Student Entrepreneurs Network at Conference
Tobenna Arodiogbu wants to take the world of social networking into his own hands, and at a weekend national entrepreneurship conference attended by several Penn State students, he found the connections to make it happen.
This weekend at the inaugural Kairos Summit in New York City, Arodiogbu (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) presented his plan for a new kind of social networking Web site, Linknage. The site would allow people to tag themselves in professionally taken photos at sporting events and parties, and share these images with friends over sites such as Facebook.com.
Arodiogbu was just one of about 45 Penn State students who attended the conference of more than 500, which was sponsored by the Kairos Society — a non-profit organization founded by a group of students and designed to foster an entrepreneurial culture, according to a press release. Students from the University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and others also attended the summit, according to the release.
Many came prepared to pitch ideas. Arodiogbu said he already has a theme picked out for his business.
“It’s a crazy world of activities — let’s help you keep the memories,” he said. “People will feel like celebrities at events.”
The conference was designed for entrepreneurial students to build the businesses of tomorrow by learning from and presenting their ideas to the successful businesses of today. Students listened to speakers such as former President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bill Gates Sr. who encouraged giving back to the community.
“They emphasized that you have to do something you’re passionate about,” Arodiogbu said. “You have to do something well, as well as do something good.”
Brett Bergen, president and founder of the Kairos Society chapter at Penn State, said the speakers also highlighted the importance of staying in school, even if there is the temptation to leave for the possibility of money.
Bergen (senior-finance and industrial organizational psychology) said the summit was a fantastic opportunity for students who are serious about starting their own businesses — that’s why he started the chapter at Penn State.
“I’m really, really passionate about entrepenurship,” Bergen said.
Bergen himself is working on a Web site made of three key components: social and professional networking, linking businesses to its employees at home and a combination of internal and external resource consulting.
He said the Kairos Summit gave him different perspectives about his business, helping him think of ways to improve his idea.
“As people walked around and asked me what I did, I heard questions I hadn’t heard before,” Bergen said. “I had to address those things.”
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