced 25 times the night before the pitch, 15 times the day of, and 20 times more before the final round, and listened to my pitch on my iPod before falling asleep and on the plane ride to Chicago. It made all the difference.”

Third Place: Cassie Meyer, Bradley University, Knotty Outdoors
Cassie Meyer from Bradley University also pursued her business idea in something that she is passionate about, outdoors apparel for women. Knotty Outdoors will aim to provide “a modern alternative for women’s hunting apparel and accessories. Our focus is on high quality, perfect fit, stylish clothing that can also be worn casually”, said Meyer.

After the November competition, Meyer has been working on partnership agreements, finding quality wholesalers, and setting up tax information. Meyer was rewarded a prize of $1,500 to help grow her business that serves an often overlooked market in women who are involved in hunting and other outdoors activities. The funds will initially be used for website development and purchasing products.

Honorable Mentions:
Brian Schaffer- School Bus GPA
Brennon Garthwait- Renwig Customs
Jessica Cui- How High Shoes
Shannon Dolan- Truly Pure Skincare

The competition will consist of four preliminary rounds on Friday, October 28th, each having 15 student competitors, three of those from each preliminary round will advance to the semi-final round on Saturday, October 29th. The top 6 finalists will then advance to the final elimination round from which the winners will be determined. In each round of the competition the competitors will to a panel of judges consisting of actual entrepreneurs and venture capitals along with other academic advisors and working professionals. The contestants have the opportunity to win up to $2,500 to use towards their businesses. Seven places, including four honorable mention places were given at least $500 in last year’s competition.

The 2010 competition was won by Alexandra McCoy from St. Mary’s University with her company “It’s a Snap! Convertible Heels”. McCoy explains her product as “a fashionable high heeled shoe that has interchangeable/detachable heel shafts, which allows one pair of heels to be extremely versatile. This product provides a high-value solution for women who love the look of heels, but want the comfortable feel of flats when walking or standing for long periods of time”. McCoy took her prize of $2,500 and is currently working with professionals to help finalize the design and acquire a patent to protect her fantastic business idea.

The “Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network with chapters on university campuses across North America. CEO’s mission is to inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation”.

Fort Worth is home to one of the premier CEO University chapters at Texas Christian University. TCU is recognized as a leading and innovative CEO Chapter and has won many chapter awards at the National Conferences. For more information on the TCU CEO chapter visit www.tcuceo.org.

The National CEO Conference includes an Elevator pitch competition, chapter awards, the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), exhibits, networking opportunities, keynote speakers, and much more. The conference is a great experience for all college students, and especially those who want more information on starting their own business while attending school or after graduating. There are plenty of opportunities for student involvement from competing in one of the competitions to being a moderator for a session.

My Experience
I attended the 2008 and 2009 National CEO conferences in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions as they offered something for every student. I attended several sessions on Internet based businesses that explained how to build a revenue model. I used what I learned to help compete in and win my school’s business plan competition.

In 2009 I participated in the Elevator Pitch Competition. Although I didn’t place in the money, the experience of competing and seeing how the other students prepared and their unique ideas made it worth all the time and effort I put towards it.

For more information visit the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization website at: www.c-e-o.org.

The six groups already created by members of the group include; CEO’s in the Midwest, CEO Chapter Leaders, Elevator Pitch Central, Failed Businesses, Blog City, and Webpreneurs. The community has also focused on spreading the word of the upcoming National CEO Conference. This year’s conference will be held in Fort Worth, Texas at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network with chapters on university campuses across North America. Our mission is to inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation.

If you are currently attending a university and would like to become a CEO member, please contact us at ceo@c-e-o.org. If your university already has a chapter of CEO, contact the president of the chapter and/or the faculty adviser for more information on getting involved.

CEO’s vision is to serve more than 400 colleges and universities helping students achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and goals. CEO provides student entrepreneurs with opportunities, events, chapter activities and conferences to help start businesses.

The 2011 Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference was held at the University of Tampa, in Tampa, Florida April 1-3. This was the second Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference (SEEC) held at the University of Tampa and the conference saw their number of student attendees double from 50 to over 100 students. This regional event is part of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which holds a national conference along with several regional conferences throughout the year. The 2011 National CEO conference will be held October 27-29 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 2011 SEEC held a series of events and keynote speakers. Among those events was the 2011 SEEC Student Pitch Competition. The competition consisted of a total of 24 competitors and was won by Bradley University student Cassie Meyer. Meyer is CEO of her business Knotty Outdoors and impressed the judges and the audience enough to win $1,000 in cash. Meyer also previously placed 3rd out of over 60 competitors in the 2010 National Elevator Pitch Competition, hosted by CEO at the 2010 National CEO Conference. Michael Verdi from the University of Tampa, took the $500 2nd place prize with his smart phone application idea that involves tracking the shelf life of fruit sold in a grocery store. Third place went to Dustin Jeoscke from the University of South Dakota. Jeoscke secured third with a uniquely packaged energy drink called “BOOM”.

Meyer had great things to say about the regional and National CEO conferences; “These conferences dig inside of our entrepreneurial spirit in a matter of two days and inspire us to take our ideas and make them a reality. Seeing so many young entrepreneurs in one place with such enthusiasm and success stories makes you want to be just like them.

It’s important to note that none of this would have been possible without Chris Miller putting it on and Bradley Univeristy allowing me the opportunity to attend”, said Meyer. Chris Miller is a former Nebraska-Omaha CEO member , CEO conference speaker, and entrepreneur. Miller graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and co-founded the SEEC in Tampa while being a member of their MBA program, and is now planning on starting another regional CEO conference in Nebraska.

The conference hosted several inspiring entrepreneurs, who were on hand to give advice to future and current collegiate entrepreneurs. Daniel Gomez was among the most intriguing speakers at the event. Gomez is from Mexico, and has employed 25 people at the age of 20 years old. Gomez is the owner and co-founder of Solben, a green energy company. Solben has grossed over $3 Million to date. Another Keynote speaker who will be remembered by students was 24 year old Ray Land. Land is only 24 years of age and employs 180 people as the founder and owner of Fabulous Coach Lines, a luxury motorcoach charter service.

The three day conference also featured a CrowdPitch competition. Crowdpitch is a 90 minute event where companies are selected to present their ideas to an audience of their peers and a panel of experts. Presenters have just 4 minutes to wow the audience before a brief Q&A from the crowd. Panel feedback follows. At the conclusion of the pitches, the audience and panel “invest” FUN money with the company that impressed them most. The winner receives a prize package from conference sponsors. This event was open to the public and received 29 applications, which was narrowed down to just 5 competitors.

The conference was a great success, and will continue next year at the University of Tampa. For more information on the conference, visit http://seectampa.org/. For more information on the CEO national conference visit, C-E-O.org. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network with chapters on university campuses across North America. Our mission is to inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation. ]]> http://www.c-e-o.org/blog/2011-southeast-entrepreneurship-regional-conference-recap/feed/ 21 http://www.c-e-o.org/blog/2011-ceo-startup-simulation-challenge-results/ http://www.c-e-o.org/blog/2011-ceo-startup-simulation-challenge-results/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 06:18:41 +0000 admin http://www.c-e-o.org/?p=520

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization held their first Startup Simulation Challenge Competition over the past two months and the competition has come down to the wire. The first round of competition started on March 7th with 22 teams in total. Teams that participated in the competition included: University of Nebraska-Omaha, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Clarkson University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Harold Washington College, Pittsburgh University, Kansas State University, California State University-Fresno, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Louis University, Johnson Community College, Louisiana State University, Michigan Tech University, Northern Kentucky University, California State University-Fullerton, Southern Illinois Carbondale, and the University of Quinnipiac.

The game was hosted on the Marketplace Business Simulator. Each team was given a startup computer development company to make life – like business decisions and take the business to great success. The first round consisted of four decision making quarters of gameplace. Based on a balanced scorecard, the top six teams moved onto a more complex final round. The field was narrowed down to six teams after four decision making quarters of gameplay. Each final round participant was given six business quarters to make decisions over a total period of two and a half weeks. These teams were also required to make a video pitch to potential investors on their hypothetical startup computer company. Volunteer judges included: Michael Delazzer (An Orginal Founding Member of Redbox), Gary Dollinger (CEO and Founder of Adalyze Technologies), Amanda Russell (Founder of the AR Program), Willa Qian, Esq. ( (Corporate and Securities Attorney at The Crone Law Group), and the Director of Programs for the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship, Ken Klotz.

Here are the final standings and prizes awarded:

1st Place- Clarkson University
Team Members: Brian Dennehy, Phil Exley, Cris Coveleski, Brandon Lennox, Adam Rainville
Prizes: $1,000 Cash (distributed evenly among team members), National Recognition, Online Article Published on the Team and School, Framed Certificate for the University’s Display, Individual Certificates for Team Members, Recognition on CEO’s Website, $250 in Restaurant.com Gift Certificates (distributed evenly among team members), free legal business consultation for winning team members from the Crone Law Group

2nd Place- Louisiana State University
Team Members: Harry Masson, Rip Rittell, Harrison Lloyd, George Farhat, Victoria Simoneaux
Prizes: Framed Certificate for the University’s Display, Individual Certificates for Team Members, Recognition on CEO’s Website, $250 in Restaurant.com Gift Certificates (distributed evenly among team members)

3rd Place- Quinnipiac University
Team Members: Phil Pappas, Chris Scherer, Evin Strott, Eric Grabowski
Prizes: Framed Certificate for the University’s Display, Individual Certificates for Team Members, Recognition on CEO’s Website, $125 in Restaurant.com Gift Certificates (distributed evenly among team members)

The teams will also be recognized at the CEO National Conference, which will be held October 27-29 in Fort Worth, Texas. The National conference will include several competitions and many keynote and breakout session speakers. The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network with chapters on university campuses across North America. Our mission is to inform, support and inspire college students to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation.

For more information on the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, visit C-E-O.org.

Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) chapters are not only dedicated to improving their skills and knowledge in entrepreneurship, they are also involved in local communities and use their entrepreneurial minds to help raise funds for those who are less fortunate and help younger entrepreneurs learn what it takes to start their own business.CEO has over 230 active chapters across North America and has been helping students learn about entrepreneurship since the early 1980′s. Several chapters around the country have received media attention for their contributions not only to the business world, but through their generosity and devotion to improving their community. This article highlights just five of the many chapters that help others, these chapters include; Brigham Young University, Bryant University, Illinois State University, Genesee Community College, and the University of Houston.

Illinois State and the University of Houston recently participated in National Lemonade Day, a day dedicated to teaching young children how to start their own lemonade stand while donating some of the proceeds to charity. Lemonade Day is part of a national program organized by Prepared 4 Life. A Houston entrepreneur, Michael Holthouse, started Lemonade Day through Prepared 4 Life which is his non-profit organization. “Prepared 4 Life focuses on building assets in kids by integrating life skills, character education and entrepreneurship with engaging experiential, fun activities.”

Genesee Community College recently gave $1,000 to the Genesee Community College Foundation, which will use the money for student scholarships. Genesee Community College’s CEO chapter raised the money through various entrepreneurial and creative endeavors. The chapter has sold their Scholars Apple Cider Syrup, Scholars Cram & Crunk Snack Mix, and has organized a “Genesee Chicken Wing Eating Contest”.

Brigham Young University has given back through many events over the past few years. Among those events was their popular Rock Paper Scissors contest. In the 2008 Rock Paper Scissor Contest, BYU attracted a world record number of participants with 826 competitors, pending certification from Guinness. A total of $870 was raised for Enterprise Mentors International, an organization that gives mentoring, microfinance, business training, and other services to entrepreneurs in developing nations. Also in 2008, Bryant University’s CEO continued its involvement in Pumpkin Fest to raise money for Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Maine for kids with life-threatening illnesses. In eight hours, students carved or painted 350 pumpkins and raised more than $1,100.

CEO’s vision is to serve more than 400 colleges and universities helping students achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and goals. CEO provides student entrepreneurs with opportunities, events, chapter activities and conferences to help start businesses. For more information on CEO, visit: www.c-e-o.org.