Social Media and Innovation

Fantastic initiative by SalsaBrighton and Sue Ghimire, supported by Aids Alliance to organise a Salsa (dance) charity night to fight HIV/AIDS. The event is taking place in Brighton Coalition and promises to be spectacular, with over 2,000 people turning up.

The team is looking for partners (if you would like to attend the event), sponsors, please contact Sue Ghimire on 01273 380596 or email sueghimire@gmail.com if you would like to be part of this fantastic event.

World Aids Day Salsa4 HIV AIDS 1 Dec 2009

The Talk

My talk will concentrate on:

1. JFDI (Just Doing it) Encouraging others to just get on with developing their business idea and not get bogged down by nitty gritty of starting a business.
2. London not centre of the univers: In essence not all businesses have to based in a densly populated centre, but actually businesses like social media can be done remotely.
3. Youth Driven Initiatives Several businesses nowadays are actually best executed by young talent. Think Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.
4. High Growth Venture Worth thinking about high growth ventures like medical, computer related, telecommunication, bio-technology etc.

Other details (courtesy FYP)

Have you ever thought of starting your own business? Have you considered taking the leap with that great idea you’ve had? Raj Anand did.

Raj was a graduate in computer science and artificial intelligence when a chance meeting with a professor from Cranfield University gave him the vision he needed to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

Raj was right on the mark with his social networking software concept and hit the big time early when he raised angel investment to turn his dream into a reality. It wasn’t long before Raj was voted Business Week’s European Young Entrepreneur of the Year. But it can’t have been that easy… can it? Well we have the opportunity to ask Raj himself when he visits the Furness Young Professionals on Friday 30th October.

The event will take place at the Duke of Edinburgh in Barrow from 6.30pm, with a three course dinner served from 8pm followed by drinks in the bar.

Book now

Starting a business

Over the weekend I met a Sussex University graduate and budding entrepreneur, who thought a downloadable PDF file for developing entrepreneurs would be really helpful. Hence I put together a PDF onTips on How to Build a Business

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) is a network 7,000 entrepreneurs, employing 924,000 people worldwide and contributing $ 101 billion to the global economy. Our aim is to ‘fuel the entrepreneurs engine’ and as such, we are spearheading the GSEA, a not for profit initiative, motivated to identify and support talented young entrepreneurs and give them an opportunity to be fast tracked through guided mentorship and business support.

The last global finals was a great success, with students from all over the world attending the summit in Chicago. We had a really talented representative for the UK, a young undergraduate running a very successful .com, and were pleased to be additionally represented by the 2007 winner Fraser Doherty (www.superjam.com) from the University of Strathclyde. We are currently seeking partnerships with Universities across the UK, asking for the opportunity to market this initiative to your body of students through any posting boards, e-mail and intranet. This exposure to your students will give them the opportunity to enter the competition and potentially win part of the $ 150,000 in prize opportunities.

For more information on both EO and GSEA, please visit the respective websites on, www.eonetwork.org and www.gsea.org

The ambition is to have 100 young entrepreneurs enter the competition, enabling us to shortlist the top 10/20 entrants for a UK final to be held in London. The finalists will be given the opportunity to network with the London Chapter, build their contact book and potentially pick up both mentors and business support to accelerate them to the next stage in their business cycle. In addition, the winner, and potentially runner up (depending on finances), will be sent to Chicago to compete in the global final.

Sussex University Graduates Party

Alumni who graduated between 1999 and 2004 (inclusive) are invited to this year’s 5-10 Year Graduates’ Party in Central London. Save the date for Thursday 14 May (venue TBC).

Register your interest to attend by emailing events@sussex.ac.uk as soon as possible as places are limited. Signup on Facebook Events.

Oxford Professor runs for Hindu Studies

Professor Gavin (Flash) Flood

Professor Gavin (Flash) Flood, the Academic Director of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, is taking time out and joining over 35,000 runners in taking to the streets of London for one of the world’s most prestigious and exciting sporting events. He will be the first Oxford Professor to do so.

The Centre’s Director, Shaunaka Rishi Das, who has built the Centre from an idea over dinner into a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University, tells us: “With educational centres like this, Indian cultures and philosophies will make themselves felt in subtle ways, as India’s cultural impact grows.”

Support the Centre for Hindu Studies and sponsor Professor Flood’s valiant effort.

From the webchat:

Whether you’re at the start-up stage, have a burning idea, or want to take your existing enterprise to the next level, how to access finance will always be an important consideration.

If you’re fed up of the doom mongers dampening your entrepreneurial drive then our myth busting business finance webchat is for you.

So I’m doing a short talk at Middlesex University London on Digital Future.

As the organisers put it to me, could you do a ‘Fun presentation on social networking sites, and the phenomenon and ongoing future/possibilities of them’. Now I’m thinking, I’m sure I can do a presentation on Social Networking in my sleep. But to make it fun, should I make the participants dance ? Weird ??

I remember going to a Flying Start NCGE presentation in Brighton and witnessed one of the most inspiring dances from Mike Southon, Business Speaker and Financial Times Columnist. He said to do business you should be able to laugh at yourself. .

So students at Middlesex university get ready to dance as part of the social networking phenomenon I’ll bring a selection of tunes to inspire you all !

12th – 14th Oct: The Young Apeldoorn Conference 2008 (Belfast): Organised by the British Council in Netherlands. How we can social media help in solving social and political issues in UK and Netherlands.

23rd Oct: DPA Conference (Brighton):Presenting about the applications of Social Networking for major publishers.

4th – 5th Nov: Middlesex University ‘Digital Futures’ (London): Presentation for young students local to Middlesex University. I have been asked to give a fun presentation on social networking

If you are around feel free to attend the events, your thoughts are more than welcome !