Guidance and models of organising entrepreneurship forums
- 1. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Guidance material/methodology and models of organising entrepreneurship challenge/ skills forums ABOUT THIS MANUAL This Event Manual is an outline of the guidelines for organising a Student Forum for the secondary school students. Special event (Student Forum) for the secondary school student designed to motivate students to run in future private business, learn more about creative industries and provide training on some basic business skills. The past few years have seen a global explosion of various types of educational and training programmes aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship, but all surveys show that most efficient are methods based on active and through the principle of “Learning by Doing” techniques and events. What is the Summer Student Forum? One of the best ways to “advertise” entrepreneurship education is to plunge people head-first into a short, few-day experience since committing to a full-year programme is not easy on the first approach. Student Forums are the perfect way to educate and motivate key players (i.e. teachers and business people) about how to encourage more entrepreneurship in the classroom. They are also a highly effective tool for steering young people towards business ideas of a more scientific and technological/ engineering nature; something which is not always easily achieved in a traditional classroom context. These events are also tremendously challenging and fun for the students. The goal of The Forum is to further the students understanding of business and economics as well as demonstrate how teamwork can result in increased rewards at both organizational and personal levels. At the student summer Forum (summer camp) students gather in order to learn more about business and to further develop management, leadership, business and inter- personal skills. All activities and contests are arranged for the teams. The team members may not know each other, will have to adapt to each other quickly and find out how to work together most efficiently. At the beginning, there is a series of ice-breaking activities and group work to learn some basics about creative thinking. Latter all activities are arranged as various contests (business plans, presentations, etc. ) among the teams. Participants are divided into smaller teams (up to 5 persons /team) and teams prepare their solutions
- 2. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union for the various business situations. They divide the different tasks among themselves while making use of the individual strengths of everyone in the group and develop further their interpersonal skills at the same time. Teams prepare presentations and latter have discussion with all participants. Teachers and business people formed jury, which evaluated students presentations. The students will have the possibility to foster an understanding of the world of work and a spirit of entrepreneurship through the principle of “Learning by Doing”. They will be able to develop their interpersonal as well as problem-solving skills and learn to work under very tight deadlines. The Student Forum is an intense experience for the students since they have to accomplish many different tasks and solution within few days. General Parameters TIME The best time for organising Student Sumner Forum usually is July or August (student summer vocation time), as the typical duration of the event is several days (4-5 days). LOCATION Student Sumner Forum ideally would take place in a location which has facilities for the accommodation, conference hall, rooms (places) for the team work, could provide internet connections and food. Typically some countryside homestead location is good choice during the summer time. TARGET GROUP Secondary and vocational schools students and teachers. Students age: 16-19 years. INSURANCE Most schools have insurance to cover students while they are on the premises for accident et. Organisers should inquire whether any additional insurance is required. LANGUAGE The Creativity & Innovation Challenge may take place in the national language of the organizing country.
- 3. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union PARTICIPANTS There are several options, how to form Summer Forum participant team (students). Students could be invited invited to take part in the some case study contest (could be held virtually (via internet) or f face to face contest) and the Forum participants (students) could be selected from these students, who propose the best case study solution. It is recommended that Case studies would be prepared by the business companies. Second option is to invite students based on the schools (teachers) recommendations (school, teacher has some “tickets” to the event and choose themselves whom to send to the Forum). And the third main option could be to select participants by reviewing their written applications (there is needed to prepare application form) and always there could be some mix of the above procedures. Teachers typically are invited from the schools, which students will took part in the event. Time Schedule 5 months before: Booking a date and venue for the Student Forum 4 months before: Sending announcement (info) of the Forum to the schools with the rules, whom will be invited. Announce the case contest, if the participants will be invited based on the contest results. 2,5 months before: Making final list of the invited participants 2 months before: Information package (Joining Instructions) and registration materials for participants to be developed and published on website and sent by email. 1 month before: gathering students parental consent forms. Gathering participants arrival information. During the Forum (at the beginning and at the end of the day): - organise short team meetings for the information of the day plans and day outcomes. After the event: Collect the evaluation forms (including not only general evaluation of the event, but also of the each main activity). 1 month after the event: A final report of the event completed including list of participants, photos, quotations (especially business volunteers, possibly teachers)
- 4. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Event documentation Content of the Information Package : (Students should get the most information possible prior to the event (could be sent in advance by email) Dates/ times Parent consent forms How to get to the venue Accommodation details Meals Insurance (Travel and Medical Insurance) Other useful information (emergency numbers, etc. …) Responsibillity / Security Behaviour Dress code Welcome Pack On arrival all delegates will be issued a welcome pack. This includes: schedule general description how everything will work (organising participants into the teams, how contests will rated etc.) brief description of the main contests and their rules other useful information concerning the event and facilities Recognition of Participants Each participant will be awarded with certificates of participation.
- 5. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union LIST OF THE APPENDIX’S 1. Business case theme examples. 2. Parental consent form template. 3. Forum competitions rules and scoring system example. 4. Example of the timetable for the student summer Forum. 5. Student evaluation form template (example). 6. How
- 6. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Apendix 1 Business case theme examples. Situation: You are working in the advertising agency as a project manager. Your friends are jealous of you since you work in the best advertising agency in the country. Your key client, on whom your salary depends on, has a major business problem – the sales are decreasing rapidly. The client manufactures ecologic apple juice. Task: Increase the sales of the apple juice. The campaign should encompass standard (TV advertising, radio, out-door, etc.) and non-standard advertising solutions. Evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested actions. Situation: „BigBoom“ is a very popular sandwiches’ bar in one of the main cities. Nearby, a new similar sandwich bar has been opened. However, it is not seen from the street. The municipality does not grant permission to provide directions on the building or put a sign on the street. Task: think how to attract customers to the new sandwich bar. Situation: Healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyle is relevant topic in todays’ society. However, lack of interest in this topic is noticeable between young people. Task: Create an idea for the game for the mobile phone application, which would stimulate interest of young people in healthy nutrition and would form the principles of healthy lifestyle. Situation: advertising agency is planning to greet its clients with Christmas (greetings, presents), budget for 1 client – 25 Euro. Task: create the concept for greetings. Situation: One of the schools in your city has decided to digitalise their work (possible e-books, website of the school, social network between teachers and students, etc.). Task: create the project for the digitalisation of the school, suggest what and which processes shall be digitalised, justify the benefits for the school, teachers and students.
- 7. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Appendix 2 PARENTAL CONSENT FORM (possible template) Name of son/daughter Event (name of the event) Location Dates Days-Month-Year Medical Information Does your son/daughter suffer from any conditions requiring medical treatment, including medication? YES/ NO If yes, please give brief details Is your son/daughter allergic to any medication? YES/ NO If yes, please specify Dietary Information Has you son/daughter any special dietary requirements? YES/ NO If yes, please specify Contact details in case of emergency Name of Parent/ Guardian Home Telephone Work Telephone Home Address
- 8. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Alternative Contact - If you are not available, who should we contact? Name Telephone Address Further information Is there any further information/ any additional details that you feel we need to be aware of? Declarations I agree to my son/daughter ______________________________________ taking part in the above mentioned event and, agree to his/her participation in the activities described. I acknowledge the need for responsible behavior on his/her part, and the need for them to do as they are asked by the event organisers. I agree to my son/daughter receiving emergency medical treatment as considered necessary by the medical authorities present. I understand that photography and filming will take place at the event and that the resulting photographs/ video may be used by {name of the organisation} for promotional purposes. I confirm that the information given on this form is correct to the best of my knowledge Signed (parent/ guardian) Print name Date
- 9. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Appendix 3 Example of the rules of the Competition Definitions 1. Investors – teams and the judges 2. Businessmen – teams of the camp participants 3. Task – task given to businessmen or its part (stage) Participants Participants of the camp are grouped in teams, which further participate in contests of the camp. All team members shall participate in the presentation of the tasks of the team (any team member should be able to answer the questions asked by the investors). The winning team of the whole competition will be decided according to the entrepreneurship index during the whole camp (entrepreneurship indexes for each stage of the competition will be added up). Evaluation of the Business competition - Investors evaluate the ideas presented. - Team that has collected the most investments becomes the winner of the task. - According to the results of the task , an “entrepreneurship index” (calculated according to the table provided) will be assigned for each team: Place I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X Index 100 98 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 90 - In the contest of the Business plan, each team will receive 100 investment units for each task, that can be invested in the ideas of other teams. - Judges each have 400 investment units. - The team has to invest all its investment units once all the teams finish their presentations (assign investment units to other teams).
- 10. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union - Cartel agreements of the teams and other actions decreasing competition will be evaluated very negatively while reducing the team’s “entrepreneurship index” points. - Teams, that invested „most accurately“ (their assignment of investments coincides with the best to teams in a sense of places taken) will receive extra 2 “entrepreneurship index” points. Presentations - The time for the presentation of each task will be announced separately. After the time for the presentation expires, the presentation is terminated. - During the whole competition, each team member shall be spoken at least once during the presentation of the task. The task shall be presented by 2 people. Each of them should speak approximately the same amount of time. The judges shall consider the presentation of the task, i.e. whether the time for the presentation is not exceeded, whether both members are speaking. Entrepreneurship index points for other contests of the camp Place I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX Index 50 49 48 48 47 47 46 46 45
- 11. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Appendix 4 Example of the timetable for the student summer Forum DAY 1 12:00 Arrival of the participants and registration 13:00 Lunch 14:00 Arrival of the participants and registration (continued) 15:00 Kick-off Team-building and icebreakers 16:30 Snack 17:00 Presentations (participants make presentations of their homework – small task, which was given in advance) 19:00 Introduction and overview of the main contests and events during the Forum 20:00 Dinner 21:00 Mini contests, social programme, networking. 23:30 Rest
- 12. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union DAY 2 08:00 Breakfast. Teams morning meetings (team meets to discuss yesterday activities and plans for the coming day) 09:30 Task # 1 and # 2 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 10:30 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 12:00 Team building exercises 13:00 Lunch 14:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 15:30 Outside activity for the students – sports 16:30 Snack 17:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 18:30 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 19:30 Task # 3 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 20:00 Dinner 21:00 Mini contests, social programme, networking. 23:30 Rest
- 13. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union DAY 3 08:00 Breakfast. Teams morning meetings (team meets to discuss yesterday activities and plans for the coming day) 09:30 Task # 4 and # 5 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 10:30 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 12:00 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 13:00 Lunch 14:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 15:30 Outside activity for the students – sports 16:30 Snack 17:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 18:30 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 19:30 Task # 6 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 20:00 Dinner 21:00 Mini contests, social programme, networking. 23:30 Rest
- 14. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union DAY 4 08:00 Breakfast. Teams morning meetings (team meets to discuss yesterday activities and plans for the coming day) 09:30 Task # 7 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 10:30 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 12:00 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 13:00 Lunch 14:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 15:30 Outside activity for the students – sports 16:30 Snack 17:00 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 18:30 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 19:30 Task # 8 for the business plan (or/and case study) contest – info for the teams 20:00 Dinner 21:00 Mini contests, social programme, networking. 23:30 Rest
- 15. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union DAY 5 08:00 Breakfast. Teams morning meetings (team meets to discuss yesterday activities and plans for the coming day) 09:30 SPC (self-preparation for the presentations) – teams work individually and prepare their presentations. 10:30 Presentations (teams make presentations about their findings for the earlier givens tasks ) 11:00 Closing; Departures
- 16. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Apendix 5 Student evaluation form template (example) Questionnaire Please answer next few questions. Yours feedback will help to make the event better. Entrepreneurship. How Forum has changed your understanding of entrepreneurship in general and understanding of the main stages how to start business Entrepreneurship. Where and how you can adapt the knowledge gained in the Forum? Entrepreneurship. What new skills you have acquired and learned new things in the Forum?
- 17. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Creative industries. Have you changed conception of creative industries? How do you see the business right now in this area? Creative industries. What useful information you received from the creative industries businesses representatives? Does the Forum met your expectations? What and why? What kind of benefits you received from participating in the Forum?
- 18. CENTRES (Creative Entrepreneurship in Schools) project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. www.centres-eu.org With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Forum (overall rating , scale 1-10) Would you recommend to others to take part in such camp? Why? Please write if you have any comments, suggestions Thank you.