Back to Bukit View

Last year, around this time, we did a InnoWorks™ for Bukit View Secondary for their sec 2s.

This year, we were invited back to do the same programme both their Secondary 1 and 2 cohorts.

As as usual, it's always a riot (I mean it in a good way) for trainers because it's honestly is great fun!

Bukit View Secondary has always been well-known in its cluster to be very innovation-oriented. And this is reflected in the quality of their students and how quick they are to come up with great suggestions and improvements for the school environment.

As usual, the red dot design museum is a catalyst and breeding ground for wild ideas. All the best to the students at Bukit View (do they call you Bukit Viewers?), Youth Enterprise Academy would certainly hope to be back to see you all again!

The Importance of Networking

During 1 of the 4 E³ sessions for National Junior College's I&E Club, Dean was going over the fundamentals of networking.

He asked the students how much they knew about networking, and they all thought that they knew quite a bit about the subject. I mean, c'mon, isn't it as simple as meeting new people and making friends? They reasoned.

We decided to put them to the test and did a mock of an actual networking session. It turns out that there was quite a bit about networking that they don't understand. That getting to know someone professionally isn't quite the same ball game as socialising and making friends.

We told them that there were a lot of things they were doing that could be improved on, like how proper handshakes, or how to walk, talk and speak properly. What kind of topic to talk about when meeting someone new.

And then we ran the session again. And this time, both Dean and I were dumbfounded at how much they have improved. In a matter of an hour, the students have stopped being students and were networking, exchanging contacts, getting what they want out of the networking sessions as if they've done it their entire lives.

After the workshop, Dean and I had this conversation.

'Well done, Dean. They improved alot.'

'Yeah, I didn't expect them to be this good after a quick session.'

'These kids are different, it's not like you don't know it already. They absorb what you teach and fling it back at you with equal finesse and they make it look easy while they're doing that.'

Isn't it remarkable?

The Zealots

This isn't the first time we've worked with St Stephen's School, but when Dean and I went down last week to do a little sharing on entrepreneurship during assembly, I must say that the boys were REALLY enthusiastic.

Especially if there were prizes at stakes. Which is a GOOD thing. Maximum participation if I may add. I had a really hard time deciding which hand shot up first everytime Dean asks a question.

The first step to being an entrepreneur is to be proactive, no entrepreneur made his fortune by just waiting for things to happen. It could be that they're young, but looking at these kids, if they keep stepping up like that, they'll be the future landscape-shapers. You'll see.

Also, another point to add, it may not be obvious here. But notice how ALL their school bags are blue?

So does that mean that for an all-girls school, you'll see a lot of pink bags?

Craft @ Katong Convent

We recently completed a Coaching Programme for CHIJ Katong Convent. The main aim of the programme was to equip the girls with the necessary skills to make their own innovative products for sale. We engaged Agnes, a former teacher who has her own craft business now to helm the programme.

Here's some footages from the programme:

If you would like to view more of Agnes' work, visit www.bluecolander.wordpress.com

It takes a different kind...

of student to be able to apply what they have learnt from your workshop and put those ideas into great use.

The youth from the National Junior College Innovation & Enterprise Club are exactly the kind of students who have what it takes to convert ideas into winning designs.

The InnoWorks™ @ red dot design museum programme was aimed at helping them to idealize and conceptualise different ideas for competitions such as the RJC Toy Challenge and Citibank Ideas In Action.

And we were overjoyed when 2 of those designs got into both competitions above. I always believe that the red dot design museum is a great nexus for innovation and design. And Sharon, the President of the I&E Club, says it best,' I really enjoyed the exhibition of ideas (at the museum) and seeing how an idea that I had thought of during GEC (have) actually won a RedDot award. This highly motivates me.'

So congratulations to Edmund and his team, the Youth Enterprise Academy team is behind you every step of the way!

The New Wave of Entrepreneurs

As part of a career drive, Nanyang Girls' School invited us to bring together a group of entrepreneurs to give a career talk to their students.



So we approached some young entrepreneurs who're part of the Talentpreneur Hub community, Nicky Teo of Funeral Solutions as well as Goh Cheng Ze and Serene Yeo from Dotbox to share their experiences with the students.


We know that these young entrepreneurs will be able to provide a refreshing perspective to being an entrepreneur to the youth.

And sure enough, Serene and Cheng Ze flashed pictures of themselves in when they were still in secondary school, not too long ago, and they drew gasps of surprise from the crowd when they revealed that they were only 2 years older than the secondary four Nanyang girls.

Jaws also dropped when Nicky shared about his years of experiences in the funeral industry despite being only 18. Nicky has enjoyed numerous press coverage on his choice of industry and being successful despite his youth.


Joanna, Education Director of Youth Enterprise Academy, told the girls of the passions that Nicky, Serene and Cheng Ze had for their work, and to be able to make a difference in their industries. It is this common denominator that brought them to us as Talentpreneurs.


Their inherent passions is the reason why these entrepreneurs are making waves and headlines, and that was a message that resonated with the audience.


(from left, Cheng Ze and Serene, Joanna, Nicky and yours truly)

For more information on Nicky Teo and Funeral Solutions, visit http://www.funeralsolutions.com.sg/ .


For more details on Dotbox and their aims, visit http://dotbox.youth.sg/

Sketching & Ideas

The InnoWorks™ programme at Kranji Secondary was a little different from the usual. Mr Chua, HOD of D&T wanted the students to learn the foundation of design, aesthetics and sketching and to also view all of these from a designer's point of view.

So we asked Justin Lee, designer and artist extraordinaire to come in and lend his expertise and experience to help students to learn better. He shared with the students his beliefs and the sources where he draw inspiration from for his artwork.

Justin also taught the students on the finer points of sketching, and how to sketch on canvas as well as on a tablet.

With the focus of the programme being on toys (and toys are something that both Justin and I have had a lot of experience with), a visit to the red dot design museum helped cement the notion that even in the area of toys, there is still a lot of room for innovation. All you need to do as a young innovator and designer is to just simply, step up :) )

For more information on Justin and his works, visit http://www.justinleeck.com/

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! :)