|
Feature Event
Smart
Strategies for Smarter
Growth:
A
Workshop for
Entrepreneurs and Small
Business Owners
Attention Entrepreneurs,
Founders, Business
Owners:
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship is
hosting a 1-day workshop
dedicated to giving you
the insights, tools and
strategies that you
really need to grow your
company. In partnership
with Grow Fast Grow
Right and The Marketing
Advantage Group, this
program will help you
select and implement the
strategies that best fit
your business. Each
session focuses on a
unique aspect of
developing a sustainable
growth strategy. This is
going to be a great
event! Please contact
Melissa Carrier at
301-405-9517 if you
would like more
information or register
at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman/SmartStrategies.html.
Click here to Register!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
2517 Van
Munching Hall,
University of Maryland,
College Park
Brought to you by:
PRICE:
$250 for General
Admission with a 20% if
registered by June 9th,
$100 for Faculty and
Staff at the University
of Maryland and
Montgomery College, and
$25 for Students at the
University of Maryland
and Montgomery College
AGENDA:
8:30 a.m.
Registration and Networking Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
Keynote by Steve Woda
Founder, Chairman, and
Sr. VP Strategic Growth
of buySAFE
10:00 a.m.
Navigating Your Path to
Effective and Profitable
Business Growth
11:30 a.m.
Predict Customer &
Competitor Reactions to
Your Services & Products
12:00 p.m.
Networking Lunch and Speech by
Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO and
Co-Founder of Freewebs
1:15 – 2:45 p.m.
Workshops (select 1)
-
Outmaneuver
the
Competition
-
Strategic
Growth for
Emerging
Ventures
-
Harvesting
and
Leveraging
Your
Intellectual
Capital
2:45 p.m.
Break
3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Workshops (select 1)
-
Become the
Customer's
First Choice
-
Financing
Your
Business
-
Maximizing
the Value of
Your Company
and
Understanding
Exit
Planning
For complete
workshop and session
descriptions please
see the Smart
Strategies website!
Smart Strategies for
Smarter Growth
Workshop Brochure
Please contact
Melissa
Carrier
if you would like more information.
▲ Back to
the top
Upcoming Events
A Strategy Crafting Approach for
Entrepreneurial Startup Ventures
Wednesday, July 12th 2006
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Register Today!
1518 Van Munching Hall, College Park, MD
Presented by: Daniel K. Hudak, Assistant Academic Director
UMUC
The “right” academic knowledge on strategy applied at the
"right” decision point in the strategy crafting art can serve to compliment the
entrepreneurs intuitive vision and yield an enhanced new venture strategy.
The Dingman Center is hosting a one hour
presentation of a new strategy crafting approach designed to aid the
entrepreneur in moving a “creative vision” to a unique “explicit strategy.” The
proposed concept employs a simple entrepreneurial strategy crafting flow focused
on three recognized decision points: opportunity identification, feasibility
assessment, and strategy evaluation. At each decision point, a few key factors
from the academic knowledge base on strategy are presented for consideration to
compliment, not substitute for, the entrepreneur's intuitive creativity,
knowledge, and vision. This strategy crafting approach was designed by an
entrepreneur who was involved in multiple startup ventures and is now currently
preparing a doctorial dissertation on this subject. This presentation offers
value-added insights on strategy to seed-stage and early-stage entrepreneurs
seeking to either craft, or test, their new venture strategy and to venture
capitalists seeking approaches to evaluate entrepreneurial strategies. On
completion of the final work in late 2006, attendees will be provided free
courtesy copies of the final entrepreneurial strategy crafting approach.
Presenter Daniel Hudak's Bio:
Dan Hudak is currently Assistant Academic Director for
Business and Management and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland
University College (UMUC) School of Undergraduate Studies, as well as a
candidate for Doctor of Management in the UMUC doctorial program. His prior
education includes a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the Citadel, six years
of "non-academic education" as an Airborne Infantry Officer, and a Master of
Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA) from Carnegie-Mellon University.
This education, has been coupled with over twenty-five years of diversified
corporate managerial experience in finance and planning, that included corporate
controller positions with large Fortune 500 corporations - PepsiCo and
Schlumberger, Ltd., CFO positions with fast growing midsize manufacturing firms,
and COO positions with three private placement independent start-up companies.
Having recently completed the sale of his most recent startup company, Dan is
concentrating his attention on teaching, completing his doctorial dissertation
on “Entrepreneurial Strategy Crafting” and continuing to advise entrepreneurial
start up companies.
Entrepreneur Invitational Golf
Tournament
Tuesday, August 1st
P.B. Dye Golf Club, Ijamsville, MD
The 2006
Entrepreneur Invitational is the fourteenth golf
tournament to support entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland,
benefiting the Lamone Entrepreneur Scholars Program.
Recognizing the popularity of golf and the benefits of
doing business on the golf course, this exclusive event will take place
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at the beautiful P.B. Dye Golf Club in
Ijamsville, Maryland with close proximity to the Greater Baltimore and
Washington, D.C. area. As the name implies, invitations to the
Entrepreneur Invitational are extended to presidents and CEO's of
high-growth venture businesses, as well as principals of firms that
provide services to entrepreneurs.
An incredible day of golf and corporate hospitality has
been planned for sponsors and guests, including an exhilarating 18 holes
of championship golf, cocktails, dinner, and entertainment. Participants
will enjoy the opportunity to gather at a beautiful golf setting, while
creating and enhancing business and social associations with each other.
All guests will be provided with a memorable golfing and corporate
entertainment experience, while benefiting the Lamone Entrepreneur
Scholars Program.
For more information about the tournament
and to register please see the
Entrepreneur Invitational website
or the tournament's
Brochure.
Smith
China Business Plan Competition
The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School
of Business is sponsoring its second annual China
Business Plan Competition. The competition, themed
"Building Leaders for the Digital Economy" is
organized by the Smith School's Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship and will bring together
entrepreneurs and business executives from around
the world to compete for a total of $50,000 in prize
money, including a $25,000 grand prize,
$15,000 second prize and $10,000 third prize.
For
more information please see the
Smith website.
▲ Back to
the top
Event Summaries
Smith
Undergraduate Awards Banquet - May 4th
 Undergraduate
Awards Banquet Honors Student, Corporate Leaders
The 6th Annual Smith
Undergraduate Awards Banquet, held on May 4, honored
outstanding students, faculty, alumni and corporate
partners. The Smith Leadership and Excellence Awards
were presented to business leaders and organizations
that have made significant and positive impact to
their industries and the community in the
mid-Atlantic region. Hugh Panero, CEO of XM
Satellite Radio, was the guest speaker at the event
and was recognized at the awards banquet by Asher
Epstein, Director of the Dingman Center, and Dean of
the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Howard Frank.
[VIEW
PHOTOS ]
Cupid's
Cup Business Competition - May 19th
North Star Games Wins Cupid's Cup
Under Armour's Kevin Plank
awards board-game maker $10K;
talks about entrepreneurship
Written by Carrie Taschner,
Office of Marketing Communications
 On
May 19, 2006 the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
hosted the first Cupid's Cup business competition
for student-run startups at the Robert H. Smith
School of Business. Under Armour Chief Executive
Kevin Plank, a 1996 Smith graduate, put up the
$10,000 prize and helped pick the winner of this
year's competition — North Star Games (www.northstargames.com).
The board game
company, founded by 2004 MBA graduates Dominic
Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri, incubated in
the Dingman Center and has grown to sell thousands
of copies of award-winning original games “Cluzzle”
and “Wits and Wagers.” The duo hopes to have the
next blockbuster board game. The $10,000 prize will
help the company add a card game called “Secret
Signs” to its product line.
“This event has given
us a significant amount of exposure and will help
pique professional investors' interest in our
company,” Crapuchettes said.
The final round of
the competition included five finalist teams,
narrowed from a field of 20 applicants. Each team
had eight minutes to present their business plans
before five judges and a sizable crowd in Van
Munching Hall's Frank Auditorium.
 Other
finalists in the closely decided competition were
Crooked Monkey (www.crookedmonkey.com),
a t-shirt company targeting high-school and college
students; Geocentric (www.geocentric.com),
a software company that engineers interactive Web
maps for destination marketing organizations; Hook &
Ladder Brewing Company (www.hookandladderbeer.com),
a microbrewery that produces wheat and brown ales;
and Dayna Designs (www.daynau.com),
a designer jewelry company cashing in on the
collegiate mid-price jewelry market.
Eligible contestants
had to be enrolled students or recent alumni of the
university and operating companies that had
generated at least $5,000 and no more than $500,000
in revenue prior to entry.
 The
Cupid's Cup competition grew out of a lunch
conversation between Plank and Dingman Center
Director Asher Epstein. The competition's name
refers to one of Plank's early ventures as a student
at the Smith School — a rose delivery business he
called Cupid's Valentine. In school, Plank's
entrepreneurial spirit inspired the Pitch Dingman
program for students to get feedback from successful
entrepreneurs and center staff on their business
plans.
“Kevin's
entrepreneurial success offers a great example for
every company in the competition and countless other
would-be entrepreneurs,” Epstein said. “With passion
and drive like his, one of the finalists could have
the next Under Armour.”
After the business
plan presentations, Plank spoke about
entrepreneurship and his business endeavors, then
presented an over-sized $10,000 check and trophy cup
to North Star Games.
Plank encouraged the
entrepreneurs to set big goals and go after them
full force. He founded his athletic apparel company
Under Armour in his grandmother's basement while
still a Smith student and has grown it into a
successful publicly traded company.
Crapuchettes called
Plank's story awe-inspiring and could draw parallels
to his own young company. “While the foundation of
both companies derives from superior product
development, the success of each company rests
firmly upon an ability to create a strong brand
based around those products,” he said.
 Plank,
a former Terps football player, compared running a
business to being on a sports team where every
player is on the field at the same time, all going
after a win. “It's about passion; it's about
energy; it's about drive,” he said. He said he keeps
four rules for building his company and encouraged
the entrepreneurs to do the same:
1. Build a great product
2. Tell a great story -
communicate the message of the company
3. Service business -
attract and retain customers through good service
4. Build a great team -
find people with complementary skills
Plank recounted a
recent business meeting in China where he pitched
Under Armour to one of the leading footwear
manufacturers. The owner admired Plank's drive as an
entrepreneur and agreed to the business deal. Plank
said his passion for his products, his vision for
the company and the people he has working with him
are the essential components of an entrepreneur.
He encouraged Cupid's
Cup finalists to determine their passions, create a
vision for their companies and assemble great people
to build their startups into highly successful
businesses.
“You've got to keep
your business going, whatever it takes,” Plank said.
To view a video of
the competition as well as Kevin Plank's inspiring
speech
click here.
▲ Back to
the top
Dingman Scholars doing great things!
North
Star Games Wins Cupid's Cup Business Competition
and
$10,000 to grow their business!!
“The North Star Games mission is to bring
friends and family together for exciting and
memorable experiences. We design games that engage
and enrich the mind while inspiring laughter,
cheering, and light-hearted social interaction.”
North Star Games was founded by two MBA graduates
from the University of Maryland in 2004 in order to
bring innovation back into a stagnant party game
market. “The board game industry lacks innovation
because sales are driven by the latest Hollywood
licenses.” says founder Dominic Crapuchettes, “While
the latest Hollywood license makes a great
personalized gift, the games are poorly designed and
rarely get played.” Contrary to current trends,
North Star Games is taking a long term approach by
focusing on games that are fun, innovative, and can
be enjoyed time and time again.
Cluzzle,
the game of comical clay puzzles, was the first
release of North Star Games. It is a deduction game
like 20 Questions but it involves making obscure
objects out of clay (which means you don't have to
be an artist to be good at it). It has an
interesting blend of creativity, deduction and
social interaction that led it to win several awards
as one of the best family games on the market.
 Wits
& Wagers, t
heir latest release, is the first trivia game you can win
without answering any questions correctly! How is
this possible, you ask? In Wits & Wagers, you're
allowed to bet on any of the answers provided by the
other players.
That means you can win
based on what you know or how well you know your
friends!
Wits & Wagers has already won the prestigious Mensa
Mind Games award and was recently mentioned in Time
magazine as “the latest in living-room fun”. The
game is quickly building momentum in the Washington
DC area through fun trivia nights which are free and
open to the public (learn more at
http://www.northstargames.com/events/trivia_nights/trivia_night.page).
Co-Manager Satish Pillalamarri says the future looks
bright for North Star Games. The company recently
won $10,000 at the Cupid Cup business plan
competition hosted by the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship. How is North Star Games planning
on using the money? “It will go towards producing
our next game. Right now we are looking into the
possibility of an Under Armour licensed sports
trivia game” says Satish.
You can now purchase Cluzzle and Wits & Wagers at
over 500 specialty stores across the country or on
the North Star Games website at
www.NorthStarGames.com.
▲ Back to
the top
Partner Events
HCIL's 23rd
Annual Symposium
June 1st and 2nd 2006
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the
University of Maryland
The HCIL's Annual
Symposium will highlight the cutting-edge research
being conducted in the Human-Computer Interaction
Laboratory at the University of Maryland. The
Symposium will take place Thursday, June 1st,
followed by a day of tutorials and workshops Friday,
June 2nd. There will be a series of talks followed
by demonstrations of all of the lab projects with
time to meet and talk with researchers in an
informal setting.
For more information and
to register please visit their
website.
2nd Annual National Women's Business
Conference
Jun 12th
2006 J. W. Marriott in central Washington, DC
This conference features
exemplary speakers, workshops, exhibit hall, and
loan fair. All of this in addition to government
agency matchmaking sessions and the media interview
roundtables make this conference one not to be
missed. Register for this event and find out more
at
www.businesswomensconference.com.
3rd Annual
Digital Media Conference
June 23rd 2006
Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner
Don't miss the event the Washington Post calls “a
confab of powerful communicators and content
providers in the region.” This information
gathering and powerful networking event is intended
for media, entertainment and technology businesses,
educational institutions, and government agencies
involved in the digital distribution of media. For
sponsor packages, speaker information, contacts, and
additional information visit
www.DigitalMediaConference.com.
When registering be sure to mention you are a
Dingman Community Member and receive a 25% discount
on your registration fee!
▲ Back to
the top
THE DINGMAN CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Founded by Rudy Lamone in 1986, the Dingman Center was one of
the first of its kind in the country and has emerged as a
top-ranked entrepreneurship center. Thanks to initial funding
with a generous grant from Michael D. Dingman, founder of the
Signal Corporation (now part of Honeywell International), the
Dingman Center continues to grow as a regional and national
catalyst in the field of entrepreneurship. The Center is now
aggressively evolving, and in some areas, is expanding its
services to further its role as a leader in the student,
regional, and academic entrepreneurial communities.
The Dingman Center is currently led by:
Asher Epstein, Managing Director
Dr. Charles Heller, Chairman of the Board and Director Emeritus
Dr. Scott Koerwer, Associate Dean,
Professional Programs and Services
Please visit our website at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
This
newsletter is powered by and co-sponsored by
Mailer-Mailer, at
http://www.mailermailer.com/
May, 2006
April, 2006
March, 2006
February, 2006
January, 2006
December, 2005
November, 2005
October, 2005
September, 2005
July, 2005
June, 2005
May, 2005
April, 2005
March, 2005
February, 2005
January, 2005
▲ Back to
the top
|
