Community Connect For the Win
January 24, 2011 at 3:31 am krystafoster 4 comments
What’s better than supporting local entrepreneurial non-profits?
Entering competitions to support local entrepreneurial non-profits and winning scholarship money.
As part of the Community Connect Competition at Lawrence Tech students are challenged to come up with marketing plans and promotional videos for these organizations. A true win-win-win situation. Non-profits get the promotional material and planning done for major campaigns for free. Students get real world experience. And Lawrence Tech gets to help the community and support their students.
Fall 2010 featured Operation: Kid Equip (OKE), a Metro Detroit non-profit committed to supporting students and teachers with the donation of school supplies that they would have otherwise had to go without. This particular non-profit challenged Lawrence Tech’s Media Communication students to come up with videos based on the idea that students who are considered to be “at-risk” are found all over Metro Detroit. Additionally, the non-profit challenged the Business Management students to come up with a marketing plan promoting a new effort at OKE to involve local businesses by having them donate unused office supplies to the cause.
Though the Spring 2011 is yet to be announced students at Lawrence Tech are anxiously awaiting the announcement. Because who doesn’t love (and NEED) scholarship money. In addition to providing financial support to students, Community Connect allows students to explore entrepreneurial ventures of their own through the competition, network with successful local entrepreneurs, and to create exposure for themselves and their work.
For more information about Operation: Kid Equip check them out at http://operationkidequip.org/ or on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/okequip.
Entry filed under: Events.
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Creative Entrepreneurship 
1.
Karen | January 24, 2011 at 7:53 pm
In addition to the opportunity for scholarship funds, what do students who participate get from this competition?
2.
Krysta | January 25, 2011 at 5:58 pm
In addition to receiving scholarship funding, students receive something equally as important- networking connections and real world experiences. Working on projects for real businesses with real needs is a great way for students to gain an understanding of what the industry will demand of them. Additionally, making networking connections will allow students the opportunity to find jobs and create/expand their networks, making them more marketable.
Great question!
3.
ngeorge06 | January 24, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Krysta,
You mentioned that the Fall 2010 competition helped identify students that are “at-risk.” Could you clarify? The opportunity for the Spring looks great, as most of us who are serious about our business idea can share it with professionals in the industry. This also sounds like a great opportunity for networking. Thanks for sharing!
-Nick
4.
Krysta | January 25, 2011 at 6:21 pm
The students who are involved in this program are considered to be “at risk”, in that they live in households that cannot financially support all of their basic needs, which often means, being unable to supply them for school. Operation: Kid Equip took advantage of this blue ocean and created an opportunity for students across Metro Detroit to receive the school supplies they would need to be successful. I also found it interesting that these students were not found only in Detroit/Wayne County, but rather throughout the Metro Detroit region, including students in wealthy areas such as Oakland County!