The 2009 Impact National Conference ended in a blast last night at the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle, leaving hundreds of delegates inspired and equipped to lead the growth of Canada in the near future with their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial determination.

The two-day annual flagship event of Impact reached new heights this year, by gathering 500 top student entrepreneurs and leaders around Canada to learn and network together through participation in workshops, speaker series, the grand gala and many other inspiring events. With the opening key-note address by Andy Nulman, president and CMO of Airborne Mobile and former CEO of Just For Laughs, the conference started early on Friday, as crisp and exciting as the morning. Inspired to think creatively and boldly, the delegates were blown away with more informative speaker series, followed by workshops of a variety of topics, training delegates in their area of interest in a personal and interactive way. The conference reached its climax with the grand gala, bringing together all the student representatives and hundreds of industry leaders to network while enjoying delicious food and, most importantly, speeches by Leslie Roberts from Global Toronto, and Justin Trudeau from the Canadian parliament. Five prestigious awards honouring entrepreneurs in different areas of focus were presented to five impressive young Canadian entrepreneurs who set examples for all delegates as well as every Canadian youth.

With the closing speech of Jordan Banks, managing partner of Thunder Road Capital and former Managing Director of eBay Canada, the Impact National Conference of 2009 ended in cheers and applause, much of which goes to our speakers, sponsors, partners, and delegates. The rest? Of course going to our conference team of 2009, who worked days after nights to push the event to its perfection. With the conference being a new record of success for the Impact Entrepreneurship Group, we are now looking into the bright year ahead, during which we will unleash our creative ideas and passion for entrepreneurship to bring more value to all of our follower and supporters, through many new initiatives and ongoing projects.

This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, but this is the beginning of success, for the delegates, for Impact, and for the growing entrepreneurial spirit among Canadian youth!

Impact 2009 Team!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TODAY: Justin Trudeau Speaks with Top Student Leaders and Entrepreneurs at the 6th Annual Impact National Conference

TORONTO, ON (November 20, 2009) – Today, over 500 students from across Canada will convene at Toronto’s Westin Harbour Castle with Justin Trudeau to have a conversation about youth entrepreneurship and the future of Canada’s economy at the 6th annual Impact National Conference. This prestigious event will also bring together Canada’s most recognized entrepreneurs and business leaders from industry, academia and government to celebrate the closing of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

This event is the largest youth entrepreneurship conference in Canada and will feature the finals of a nationwide pitch competition as well as our annual youth entrepreneurship awards at the 2009 Impact Gala. The young leaders will benefit from an inspiring keynote by Member of Parliament Justin Trudeau.  Trudeau is the former chairman of Katimavik, where he worked to help young people make a difference in small communities.

“Impact’s contribution to the propagation of youth entrepreneurship is truly impressive,” says Trudeau. “Their tireless work inspires students to show initiative, take on challenges, and launch ventures that are sure to transform the future of industry in Canada. It is with great honour that I contribute to the 2009 Impact Gala as keynote speaker.”

Trudeau will joined by some of Canada’s most prominent and distinguished entrepreneurs in our speaker line-up including:
•    Justin Trudeau, MP
•    Andy Nulman, President & CMO of Airborne Mobile
•    Norm Brodsky, CEO of CitiStorage, Columnist for Inc. Magazine
•    Sunjay Nath, Vice President of e-Learning Company
•    Jordan Banks, Managing Partner of Thunder Road Capital, CEO of JumpTV
•    Susan Horvath, President of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation
•    Mike McDerment, Co-founder & CEO of Freshbooks

Impact Gala features a silent charity auction that will feature a one week ski getaway package worth $17,500 with proceeds going to Make-a-Wish Foundation.  The Impact Awards will also be presented during the gala, recognizing outstanding youth entrepreneurs in the Social, Woman, Green, Technological, and Arts categories.

This year’s title sponsors of the Impact National Conference are BDC, Industry Canada, and Ontario Centres for Excellence.  The conference is also supported by:  the Government of Ontario, Scotiabank, College Pro Painters, Fasken Martineau, KPMG Enterprise, Pivotry Consulting Group, the University of Waterloo, MaRS Discovery District, Business Solutions International, the Creative Group of 6, GoEyeball, Katimavik, Presidents of Enterprising Organizations, Students Offering Support, and Sun Microsystems.

For more information about the Impact National Conference, visit: http://www.conference.impact.org.

For more information on Global Entrepreneurship Week Canada, visit: http://www.unleashingideas.org/canada.

About Impact Entrepreneurship Group
The Impact Entrepreneurship Group is Canada’s largest non-profit, student-run organization dedicated to encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit amongst youth in Canada and becoming a starting point and catalyst for youth interested in entrepreneurship and leadership. More information is available online at www.impact.org.

About Justin Trudeau
Elected on October 14 2009 as Member of Parliament for Papineau, Justin Trudeau is passionate about engaging young Canadians in politics. Capturing the attention of students from elementary school through to university, he champions liberal values, defending the causes that are dear to his heart, such as the environment and youth empowerment. During the summer of 2006, he chaired the youth taskforce of the Liberal Party Renewal Commission, generating ideas about how to engage more youth politically.  More recently, Mr. Trudeau has been appointed as Official Opposition Critic for Youth and Multiculturalism.

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For more information contact:

Christine Lu
Director of Communications
Impact Entrepreneurship Group
(416) 627 0703
christine.lu@impact.org

Click here for the Impact Media Kit

Here is your lucky chance to sign up for the 2009 Impact National Conference if you haven’t already done so!

Registration for the conference has been extended until Saturday, October 31^st 2009 at 11:59 PM EST.  In order to secure your spot for this exciting opportunity, please register today at www.conference.impact.org

The conference is valued at $900 per delegate, but due to generous sponsorship we are able to offer you the entire package for only $235! The delegate fee includes the following:

• 2 nights accommodation at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
• 6 meals including a 3-course banquet dinner
• The opportunity to meet and interact with top industry guests at an exclusive reception
• Listen, learn, and be motivated by some of the most inspirational speakers
• The opportunity to secure an internship / full-time job with today’s top companies during the exhibition
• Network and connect with 500 of the brightest students across the country
• Attend the annual Gala to see a keynote valued at over $30k

A few of our top speakers this year include:

• Andy Nulman, Co-founder of Airborne Mobile (former CEO of Just for Laughs Comedy Festival)
• Sunjay Nath, Author, The ABC’s of Student Leadership
• Norm Brodsky, Author, The Knack
• Jordan Banks, Managing partner of Thunder Road Capital & CEO of JumpTV (former Managing Director of eBay Canada)

For more information on the conference, please visit conference.impact.org or contact us at conference09@impact.org.

Impact is giving away a ticket to this year’s Impact Gala.  The ticket ($600 total value) features access to a silent auction in support of Make a Wish Foundation, an inspiring keynote address, and the Impact Awards ceremony.

The prestigious gala takes place on the evening of Friday, November 20, 2009 at the Westin Harbour Castle located in Downtown Toronto.  More information on the Impact Gala can be found here.

How to Enter:

The contest begins Monday, October 19, 2009 at 12:00 am EST and ends Friday, October 24, 2009 at 11:59 pm EST.

Twitter: Follow @ImpactOrg. Tweet with the hashtag #INC09 and tell us why you want to go to the Impact Gala.

Facebook: Add Impact’s Fan Page. Write on our Facebook fan page wall and tell us why you want to go to the Impact Gala.

Limit one entry per person per day.

Contest details can be found here.

For more information on eligibility requirements, please click here.

Getting ready to be wined and dined by the Westin staff!

Wining and dining is fun, especially when you have the head chef and staff of the Westin waiting on you! Today Ashok and I had the opportunity to sample four different 3 course meals ranging from roasted butternut squash soup to fire grilled top sirloin and chocolate silk. Ashok will personally tell you that the vegetarian options really gave the meat options a run for their money. To take a sneak peak at this year’s conference menu, check out our Photo Section found at the top of the blog.

Hope to see you at the dinner table on November 20 – 21st, 2009!