Enterprise Festival

The enterprise festival took place between the 9th of November and the 27th of November 2009. This enterprise festival featured many events, lectures and opportunities to experience business, marketing and hear what people who've 'made it' have to say. The most notable event was the apprentice challenge with the first round on the 9th of November. The apprentice challenge comprised about 20 teams derived from any student studying any course at the university. These teams faced 2 elimination rounds and a final round in which the eventual goal was to make the most profit. In the first round the teams had to sell doughnuts between 11am - 3pm in the centre of High Wycombe. Each team had to acquire their doughnuts through retailers or other means and had to pick an area for their stall to sell the doughnuts. My team comprised 4 others and had our selling location outside of the local Primark. This is located with an arrow on the map shown below:


Prior to the event me and my team travelled to a local hotel in Marlow in which we met our sponsors and received £50. This money was to be used to buy the doughnuts and to fund any materials needed. The money spent on materials included bags, bag ties, bin lines, paper, pens, card, t-shirts and promoting the event. We managed to acquire our doughnuts from the local Sainsburrys at a discount and subsequently sold them for 50p each or 3 for a pound. By the end of the day our team made about £60 profit which sadly wasn't enough to get to the second round. Reasons for this include the location of our stall, as it was not directly in the centre of Wycombe, the competition, which included two other groups in close proximity and one of the team members being ill and not attending the event. Even though i did not get through to the second round ill talk about the subsequent rounds anyway. The second round was similar to the first and was held on the 13th of November. The objective was to sell any products seen as profitable and appropriate at the time of year. The remaining teams had to produce a sales pitch showing off their idea for the second round. Only 6 teams were allowed through and were given a further £200 sponsorship money to sell their products in the Eden Centre in High Wycombe. Only the 2 teams who made the most money could advance from the second round to the final round. This final round was held in the university student union. Both teams had to stage an event for the students and the team which made the most profit won. The winners could keep the money they had made and an additional £2000 for 1st prize.


On the 12th of November I attended the bucks got talent meeting. The idea of the bucks got talent meeting was to choose 6 musicians and bands to feature in the beat the bands event on the 19th of November.This was an opportunity to show off my friends band from Crowborough (my hometown). I showed a mix tape of their best songs to 3 of the music industry's 'big wigs' and they loved it! My friends band, called Slug Orange got through and geared up to face the opposition. The winner of the beat the bands event was to be given 3 days recording time with the new university recording studios. Unfortunately my friends band came 3rd but still participated and rocked the place. Slug orange:

Slug Orange!!
Finally i attended the telling it like it is lecture on the 16th of November. This lecture involved 5 top ranking people within the marketing and advertising industries. These included Rick Haslam from RAPP, Sue Elms from Millward Brown, Sue Unnerman from MediaCom, George Hudson from Burson Marsteiller and Matthew Chapman from Billetts.


They all noted how Facebook and Twitter is the future for marketing with allot of mediums going to be online as a pay to view service. They also emphasised the idea of viral marketing as its cheap and can broadcast a brand to a wider audience easier. The Panel also stressed the need for work experience to appeal unique to an employer as having just a degree these days isn't enough. The enterprise festival comprised many other events but most were not that relevant to my course thus i didn't attend.