Did you know Russell Simmons got his start promoting Run-DMC? Even better, did you know his brother is Run from Run-DMC? Do you know that he is a serial entrepreneur with a record label, a television show, a clothing line and, yes, even an energy drink? How did I get to know so much about this huge media mogul? Well, I became a little bit cooler and a lot closer to Russell (in the seven degrees of separation way, unfortunately, not in terms of physical proximity….).
Russell has signed on to host Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA’s Race to Be. The Race is a conceptual relay race from LA to Austin to NYC with a focus on film, music and fashion respectively. It will involve groups of students participating in daily competitions. You can check out the launch event he held at the NYSE exchange earlier this week, here.
Dash, our host in Malaysia, just landed on television (NTV 7) and the day before he had a spot on radio (BFM89.9) to discuss none other than Global Entrepreneurship Week/Malaysia. Not only is he showing up in all kinds of traditional media, he is keeping a compelling and very active blog…. Take a little coffee break and check it out, here.
I’ve been catching up with Kathy Yeung, from Incubator, who organised a terrific event in Hong Kong last week;
OB: Kathy, tell us, briefly, what Incubator does?
KY: Incubator Limited is a hybrid social enterprise (profit and non-profit)
which was founded in 2006. We incubate line managers through providing
“co-creative coaching” training to corporates. The manager, who is currently
running a social enterprise at an NGO is empowered under these practical
training sessions. Moreover, we are the first player in Hong Kong to have
designed a social entrepreneurial learning program for young adults. We
believe with our experiences, we can make a good planning and strategy
on launching events such as Global Entrepreneurship Week. Read the rest of this entry
College students may have a lot of time for light hearted partying but some of them are also spending hours transferring what they learned and experienced in the classroom and on campus and turning that knowledge into a thriving business. Millions of college freshmen will flock to campuses nationwide this month as a new school year gets underway. Inevitably some of them will get lost trying to find the nearest ATM or Post Office or Chinese takeout. Jared Stenquist hopes to help them find their way.Stenquist, a self-taught web developer, started CampusLIVE as a hobby while studying at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. The site allows students on 18 campuses nationwide, including the University of Connecticut and George Mason University, to locate campus services and local businesses without ever leaving their dorm room. The company became so large and well known that it started attracting advertisers. When the advertisers contacted Stenquist, he took a leave of absence from college to work on the business full time. CampusLIVE now employs five full time staff plus interns and made over $100,000 in gross revenue last year.
Finishing college can reap its benefits too. Carlos Leon graduated from Full Sail University with a bachelor’s degree in film. He took the knowledge gained from that and turned the small multimedia company that he started in his parents mobile home into a full service production company. He now can list clients such as Warner Bros., VH1, Sirius and MTV3. Read the rest of this entry
I decide not to talk to her at first. Partly because she is sporting a full-length, fully-done-up raincoat, in hearing-aid beige. Partly, if I’m honest, because it’s the start of a thirteen hour long-haul flight to Johannesburg. And being frightfully British, there’s always the outside chance that she may just be returning from the World Talking Championships. The final reason for not saying hello, is that she’s asleep. Well if a pre-take-off snooze is good enough for a gold medallist in a mac, then it’s good enough for me. So I slip into what I hope will be a quiet slumber.
I awake to find her reading my book. Not browsing the outside cover, but reading the thing. She has even picked up at chapter sixteen, exactly where I had put it down. The cheek! The very cheek! What to do? What to say? Should I summon the cabin crew with a poke of the bell button (overeacting to the felony surely?), or should I swipe my credit card phone, calling the police? Instead, I rather nonchalantly lean forward to the seat pocket in front of me, to pick out another choice of reading. And that’s when I find my book. My actual book, as opposed to the one which I have recently accused the fine woman of pilfering. Two people, sat next to each other, long haul, reading the same chapter of the same book, bought in different locations (it transpires).
“What are the chances of that?”
I ask, with all of the warmth and forgiveness I can muster. And so begins an entirely charming conversation. Which lasts for twelve and three quarter hours. Not really, but it was enjoyable none the less. Read the rest of this entry
In addition (and just as a bit of fun!), I’d like to nominate eleven strictly ’unofficial’ and personal sponsors for my Whistlestop Tour for Speednetwork the Globe;
1. Berocca (the fizzy orange vitamin supplement): Packing 793% of my recommended daily dose of Vitamin C can’t be bad.
2. Blackberry (the mobile phone): From keeping up to date with emails, to surfing Wikipedia on the move
3. Facebook (the online social network) One status update can bring a suggestion of a meet-up abroad. Amazing!
4. First Defence (the nasal spray) Three sprays up the nose at the beginning of a flight (hopefully) keep colds at bay!
5. Flip (the video recorder); A gadget sensation, I challenge you to find a simpler way to get video onto YouTube
Wow! Hong Kong sets the new record for the speed at which you can move from the plane to the hotel room. It only seems like a couple of minutes ago that I was putting my shoes back on, and now I’m sitting here writing this! Amazing!
One of the first sites I head to when logging on is Addictomatic - if you don’t use it already, check it out, it’s the business for searching the web! On one page you have the very latest on a person or phrase (Speednetworking for example) from the blogosphere, Twitter, news stories and more. It saves a huge amount of time and the Twitter updates, for example, can be just a few minutes old - great for the very latest information.
One such Twitter update led me back to Malaysia’s amazing host, Dash, who has written this fantastic piece following yesterday’s event. I would love to have stayed longer in Kuala Lumpur - one night just wasn’t enough! Never mind - Hong Kong awaits, and so, from six thousand miles away from home in London, it’s goodbye for now!
I’ve just been told to fasten my seatbelt and to ensure that any baggage is stowed under the seat in front of me. My tray table is in the upright position and one of the cabin crew has already been around with bottles of water before we set off. I’m gazing down at the tarmac outside the window. But I know that the road outside will continue for another five hours. This isn’t a flight you see; it’s a ‘lookshury liner’ coach trip. And there’s five hours between me, in Kuala Lumpur, and supper, in Singapore.
Speednetworking Malaysia finished just a couple of hours ago and was a barnstorming success. Read the rest of this entry
Did you know Russell Simmons got his start promoting Run-DMC? Even better, did you know his brother is Run from Run-DMC? Do you know that he is a serial entrepreneur with a record label, a television show, a clothing line and, yes, even an energy drink? How did I get to know so much about this huge media mogul? Well, I became a little bit cooler and a lot closer to Russell (in the seven degrees of separation way, unfortunately, not in terms of physical proximity….).
I decide not to talk to her at first. Partly because she is sporting a full-length, fully-done-up raincoat, in hearing-aid beige. Partly, if I’m honest, because it’s the start of a thirteen hour long-haul flight to Johannesburg. And being frightfully British, there’s always the outside chance that she may just be returning from the World Talking Championships. The final reason for not saying hello, is that she’s asleep. Well if a pre-take-off snooze is good enough for a gold medallist in a mac, then it’s good enough for me. So I slip into what I hope will be a quiet slumber.
Global Entrepreneurship Week has some fantastic sponsors, including 
Wow! Hong Kong sets the new record for the speed at which you can move from the plane to the hotel room. It only seems like a couple of minutes ago that I was putting my shoes back on, and now I’m sitting here writing this! Amazing!
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