Make Your Mark Blog

Armed with a shiny new camcorder I headed off to St Matthew’s Academy in Lewisham yesterday to try and film some 60 second pitches for the Make Your Mark in 60 seconds competition. The boy’s school was already taking part in a Dragon’s Den-style competition organised by Social Enterprise London www.sel.org.uk so I couldn’t have picked a better afternoon to visit!

Six teams pitched their enterprising ideas to a panel of judges. The ideas included a football academy, vending machines that sell umbrellas and an in-school barbershop! It was really cool to watch the pitches and how much thought and effort had gone into the ideas. Everyone was so supportive of each other too, every team got a massive round of applause!

Congratulations to those Connectors who saw the early hours of Tuesday morning to make it to the Connectors breakfast at the National Cafe in Trafalgar Square, London. Some of the networks that were represented include Mosaic Networking, Viadeo.com, Precious Online and Central South London and everyone who came enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast which included hot buttered crumpets with honey!

The Connectors group consists of network leaders. Connectors have a crucial role in the development and progress of young entrepreneurs as they often hold the key to invaluable contacts and can offer essential knowledge and advice to someone who is trying to make an idea happen. The Connectors group was set up to connect network leaders to one another and also to connect them to young entrepreneurs.

Presenter Shivani Mair dedicated her two radio shows to enterprise during Enterprise Week 07. Listen here to two young entrepreneurs talk of the challenges they faced and how they turned their ideas into reality. Creative Careers Surgery is the radio show presented by one of the
UK’s top 20 young social entrepreneurs Shivani Mair on 101.8 WCR. FM. The show aims to empower young people into thinking realistically about exciting careers in the creative industries. Shivani is a great inspiration herself as a TV and radio presenter, voice over artist and events compere. She has also just been appointed to the new Commission for Youth Social Enterprise - a group of 20 of the
UK’s top young social entrepreneurs launched at the Treasury in Enterprise Week. Have a listen and get inspired!

We all want to look our best for the festive season and the Make Your Mark blog is no different, so we have spruced it up with a bit more colour here and there. So pretty!

If there are other ways you think the blog could be improved let us know!

Well it’s just two days after the National final and I’m sad it’s over. When you’ve spent so long planning something it’s great when it starts, but sad when it ends. I’ve just been looking through the photos and they really get across the sense of creativity and energy that there was. You can have a look at www.makeyourmark.org.uk/news_and_features/galleries/72157603451018967

Gordon Frazer from Microsoft make a case for a certain kind of intrpreneurship, and quotes our very own Peter Grigg along the way… http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/12/06/228478/how-to-nurture-innovation-in-your-business.htm

Has the Make Your Mark Challenge uncovered the next generation of socially minded entrepreneurs?

• Wickersley School and Sports College, Rotherham, won the schools category with ‘Truck Trackers’, for small business that need to deliver goods but cannot fill an entire truck
• The City of London School for Girls won the colleges category with ‘Cyclevision’, selling exercise bikes for gym and domestic use which generate electricity to power an in-built television
• University College of Plymouth St Mark & St John won the university category with ‘Fruit on the Roof’, an idea for growing fruit on urban roof tops

I was lucky enough to be in (well I think!) the room full of the most enterprising young people at the Make Your Mark Challenge Final - the schools room! With 11 schools competing for the title of Winners of 2007 it was set to be a tough few days! All their ideas were fab and the way they all worked together was great!

Everything in our room had to be enterprising - tackling the tasks set right through to resources groups needed…the interaction in the room was great! There was laughter, frustration, questions and most important fun!

A winning blog from the Make Your Mark Challenge finals by Pate’s Grammar School:

When I woke up at quarter past six this morning, I could hardly think of anything I wanted to do less than get in a van and drive to London.

Already by the time we arrives at Burford Junction (Cirencester) to pick up the last member of the team, I was flagging on the edge of exhaustion.

Of course this feeling quickly changed as I arrived to a warm reception of free coffee and pastries.

A winning blog from the Make Your Mark Challenge finals by Sandon High School

When we first heard about the ‘Make your Mark’ challenge we were very enthusiastic. Once we knew that the theme of the challenge would relate to thinking in a ‘globalocal’ way we were really interested in bringing some of our own ideas to the table. As a team we started to toss ideas around and before long we had decided upon a product, ‘The Wheely Board’. We entered our idea and waited for a reply. After a tense week we recieved the e-mail informing us that we had made it through to the regional finals.

A winning blog from the Make Your Mark Challenge finals by City of London College for Girls:

A winning blog from the Make Your Mark Challenge finals by The College of St Mark & St John (Marjon):

Upon hearing that we had qualified for the NATIONAL FINALS of the ‘make your mark’ competition, excitement and nerves overcame us - could we possibly WIN this competition.

Our team has been focusing on a great innovative business called GREENOVATION.

GREENOVATION focuses on converting dead rooftop spaces into farms, providing truely local produce to the surrounding community.

Who would have thought a month ago our newly stated University College would be here in London?!!

A winning blog from the Make Your Mark Challenge finals by York St John University:

What is it? The Make Your Mark Enterprise Challenge 2007.

Why we did it? Good experience, team building, bit of fun, Kathryn twisted our arms.

Who are we? Amanda, Kathryn, Laila and Leonora from York St John University.

Our feelings on getting to the final? Disbelief, Trepidation, Shock, Anxiety.

Our idea? Pocket money sized donate and save scheme for children.

Our biggest challenge? Getting here!

What we bring? Experience, energy, enthusiasm.

I was lucky enough to help out on the Make Your Mark Challenge finals today at the v. posh Cumberland Hotel in London. As a digital ‘expert’ I was on hand to answer questions as students completed the digital marketing part of the Challenge. Though I was initially terrified by the prospect, I was soon having so much fun! The groups were all lovely and it was great to talk through all of their fantastic ideas. Judging the digital marketing challenge was a tougher call - every group had put so much effort in, so there was a lot for us to read! Overall the standard of the entries was very high, so hats off to the Challengers for giving us judges a lot to argue over!

We’ve made it onto the Vogue website - a fantastic signpost for the Make Your Mark in Fashion competition…

http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=49116