This year’s National Student Enterprise Conference is the place to explore disruptive innovation and business models. Discover how you can ride the disruptive wave to entrepreneurial success!

For two days, on February 18th and 19th, college students, university students and graduates will have the opportunity to tap into a wealth of expertise and hear from industry experts, innovators, personal branding gurus, angels, high-profile entrepreneurs…the list goes on.

The Ford Model T, the iTunes Store, hydraulics, cloud computing, Netflix…what do they all have in common? You guessed it – they’re disruptive innovations, and they turned their respective markets upside down. Now we want you to do the same!

To get you started we’ve laid on keynotes, workshops, panels, Q&As, crash courses, master classes – pretty much everything you need to get inspired and get going on your entrepreneurial path to disruption!

Entrepreneurial students and graduates from up and down the country have flocked to NSEC in search of inspiration and guidance since the conference launched in 2010. In 2010 we said no to Business As Usual, in 2011 we Re-Shaped Britain…this year we’re calling for all out disruption!

Get your earlybird tickets while they last! Visit www.StudentEnterpriseConference.com

Aston Entrepreneurs are now offering anyone who wishes to be part of the society, but are not currently studying at Aston University, the opportunity to get involved with our brilliant programme! Associate Membership will give you access to our exciting guest speaker events (the INSPIRE! series), networking events (CONNECT!) and business skills training (EDUCATE!), as well as the chance to enter our competitions and take part in our social events.

Interested in taking part in our programme? Visit http://www.astonentrepreneurs.com/associate-membership/

*Unless in the rare case that these have been designated by the University as student-only events or competitions

Entrepreneurship Week 2011

Click here to visit the official GEW 2011 @ Aston webpage

Aston Entrepreneurs is focused upon harnessing, aiding, developing and showcasing the entrepreneurial talent of students studying at Aston University.

What is GEW?

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is a worldwide initiative that provides an exciting, supportive and inspiring environment for people to discover and fulfil their entrepreneurial potential. The aim of the week is to break down the barriers to starting or growing a business.

When is GEW?

This year Global Entrepreneurship Week will be held on 14^th November until the 20^th of November. The will be several events going on throughout the week here at Aston.

Global Entrepreneurship Week at Aston

Monday – What is Global Entrepreneurship Week / Ideas Generation Workshop

To kick of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Aston University will be releasing a video of Andrew Fiddaman, Managing Director of Youth Business International and organisers of GEW talking during a recent visit to Aston about why people should get involved during the week.

The Aston website will give a flavour of what people can expect from Aston during the week. We will also be releasing facts from the GEM 2010 (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) report which show how getting involved in GEW can have a positive impact on business start-up intentions.

Event – On Monday evening Aston Entrepreneurs are hosting an Ideas Generation Workshop, with David Bozward, Non-executive Director of the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) and a PhD alumnus from Aston Business School.  The event is free to Aston Entrepreneur’s members and open to guests for a ticket price of £2.

For this event you must register on eventbrite as soon as possible:

http://astonentrepreneursideasgeneration.eventbrite.com

Tuesday – Entrepreneurship in the West Midlands

On Tuesday Aston will focus in on the importance of entrepreneurship and business start-ups to the economy.  In particular we will focus in on entrepreneurial activity in the West Midlands.

Aston will release a video interview with Professor Mark Hart talking about what the GEM 2010 report tells us about the regional variations in entrepreneurial activity and the picture in the West Midlands.

Wednesday- Youth Entrepreneurship

Aston will be releasing two video case studies from participants on the BSEEN programme, who have set up their own businesses with incubator support from Birmingham Science Park Aston.

We will also have a video interview with Sam Wilson, current President of Aston Entrepreneurs.  We will also be celebrating Aston Entrepreneurs and Aston Business School’s achievement in bringing the National Student Enterprise Conference to Aston in February 2012.

Thursday – Enterprise Education

On Thursday Aston will release a video interview with David Bozward talking about the skills that young entrepreneurs need to be successful. Aston will highlight the entrepreneurial support that is on offer at the University and Aston Business School, both as part of the curriculum but also through initiatives such as the 10,000 Small Businesses programme.

Event – On the evening the ABS Alumni Office will be hosting an Expert Perspectives event focussing on market research for small businesses.  John Poole (MBA) and Angie Lowe, both Aston Business School alumni and market research experts will talk about their experiences of establishing their own businesses, and share their knowledge of market research to help participants understand what they need to consider when researching their market.

To secure a place for Thursday’s event you need to e-mail GEW@astonentrepreneurs.com

Unfortunately places for AE Members have now been filled.

Friday – Female Entrepreneurs

And finally, to round off the week we will be looking at the differences that gender can bring to entrepreneurial activity.

We will hear from Professor Mark Hart once more, explaining what the GEM 2010 data shows us about the differences in entrepreneurial activity between males and females.

Aston also hope to deliver a web chat for students and graduates to network with members of the Network of Aspiring Women (set up by ex-Apprentice star Jo Cameron).  The Network comprises of many successful female business owners and entrepreneurs from the West Midlands.

with Keith Robson and Barcode Beasties

Wednesday 12th October 2011, 7pm-8.30pm

This event is to be held at Birmingham Science Park Aston, just across the road from the Gosta Green Pub.

Please enter through the main entrance to the front of the building.

£2 for non-members
FREE for Aston Entrepreneurs members

(…so if you haven’t signed up to Aston Entrepreneurs yet, do so!)

Format:

7-7.30pm
Networking (refreshments provided) and new member registration

7.30pm-8.30pm
We are delighted to welcome KEITH ROBSON to speak with us.

Keith’s presentation will then be followed by a shorter presentation from BARCODE BEASTIES

Further information:

KEITH ROBSON (Main Speaker)

Keith, honoured as a fellow of Aston Business School in 2006 for his career achievements to date, is an Aston graduate (1963-66) with a simply incredible story to share. Keith is flying over for 2 days from Canada (where he currently lives) to sit on the ABS Advisory board and has graciously accepted our invitation to speak whilst here in Birmingham once again.

Keith has a strong background in the automative industry. His full bio can be found here:

http://tiny.cc/KeithRobson

This bio does not include his experience of putting a company, which he acquired, into bankruptcy. The two companies he is also currently working with are both led by inspiring entrepreneurs.

BARCODE BEASTIES

Based in the Oxygen Accelerator at Birmingham Science Park Aston.

Barcode Beasties is a mobile phone game and a data mining application.

“Players are incentivized to scan barcodes around their house. Players
are rewarded with beasts that are of different levels. Once they’ve collected
some beasts, they can then battle – either single player (ie product
vs product) or online – against their friends and others who have
scanned products.

We can promote certain products for a limited time with a “special
beast”. We can message users to tell them about a special limited
edition beast available on a certain product. We also build correlation data based on what products people have scanned and work out what other products they might be interested in.”

A short 10 minute presentation from these young entrepreneurs will hopefully inspire you all to take the next step on your entrepreneurial journey.

AE Academy

Tuesday 4^th October 2011

6-8pm

6pm – 6.30pm

Informal networking/meet-up in B4 Bar

6.30pm +

The committee will take you to Birmingham Science Park Aston for your first event with Aston Entrepreneurs!

For more information please email the President

sam@astonentrepreneurs.com

Interested in signing up to Aston Entrepreneurs this year?

Come and see our fantastic stand in the Guild!

Sunday 2nd October (11am-4pm)

Do you have the inspiration, dedication and ambition to be in charge of Aston Entrepreneurs?

You can now apply to be on the executive team for next year.

As one of the most successful and innovative societies at Aston university, we are looking for passionate and hard working individuals for the following positions (see below link for detailed descriptions):

President
Vice President
I.T. & Communications Director
Events Director
Marketing Director
Finance & Funding Director

All executive team positions are serious responsibilities and you will need to ensure you are committed to driving and developing the future of the society next year. The experience can be time consuming, but thoroughly rewarding. You will have the opportunity to improve your entrepreneurial skills, academic prospects and meet fantastic new people; forging professional relationships both in Aston and beyond.

The new committees responsibilities will begin soon after elections have completed through a hand over period.

To apply, please click the below link and complete the online form. Positions are open to both members and non-members. Please let us know if you have any questions.

http ://www . astonentrepreneurs . com/elections/

The closing date for applications is Friday 1st April at Mid day. All candidates will be considered, there is not a first come first serve system in place.

Thanks, and good luck.

The AE executive team

You can follow the action of our fantastic ASTON APPRENTICE event in REAL TIME: Click here to visit the mini-website.

In on the action? Use #AstApp in your Tweets to contribute.

Aston Entrepreneurs’ Apprentice is a fantastic 3-day event consisting of exciting tasks adapted from BBC’s The Apprentice.

Compete in groups to become the 2011 apprentice by showing off your skills.

Click here for more details and to register!