Eweek 2017
November 13th - 16th, 2017Dawson College’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education will be hosting Entrepreneurship Week (Eweek) coinciding with Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 13 to 16, 2017. This week is all about creativity, innovation, resources and networking, the early stages of starting a new enterprise whether a social project or in business. Students and faculty will be inspired by hearing people who have been through it all, speak about their experiences. We are also setting up recruiting tables for startups looking for new talents from Dawson. This will give students in Marketing, Design and Computer Science an opportunity to find a job in a startup.
The week will include:
- Information kiosks
- Guest speakers and panel discussions with patent agents, wild and crazy entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, social entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, educators
- Workshops
- Montreal NewTech night – a networking evening in which five companies pitch their products or service in 5 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A.
- Startup job recruiting
AND MORE FUN ACTIVITIES SUCH AS
- Speed date an entrepreneur: Students hone their communication skills and ask questions in both English and French
- Dawson’s Den: Dawson’s very own version of Dragon’s Den where students get to pitch an idea for a new product/service or social project
- Prizes and surprises
Project Update
First place winners of Dawson’s Den : Bradley Heaven and Danny O'Conner
If you attended the grand finale of Dawson’s Den’s on November 16, you probably felt a few goosebumps hearing Bradley’s voice for his startup pitch All Access Life. Twenty teams presented their entrepreneurial projects on the Monday of EWeek. The audience selected ten teams to pitch at the finals on Thursday when Bradley and Danny blew the audience away!
Social Science student, Bradley Heaven and his technical aid, Danny O’Conner can read each other’s minds. This beautiful connection between the two and their ease in working together, has led them to identify a need in the community of people with disabilities. I first met them early October when they came to my office seeking advice on a website they were creating – All Access Life, a one-stop-shop for accessibility needs. The site up-to date with current technology, apps, resources and more.
When I saw how much research and work had been put into their project, I knew instantly that they would take the first prize for the pitch competition held during Entrepreneurship Week (EWeek). I had to convince them to pitch!! Well, after a few discussions, they decided to do it!!
A jury of five judges were unanimous in their decision. Josh Miller of Fuller Landau, Liette Lamonde of La Fondation Montréal inc, Frantz Saintellemy of Groupe3737, Guy Bazinet of PME MTL and Jennifer de Vera of Sustainable Dawson awarded Bradley & Danny the grand prize of 1000$, a Google Chromebook, Business in a Box and coaching from YES Montreal. A additional new prize of 250$ was awarded this year for the most sustainable project, offered by the newly created Dawson College Office of Sustainability. Jenny de Vera who represented the Office, was very emotional when offering this prize to the team - The Sustainability Prize goes to the project that most reinforces the Dawson College value of Well-being for All by demonstrating a positive, sustainable contribution to society, the economy or human and ecological health
Bradley and Danny launched the site right after EWeek www.allaccesslife.org and their next steps will be to select a legal structure and apply for grants to transform the site to WAG 2.0 (disabilities friendly). The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education will continue to support and guide Bradley and Danny. Next stop – Concours Quebecois en entrepreneuriat!
For more on Bradley in the news: http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/high-school-graduation-heavenly-for-john-rennie-student
