News
& Events
2005
Alumni Entrepreneur Conference
May 19, 2005: Gordon
Segal, Co-Founder of Crate and Barrel, stirred up the 2005
Kellogg Alumni Entrepreneur Conference with an inspirational
keynote address to the capacity-filled auditorium of 250 attendees.
Segal said, “If
you get up every day with a mission, a passion and a belief,
and you really enjoy doing it, it is easy to do.” He
continued: “Be in a business you really love. You have
got to be loving it, being inspired by it.”
Professor
Steven Rogers, Director of the Larry and Carol Levy Institute
for Entrepreneurial Practice, the host of the conference,
said, “What makes our programs so good? Our entrepreneurial
activities are not only inspiring and fun, but more importantly,
they are great experiential learning opportunities for our
students.”
Kellogg
Alumnus Cliff Goins IV, ’01 said, "The conference
showed me that a lot of the issues I am dealing with, other
people are dealing with.”
The agenda for
the conference, which was sponsored by Feldco, featured speakers
Gordon Segal ‘60, Professor Rogers, and Jamie Crouthamel
’92. There were six panels, each with a topic relevant
to current entrepreneurs who deal with tangible issues: sales,
partnerships, exit strategy, overcoming self-doubts, corporate
issues and getting cash out of the business. Twenty-seven
professionals contributed to delivering the panels.
Professor Rogers
taught a case-study for the audience. Jaqueline Shohet Zabin
’00 said of the case, “I loved Steve Rogers’
case. It felt great to get those neurons firing again like
back at school, thinking critically and analytically about
case studies.”
The Marketplace,
a new feature of the conference, included twelve alumni businesses
exhibited in a large room. Businesses included Johnson Financial
Group, Feldco Windows, SincereMilk™ Christian Book Stores,
Sarah’s Candies, Nomadic Consulting, Skin Quotient,
Colfax Realty, Enjoy Life Foods, Model Metrics, Go2Call, the
CHRISTMAN Group and Vibes Media.
Gordon Segal said,
“It’s all about presentation, passion, personality
and a love of product.” The Marketplace exhibitors demonstrated
all these attributes throughout the day, selling products
and promoting their services to their fellow Kellogg alumni
entrepreneurs.
The Levy Institute
handed out three awards to distinguished alumni. Jamie Crouthamel
’92 received the 2005 Kellogg Alumni Master Entrepreneur
Award. Jim Reynolds ’82 received the 2005 Kellogg Alumni
Rising Entrepreneur Award. Bret Maxwell ’82 received
the 2005 Kellogg Alumni Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award.
Congratulation to all the recipients.
Based on the success
of this conference, next year, The Marketplace will be expanded
to many more entrepreneurs. Also, the program will include
exciting new features designed to provide customized interaction
with professors, venture capitalists and more.
Segal’s
parting words were: “If you don’t have a joy every
day for the business you are doing, it is not a business you
should be in.” Enjoy your work and come to the conference
next year on Thursday, May 18, 2006.
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