New Facebook Application Launched

A new Facebook application was launched out of East Lansing. Check it out http://bit.ly/8NSnb9 and comment, join…it is in starter mode right now.

East Lansing celebrates entrepreneurship

Join the City of East Lansing for a celebratory event toasting the recent accomplishments of innovators and entrepreneurs in the community and the one-year anniversary of the Technology Innovation Center (TIC).

Event Details

Thursday, December 10, 2009

5:00 pm | Countdown

• Drinks and hors d’oeuvres
• DJ Rod P

6:00 pm | Launch

• Kick-off with Emcee Theodore J. Staton, East Lansing City Manager
• Victor W. Loomis, Mayor of East Lansing
• Michael R. Poterala, Executive Director, MSU Technologies
• Denyse Ferguson, President, LEAP – Announcement of Next Bright Idea
• Leslie Lynn Smith, Director of Business Acceleration, MEDC
• Presentation of Bob Fish Innovator of the Year Award
• Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur magazine – Champagne Toast

6:30 pm | Orbit

• Celebration continues with the musical stylings of DJ Rod P

8:00 PM | Afterburn

• Join East Lansing innovators for more celebration and networking at East Lansing’s Dublin Square, 327 Abbot Road (cash bar).

Guests Attending 

Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur magazine

 AMY COSPER, vice president/editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Media Inc., knows what it means to drive a business idea forward with passion, creativity, savvy, and yes, even a little moxie. For Cosper, the media addiction started with a fervor for technology and love at first dial-up. But it was at WiesnerMedia that Cosper delved into the essence of what it means to be an entrepreneur. As the company’s entrepreneur in residence, she solicited and evaluated new business plans, ventures and partnerships to drive the company’s initiative to diversify its portfolio.

Transform innovative ideas into full-fledged realities by raising capital from the VC community? No problem for this business development pro. Having been in the entrepreneurial trenches with her media consulting business prior to joining Wiesner, Cosper has a deep understanding of what entrepreneurs want and need. She knows that without the right information, tools and resources, small businesses stay small.

Denyse Ferguson, President, LEAP

As the president and chief executive officer of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (Leap, Inc.), Denyse Ferguson is leading a team of seasoned business development professionals to transform the Greater Lansing region into a globally dynamic business environment.

She originally joined the Leap team as vice president of new business development and marketing. In that role, she was responsible for growing and developing businesses in the region and attracting new ones. She was also responsible for the development and promotion of the Greater Lansing region’s first global branding campaign.

Denyse came to Leap from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, where she worked with all of the state’s universities to enhance technology transfer and increase the impact of technology commercialization efforts coming out of Michigan’s universities.

Before returning to the Greater Lansing region, which is her home, Denyse worked in a variety of strategic business development and marketing roles with Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, higher education, and economic development.

This experience includes four years developing and managing strategic partnerships and overall brand marketing for The Home Depot, five years managing The Timberland Companies worldwide licensing program, eight years with Harvard University, where she worked as a technology transfer specialist and went on to manage the university’s worldwide intellectual property programs, and a number of key leadership and management team roles with start-up companies in industries ranging from apparel to Web-based technology.

Denyse has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Victor W. Loomis, Mayor of East Lansing

Victor W. Loomis, Jr. was first elected to the East Lansing City Council in November of 2001, serving as Mayor Pro Tem from 2005-2007. He was elected Mayor of East Lansing in November 2007 and in 2009 was re-elected to another two-year term in that capacity.

Born in Detroit but raised in East Lansing, Loomis has deep roots in the East Lansing community. He graduated from East Lansing High School in 1964 and received a degree in business administration from Michigan State University in 1972 after serving overseas in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Loomis served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1969. After finishing his degree at MSU, Loomis became a banker with an interest in commercial real estate and lending. He quickly garnered respect in the banking community and is now self employed in real estate development.

Loomis has a long history of involvement in the community including service on the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority, the East Lansing Comprehensive Plan Team, the East Lansing Art Festival Board and the WKAR TV-23 Community Advisory Board. Currently, Mayor Loomis serves as council liaison to the East Lansing Council of Neighborhood Presidents, the Responsible Hospitality Council, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, the Local Development Financing Authority, Downtown Development Authority and several other regional boards and advisory groups. Mayor Loomis is also a member of the Michigan Association of Mayors.  He is a past chairperson and thirty-year plus board member of the Salvation Army, Lansing Citadel.

Mayor Loomis serves on the Irwin Union Banks Business Development Board, is a former member of the Michigan Bankers Association and serves on the MSU Children’s Health Initiative Advisory Board. His community service has garnered numerous awards including the Lansing Jaycees Key Member Award, Distinguished Service Award, lifetime memberships in the Lansing Jaycees, Michigan Jaycees, U.S. Jaycees and Jaycees International. He was awarded the 2008 MSU Greek Communities’ Green Ivy Award, the  2004 East Lansing Education Foundation’s Theda Assiff Award for Distinguished Community Service and the 2002 Vocational Service Award by the Rotary Club of East Lansing. He resides in East Lansing with his wife Nancy of Corunna, a schoolteacher, and his two daughters Elaine and Angela who attend East Lansing Public Schools.

Michael R. Poterala, Executive Director, MSU Technologies

Michael R. Poterala was named executive director of MSU Technologies, the technology transfer unit established to propel research results to the marketplace, in the Fall of 2007. Poterala had been executive director of the Office of Intellectual Property (OIP) since January 2007, while continuing to serve as associate general counsel for MSU.

In MSU’s Office of the General Counsel, Poterala advised on sponsored research agreements, intellectual property matters, scientific misconduct, export controls, trademark licensing, and intercollegiate athletics. He was lead counsel for MSU and three other research institutions in negotiating a $10 million research and development agreement with the Dow Chemical Company. As counsel to the director of intercollegiate athletics, he negotiated major athletic coach contracts.

In his previous law practice, Poterala served as general counsel in Michigan for the Motion Picture Association of America, which recognized him for his work investigating and prosecuting film, video, and television piracy. In that capacity, he filed and litigated more than 140 copyright and trademark infringement cases for clients that included Columbia Pictures, the Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.

Poterala was a member of the Northville (Mich.) Public Schools Board of Education from 1996 to 2000 and served as president in 1999-2000. He is currently a trustee of the Northville Public Schools Educational Foundation.

Theodore J. Staton, East Lansing City Manager

Gumping It Down

Gumping it down is a reference to Forest Gump. Make whatever you say simple so even Forest Gump can understand it. I look around and see many examples of how people/businesses can gump things down. Whether it  is be a one click order system instead of 5 steps to finally enter your shipping address/credit card information. A lot of times I don’t know if there even is a cart/checkout at the end. A good example of a company not doing this is Vistaprint.com which sends you through a series of “other offers” before getting to your cart. An offline example  is of a stop sign being placed when you are coming off an exit on the highway. Is that exit sign for the cars coming off the highway or the street that is going along the highway? The answer is the stop sign is for the cars on the street along the highway. However if someone didn’t know that it would result in an accident. Simply placing an arrow below the stop sign to signal it is the street cars that need to stop instead of the ramp cars it would be easier to understand.

Gump it down by possibly using a arrow with a stop sign.

3 non-financial benefits of being an entrepreneur!

Below is opinion

1) Overall job satisfaction.

     I can move faster with ideas rather than checking them with upper management. I assume full responsibility for the pass/fail of my ideas. I can feel a sense of accomplishment when an idea works having pulled it all together. This all leads to overall job satisfaction over having to run ideas by upper management.

2) Creation of Jobs

     This one I learned while attending classes at Bizdom U. By growing your business you often create new jobs. These jobs provide others a way to generate revenue  to satisfy their lives. This is something you can give back right away before even donating money once you hit it big financially.

3) You can change the way things are done

     Being a marketing/advertising graduate I see many things wrong with the industry and by developing my own company I can change the way certain things are down and my success will lead others to follow. I can be a role model to others coming though the education system to major in advertising/marketing. I can keep operations local and get a community behind me.

Move to Detroit

I have officially moved to Detroit to look at other college campuses to expand the magazine. I have partnered up with the Bizdom U team for help and had a very productive first day talking with other entrepreneurs who are looking to revive the city of Detroit.