This Saturday has been added to the work week, at least for any student attending the fourth-annual Undergraduate Business Conference hosted by the Institute for Student Business Education.
Donning casual business attire, attendees will hear two keynote speakers and attend breakout sessions, all related to the central theme of entrepreneurship.
The conference will begin with keynote speaker Mike Tokarz, founder and chairman of the Tokarz Group, an investment banking firm. The institute has also planned a networking lunch and breakout sessions in advertising, technology, minorities in business, not-for-profit, marketing, Internet business and service industry, and communications.
The conference will conclude with the second keynote speaker, Rohini Dey, a former management consultant who has since opened Vermilion, an award-winning Indian restaurant in Chicago.
The institute changed the timing of the conference from Spring Quarter to Winter Quarter to coincide with the summer internship search.
Conference Chairwoman Allyson Culligan said this is also better for the group’s sponsors, who include Goldman Sachs and Boston Consulting Group, who recruit interns at this time.
“Also, a lot of people have jobs, and don’t want to spend a Saturday when it’s 80 degrees out inside at a conference,” the Communication sophomore said.
The biggest improvement since last year has been the strength of the speaker lineup, Culligan said.
“A lot of the breakout speakers could have been keynote speakers,” she said.
The group’s director of public relations, Lauren Radomski, brought in John McCarthy, who will lead a breakout session on communications. McCarthy has worked for CBS and various Chicago publications and is the head and founder of InterImage, a video production company.
Radomski said she hopes she will attract students who may not be interested in the “usual” areas of business.
“A lot of people who are interested in business just think about marketing, consulting, finance, and he is a businessman but he’s in an area of video production,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “I think that the communications industry, production and other nontraditional marketing jobs are often overlooked.”
Group President Neal Sales-Griffin said he anticipates the conference will be a venue to showcase the success and professionalism of the organization.
“This is our premier event of the year,” the SESP junior said. “This is when every facet of ISBE comes together and we’re able to show off.”
The organization itself has grown from a small business and investment club to a “start up” company, according to Sales-Griffin.
“When I run the executive board meetings, I like to tell everyone (that) ISBE is a start up,” he said. “This is still entrepreneurial activity going on. We’re still trying to learn and work out all the kinks, much like any other entrepreneurial venture would be doing.”
Last year, 150 students attended, and the organizers expect at least 200 students this year, including some from other schools. Other colleges have expressed interest in modeling student business organizations after the institute, Sales-Griffin said.
“Northwestern (ISBE) could be the hub for something much greater than we ever thought it could be,” he said.
Reach Sara Fay at [email protected].
