Club brings students together in entrepreneurial endeavors
Sarah Ehlers
Issue date: 2/10/04 Section: Features
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Forgoing the formula of traditional meetings - which usually feature the president and other officers in front, speaking to organization members - Entrepreneurship Club meetings are more relaxed.
"The president and I decided the meeting should be far more open and free flowing than a regular club meeting," Ryan Fiala, senior small business management major and vice-president of the Entrepreneurship Club, said.
"We handle club and administrative affairs at an executive meeting during the week," Fiala explained. "We thought people would get more out of [meetings] if we kept it light and open. Then, people could really discuss entrepreneurial ideas.
"[The meetings] are serving as a Monday pick-me-up," Fiala added.
The Entrepreneurship Club's Monday "pick-me-ups" include discussing business ideas, listening to speakers and participating in social activities, according to Loraine Cully, senior small business management and marketing major and club president.
Fiala said the Entrepreneurship Club welcomes ISU students from all disciplines.
"We try to de-emphasize that anyone would have to be an entrepreneurship major," Fiala said. "Entrepreneurship is not in any way limited to business students. Some of the best entrepreneurs come from outside the business major.
"If someone has a special talent, entrepreneurship is a great thing to explore," he continued. "Instead of taking what is out there, create your own and do something you love doing."
 Media Credit: Angela Fenili Members of the Entrepreneurship Club read their list of the Top Five things men would like to receive on Valentine´s Day during a game at their meeting in the Bone Student Center. |
Cully added that the club, unlike many Registered Student Organizations, does not require it members to pay dues.
"We feel if its members want to get involved, they shouldn't have to pay to do that. All of our members have some desire to start their own business, so the club is trying to develop that," she said.
"We want to further awareness of entrepreneurship among students, and to do so in a way that develops lifelong friendship among students who are interested in going into business themselves," Fiala added.
In addition to weekly meetings, the club attends and hosts several events related to entrepreneurship.
"We go to a National CEO Conference every year, and we also have a conference of our own, 'EDay,'" she said.
"This is the second year we are having EDay [short for Entrepreneurship Day]," Cully continued. "It came about because the club has been going to the National CEO Conference since it started. The members last year wanted to do something with the local community - it's taking something national local."
Fiala said some of last year's facilitators addressed such issues as the legal aspects of entrepreneurship and women in business.
The event also welcomed small business owners from the Bloomington-Normal community. This year's EDay will be held at the Interstate Center in Bloomington March 26.
According to Fiala, the event "brings together not only people that have successfully operated and expanded their own business, but also speakers that work with prospective small businesses in the community, helping them get their business off the ground.
"We try to inspire...and show people there are resources to help them get where they want to go," he said.