Jay Baer, Guy Kawasaki, Amy Jo Martin, and many other leaders featured in Cox BLUE series on 2013 social media trends

Cox BLUE, a social destination designed to help small businesses grow with digital marketing strategies powered by Cox Business announced the 2013 video series, “Focus on Digital – The Influencer Series” featuring some of the most influential experts in social media and digital marketing today. Captured live from leading industry events including South by Southwest (SXSW) and New Media Expo earlier this year by Martin Jones (@martinjonesaz) of Cox Business, these videos are available now on the Cox Business YouTube channel.

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Student team from India addresses the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction
- Finalist projects range from new cancer diagnostic tool and nonprofit fundraising platform to solar power crowdsourcing and recycled shoes
- Entrepreneurial students and their innovative ventures celebrated at finals event

Dell announced that Solar Conduction Dryer received the $60,000 grand prize in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC) to help fuel their innovation. Solar Conduction Dryer and young social innovators from four other finalist teams convened in Austin this week to compete for the cash prize as part of the DSIC, which recognizes undergraduate and graduate students from around the world who envision, create and implement social innovation projects that help communities around the world.

Solar Conduction Dryer aims to address the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural Indian farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction. The innovation will enable farmers to keep more of their crops and sell dehydrated fruits and vegetables as another income source.

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Global Entrepreneurs Win $1 Million Along with Free Support Services

Arch Grants, the global business startup competition that provides $50,000 non-dilutive grants to early stage ventures, announces the 2013 Global Startup Competition winners. Arch Grants created the competition to help grow businesses and create a more robust entrepreneurial culture and infrastructure in St. Louis.

“The Arch Grants winners are the best of a terrific group, and are exciting young companies,” said Jerry Schlichter, Co-Founder and President of Arch Grants. “Arch Grants’ vision has become a reality. We are building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and have great partners who through their support of Arch Grants, have put St. Louis on the international map as a great place for entrepreneurs.”

This year’s competition attracted 707 applicants from 15 countries and 40 states. The 20 grant recipients will receive $50,000 each in funding and free support services. Starting in July, the out-of-town companies will relocate to St. Louis and begin immersing themselves into the entrepreneurial community.

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U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
At Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
May 18, 2013

Let me start by congratulating the graduates and their parents. The word “graduate” comes from the Latin word for “step.” Graduation from college is only one step on a journey, but it is an important one and well worth celebrating.

I think everyone here appreciates what a special privilege each of you has enjoyed in attending a unique institution like Simon’s Rock. It is, to my knowledge, the only “early college” in the United States; many of you came here after the 10th or 11th grade in search of a different educational experience. And with only about 400 students on campus, I am sure each of you has felt yourself to be part of a close-knit community. Most important, though, you have completed a curriculum that emphasizes creativity and independent critical thinking, habits of mind that I am sure will stay with you.

What’s so important about creativity and critical thinking? There are many answers. I am an economist, so I will answer by talking first about our economic future–or your economic future, I should say, because each of you will have many years, I hope, to contribute to and benefit from an increasingly sophisticated, complex, and globalized economy. My emphasis today will be on prospects for the long run. In particular, I will be looking beyond the very real challenges of economic recovery that we face today–challenges that I have every confidence we will overcome–to speak, for a change, about economic growth as measured in decades, not months or quarters.

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Scholars to Attend Aspen Ideas Festival and Create Local Ideas Festivals

The Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute announced the selection of the 2013 Bezos Scholars. This leadership development program brings together 12 of the nation’s top public high school juniors and 12 exceptional educators for an all-expenses-paid week of exploration, dialogue and debate at the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 25 – July 1. And for the third consecutive year, in the spirit of global citizenship and collective action, the Bezos Scholars Program will include five outstanding students and an educator from the African Leadership Academy in South Africa.

In Aspen, Bezos Scholars will connect with visionaries from around the globe—international leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and creative artists across diverse disciplines—and engage in lectures, presentations, debates and discussions around critical issues. Surrounded by the stunning Rocky Mountains of Colorado, past Scholars shared meals and intimate roundtable discussions with Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams , retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Admiral Mike Mullen , musician Moby and New York Times columnist David Brooks , among many others.

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Silicon Valley Partners with Beijing for First Ever Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

2013 the first Zhongguancun-Silicon Valley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition is organized by China High-Tech Industry Center-Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park) and undertaken by Entrepreneur China Magazine and Hanhai Z-Park. With the theme of innovation and entrepreneurship leading the world, this competition is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, tap into high-tech talents and promote the convergence of technology and finance.

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The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) helps executives from many of the world’s largest organizations advance their innovation strategies. Senior leadership teams have access to an expanded innovation ecosystem in the heart of Silicon Valley as part of a four-day summit hosted on the NASA Research Park Campus.

Three recognized leaders advancing innovation in industry, education and business have announced a new alliance to spur global economic development and business commerce, while supporting a mission to help humanity solve its greatest challenges. The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) is a three-year alliance. XPRIZE, the leader in solving grand challenges through large-scale, global incentivized competitions. Singularity University, a unique Silicon Valley educational institute and business incubator which explores the disruptive influences and global growth opportunities of exponentially advancing technologies. And Deloitte, a leader in strategy & operations, human capital, and technology consulting services. XPRIZE, Singularity University and Deloitte will leverage their respective strengths to drive innovation across multiple industries and business sectors.

The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis , chairman and chief executive officer of XPRIZE and executive chairman of Singularity University; Rob Nail , associate founder and chief executive officer of Singularity University; and Marcus Shingles , principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and a leader in Deloitte’s Innovation Group.

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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati presents the latest edition of The Entrepreneurs Report. In this issue, they’ve compiled a range of data on venture financing transactions in which the firm was involved in Q1 2013, with the objective of identifying relevant trends in activity and valuation levels for the U.S. venture capital industry in general. They also include data on bridge loans, an examination of how pre-money valuations vary across industries, a comparison of capitalization outcomes involving convertible notes versus preferred stock in seed round financings, and a look at the risks of different types of contract formation.

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Citi and Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University Launch “Realizing Your Dream” Business Plan Competition for Veterans

Citi and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) announced the launch of the Citi Salutes: Realizing Your Dream Business Competition, a call for veterans who are established or aspiring entrepreneurs to submit formal small business plans in hopes of receiving a share of $130,000 in available seed funding. The announcement was made during the Chicago offering of the IVMF’s Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) program, a three-day conference and collaborative partnership between the IVMF and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that is anchoring IVMF Women Veterans Week Chicago. Citi is a co-sponsor of V-WISE Chicago.

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