Not The Usual Programme

The teacher-in-charge of the Enterprise Club wanted a CCA programme for her students that was a combination of our E³, InnoWorks™ and Board Game programme.


The first session was on the Entrepreneur Mindset as an induction programme for the Secondary 1s who just joined the club, we shared about real-life examples of entrepreneurs and how they can adopt the same attitudes as well as strategies in their everyday school life.

The second session was where we taught them some techniques from our InnoWorks™ programme to help them to conceptualize and improve on ideas for a bazaar during Chinese New Year.


The third session was a board game programme, where students learned about entrepreneurship and how to manage money. I asked a few facilitators from the National Junior College I&E Club to come and help out as well as to share more about some of the things they do at the I&E Club in NJC.
At Youth Enterprise Academy, we connect entrepreneur clubs together. And hopefully at the end of the year, we will be able to do this kind of connection on a much larger scale.

The Smaller, The Better

If you thnk that younger children can never be entrepreneurial, you've obviously NOT met the boys of St Stephen's School.

They're smart, speak impeccable english, have a great vocabulary, and comes up with the most interesting bazaar and product ideas EVER.

I mean, honestly, who would have thought of using Crocs sandals in a game, or mini-golf to raise fun?

Youth Enterprise Academy was engaged to train the students and to teach them the finer points of entrepreneurship. We taught them how to sell, market and promote their products.

I'll be the first one to tell you that I honestly didn't think that red packets stuffed full of surprise candy and chocolate would sell during the bazaar but they were the first one to sell out! Other great ideas that came up were ang bao cranes, bookmarks and other small gifts made from low cost items. I figured it's probably the Kinder Surprise mentality but it probably means that these kids know their target customers more than I do.

But just coming up with good products isn't good enough. You have to back it up with great marketing and promotion. The boys from Soldiers of Fortune created a pretty good and effective example:

At the end of the day, it was a really good practice for the boys, to learn from their mistakes that they made during the bazaar. I hear that they're going to have another bazaar in the later half of the year so all the best boys!

Customized Love Songs

For romantics that can't hold a tune, Canadian TailoredMusic.com now offers the perfect service: customized love songs performed by professional musicians. Customers pick a vocalist and genre, ranging from experimental to folk waltz. The website then shows the default lyrics for the song they selected. While a demo of the song plays in the background, customers edit the lyrics in an easy to use online word processing tool. Some lyrics must be customized (the love object's name), while other fields are written for easy customization, allowing users to add personal experiences, locations, events, colors, etc. Any words or lines can be changed, and TailoredMusic's singers can adapt to varying numbers of syllables and different rhyming schemes.

Once the right words have been selected, a customer can choose to receive the song as a web download (compressed MP3 and CD-quality WAV), or a gift-wrapped CD in a metal case with a printed lyric sheet. Delivery time is 1 to 2 weeks, and songs are priced from USD 99-249; ordering the 'premium' physical product adds one week to the delivery time and USD 20 to the price.

Behind the scenes, studio musicians get to work on the order, working through rhythmic changes, rehearsing and recording new vocals, re-applying digital effects and remixing. TailoredMusic is actively seeking musicians and songwriters to add to their portfolio, offering musical minipreneurs the opportunity to work from their own (home) studios, whenever it suits them. One to partner with if you're in the gift-giving business. (Valentine's Day is just around the corner...) Of course there's also plenty of room for localized versions, offering songs in languages other than English. Get lyrical! ;-)

Innovative & Technical Excellence

That's my acronym for ITE because that's the kind of impression I get from ITE students on the programmes that I work with them.

After the previous experience with ITE College East, ITE College West (Dover) approached us to do a InnoWorks™ programme to help their students generate new ideas for the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventor's Award.

And after a quick briefing, they got to work pretty quickly! Great ideas like a stackable tray with a drinks slot for the canteen, stackable auditorium chairs and even milk bottles with soothing music for babies!

Any student can be creative, but the ITE student temper imagination with practicality, thinking of practical ideas that applies to everyday life.

Dating security

Secure Singles has developed a 'personal emergency notification system' for the dating world.

A tool that singles can use to protect themselves, Secure Singles allows users to store information on the people they're planning to meet. Before going on a date, they can set a text alert that will go to friends, family or the authorities, if the user doesn't check in to cancel it. The message, which is sent by email, instant message or sms, includes details on how to access stored information on the date: contact info, employer/occupation, photos, phone number, address, location of date, etc.

Users can also add a 'Secure Singles Seal' to their online profiles to ward off anyone with bad intentions, and schedule text messages to be sent to themselves during a date to offer an easy way out if they feel uncomfortable.

The service, which is currently free, was developed by Secure Networks, a team of safety-concious parents and single professionals who wanted to make it safer to meet online suitors offline. A sister service is 321notify.com, which isn't just for daters, but anyone who could use a bit of extra security.

According to a spokesperson for Secure Singles, there are more than 100 million single people living in the U.S. today and 40 million of them are using online dating and social networking communities. A service that ensures personal safety and peace of mind sounds like something those online communities should partner with or buy now! Time to start something similar in your own neck of the woods?

Tour Guide For Virtual Travels

Here's a very clever and very 'now' idea: a travel agency for virtual worlds. Synthravels is the first travel organization to offer a guide service to anyone who wants to tour highly-hyped virtual worlds like Second Life or World of Warcraft.

The increasing complexity of virtual worlds is making them more interesting, fun and potentially lucrative. But it's also creating a considerable threshold for newbies, especially for those who have little or no experience with online gaming. Compare it to snatching a tourist from his annual holiday in Myrtle Beach and dropping him in the back streets of Mumbai ;-)

Which is why it makes perfect sense for two savvy Italian entrepreneurs to set up a service that takes curious explorers by the hand and shows them the wonders of metaworlds. A customer registers with Synthravels, picks a destination and preferred day and hour for the trip. Within a few days, he or she receives an itinerary by email. To prepare, a visitor has to download any software needed for the virtual world and should also create an avatar. After logging in on the selected day and time, the visitor will find an expert guide waiting to show them the ropes, from the basics of maneuvering to finding elusive and exclusive virtual hotspots.

Tours and destinations are selected by Synthravels' staff: programmers, architects and experienced video gamers. Sightseeing excursions include 'Discover the Post Art Deco architecture of Paragon City', a shopping tour of Second Life, and a lastminute to Entropia Universe, including dinner with Deathifier, the legendary owner of Treasure Island.

Synthravels, which launched last week, welcomes skilled avatars to sign up as guides. Sounds like a great minipreneur gig for experienced gamers, especially for those who can offer added value by giving specialized tours. There's a substantial market for services like Synthravels, from parents who'd like to experience how their children are spending all their waking hours, to thousands of marketing and advertising execs who want to dive into youniversal branding.

Website: www.synthravels.com
Contact: info@synthravels.com

creepupmytee XOXO lingerie.

XOXO
is a label popular with girls and women.
during my trip to Japan, i got into a lingerie shop called Northerly,
where they stock up on XOXO's lingerie,
and they have a customization service. too bad there isnt a site by them.
so basically i get a plain bra, which i got hot pink dont know why dont ask me since i dislike pink,
and i had them jewelled.
straps changed as well, from plain ones, to cross back. its really lovely,
the straps are criss-crossed, so from the back, it looks sport bra-ish.
and of course, the bottom of the lingerie set is jewelled too, small black crystals.

okay pictures speak well i figure,
am posting this because im trying to make headway for my lingerie business,
hopefully soon enough,
and this is what i aim to do, customize lingerie for women out there,
and well, in the long run, i do want to attempt bringing in different kinds of lace, straps and crystals too.

till then, show some love eh?
check back, creepupmytee.blogsp.

Back to school...

For me at least. I was hit with a massive dose of nostalgia last week when Jo & I went back to NYJC, where yours truly hailed from.

The average NYJC student hasn't changed much. Creative, smart and brimming with ideas. Yeah and all that mud jokes with our uniforms. Yea yea, tell me something new will ya?


<-- Having fun is an important goal! Something you can't do without during workshops. Fun!
And so, first impressions and Jo & I were thinking that these Biz Club students were really really passively quiet.

Maybe because I looked scary. Although I can't imagine how. Or perhaps they were distracted by Jo.

At any rate, they soon warmed up to us (as us to them) and pretty soon, it was work work and fun!
The dynamic group Happy Feat impressed with their bubbly enthusiasm, interesting business idea, and their ad's concept was novel. I would put the video up. But it was so peppered with uncontrollable laughter by the presenting team that I shall not tax the random reader's mind in trying to understand the ad.

I always did like creative and enthusiastic. So keep it up Happy Feat!


Other notable mentions include the students' realistic financial plan for their project, especially the guys from Happy Tree Frens, who meticulously worked out their plan a column of the time, taking every possible cost in consideration.

And the most amazing thing? The Biz Club dudes/dudettes were fine-tuning their business plans even 1 week after the workshop and calling us up for some advice to touch up their business plans.

Their site is http://nyjc.biz

And keep the entrepreneurial flame burning! :)

Creative Entrepreneur of the Week! Part Un

There's like a ton of things that I want to blog about, and I guess I have to start somewhere.

So thus we have a series of the really creative young entrepreneurs out there. (I have no idea how young she is but should be quite young lah)

For the Creative Entrepreneur of the Week we have....*drumroll.

The P L U S H I E S ! ! !

By Nico aka PLUSHISM wonderer!

Of course, so what do I like about her works?
<- click on the jpeg to find out! She has a wonderfully colourfully professional flash website which is very nicely done. I like her attention to details. Her plushies are all handmade and each individual plushie all have a name and a personality. There are different series of plushies and they have their own story (told in a comic strip as well!) as well as a writeup on what the plushie is all about.

The Plushies reflects her creativity and her funkiness along with her commitment to business and her overall dream which is... I won't say. Go to her website and check it out!

Overall, Nico has done really well in creating value for consumers and and by targeting the hardcore soft toy collectors with her unique plushies. She has created a brand with a strong identity that has a lot of potential. Show your support @ www.plushism.blogspot.com

All aspiring entrepreneurs who's thinking of setting up a creative business might do well to take a leaf or two out of Nico's colour book.

Cheers. Out.

Sitters With a Creative Touch

A singer, a dancer, a painter – take your pick, these are just some of the creatives that New York parents can hire as their child’s babysitter for the night. Eugenia Bachaleda, a musician, and Kristina Wilson, a performer, combined their talents to devise Sitters in the City for a modern twist on baby sitting. Both Bachaleda and Wilson enjoyed performing but also loved working with children, and so they found a way to use their artistic talents to inspire and entertain children.

The benefits of Sitters in the City work both ways – for actors and artists, it’s a flexible job that combines well with auditions and concert rehearsals. For parents, it's a fun and creative childcare option that aims to leave children inspired and entertained. Sitters arrive at the customer's home armed with a ‘tote of toys’ and with an abundance of creative ideas to appeal to every child from bookworm to budding movie star.

Sitters in the City charge USD 15/hour with a minimum booking of four hours, and sitters can be booked up to two hours in advance. Nice one for entrepreneurial art and drama students to replicate in creative hubs across the world!

Website: www.sittersinthecity.com
Contact: sitters@sittersinthecity.com

InnoWorks™ @ ITE College East

I always enjoy working with ITE students. They're creative, responsive and almost always eager to learn.

Some of them come up with really good ideas and are pretty good salespeople, like Orange in the above clip.

The idea isn't new. But they were the first students we've seen who designed a carrier for specifically for kids, with attention to the aesthetics and how it would appeal to children.
Of course, there's nothing like a visit to Red Dot Design Museum to set the creative juices flowing. I'm not going to post any pics of what's in Red Dot Museum. Heh. If you're curious, there's a link to Red Dot Design Museum somewhere in this blog.

The new wave.

Shhh these are all hush hush stuff but you heard it here first!

We (Kan Wee and me) met up with these 2 design students who have great plans and impressive determination to start their own apparel brand.

We were really wowed over because they had a solid business plan presented nicely in a clear folder. It was very detailed and included their new business' mission, vision and aim and also a very clear timeline on what to focus on.

They had a very solid financial plan where they factored in the costings and their overhead for each phase of their business (yes they described the different phase and focus of their business on a monthly and quarterly basis).

All that detailed planning coupled with over 20 different apparel design makes for a very good business plan!

It was clear that this isn't a half-baked overnight wild business idea but a passionate business idea painstakingly (they took 4 months to plan out their business plan) thought out, mulled over and carefully crafted out over a period of time.

It was really refreshing and exciting to see students entrepreneurs take the step forward to pursue their dreams.

Talentpreneur Hub will be walking with them every step of the way so watch this space for more news!

2007 is going to be a really exciting year! Woot! Hold on to your dreams guys!

The Future

A student from Punggol Secondary School linked the Talentpreneur Hub website as 'her future'.

We're delighted, yet puzzled because we've never had any programmes with PSS.

So to Miss Mysterious Student: how did you come to know about us? Contact us so that we can sleep better lol.

Catch her blog at http://fantasy-forever-show.blogspot.com/

Have a great week everyone.

Vivo See Saw

I'm sure all you students probably made good use of the school holidays to walk all over Vivocity and know the layout by heart.

I'm still getting lost and trying to find my way around when I saw this.


I don't know about you but I was thunderstruck when I saw how they innovated the typical see saw into an innovation. I'm not sure if there's other see-saws (I'm past the age for playgrounds).

So while this isn't really an advertisement for Vivocity, check out the playground if you're there. There's tons of other innovations as well to check out as well.

And say hi to me if you see me while jalan-jalan-ing down Vivocity. There's always this chance that I'll be lost. Heh.

An Interesting Problem...

So I know that the holidays for some of you are near...to keep that those creative juices flowing, we would like to share this interesting situation we encountered last week.

Joanna, everyone's favorite trainer, had a Dell replacement battery sent to her last week.

The box that the battery came in looked like this:


And guess what was the size of the battery?


We kid you not. It like opening a box of pizza only to find a 1/8 slice of pizza in the box.

So a battery of that size? 4 pieces of foam in a cardboard box to protect the battery.

Now we're pretty sure that Dell probably have a one-box-fit-all system so that they can have use the boxes to ship computer parts of different sizes.

However when you're talking about a computer part this small,

it's a waste of resources if you ship it in a box like that.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how we can improve this? Minimum materials used, yet maximum protection for the computer parts.

GreenField 06

And the Creative Event of the year is here!

We're proud to be the marketing partner of GreenField 06!

GreenField 06 is a huge showcase of the Creative Industries here in Singapore, featuring showcases, open houses, interesting workshops and spectacular performaces from companies and organisations from the animation, film, drama, art, dance, music, innovation sector and more! It is presented by Creative Community Singapore (CCS), an initiative of MICA.

For more details, check out the website here!

Or simply send an email to events@talentpreneurhub.com with GF 06 in your subject to sign up for the GreenField 06 email updates!

GreenField 06
For those who dare to imagine.

It takes all sorts

To make up a workshop class it seems.

There're the 'cool' ones. With the new BFG. Now that's cool.

There're the mysterious ones.
We're Charlie's Angels! Or so. They think.

The confident ones.
"I'm gonna come up with something like this!" He Said. Cheekily.

The hardworking ones.
"Donnie! Stop asking us to hurry!"
Me: "Ok. 1 More Minute!"
Them: "ARGH!"

The artistically creative ones.
"I wish he would give us more markers. 5 colours is just cramping our style."

The innovative ones.
It's a bird! It's an OHP! No! It's a painted model of a griller-fryer-toaster!
Now why didn't I think of that before?

The persuasive ones.
Don't let their mild demeanor fool you.
They're really really REALLY good salespeople. Email us if you're looking to hire.

And last but not least...
The photogenic ones.
Hmm. Except maybe that lady in black on the extreme left.
But otherwise we're all gooood.

A big thank you to the students and teachers of Bedok South for a great time.

Seacrest Donnie. Out.

One Degree Asia

1°Asia is the first-ever youth leadership festival in Asia. It's where youth will gather to share ideas, make history and rock the world. 1°Asia is where youth can come to learn more about social issues and swap ideas that are important to them. 1°Asia is committed to raising awareness of social and environmental issues confronting Asia, and equipping young people with skills, knowledge and networks to address these issues.

1°Asia can be the catalyst that will inspire many more 1°s of transformation across Asia. We will team youth with local support networks that believe in the power of their potential, and who will act as a strong resource and support. We will challenge young leaders to dream bigger, create alliances, and inspire their communities to act together to help create the future.

For more details, go to http://www.onedegreeasia.org/

Sweet Treats!

Nothing beats a sweet treat after a hard day's work... except that it wasn't the end of the day and Don and I didn't find it 'hard work' at all!

All you peeps having exams or struggling through assignments... (yes, this goes out to fellow teachers too!) Stretch... breathe... treat yourself to some ICE CREAM and let it melt your tension away!

Bag the only one

Just when Springwise thought it had seen every MASSCLUSIVITY angle to the limited edition craze, VIP lounge ropes, pop-up stores and curated collections, here comes less-than-a-year old Austrian One Day One Bag, a company that designs (you guessed it) one unique bag a day. Each bag comes with its creation date, and the signature of the designer, Sabine Fasching.

One Day One Bag should provide marketers and designers with plenty of inspiration. Taking the ultimate limited edition strategy from the Vuitton approach to the masses opens up great opportunities for crafty entrepreneurs or big companies looking for PR generating stunts. Works for bags, for clothes, for mobile phones, for sneakers, for furniture and so on. The concept is here, the technology to build and sell it readily available: now it's up to you to make some money off it!

Source: Springwise.com

Global Entrepreneur Summit 2006

Dear fellow educators,

Talentpreneur Hub would like to invite you to the entrepreneur event of the year : Global Entrepreneur Summit 2006.

Global Entrepreneur Summit (GES) is an annual summit gathering together entrepreneurs, innovators and influential business leaders in the Asia Pacific region to share information, discuss relevant business issues and acquire practical entrepreneurship tips on doing business.

GES is a full one day conference featuring keynote speeches, panel discussions, Q & A sessions as well as knowledge sharing opportunities.It will also feature a Business Exchange Showcase, an ideal platform for budding entrepreneurs from schools and institutions to showcase their innovative business products and services.

Talentpreneur Hub is the supporting partner of Global Entrepreneur Summit 2006 and we would like to welcome you and your students to come down to GES and experience business on a whole new level!

How your students can benefit by attending GES:

- learn from the most successful entrepreneurs in Asia

- be exposed to the business scene in Asia

- get up close and personal with key and influential entrepreneurs from all over Asia

- interact with fellow youth entrepreneurs from schools, institutions and the private sector

- gain firsthand experience on business networking and social etiquette

Talentpreneur Hub specializes in Innovation & Enterprise and have conducted I & E workshops in numerous schools to promote the spirit of Innovation & Entrepreneurship among youths.

As part of our continuous efforts to expose youths to Innovation & Enterprise, students and teachers will enjoy a special rate of $65 nett from the published price of $188 if they sign up for GES 2006 by 15th September 2006 .

Teachers and students who are interested to attend GES may contact Donnie Seet at 6222 5672 or email him at events@t-hub.com.sg .

Alternatively, if your students would like to participate and showcase their entrepreneurship skills and innovative business ideas, products and services, then there is no better platform than the Business Exchange Showcase. Contact Donnie or visit http://www.resultsfoundation.com/ges2006 for more information.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

Events Team

Talentpreneur Hub

Phone: 6222 5672
Email : events@talentpreneurhub.com
Website: http://www.talentpreneurhub.com

GreenField Express (GFx)

Talentpreneur Hub would like to invite you and your students to take part in GreenField Express
(GFx), an exchange platform which provides opportunities to interact and learn from
professionals in the Creative Industries. Students will also gain a better understanding of
a career in the creative industry.

Admission is free. So hurry and register now! Seats are limited.

Date : Friday 29th September 2006
Time: 6.30pm - 9.00pm
Venue: Singapore Management University, Lee Kong Chian School of Business,
Networked Seminar Room 1.2 (NSR 1.2)

You can register by emailing Donnie at events@talentpreneurhub.com
or SMS 'thub GFx NAME EMAIL' to 9767 3663.

For any enquiries, please call me at 6222 5672.

See you there!

E³ @ Marsiling Sec

How time flies. It's been a while since our last workshop with Marsiling. At any rate, I would like to thank the students of Marsiling for being such a wonderful and earnest bunch to teach!

They're incredibly creative, smart, energetic and there was never a boring moment when I'm with them!

So here's a few snapshots of some of the memorable moments of E³ @ Marsiling.

I learnt that I can tolerate, easy to forgive and am patient. Working with others is exciting.
- Siti Fatimah 3S2

I learn how to share ideas with my teammates and realise that I can do even better than before. I am encouraged to give more ideas and be more creative.
- Sabrina 3S3




I learn that teamwork is very important and that support and encouragement with each other is the best ever!
- Farah 3S3

Entrepreneurship has a lot of meaning. It is an art about life which everyone can work to achieve.
- Brandon 3M3

I've learnt how to communicate and work better with my teammates! I learnt how to speak better English and I realised I'm good at sales. I learnt that we cannot do things by one person, we need a group of people to do it altogether.
- Melvin 3S2

I am more confident now and I'm sure I can do better.
- Shue Ming 3M4

I've learnt to identify my team members' strengths and to work together as a team.
- Hana 3M3

I've learnt that different view points and ideas can be combined into one idea.
- Elijah 3M3







I learnt that I'm easily hot-tempered and how to talk to customers. I have learnt that people have their own characters, some people are impatient and can't take challenging things.
- Rina 3L2



I'm glad that everyone enjoyed themselves over the last few weeks.

The students did very well, considering the limited time that they had to come up with innovative and original ideas and thinking of proposals that the school would accept.

They had to axe ideas and come up with new ones at the eleventh hour because some of their plans were not feasible. (Remember's Gaga's prataman and song dedication idea?)

It was a crash course in 6 weeks and I'm impressed with how they always rise up to the every challenge that we threw to them. (Remember the rap jingle and the dancing hands?)

Coaching Marsiling has been pure pleasure and I sure hope the students enjoyed themselves as much as the trainers did.

Joanna is always telling me how much she misses the Marsiling students. Hah.. You guys should come up and blog more often so that she won't be subjected to emotional pangs of being away from you all. Heh...

At any rate, thank you to the students of Marsiling Sec for being such a fun bunch to work with and I hope you guys had fun too :) See ya soon!

- Donnie