Students Meet Entrepreneurs as Woodbury University School of Business Convenes First 'Creative Minds' Conference

    LOS ANGELES, CA, October 20, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- In the first of what promises to be an annual fall event, Woodbury University's School of Business will host a "Creative Minds" Conference on Nov. 8, adopting a Shark Tank-like format where budding student entrepreneurs rub shoulders (and ideas) with working entrepreneurs drawn from the School's Board of Advisors and the local business community.

Aside from the benefits of networking, pitching and information-sharing, the evening's activities will provide one student participant with another takeaway: a job.

Joining the Business School's Advisory Board and its Center for Entrepreneurship in staging the event are a host of Business School student organizations: the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), the Business and Professional Women of Woodbury (BPWOW), the Accounting Society and the MBA Association. The conference, which grew out of an idea from Advisory Board member Michael Cusumano, Managing Director of the Cusumano Real Estate Group in Burbank, will consist of a two-hour encounter between local business leaders and students with entrepreneurial aspirations.

Making a productive gathering even more compelling is "So You Think You Can Sell," where student-contestants will receive a surprise item, which they have to sell convincingly in two minutes. This Shark Tank-inspired competition is open to students from all Woodbury teaching divisions. Three winners will be announced before the end of the evening, with the top performer entitled to receive training and employment from Green Payment Solutions of North Hollywood, Calif., courtesy of company VP Brett Hunt. Advisory Board members will comprise the jury.

"The Creative Minds Conference is 'networking-plus,'" said Joan Marques, Ph.D., Ed.D, Dean of the School of Business at Woodbury. "We're aiming to provide students direct opportunities to collaborate with a variety of Woodbury-affiliated C-level business executives, solicit career advice and explore pathways for internships or future employment. CEO, the student organization, came up with the idea of 'So You Think You Can Sell,' which, aside from containing an element of fun, underscores the School's deep ties to the local business community."

According to Dean Marques, future conferences will include guest speakers, multiple sections and additional student competitions.

About Woodbury University
Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. The university ranks 15th among the nation's "25 Colleges That Add the Most Value," according to Money Magazine, was voted "Best Graduate School" in the Los Angeles Daily News 2017 Readers Choice Awards, and is a 2017-18 College of Distinction. Woodbury was a finalist for the General Community Service Award, a part of the 2015 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognition program. With campuses in Burbank/Los Angeles and San Diego, the university offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Liberal Arts, along with a Master of Business Administration, Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as a Master of Science in Architecture, Real Estate Development. Visit woodbury.edu for more information.

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