Key-Z P- Z at The Entrepreneur Show

I just got this fabulously long report from Caroline about Key-z P-z at the Entrepreneur Show in the RDS. Enjoy:).......

Key-Z P-Z, has really been having a great time lately with different competitions and finals going on every second week! The competitions are great, but The Entrepreneur Show really was the most incredible mini-company experience of all. The Entrepreneur Show is an annual event in the RDS Simmonscourt:

“The show will present in excess of 80 inspirational speakers and industry experts, sharing their business knowledge in the form of inspirational talks and panel discussions, with the purpose of inspiring and exploring new and better ways of doing business.
There will also be an array of exhibitors presenting their products, services and new business opportunities to help you in your business development.
This show will appeal to anyone in business or thinking of starting a new one, as this is a unique opportunity to avail of so much inspiration and knowledge, all under one roof.” The Entrepreneur Show Mission 2010.

As Managing Director of the mini-company, I sent a detailed email to the organiser of the event on Friday 16th April enquiring about the price of a stand there. It was due to take place the next weekend, so we weren’t really very optimistic about getting a stand, and we also thought it was probably going to cost a few thousand euros but we gave it a shot anyway.

The email we got back on Monday morning was more than we could ever have asked for! Darren O ‘ Toole, the organiser of the event, had offered us a complimentary stand for two days and a chance to present to the Dragon’s Den live on stage!

After accepting Darren’s offer with delight, he sent us another email with dates, times, the position of our stall and other information that we would need for our pitch to the Dragons, confirming that this wasn’t a dream!

For the next week we did nothing but focus on the Entrepreneur Show and get everything organised! Everyday we had long meetings at my house because we had so much to organise from finances, forecasts, packaging, the poster, advertising, the pitch to the Dragons, the stall and much more!

Creative Signs’ agreed to sponsor us the poster for only €50 and 200 free professionally printed leaflets.

Friday morning when we arrived at the RDS and signed in, we went to set up the stand and then had a look around. We found the auditorium we would be presenting on and we panicked. It was HUGE, and they already had the chairs set up on stage for the Dragons too. There were only 3 of us – myself, Pamela and Sinéad Keogh that were pitching on stage so we spent the rest of the morning learning our pitch by heart trying to keep the nerves away!

The pitch went amazing and the Dragon’s praised us on our enthusiasm, innovation, confidence and ability in pitching. This all seemed a bit strange to us because we were still shaking!

After we got off stage, we got talking to Mr. Gavin Duffy, and he gave us his personal contact details because he offered to help us mass produce the Key-Z P-Z’s, and distribute them across the country!

We also got talking to the other Dragons who were all extremely positive and supportive, and not only this but when we went back to the stand, it was covered in business cards from people wanting to help us out!


I really could write for hours about this, but I’ll finish off and say that it was an amazing experience for all of us, and we still can’t believe it!

Everyone from Key-Z P-Z wants to say a huge thanks to Darren O’ Toole, Creative Signs, PLS Locksmiths and of course Ms. Leonard, Ms. Smith and Ms. Barry who really supported us and gave us permission to attend this event during school hours.

Caroline Corr (:

Leaders on Our Level

On the 9th of March our Transition Year students were invited to 'Leaders on our Level' which is run by TY students in Terenure College. It is a talk given by well known entrepreneurs and people who have overcome great challenges in their lives.

Overall, there were 7 speakers. They were from businesses such as Microsoft, R’evolutionary and Telecom. There was a lady there who got the taste for business in Transition Year and has become very successful. Mark Pollock was there also and gave a very inspirational talk. He lost his sight 12 years ago, and has since taken part in the Gobi March, and has taken on a 43 day trek in Antarctica to the South Pole.

Father Peter Mc Verry talked to us also and told us about the people he works with and their lives. The final speakers were from Northern Ireland and told us about their lives as part of the PSNI police force and the UVF.

Some people who asked questions were given prizes, such as phones and concert tickets. At the breaks there were drinks provided and chocolate. It was a great day out, and the Terenure students did a great job organising it all.

Ali


Ellie says " The Leaders On our level day out was so good! Incredibly inspirational and my favourite speaker of all was Mark Pollock - his story was amazing and so inspiring."

Hannah emailed me and I think that she has a very interesting point here...."We had many famous entrepreneurs with us, for example, Denis o'brien founder of o2, a blind polar and desert marathon runner and M.D of Microsoft Ireland and Northern Ireland. They each gave there views on how to achieve success and how the get the most out of your opportunities. Each speaker had different ways of developing aspects of leadership, but they mentioned about standing out of the crowd and letting your idea be recognised. It was a truly eye opening of a day."

Thanks Ali, Hannah and Ellie, sounds like a very interesting day.....and a great opportunity to interact with some of Irelands leadership gurus! Thanks to Mr Corcoran who manages to get us tickets and organise the trip every year.

See what Terenure College have to say here
http://www.terenurecollege.ie/leadersonourlevel.0.html

here's Mark Pollock's website http://www.markpollock.com/
Mrs L