We want to make the conference as accessible as possible in light of recent the weather here.  To that end, we’ve set up live streaming for our keynotes, panels, and workshops.  Our team will spread out across our events to record and stream as many as possible. You can see the full line-up here.  If you’re having trouble seeing/hearing, please leave a comment here and we’ll do our best to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

At the root, we’re passionate about topics in social enterprise. But we’ve also seen that passion alone isn’t always enough to successfully take on the complex and challenging issues that social enterprises address. Vision, inspirational leadership, strategic thinking – these are all important too. But anyone who has worked in the space knows that it takes a whole lot of elbow grease and time spent on less flashy responsibilities as well. Our professional experiences have shown us how critical well-run operations can be to a successful enterprise – the stuff that’s highly visible when done poorly, but hopefully just blends into the background if done well.

In the context of SECON, this is especially important given how little time we have together for the weekend. In signing up for our roles as co-Directors of Sunday Operations, we hoped to contribute to our time and energy to making the conference planning and logistics run as smoothly as possible. With 1,500 ticketed attendees, 200 speakers, 50 panels and workshops, a social enterprise pitch contest, and a career fair – all during 30 hours spread across two campuses – it’s fulfilled its promise as a challenging undertaking. We’re so excited to see it all come together, and if all goes according to plan we hope you’ll be so focused on the amazing experience put together by our team, speakers, and fellow participants that you won’t even notice we’re there!

Sage and Lauren (Sunday Operations Directors)

If yes, then make sure to sign up for SECON 2013’s structured networking events and tackle the world’s biggest challenges with talented peers from across sectors and the world.

Update on Feb 5: Networking events are now full! Thank you to everyone who has signed up! You will be receiving a confirmation email by Feb 6

The SECON leadership team is proud to present a new series of networking events that will enable participants to forge deeper, more purposeful connections by working on projects together during the conference. Three events over two days will bring participants together in small groups to tackle a challenge in the Social Enterprise space by:

• Identifying root causes to the world’s biggest challenges
• Proposing innovative solutions for the causes of that challenge
• Pitching ideas for social enterprises that execute on the proposed solutions

Groups will identify challenges in the following content areas:

• Education
• Energy & Environment
• Food/Agriculture
• Healthcare
• Social Enterprise
• Water

By joining with other attendees to create an innovation team, you will have the opportunity to wrestle with challenges in the social sector together and form meaningful bonds.

Sign up here by Friday, February 8^th to join us in launching these structured networking events at SECON 2013!

If you missed the Networking webinar, listen to a description of these opportunities and networking best practices here.

Root Causes Session (Saturday, 2:15-4:00)

The Root Causes Session brings cross-sector participants together to work on the audacious challenge of defining the root causes of the world’s largest problems. Using the “5 Whys” question-asking technique from the Toyota Production System, facilitators will work with groups of participants to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying the biggest questions in our content tracks.

Visual scribes will facilitate and record each question chain by creating a mural that represents the key takeaways from the discussion. The results of this brainstorming session will be used during the Crowd Sourced Solutions and Turbo Pitch sessions on Sunday.

Crowd Sourced Solutions Session (Sunday, 9:45-11:00)

Building on the question chains generated in the Root Causes Session on Saturday, the Crowd Sourced Solutions Session is designed to bring together participants to generate proposed solutions to the root causes of the world’s biggest problems.

Turbo Pitch Session (Sunday, 3:15-4:30)

Building off the solutions generated in the Crowd Sourced Solutions Session earlier on Saturday, the Turbo Pitch Session is designed to bring participants together to form a concept for a Social Enterprise to execute on the proposed solutions to the world’s biggest problems.

That’s why this year’s Social Enterprise ConferenceApp is essential to making the most out of your 2013 Social Enterprise Conference experience. You’ll be able to find other conference-goers who share your passions and connect with them.

ConferenceApp will help you organize information overload from all the amazing events at this year’s conference. Use it to create a profile, connect to other attendees and panelists, and commit to bringing the energy and ideas from the conference out into the world.

Here are some quick tips on how to get the most out of ConferenceApp and your Social Enterprise Conference experience:

• Create a personal schedule. Browse through the schedule and when you find an event you want to check out, click the “I’m going!” button to RSVP. After you’re done, go to “My Agenda” to see your own personalized schedule for the weekend.
• Connect with other attendees and panelists. You can also browse through all the different folks who’ve signed up for ConferenceApp. Check out their profiles and when you see someone you’d like to have a conversation with, message them right from ConferenceApp.
• Start a conversation, or join an ongoing on. Want to crowdsource some information from other attendees and speakers? Have an idea that you want to throw out there? Want to start a dialogue about a passion of yours? Start the conversation using ConferenceApp. Start a new discussion thread or hop in on an ongoing conversation.

Once the conference starts you’ll also start getting daily digest emails that bring all the highlights of the conference right to you. You won’t have to worry about missing a thing.

And if you’re not sure who to connect with, we can help you out with that, too. Your daily digest email will have a few suggestions of people with shared interests who you may enjoy getting to know. You’ll be able to connect with those folks right through the email using ConferenceApp’s messaging feature. Introduce yourself and schedule a conversation over a cup of coffee.

You don’t have to wait until next week to start making the most of your experience. Set up a profile and start using ConferenceApp today to connect with other social entrepreneurs, and get the conversation going.

The Dell Social Innovation Challenge identifies and supports promising young social innovators who dedicate themselves to solving the world’s most pressing problems with their transformative ideas. Through this program, Dell provides university students with world-class teaching and training, as well as with start-up capital and access to a network of mentors and advisors. Check out http://www.dellchallenge.org/ for more information, and submit your application to the Dell Challenge by January 28 to compete for $350,000 in prizes!

As part of its broader corporate responsibility, Dell is committed to putting technology and expertise to work where it can do the most good for people and the planet. Dell acts to strengthen communities, preserve the environment, engage a diverse and inclusive workforce, and ensure supply chain responsibility. It reached the following CSR goals in 2012:

ü   Achieved ambitious goals to reduce the size of its packaging, increased the percent of packaging material from recycled or renewable content (including bamboo and mushrooms), and ensured that more of its packaging is recyclable or compostable.

ü   Recycled more than 192 million pounds of end-of-life computer equipment, an almost 30 percent increase over the previous year.

ü   Donated $44 million, meeting its goal to give 1 percent of annual pre-tax profits.

ü   Volunteered 418,000 hours, with Dell team members giving their time and expertise to community efforts.

We’re proud to have Dell supporting the Social Enterprise Conference! Learn more about Dell at http://www.dell.com/poweringthepossible.

We took this feedback seriously and will debut a wide-range of networking opportunities at SECON 2013! We hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to:

create meaningful relationships
connect with fellow attendees before, during, and after SECON
commit to supporting each other in catalyzing social enterprise throughout the world

Join us on Wednesday, January 30th at 3PM for a Webinar on Networking at SECON hosted by Dave Stech, CEO of Purpose Built Investments and networking extraordinaire:
· Learn about SECON 2013’s new networking opportunities
· Learn best practices for making key connections during SECON
· Find out how to sign up for SECON’s innovative networking sessions

Sign up for the Webinar HERE!

SECON 2013 promises to bring together thought leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and students passionate about creating social impact! Your next business partner, career mentor, or best friend could be among this highly talented, creative, and driven group.

A sneak peak of SECON 2013’s networking programming to be unveiled during the webinar:
· Structured Events: forge deeper, more purposeful connections by engaging in mini project-based challenges during SECON
· Share a Meal: Connect over a meal with our Networking Brunch, Breakfast, and Evening Reception (featuring a special Pitch For Change Gallery Walk)
· Workshop: Learn the art of networking with our networking workshop and test your skills at the Speed Networking Event
· Informal Connections: Create a Conference App account today (insert link) in order to connect with fellow attendees and panelists at coffee chats and office hours

How can I sign up for the Structured Sessions?
Note – these events require pre-registration! We are filling slots on a first-come, first-served basis, so buy your ticket TODAY (HKS and HBS students – Thursday is the last day to get discounted tickets!) to make sure and get a spot.
Sign-up for Networking events: HERE

When the SECON team first dreamed up our Keynote Speaker “wish list” of leaders who demonstrate our theme of ‘create-connect-commit’ through their extraordinary careers, Jacqueline Novogratz was one of those at the top. But with a job that entails helping the world’s poor through the Acumen Fund with offices in New York, Mumbai, Karachi and Nairobi and talking about her NY Times bestseller The Blue Sweater around the world or advising the World Economic Forum on social innovation, we knew that getting on her schedule was a long shot. So, we’re incredibly excited that Jacqueline Novogratz will be joining us as a Keynote Speaker at SECON 2013!

Beyond her countless accolades, the reason why Jacqueline is an incredible person to hear from is the fat fact that she not only inspires a life of purpose, but also a life of impact. Her leadership of Acumen Fund has developed over 70 companies through the breakthrough concept of ‘patient capital’, supports 57,000 jobs and brings much needed services to millions around the world. A Forbes article, Can venture capital save the World? which profiles Jacqueline and her works states is perfectly, in that Acumen’s is “a new twist on the old adage about teaching a man to fish, except that Novogratz wants to build an entire fish market.”

As the SECON team reflects upon how we might use our skills to make the world a better place, we look for inspiration through her vision and leadership in tackling urgent social challenges through a market-based approach. In a recent NY Times interview, When Humility and Audacity Go Hand in Hand, Novogratz talks about leadership and the importance of listening to the people whose lives you hope to impact. She also says that “the kind of leaders we need — and certainly that I aspire to be — reject ideology, reject trite assumptions, reject the status quo, and are really open to listening to solutions from people who are most impacted by the problems.” On February 10th, I personally plan to take this advice and start by listening.

You can read her bio here.

Today, blogger Alison Nichols offers her take on governments and social enterprise.

The day after the U.S. presidential inauguration a fitting time to discuss how – and why – governments around the world can support the growth of social enterprise. In an age of shrinking budgets and austerity measures in the developed world, many industrialized countries are facing growing social inequality and rising unemployment. At the same time, many developing countries are still struggling to lift their populations out of poverty and create a stable middle class. Social enterprise can play an important role in tackling these issues. Success stories of social enterprises that have made measurable impacts in areas such as access to education, availability of clean water, and providing employment have shown that innovative, scalable, business solutions can often be more viable– and cost-effective – than government solutions. So how can local, state, and national-level governments play a constructive role in fostering the growth of promising social enterprises?

Recently, several prominent social enterprise thinkers have proposed ideas. The UK’s Robert Ashton has suggested several innovative solutions, including tax breaks for investing in social enterprise and tax credits for proven social impact. Felix Oldenburg of Ashoka has suggested that governments actively work to identify early-stage social entrepreneurs and offer support mechanisms such as training and seed funding. Oldenburg also argues that governments should make efforts to make it easier for innovative social enterprise ideas to cross borders and “localize” their solutions.

Of course, these approaches carry risks as well. For every successful and scalable social enterprise, there are many innovative ideas, backed by talented and passionate entrepreneurs, that never get off the ground. Putting government funds into unproven ideas is a risk. However, given the failures of many governments around the world to effectively tackle pressing issues such as education, climate change, and access to clean water, far-sighted governments should see the benefits in creative uses of capital for maximum social impact.

Hope you enjoyed that, stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry on excitement on our keynote speakers!

PFC 2012 winners, Essmart Global!

The competition has provided a strong foundation for many new enterprises, giving them access to financing and the opportunity to share their ideas to a broader audience. In fact, last year’s Pitch For Change winner Essmart Global, a social enterprise developing a distribution model for essential technologies in India, went on to win the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, winning $50,000 in prizes and organizational support for their business!

This year is already off to a great start! Our Round One applicants were extremely impressive and had innovative ideas ranging from social enterprise in the arts to improving eye care in developing countries. We look forward to reading great applications during our Round Two cycle and have a few tips for prospective social enterprises.

Application Tips

1. Quantify Expected Results: It’s great to read about the impact of your ideas, but what will make your ideas really pop out to our selection committee is numbers! For instance, instead of saying “our product will decrease childhood obesity in the U.S.”, try to quantify your outcome (e.g. “our product will decrease childhood obesity by 3% over the next 5 years”

2. Outline Implementation Plans: Any great idea is just another idea unless it has a realistic and planned method of implementation. Be sure to highlight exactly HOW your product and service will be run and measured in the short and long term.

3. Highlight Key Differentiating Factors: Most of these key social issues already have a lot of existing nonprofits who are making tremendous strides. We want to see what’s especially unique and innovative about your business idea and how it will combat the problem in a truly different way.

Good luck to all our competitors! Just a reminder that the Round Two deadline is January 20th, 2013. Please email all submissions to pitchforchange@socialenterpriseconference.org.

Sabrin and Cristina
PFC Co-Directors