If you’re ambitious, daring, and always land on your feet – you could be a ninja. Maybe it’s time for you to work for a start-up!

As we mentioned earlier in an earlier post, Impact Connect is hosting Start-OP, an event where you can learn all about working at or starting a new company!

At Impact Start-OP, you will be given the chance to talk to and connect with research institutions, start-ups, and venture capitalists from the Kitchener-Waterloo region and Toronto, who will be able to share their experiences in entrepreneurship.  This is also a great chance to network with local businesses, so don’t forget your business cards!

DETAILS

Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Time: 5:30PM – 7:30PM

Location: Tatham Center Main Hall, University of Waterloo

Price: Free

Companies attending include:

• Allerta
• My IT Guy
• Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology
• NexJ Systems
• Desire2Learn Incorporated
• ThinkPanda
• Assetize Inc.
• FreshBooks
• SocialDeck

Everyone is invited to this event, so spread the word!  Registration is at startop.impact.org.

If you’re ambitious, daring, and always land on your feet – you could be a ninja. Maybe it’s time for you to work for a start-up!

Have you ever thought about working at, or starting your own new company? Come out to Start-OP, and find out what it takes!

The event aims to bring together start-ups, venture capitalists and research institutions from the Kitchener-Waterloo region to chat with University of Waterloo students and demystify the exciting and adventurous world of entrepreneurship. Students will get  to connect with some of the most successful Canadian-born companies and some newer up-and-coming companies. This program will emphasize entrepreneurship as a co-op option for students and give a chance to start-up companies in Waterloo to market their profile and name. Don’t forget your business cards!

• When: Wednesday March 24th, 2010 at 5:30pm to 7:30pm
• Where: Tatham Centre, University of Waterloo (200 University Ave. W.)
• Remember: The event is free and refreshments will be served!
  Companies and Keynote will be announced in the coming days so stay tuned!

Everyone is encouraged to come to this exciting event, so please register at: startop.impact.org!

With more initiatives then ever before, Impact is excited to present our upcoming lineup for 2010.

1. Impact Innovate (March 6)
   Impact Innovate 2010 will be a one-day discussion about innovative thought and the entrepreneurial spirit. You will gain critical new skills, ponder provoking ideas and meet your future business partners. 
    
2. Impact Microcredit (Spring)
   Impact Microcredit is Canada’s biggest high-school social entrepreneurship competition, reaching students in hundreds of schools across Canada and raising tens of thousands of dollars to worthy charities.
    
3. Impact Apprentice (Summer)
   Impact Apprentice is a real-life, challenging, hands-on competition that will test the business smarts and wits of Canada’s top entrepreneurial-minded students.
    
4. Impact Expo (Fall)
   Taking place in University of Waterloo, the Impact Expo is a conference attracting over 2000 students featuring case study competitions, keynote speakers and more.
    
5. Impact National Conference (Fall)
   Recognized as Canada’s Premier Youth Entrepreneurship Conference,  the Impact National conference attracts 500 of the top high school and post-secondary students from across Canada.
    
6. Impact Connect (Year-round)
   With a focus on connecting students interested in entrepreneurship with the industry leaders who can inspire them, the Impact Connect team will be organizing entrepreneurship competitions, networking events, and seminars throughout the year.
    
7. I Am My Ambition (Year-round)
   Exposing an interview series aimed at highlighting ambitious and successful entrepreneurs, philanthropists and politicians to shed light on their starting up stories, and transfer lessons learned through experience while emphasizing immediate action. 
    
8. Youth Canada (Year-round)
   Youth Canada is the top online resource for Canadian high school students to find insight and opportunities to further enrich their lives.
    
9. Impact.org Network (Year-round)
   The Impact.org network strives to build an online and in-person community around Impact’s people, programs, and partners.
    
10. Impact Speakers’ Bureau (Year-round)
    More information coming soon! 

Stay tuned for an exciting year!

The Impact social that Impact Connect held on February 2nd at the University of Waterloo was a huge success, leaving Waterloo students and Impact members alike to be motivated and excited!

The session was very successful, with over 50 Waterloo students in attendance. A number of  Impact members were also there to share their experiences of being part of Impact, as well as to outline Impact’s plans for the upcoming year.

At the end of the session, many students stuck around to network and mingle with the Impact members, and many expressed interest in becoming involved with Impact’s programs in 2010!

If you were unable to attend Tuesday’s Impact social but are still interested in becoming a part of Impact team, please feel free to contact laura.chelaru (at) impact.org.

To see more photos from the Impact Social, click here.

Ever wanted to know more about Impact? Ever wanted to show your potential and connect with other inspiring leaders? Then the upcoming Impact social is the place for you to shine.

This Tuesday, February 2nd, Impact Connect will be hosting a social for UW students who are interested in learning more about the organization and our plans for 2010. It will be taking place from 5-6 pm, in the SLC room 2105B. RSVP by filling out this form [http://tinyurl.com/impact-social] or via Facebook [http://tinyurl.com/impact-socialFB] so you won’t miss out on this chance of getting the inside scoop of Impact.

We hope to see YOU there!

2008 Waterloo HackU winner Addy Cameron-Huff (in red shirt) is also the winner of the 2009 Yahoo HackU finals in New York City. Photo: Rasmus Lerdorf

As many already know, Impact Connect and Yahoo! had ran the Hack U competition at the University of Waterloo in both 2008 and 2009.  For those who don’t know, HackU is a week-long coding festival challenging the  brightest of the University of Waterloo’s programming community.  The HackU competition is held across Canada and the U.S. and challenges students to develop a web application that solves a problem in 24 hours or less.

In the 2008 HackU competition run by Impact Connect, Waterloo graduate Addy Cameron-Huff won with his application that tracks speeches made by Canadian politicians, allowing constituents to follow the progress of their MPs.

One year later, Cameron-Huff moved on to the HackU finals held in New York City, competing against teams from universities such as Berkeley, Cornell, and the University of Washington. Approximately 40 teams had just two minutes to present their hack.

In New York, Cameron-Huff blew away his competition with his application that sent out instant alerts about insider trades for various stocks.

With these key victories, Impact Connect is proud to have helped Mr. Cameron-Huff on his path to success.

EDIT:  Thanks to Addy Cameron-Huff for posting the link to his presentation!  You can watch it here.

Impact is teaming up with The On Contact with an Entrepreneur event will take place on Tuesday November 17th at 7pm-9pm in DC 1302.  This event is a panel discussion hosted by Cg6 Inc. that educates and promotes to young professionals the different faces of entrepreneurship. Please come out and show your support!

Host: Cg6 Inc.
Date: November 17th, 2009 – Tuesday
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: University of Waterloo, Davis Centre Library, Room 1302

A total of 13 industry-experienced entrepreneurs – our guest speakers – will engage YOU, the audience with informative answers in an open mike format. YOU will have the opportunity to witness first-hand, the runnings of a business as an entrepreneur. The hardships and perks, the highs and the lows – all provided from real view points of our speakers. The format provides an added intrigue by allowing YOU to compare the commonalities and differences among true entrepreneurs.

Speakers include:

- Annette Borger – award winning publicist in professional development
- Johnson Chou – award winning media recognized multidisciplinary architect & designer
- Eleonore Goulet – media recognized translation broker
- Max Haroon – association founder of accredited Internet Professionals
- Laurent Ho – media supported social entrepreneur
- Joseph Khunaysir – founder of 77th fastest growing company in Canada
- Corinne Lor – life-changing success coach
- Adam McNeill & Maya Kenedy – young dynamic web media professionals
- Carol Moxam – one of Canada’s top 3 Certified Special Event Professionals
- Patrick Monize – founder of project management office for media and financial sector
- Sean Ramsay – industry recognized interactive media producer
- Vwodek Wojczynski – trilingual business coach

Join the Facebook event here!

RSVP for the event here!