Throughout the week, IDEAcorps Challenge '09 participants blogged about their experiences. Read what they had to say!
A Googler Learns that Heart + Head = Hope
Stanford is Feelin-goodz
Kellogg + Sound + Sustainability = It IS Easy to Be Green
DePaul Gets Naked
The Naked War Room (DePaul)
Chicago Booth - Lessons from New Orleans
Diary of a CRM - a Company Responding to a development Mission (salesforce.com)
No Carpenters Here
(Chicago Booth)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
A Googler Learns that Heart + Head = Hope
I have a confession. Until almost four years ago I had never visited the South, nor did I really ever think I would. You see, I had perceptions about what the South would be like based upon history I had read, movies I had seen and a barrage of media coverage - unfortunately much of which did not always paint the region in the best light. But that all changed on August 29, 2005.
Like millions of others, I watched in horror as home after home, parish after parish, city after city was destroyed and its inhabitants left helpless for days before any aid was to reach them. Despite my previous reservations about the region, what I witnesses compelled me to immediate action and what I experienced as a result, change my perspective on the South and its people forever.
I met people who in the face of atrocities many of us could not conceptualize maintained a sense of dignity, gratitude and determination like no other. I saw cities that, though buried beneath the rubble and devastation, whispered of a long and culturally rich history that was often overshadowed by bleak eras that tainted its true beauty. At that moment I became resolute that these people - these quintessential American cities deserve to be lifted up and rebuilt in order to show the world that we are a nation that thrives in the face of adversity.
Two speakers demonstrated to me that this same determination is alive and well in New Orleans 3 1/2 years after the storms. During his time with us, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu warned us with a cautionary tale of how New Orleans is in essence the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" - that what happened there, could happen anywhere in America and therefore it is our duty to insure that New Orleans not only returns to its former glory, but surpasses it. I was as equally moved by Dr. Scott Cowen, President of Tulane University, whose actions pre and post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita not only assured the safety and well being of his students and faculty, but of other universities in the region and the city as a whole. For me, he was the embodiment of leadership that is only recounted in oft-told fables. The passion with which these gentlemen spoke about their city gave us all a sense of hope not only for the future of New Orleans, but for the future of all cities across the nation.
Hope was also evident in the 54 students, faculty and corporate teams who joined The Idea Village for a week of unparalleled impact. My primary role during the week was to lend my expertise as a Googler to the students in hopes of providing them with additional tools that would benefit the entrepreneurs as they worked to tackle the daunting tasks ahead. Even I, a seasoned veteran of the company, was pleasantly surprised at the effect tools such as Google Earth, Google Maps and AdWords could have on these small businesses in the hands of these talented individuals. For me it was a firsthand account of how technology truly can change lives for the better.
Hope was a theme that also resonated with the local leaders, business owners, tour guides and gracious hosts many of whom opened their homes and lives to us without reservation. They were quick to recount the tragedy that drew many of us there, but even quicker to thank us for our time and efforts - to remind us that what we were doing was going to provide lasting impact beyond what we could comprehend at that moment. But for the 54 of us, hope truly lay in the entrepreneurs who had dedicated their lives to changing the current climate of their beloved city through their business ventures. As a result of our work, their stories have been recounted in the numerous media sources that will catapult their life’s work onto the national stage but to us they will always be:
These entrepreneurs are true heroes. They are the ones ones who will work day-in and day-out long after we return home to establish the solid foundation upon which New Orleans will once again rise. They are the ones who will one day "pay it forward" to future entrepreneurs who share that same raw determination and drive that they once possessed, in what we anticipate will soon be a bustling mecca of art, culture and enterprise.
During our last evening, the team lead for Chicago Booth gave a whimsical toast which I will never forget. He compared our week in New Orleans to The Wizard of Oz, complete with Tornadoes (Hurricanes we knew, but Tornadoes?) and even our own Wiz (Thanks to Dr. Baum). For me, his speech brought to mind the last scene of the movie where Dorothy came to the realization that she always had the power to return home as it was always in her heart. Many would think that this San Franciscan left her heart, well, in San Francisco. But if it's true that your home is where your heart is, then I have another confession to make. Mine will forever be in New Orleans.
Tara Canobbio
google.org
Like millions of others, I watched in horror as home after home, parish after parish, city after city was destroyed and its inhabitants left helpless for days before any aid was to reach them. Despite my previous reservations about the region, what I witnesses compelled me to immediate action and what I experienced as a result, change my perspective on the South and its people forever.
I met people who in the face of atrocities many of us could not conceptualize maintained a sense of dignity, gratitude and determination like no other. I saw cities that, though buried beneath the rubble and devastation, whispered of a long and culturally rich history that was often overshadowed by bleak eras that tainted its true beauty. At that moment I became resolute that these people - these quintessential American cities deserve to be lifted up and rebuilt in order to show the world that we are a nation that thrives in the face of adversity.
Two speakers demonstrated to me that this same determination is alive and well in New Orleans 3 1/2 years after the storms. During his time with us, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu warned us with a cautionary tale of how New Orleans is in essence the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" - that what happened there, could happen anywhere in America and therefore it is our duty to insure that New Orleans not only returns to its former glory, but surpasses it. I was as equally moved by Dr. Scott Cowen, President of Tulane University, whose actions pre and post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita not only assured the safety and well being of his students and faculty, but of other universities in the region and the city as a whole. For me, he was the embodiment of leadership that is only recounted in oft-told fables. The passion with which these gentlemen spoke about their city gave us all a sense of hope not only for the future of New Orleans, but for the future of all cities across the nation.
Hope was also evident in the 54 students, faculty and corporate teams who joined The Idea Village for a week of unparalleled impact. My primary role during the week was to lend my expertise as a Googler to the students in hopes of providing them with additional tools that would benefit the entrepreneurs as they worked to tackle the daunting tasks ahead. Even I, a seasoned veteran of the company, was pleasantly surprised at the effect tools such as Google Earth, Google Maps and AdWords could have on these small businesses in the hands of these talented individuals. For me it was a firsthand account of how technology truly can change lives for the better.
Hope was a theme that also resonated with the local leaders, business owners, tour guides and gracious hosts many of whom opened their homes and lives to us without reservation. They were quick to recount the tragedy that drew many of us there, but even quicker to thank us for our time and efforts - to remind us that what we were doing was going to provide lasting impact beyond what we could comprehend at that moment. But for the 54 of us, hope truly lay in the entrepreneurs who had dedicated their lives to changing the current climate of their beloved city through their business ventures. As a result of our work, their stories have been recounted in the numerous media sources that will catapult their life’s work onto the national stage but to us they will always be:
- The young man whose is rapidly building a sustainable flip flop empire, winning hearts and believers along the way;
- Two guys using the nation's favorite go to food, pizza, as a catalyst for a national dialog around diet, nutrition and a sustainable food system;
- The attorney who is using the universal language of music to bring awareness to environmental issues - the hotly debated cause of the increasing number of hurricanes in the gulf coast region;
- The team who, like Google, understands that data/information is power and is looking to make it more widely available to promote housing redevelopment in the region;
- The team who feel that the green housing revolution is not only for the wealthy, but should be accessible to all regardless of soci-economic status;
- And the team who understands that a city is comprised of many socio-economic levels and alternative housing options are necessary to attract some of the most vital member of the community
These entrepreneurs are true heroes. They are the ones ones who will work day-in and day-out long after we return home to establish the solid foundation upon which New Orleans will once again rise. They are the ones who will one day "pay it forward" to future entrepreneurs who share that same raw determination and drive that they once possessed, in what we anticipate will soon be a bustling mecca of art, culture and enterprise.
During our last evening, the team lead for Chicago Booth gave a whimsical toast which I will never forget. He compared our week in New Orleans to The Wizard of Oz, complete with Tornadoes (Hurricanes we knew, but Tornadoes?) and even our own Wiz (Thanks to Dr. Baum). For me, his speech brought to mind the last scene of the movie where Dorothy came to the realization that she always had the power to return home as it was always in her heart. Many would think that this San Franciscan left her heart, well, in San Francisco. But if it's true that your home is where your heart is, then I have another confession to make. Mine will forever be in New Orleans.
Tara Canobbio
google.org
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
IDEAcorps 2009 Brings Bright Minds to New Orleans Businesses
Written by Meghan Joneswww.neworleans.com
Something amazing has been quietly happening in New Orleans recently. Unless you know where to look, or caught one of the television news or radio interviews, you may not have heard the good news. This week was the annual Idea Village IDEAcorps Challenge, where business students and corporate volunteers from all over the country pay their own way to New Orleans to spend their spring break helping local entrepreneurs realize their dreams.
This year's Challenge found 50 of our nation's top MBA students and corporate brains - from the likes of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, DePaul University and Google - paired up with six budding businesses centered around sustainable industries that will attract and retain 22-35 year olds in the Crescent City. After working with companies like Naked Pizza and Feelgoodz eco-friendly flip flops for the week, today is the day the student teams will present their ideas: the business models, marketing strategies and expansion plans that will hopefully make these companies a household name in the near future.
Free consultations with such educated, innovative thinkers are a dream come true for someone struggling to bring his business to fruition. But they can be traced back to two things omnipresent in New Orleans: Hurricane Katrina and a cocktail napkin.
According to Tim Williamson, president and co-founder of Idea Village, the organization was born in 2000, when a group of New Orleanians who had been spread out across the country came back home, "energized by experiences in thriving communities across the United States." In their adopted hometowns, these citizens realized that an entrepreneurial community was essential for leading and inspiring positive changes in a city. Small businesses could be just what New Orleans needed to re-energize and modernize itself. They decided to help.READ MORE HERE
More Great Articles About The IDEAcorps Challenge ’09 Week
Visiting Graduate Business Students Worked With Local Entrepreneurs This Week
The Times Picayune
Kyle Berner had big news to share Tuesday when he walked into a classroom-turned-conference room on the Tulane University campus to meet with a team of business consultants.
Berner had been informed minutes earlier that his company Feelgoodz, which sells biodegradable footwear, had extended its distribution deal with Whole Foods Market to include the four states in the Southern Pacific region.
The consultants were meeting to figure out how to fulfill the distribution deal Berner had landed weeks earlier to place his Thailand-manufactured flip-flops in the grocery store chain's South region. That deal, alone, meant Berner would have to increase his pace of flip-flop manufacturing from about 300 pairs a month to 2,000. Now, Berner told the consultants, he would have to add about 3,000 to that order.
CLICK HERE TO READ
Birthing Business in The Big Easy
CityBusiness
The Idea Village touts New Orleans as a laboratory for innovation and believes the city will create a blueprint for the rest of the country to follow when it comes to fostering entrepreneurship. The IdeaCorps experience is an opportunity for the city to roll out its red carpet to the future of small business, as each MBA who leaves with a positive experience could be one who does business with or possibly in New Orleans.
And that Berner and the Naked Pizza guys plan to build their burgeoning empires here sends a clear signal New Orleans can foster small business growth.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
The Times Picayune
Kyle Berner had big news to share Tuesday when he walked into a classroom-turned-conference room on the Tulane University campus to meet with a team of business consultants.
Berner had been informed minutes earlier that his company Feelgoodz, which sells biodegradable footwear, had extended its distribution deal with Whole Foods Market to include the four states in the Southern Pacific region.
The consultants were meeting to figure out how to fulfill the distribution deal Berner had landed weeks earlier to place his Thailand-manufactured flip-flops in the grocery store chain's South region. That deal, alone, meant Berner would have to increase his pace of flip-flop manufacturing from about 300 pairs a month to 2,000. Now, Berner told the consultants, he would have to add about 3,000 to that order.
CLICK HERE TO READ
Birthing Business in The Big Easy
CityBusiness
The Idea Village touts New Orleans as a laboratory for innovation and believes the city will create a blueprint for the rest of the country to follow when it comes to fostering entrepreneurship. The IdeaCorps experience is an opportunity for the city to roll out its red carpet to the future of small business, as each MBA who leaves with a positive experience could be one who does business with or possibly in New Orleans.
And that Berner and the Naked Pizza guys plan to build their burgeoning empires here sends a clear signal New Orleans can foster small business growth.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A Message of Thanks from Project 30-90
Project 30-90 is overwhelmed by the Kellogg team assisting us for the week.
We honestly weren't quite sure what the week would bring, but its been
simply amazing. The team is crazy intelligent, passionate and invested in
our project after only a few days. The intellect, critical thinking,
feedback, assumption challenging and ideas they have brought forward are
pushing this project to a new level. Add in their boundless enthusiasm and
this has been a wonderful influx of new energy.
I think the best thing about this team is that as individuals they have
each showed great understanding of the significance of this undertaking to
me as the entrepreneur. Its not their name on the project, but they act as
though it is. Put simply, they "drank the koolaid" on day one and have
been fully vested since. They may have only planned on being here for a
week, but they're all on the team for good, from now until September.
Tomorrow there is a judging of some sort of their work. We'll welcome any
feedback the panel wishes, but I know that project 30-90 is the HUGE winner
by having these wonderful folks assisting us.
Don Kelly
Founder, Project 30-90
We honestly weren't quite sure what the week would bring, but its been
simply amazing. The team is crazy intelligent, passionate and invested in
our project after only a few days. The intellect, critical thinking,
feedback, assumption challenging and ideas they have brought forward are
pushing this project to a new level. Add in their boundless enthusiasm and
this has been a wonderful influx of new energy.
I think the best thing about this team is that as individuals they have
each showed great understanding of the significance of this undertaking to
me as the entrepreneur. Its not their name on the project, but they act as
though it is. Put simply, they "drank the koolaid" on day one and have
been fully vested since. They may have only planned on being here for a
week, but they're all on the team for good, from now until September.
Tomorrow there is a judging of some sort of their work. We'll welcome any
feedback the panel wishes, but I know that project 30-90 is the HUGE winner
by having these wonderful folks assisting us.
Don Kelly
Founder, Project 30-90
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Local and National Media Coverage
USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/
MBA candidates test skills in New Orleans
 |  | |
By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY By Sean Gardner for USA TODAY | ||
Depaul student Lucas Weingarten, second from right, and assistant professor Patrick Murphy, right, lend a hand Tuesday. | ||
Instead, this week eight of them are spending Spring Break in New Orleans helping a local entrepreneur develop a business strategy for selling his eco-friendly flip-flops.
Wall Street's troubles have master's degree candidates rethinking life after graduation, said Matt Nash of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University.
One of the main benefactors of this trend has been New Orleans, a city nearly destroyed by the 2005 floods. The Idea Village, a non-profit created after Hurricane Katrina to help businesses get on their feet, launched IDEACorps in 2006. It is a business-oriented Peace Corps concept that pairs MBA candidates with local entrepreneurs, said Tim Williamson, president and co-founder.
"Other communities will be going through what New Orleans has went through the past three years," he said.
The initiative has grown from five students in 2006 to 40 last year. This year, it has attracted 50 students from Stanford, DePaul University, the University of California-Berkeley, Northwestern University and others.
At a meeting of minds Monday between Stanford students and the owner of Feelgoodz, the eco-friendly flip-flop maker, ideas for new business models were scribbled on a large dry-erase board. Not far from the Stanford gathering, the team from DePaul University bantered around ideas to help grow Naked Pizza, an all-natural health-conscious pizzeria.
More MBA candidates are venturing into impact-conscious roles, and they could end up solving the economic crisis, said Lucas Weingarten, 32, a DePaul MBA candidate.
"I recognize that it's business and unrestricted free-market capitalism that has caused a lot of the problems we have today," he said. "But they're also going to fix them."
One of the goals of the program is persuading the visiting students to move to New Orleans, said Bob Brown, head of the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, a non-profit group of area CEOs.
"If we become a mecca for smart entrepreneurs, it could have an enormous impact on recovery," Brown said.
The Times-Picayune Article:http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2009/03/speakers_tell_visiting_graduat.html
Tulane University New Wave Article:
http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/0309_newssplash.cfm
WGNO ABC Video:
http://www.abc26.com/pages/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3577276
Monday, March 23, 2009
Culture, Crawfish and Crazy Ideas!
Saturday morning my colleague, Tara Canobbio, and I landed in the beautiful city of New Orleans. Since we were unable to check into our hotel room early in the morning, we explored the French Quarter and were pleasantly surprised at how busy all the shops were! The last time we were here with the Black Googlers Network in September 2008, Hurricane Gustav just hit and most of the shops were still closed. However now, some shops owners have reported that their patronage is back to pre-Katrina numbers!In the afternoon, we headed to the "Welcome to Orleans Party" at the Idea Village, sponsored by GNO, Inc. This was the first time that all the teams from Stanford, DePaul, Kellogg, Chicago Booth, Berkley Haas, salesforce.com and Google would meet, along with all the great entrepreneurs, and representatives from the city. Although we went through 80 lbs of crawfish, the party was a great event for everyone to share thoughts and ideas about the entrepreneurial opportunities in the ever growing city of New Orleans.
On Sunday morning, Sally and Alton Doody were gracious enough to host us all for a Jazz Brunch and another opportunity to further interact with the entrepreneurs and city officials. I also got a chance to get to know some of the students better and find out why they came to the MBA Challenge in New Orleans. I found myself surrounded by bright minds and eager hearts ready to explore the possibility of helping a historic city re-emerge.
In the afternoon, we took a bus tour of New Orleans where the tour guide took us around to historical sites of the city, as well as the affected areas of New Orleans such as the lower 9th Ward. Although the Lower 9th was very affected by Hurricane Katrina, very affluent areas were greatly affected as well. It definitely added more perspective to the catastrophe: everyone in the city - rich or poor, black or white - was affected.
On Sunday evening, the Idea Village held a Team Building New Orleans School of Cooking Olympic Challenge at Jax Brewery. At this event, each of the 6 teams had 15 minutes to complete each challenge which included a Scrabble challenge, an all-aboard challenge where each team had to fit within a shape on the ground, a cooking challenge, a Price is Right challenge, Marshmallow Engineering and a mixology competition. Each of these challenges presented a different problem that each team had to solve and we (the judges) had to award points based on team work, use of time, presentation and quality. The camaraderie that occurred at this event was invaluable and further solidified the bond between each MBA school with their local entrepreneur partner.What's happened at the end of these events? Idea Village created a new community of young, creative, entrepreneurial minds - who otherwise may have not come together - to fall in love with New Orleans.
View Event Pictures!
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