Bucks: University launches Enterprise Festival

Taking place over three weeks from November 9-27, Bucks New University‘s Enterprise Festival will celebrate entrepreneurship with talks by high flying business leaders, practical workshops and enterprise competitions, all designed to inform and inspire would-be entrepreneurs.

The events and activities will provide business people and budding entrepreneurs from across the region with a range of commercial opportunities, networking forums and challenges.

Here are some of the events and workshop highlights to watch out for:

Dick Carruthers, director of TV, DVD and tour content for global acts including Oasis, Take That, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney, will be demonstrating ‘How to Speak Rock God’, based on his experiences in the live music business.

David McQueen, respected life coach and co-founder of personal and professional development company, Milestone Unlimited, will invite participants of ‘Get Connected’ to polish their networking skills with a fun and provocative talk on this critical business skill.

In ‘5% Idea, 95% Effort’, Nico Nicholas of LetterBoxChocs shares his story of transforming an inspired idea into a successful business.

Jonathan Wilson, managing director of 110% Marketing, will consider the sports industry landscape and skills needed for success in this business, particularly in the current economic environment.

Katharina Auer, head of Global Internal and Management Communications for Shell International, distils a wealth of experience with global organisations including AstraZeneca in ‘All Spin and Froth’, which examines the trend towards corporate and internal communications and why this can fail to deliver.

There will be other sessions on securing funding for a business, as well as the 'Social Network Revolution’, and the 'Bucks Got Talent' competition. There will also be the 'Music Events Management Showcase' with Jeremy Silver, a digital media thought-leader who has focused on the music industry for the last fifteen years.

Valiant Bucks New University students will rise to The Apprentice Challenge, perhaps not quite as scary as facing Sir Alan in the TV boardroom, but a tough test of business know-how with the various tasks and challenges. Organiser, Jane Adams, sees an important role for local people too: “Wycombe shoppers actually have a big influence on the outcome. They’ll see the ‘Apprentices’ hard at work selling doughnuts to raise initial capital for their mini business, and then the most successful of them will run a Friday market stand in Eden. There were some really interesting products on sale last year - great for Christmas shoppers - and this year the teams will have to come up with more original ideas to outdo their rivals and reach the final.”

Tickets for Enterprise Festival events cost £15 and can be booked online at http://www.open4businessbucks.com where a full programme is also available.