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Students learn entrepreneurial skills in conference
Jackie Yonashiro ~ Staff writer Ke Alaka'i—Entrepreneurs Online
The Entrepreneurship Conference held Jan. 23 and 24, was crammed
with events in which seasoned entrepreneurs, visiting from all over the world, instructed
eager business hopefuls how to find success as they embark into the business world.
According to Brent Wilson, dean of the school of business,
the conference was organized by the school of business. They coordinated with Provo
for the speakers.
As dean, Wilson conducted some of the events. One of the
highlights of the conference was the dinner at the Polynesian Cultural Center Samoan
Fale, where students and faculty were able to eat with and acquaint themselves with
many of the visiting entrepreneurs.
After the dinner, President Shumway honored Larry Linton and
his wife, Myreel as the newest members up until that night of the President's Leadership
Executive Council and unveiled a gift, which was a statue of the young President David
O. McKay.
After the presentation, President Shumway invited the Lintons to
share their feelings about the campus and its students.
They expressed gratitude for the opportunity to help out
wherever they can and testified that the gospel will reach out from BYUH and penetrate
the nations.
Sister Linton said that the students here have been "handpicked
by the Lord" to be here and share the gospel with their respective nations. The business
panels covered a variety of topics, some of which were, "From Ideas to Cash Flow,"
Leadership in Asia," and "Scriptures, Money, Riches, and Getting into the kingdom of
Heaven."
Elisabeth Logan, a junior from Hawaii studying hospitality
and tourism who attended one of these panels, said, "The most important thing I learned
is that you don't need a whole lot of resources, just a good idea and a desire."
David Bateman, a visiting student from BYU-Provo's Marriott
School of Business, was awarded the "Student Entrepreneur of the Year" award and is the
founder of "DearElder.com" and "Missionmailbox.org."
During the opening session he said that one doesn't need a
whole lot of finances to open a business, that you just need to be observant. Two
questions you can ask yourself are, "What can I do to alleviate pain?", or "What can I
do to increase pleasure?"
Manea Tuahu, a junior from Tahiti studying international
business management who also attended the panel discussion said, "The most important
or valuable thing I learned today was that to succeed you need to be passionate. Something
that really hit me was that one of the entrepreneurs told us if you went into business for the
money you will fail because it's much more than that."
Crystal Johnson, a social work major from Washington said,
"The thing that stuck out the most for me was to make friends with the people you
do business with but don't do business with your friends or your family [because] it
could turn sour and ruin your friendship."
In the panel entitled, "Surviving a Family Business," Joe Berardy,
the initial Entrepreneur founder for the Center for Entrepreneurship at BYU-H, said,
"Heavenly Father will bless you if your desire is to enrich the lives of those around
you."
Chris Lansing, President and CEO of the Ted Lansing Corporation,
said he enjoys seeing people grow. "The money is the easy part, the people are the
hard part," he said. "It's all about people development, they'll make you or break you."
Christian Morrison, a HTM major from Washington said, "The most
valuable thing I learned was that human trust is the most valuable capital and to
be successful you have to develop a good network."
Eric Smith, a student from Idaho, said, "We went to Ten
Rules of Thumb for business success. There were a lot of good things; they talked a
lot about common sense."
He added, "For instance, if you don't have the resources
you have to have superior strategy. [Other] little things like buy low, sell high, collect
early, pay late. Just little things people need to be told just to make sure they're
doing things right."
Steve Nelson shared the "Seven Rules for Business Success,"
which are judgement, persistence, continued pursuit of education, continued knowledge
obtained about current events, balancing one's life, and conquering the principles
of success.
The essence of an entrepreneur," said Nelson, "is confidence."
One must have faith and hope to dispel fear and doubt.
At the conclusion of the conference, over 1,000 dollars in
prizes was given out.
Among the prizes given out to students who attended at least
five events of the conference were tickets to the Laie Theater, a digital camera, 2
PDA handhelds and a Sony handheld.
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