Four motivational speakers made up the first panel that brought together more than 100 students.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Bone
In late September, the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship held the first “Be Bold: Disrupt Your Organization to Spark Innovation” panel. The event was held in the Feliciano School of Business and hosted 100 attendees.
With the help of the lacrosse coach, Michael Schambach, the lacrosse team was able to meet Tony Burgess before the event for a short motivational talk.
“We are always happy to have any student team, club or organization come to any of our events,” said Bone. “Our goal for this event was to help attendees, including students, understand the characteristics of innovative organizations, learn some of the strategies to create more innovative organizations and demonstrate the power and ability of innovative organizations to solve problems.”
“We were very happy with the event. The panelists were really strong and provided a lot of insight into innovative organizations through their lens and background. Clearly the audience was completely engaged because there were many questions asked, plus we didn’t leave until 9:30 p.m. – there was a full hour of networking after the event.”
The panel consisted of four motivational speakers. The speakers were Tony Burgess, Amy Powell, Todd Tauber and Dennis Bone.
Samantha Williams, a senior television production major, reacted to the discussion, “Each panelist had their own story which made it very inspirational for me to think outside the box for my future endeavors.”
Tony Burgess, retired colonel of the US Army and independent leader developer, discussed how anybody can be a leader within the army, and that it is important for the army to have a culture where intelligence can be gathered quickly and then used back on the battlefield.
Amy Powell, vice president global leadership and associate development at ADP, talked about innovative practices within ADP, a large multinational company. For example, ADP has internal pitch contests where employees can pitch their ideas, giving them an additional opportunity to be heard within a big company.
Todd Tauber, vice president of product marketing at Degreed, shared how individuals in today’s age need continuous learning and should always be learning something new. A degree is not necessarily required; it’s more “just-in-time education” to obtain the skills you need in real time. Degreed helps people create their own personal learning.
Dennis Bone discussed how powerful forces of technology are changing business models and companies, so educational institutions need to focus on the skills and competencies valued in that environment.
“Everyone got insights into, and a better feel for, innovative organizations and certainly clues on how to create and nurture innovative organizations,” said Bone “For students specifically, the event allowed them to reflect on the type of organization they’d like to work in when they set out on their professional path.”
“There are plenty of events to look forward to in the future,” Bone said. “We do this all the time. Our events are always free, with pizza and open to any student. Students can learn more about our event through HawkSync or on our Meetup page.”
