Until March 2012, along with the Startup Canada Team, I will be working exclusively on building Startup Canada in preparation for our public launch. Thank you to everyone for your support and understanding as we focus, focUS, FOCUS ! Have a brilliant holiday and a Happy New Year.

As 2011 comes to a close, I wanted to re-cap the year with my family and friends, old and new. The theme of the year it seems was that of transition and development.

• January 2011 – Spent New Years with Cyprian in Cuba – on New Years eve, our resort was set ablaze due to an accident with fireworks getting blown into trees and buildings with the windy evening
• January 2011 – Visited Geneva for the first time to speak at the UNCTAD expert meeting on entrepreneurship policies on the importance of student-led enterprise initiatives as best practice in entrepreneurship education and promotion (Photo left with Andy Penaluna and Colin Jones)
• April 2011 - Chaired the 2nd Annual iCUE Summit in London UK and reception with Minister Prisk, and facilitated workshops for the 2011 NACUE National Leaders Training Weekend and Awards

• April 2011 – Supported John King and joined the Engentia Team
• April 2011 – Left my post at Industry Canada
• May 2011 – Embarked upon a new Journey in building Startup Canada (launching 2012)
• June 2011 – Spring / Summer Performance Season for Ottawa Dance Fusion Troupe
• July 2011 – Visited the UK to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (first Canadian and one of the youngest to do so) presented by Minister of State for Small Business, Mark Prisk and Minister of Business, Vince Cable, followed by a special reception at Buckingham Palace where I had the opportunity to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip
• August 2011 – Visited Vancouver for Startup Canada stakeholder meetings and to attend Grow 2011
• September 2011 – Visited Saskatoon and Chaired Growing Saskatchewan’s Youth Entrepreneurship Panel (thanks to Lewis and Lisa)
• September 2011 – Developed a horizontal policy round table on entrepreneurshipand innovation for policy directors across Ottawa
• September 2011 – Launched the 2011-12 Ottawa Dance Fusion Season and held new company member auditions
• September 2011 – Adopted our kitten Arlo (Mega-tron Sanchez a.k.a. Whiskers) from Jenna Nowak
• October 2011 – Chaired the opening panel on Creating a Climate for Entrepreneurship at the Canadian Association of Business Incubators Conference
• October 2011 – Re-launched iCUE as a re-branded organization, directed by Tobias Hug and thanks to our wonderful Benefactor David Moore
• October 2011 – Became the proud Godmother of my nephew, Dante Ernest Machado
• November 2011 – Conference Season: Attended and/or spoke at ACCT Canada Innovation 2011, NACO Angels Summit, CIX 2011, OCRI GEW Launch, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards etc.
• November 2011 – Met the Minister of State for Small Business, the Honorable Maxime Bernier
• November 2011 – Supported Stephen Daze with his new venture Agawa
• November 2011 – Minister Prisk announces substantial support to NACUE to move into the further education sector
• December 2011 – Met His Excellency, the Right Honourable Governor General, David Johnston, at Rideau Hall
• December 2011 – Ottawa Dance Fusion Christmas Show at the University of Ottawa

April 25-26, 2012, London, United Kingdom

The  2012 iCUE Global Summit will convene leaders of youth entrepreneurship organizations from over 20 countries and takes place over two days. Highlights include:

• Rigorous TEDx style global best practice sharing sessions
• VIP Mentorship Dinners with global mentors from the UN, World Economic Forum, TiE, Kauffman and the European Commision
• Entrepreneurial Keynote and Networking Drinks Reception in the London Eye
• CelebrityEntrepreneur and Global Thought Leader Keynotes and Panels
• 1st Annual iCUE Global Enterprise Awards
• Press Conference
• And much more…

This week the International Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (iCUE) launched its new branding and website. The new website not only contains information about iCUE and its more than 17 member organizations, but it also features an interactive World Map, a Global Events Calendar, a video message from the Chair and much more. Click here to see the official release announcement. Also check out our newly re-branded communities on Twitter at @iCUEOnline and Facebook. The re-branding and revitalization of the iCUE website and online presence is part of iCUE’s 2011-2012 objectives to position itself as the global organization supporting national youth-led entrepreneurship organizations across the world. Having grown exponentially in our programming and support over the last 6 months, we look forward to launching the 2012 Global Summit and young entrepreneur global mobility program in the next few months. With new Team members Tobias Hug (Germany) and Liu Fen (China) at the helm, with the support of a Team of 6 world-leading advisors, sign up to the iCUE eNewsletter to stay up to date on the latest announcements and developments.

Published in CME 20/20 – Click here to read the entire article. 

Canadians like to think of themselves as great collaborators. The label Team Canada is used both within diplomatic circles and as a sports metaphor to describe our national character as collegial competitors. But in the realm of business and enterprise, Team Canada falls short.

In 2008, when President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to dine with some of the top entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley at the Oxford Castle – Biz Stone (Twitter), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Philip Rosedale (SecondLife), Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Joe DiNucci among others – as part of Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford. Throughout the dinner and three-day program (which included a heated debate at the renowned Oxford Union), I was exposed to a whole new world and inspired to remain in the UK to build NACUE – a national youth entrepreneurship charity that has since mobilized tens of thousands of young people in the UK and globally toward what many have called a “youth entrepreneurship revolution”.

That is why I am so delighted that NACUE has become a key partner of Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK), an initiative that scales the Oxford and Cambridge programs across the UK. The SVC2UK  launches on November 16th at 10 Downing St. with Prime Minister David Cameron. The brainchild of Canadian-born entrepreneur, Sherry Coutu and LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman, the initiative welcomes pioneers of the most disruptive consumer internet and green technologies to the UK to invade the country throughout Global Entrepreneurship Week and to set the country on fire with entrepreneurial spirit. Valley entrepreneurs will meet their UK and European counterparts to look at collaborating on business ventures. They will lead classes examining cutting-edge technologies and business models, and they will meet with policymakers to look at how to expand the UK’s innovation capacity. The programme is organised by Co-Chairs Sherry Coutu and Reid Hoffman, the Executive Committee and Partnering Organizations. NACUE has been working closely with SVC2UK throughout 2011 and with its societies across the country to run App-a-thons and to welcome global entrepreneurs to NACUE societies to inspire thousands of students nation-wide. To get involved, check out www.svc2uk.com.

INNOVATION 2011 – Canada’s R&D Partnership Conference will take place November 20-22 at the Hilton Hotel in Montreal, PQ. INNOVATION 2011 is a networking and professional development conference that draws from the global community of technology transfer and industry engagement practitioners from academia, industry and government as well as venture investors and other managers of Canada’s intellectual assets. The conference is a 3-day networking and education event that will build on the tremendous success of INNOVATION 2010 (program and materials available here). Partnerships with local, regional and national industry associations and others will enrich the program significantly. In addition to professional development, opportunities for networking, marketing and building relationships with key individuals and organizations in Canada’s Innovation Ecosystem are key cornerstones of the Conference.

This is your opportunity to directly influence the program content of INNOVATION 2011 by suggesting subject matter, speakers or moderators, education sessions or other meeting content that is important to you as a member of Canada’s Innovation Ecosystem.

Key Sectors for INNOVATION 2011 include Energy & Transportation, Life Sciences and Enabling Technologies (including advanced materials, ICT, digital media, green technologies, etc).

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to visit beautiful Saskatoon for the Growing Saskatchewan Conference thanks to the support of Community Futures Saskatchewan and Western Economic Diversification Canada. Over 200 enterprise support professionals from all sectors and regions of the province came together to connect, learn and move the economic development agenda forward.

During the conference I had the opportunity to meet with Startup Canada partners and to introduce delegates to the vision behind Startup Canada and in particular, the need for the initiative to be steered and driven forward by the grassroots enterprise support community across the province. Throughout my discussions with other delegates, it became clear how Startup Canada might be leveraged across the province to elevate entrepreneurs as heroes and nation builders; to engage youth and First Nations communities in particular; and, to further enhance cooperation between and public awareness of the excellent resources and support provided by enterprise support organizations. I also had the opportunity to learn about some of the key characteristics and challenges that enterprise support professionals face and the vital role of non-paid staff and volunteers.

Every session of the Program was informative and inspiring and the event itself was a celebration of community, progress and the future. After only 3 days in Saskatoon, I could see why the Canadian Federation of Independent Business declared Saskatoon as the best city in Canada to start a business.

Below I note some of my key learnings and take-a-ways and Tweets from the Conference in terms of both knowledge and personal development.

•  If you want your organization or start-up to get attention, you need to think differently, stand out and entice an emotional response (Saul Colt)
• To build great Teams you need to lead by example and create a workplace culture based on celebration, joy and recognition (Matt Weinstein, www.playfare.com)
• Tweet: @Playfairinc now speaking at #GrowingSask on the Power of Choices – “People are not disturbed by things but by the view they take of them”
• Tweet: @Matt_Weinstein says that we need to create workplaces that reward, recognise, celebrate & are fun in order to retain & build amazing team.
• Tweet: Dan Taylor says that we need to cultivate creative rural economies for economic development #growingsask
• Tweet: Developing unique quality of place is critical to attract entrepreneurs (talent & people) and investment for regional economic development
• Tweet: You need digital, social and business networks to cultivate social economies #GrowingSask
• Tweet: Tourism redefined – attracting entrepreneurs
• In building creative economies, you need to create hope (Dan Taylor)
• Success in business is in part an outcome of experience in business and education in business (Leslie Roberts)
• The key drivers of entrepreneurship are passion, conviction, focus, tenacity and curiosity (Loraine Behnan)
• We need to continually ask ourselves these three questions: (1) What do we do best; (2) what can we do better; (3) what should we stop doing?
• Shift your perspective, be an opportunity seeker, align yourself with positive people and recognise the power of partnerships – i.e. none of us is smarter than all of us – develop a healthy sense of humour
• Think Differently (Cameron Herold)
• Education, education, education is a precondition of fostering more entrepreneurial First Nation’s Communities

Thank you again to Community Futures Saskatchewan and SEDA, Startup Canada partners old and new and those who suspended preconceived notions of what is possible to embrace Startup Canada from the onset.

Networking is the key to success in business according to Keith Ferrazzi, business coach and author or Never Eat Alone, a book about the power of relationship building and networking. Networking helps you find jobs, recruit talent, win new customers and discover investors who will support your ideas. With the right approach, you can build lasting relationships. Here are some tips to become a master networker.

Before – Make the most of the opportunity

1. Do your homework  – If possible get your hands on the attendee list before the event and identify a handful of people who you want to meet. Look up their profiles on Google and LinkedIn and learn about their background to determine the best way to approach them.
2. Prepare your pitch – Create a 15 second verbal business card that you can use when you are introducing yourself to people. It should be clear and concise. Who are you? What is your company? What are your goals? What is it that you want from these new relationships that you are developing?
3. Set goals – How many people do you want to talk to and who in particular?

During – It’s about them

1. Be yourself – Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.
2. Body Language – A firm handshake with eye contact is crucial because people intuit a great deal from that first brief exchange, and maintaining open body language by never crossing your arms is important.
3. Be an ambassador – Act as a host, not a guest. Introduce yourself to those standing alone and ask if they would like to meet others.
4. Listen and ask questions – We have two ears and one mouth, so use them proportionally. When you listen, really listen. Have meaningful conversations with the people that you meet and ask open-ended questions.
5. Be Generous– Networkers believe in ‘givers gain’, that by helping someone you both benefit. Your approach to networking should be completely self-less. Give referrals wherever possible. In doing so, you will become a helpful resource for others and people will remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas and information. This keeps you visible to them. Always be thinking, how can help the person you am talking to. Your network isn’t about what you can gain from it, but what you have to offer it. So make yourself available, approachable and knowledgeable.
6. Business Cards – Be sure to exchange business cards and write notes on the backs of cards you collect to remind yourself of what you discussed and any commitments that you made that you will need to follow up on.
7. Manage your time effectively – Spend no more than 10 minutes with each person and don’t linger with friends and associates.

After – Nurturing relationships

1. Follow up, quickly! – You will have wasted your time if you do not follow up right away. Follow up by email and refer to something of significance from your conversation. Be sure to also deliver on any referrals or connections that you have committed to.
2. Connect via Social Media – After meeting also add your new contacts to your LinkedIn community and follow them on Twitter.
3. Meet one on one – To further build the relationship, you may ask to arrange a call or to meet in person one on one.
4. Keep in touch – Once you have a new relationship, you have to nurture and cultivate it. Keep in touch so that it can grow.

What not to do

1. No selling! Networking events are not meant to be a vehicle to get people to buy your products or services; they are about connecting and building relationships – a beginning, not an end. You are looking to develop a long-term relationship, not a short-term sale.
2. No spamming

Every person you meet has the potential to drastically change you life, so when networking, lay it all out and see what comes of it. Networking is not about exchanging business cards; it is about building relationships. As a network builder, network building is to me like developing new friendships. I listen, offer help, care about their goals, enjoy their company and everything else falls into place.