Make Your Mark Blog

How often do you hear people complain about the fact that they’re not involved in shaping their own town and city – far too often! So it was a great opportunity to facilitate at the Wakefield Speaks Event, which gave local people the opportunity to do just that – have their say!

The theme for the event was Skills, Enterprise and Work and was delivered by Wakefield Together, the Local Strategic Partnership for the Wakefield District, which is made up of key organisations delivering the many services and activities that affect the lives of people who live, work, visit and do business in the area. Alongside partners, local people gave their views and ideas on how we can tackle important and urgent issues that affect our city and the surrounding areas.

On Monday, six Make Your Markers braved the soaring temperatures and armed with our suitcases headed down on a packed train to the South West coast. Undeterred by the onslaught of Glastonbury folk at Castle Carey, we sat back admiring the rolling hills and anticipating a 99 with a flake on the beach at Paignton.

Well it wasn’t really a holiday we did have work to do. And that was to spread the word about Global Entrepreneurship Week and give our event organisers in the South West some tips for this year.

Yesterday evening a somewhat sauna-like Make Your Make towers was converted into a hot bed of Ambassador activity involving scrumptious food, a tipple of vino and lots-a schmoozing. There was a great turn out to Make Your Mark’s Ambassador summer network-fest with all our Ambassadors coming eager to share where they are at and make some new contacts (and hopefully new friends!). It was also an opportunity for us at MYM to give a HUGE pat on the back to all our amazing ambassadors for all their support and hard work. You guys are ace! (definitely up there with Murray!)

This weekend is going to be a scorcher and not just because of the weather:

800 likeminded and entrepreneurial 16-24 year olds are getting together on the Southbank this Saturday, 4th July, for an amazing day jam-packed with opportunities.

The event ‘2morro’ brings together enterprising people with new and emerging ideas. They will be able to promote their projects, swap skills, meet mentors, and win amazing prizes. Participants will also get a chance to see how technology and media can make their campaigns run better - Channel 4’s Battlefront will be there showing how it’s been done so far…

Imagine if you will a bright gleaming ship.

This ship is filled to rafters with enthusiastic, cupcake loving sailors, who’s one mission in life is to promote the wonders of enterprise. Now, I bet you’re thinking, ‘hark! What a wondrous, glorious ship HMS Make Your Mark must be! I’d love to step aboard and join what surely must be a fantastic group of people. Ah but alas I doubt they have any vacancies that would suit my talents. Tis a cruel world and all this pondering shall simply drive me to despair’….

Palm trees and palm pilots – that’s what reminds me of my trip to the South West Meet Up. The warm Gulf Stream that helps to give it that ‘Riviera’ reputation acts as a great tourist attraction. But I’ve also learnt that the South West is also the UK’s enterprise hot spot with a buzzing innovative culture that’s acting as a magnet for entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities in a place that’s wired up for the latest advanced digital technology. South Devon College is a great example – it’s all 21st century design with a tangible atmosphere of creativity and innovation – the perfect setting for Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009’s first Meet Up. What a great warm up! Speakers Geoff Hallett and Kirstin Hemmingway demonstrated how a ‘can do’ attitude can make such a difference – not only to your profit margins but by bringing tangible social benefits to your community.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be in lovely sunny Paignton for the Global Entrepreneurship Week South West Meetup, part of a crack team of Make Your Mark-ers consisting of Chris, Sarah, Lauren, Rachel and Kate!

I delivered a couple of short workshops on digital tools that could help event organisers and as I sang the praises of sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook the teachers in the room helpfully pointed out that most schools actually block these sites!

Which got me thinking. Why do educational institutions dislike social networking sites so much?

A few fellow MYM’ers and I travelled to Paignton yesterday to do a couple workshops in the lead up to Global Entrepreneurship Week in November. I delivered a presentation on the campaign’s global outreach, and offered some ideas and tips on how to run a globally focused enterprise activity.

There were some great ideas shared by the partcipants, and here are a few of them:

• Rather than looking at how social enterprise and innovation can improve living conditions in the poorest countries, we are going to look at how they can improve living conditions in the richest and most developed countries - particularly in New Orleans, USA, where there has still not been any significant re-development since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (from Dave Salter, West Exe Technology College in Exeter)