The Badger Herald

NEWS

UW hosts Entrepreneurial Deli, minus the lunch meat

Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.

Also by Mary Duke:

Sex group looks at various myths (November 29, 2007)
New Lake Street post office serves student community (October 2, 2007)
UW professor pens new journalism encyclopedia (November 20, 2007)
Transgender activist shares struggle (November 15, 2007)

by Mary Duke

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The University of Wisconsin is bringing a new type of deli to campus.

The Wiscontrepreneurship program and the Engineering department, Office of Corporate Relations and Madison Magnet are organizing the Entrepreneurial Deli Monday, Nov. 12, focused on student entrepreneurship.

Doug Bradley, assistant director of marketing and communications for the UW Office of Corporate Relations, said this event will offer a variety of presentations regarding entrepreneurship and — just like a deli — attendees only have to take what they want.

"I'd describe it as a cross between grab-and-go lunch and speed-dating," Bradley said.

The topics of the mini-presentations will include topics related to being successful in the business world, Bradley said, and topics range from "guerrilla marketing" to "building buzz" to "successful elevator pitch."

Bradley said presentations will last no longer than 10 minutes and attending the event will be highly constructive.

"This event was put together from the feedback we received from students," Bradley said. "It's going to be creative. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be fun."

Troy Vosseller, co-founder and owner of Sconnie Nation, is one of the young entrepreneurs giving a mini-presentation Monday evening. In an e-mail to The Badger Herald, Vosseller said now is the perfect time for students to work on their own business endeavors.

"College is a great time to start a business because of the social networks you can form," Vosseller said. "It's a great time to explore without the pressure of knowing that you need to make money or that your venture needs to be successful."

Vosseller said he had already started Sconnie Nation prior to the creation of Wiscontrepreneurship program but that he urged UW to see that students needed a program to support their business endeavors.

"I'd like to think that my entry into entrepreneurship with Sconnie Nation helped to shine a light on the fact that there was a need for startup business resources on campus," Vosseller said.

According to Bradley, the majority of students who become entrepreneurs are not business majors.

"Something like between 80 and 90 percent of the critical information taught on entrepreneurship is taught to business majors," Bradley said. "However, only 20 percent of student entrepreneurs come from a business major. There is a disjunction here."

Since these statistics show many students majoring in subjects other than business are likely to become entrepreneurs, Bradley said he encourages any interested student to attend the event Monday.

"We want to expose students to entrepreneurship regardless of their disciplines," Bradley said.

This event was made possible in part by the recent grant given to UW by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City in support of entrepreneurial activities throughout campus.

Bradley said he "knows the grant will make great things happen on campus."

"There seems to be almost something in the air here that fosters creativity and risk taking," Bradley said. "We are very confident that this activity is going to bare fruit here."

The Entrepreneurial Deli will take place Monday, Nov. 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union.

Add a comment

We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.