Monday, April 16, 2018

Nota Bene: Spring 2018 Business Conference

Our campus community and guests from the Coastal Virginia region are invited to participate in Virginia Wesleyan University’s student-led business conference April 23-27. “The Marlin Prestige” will feature workshops, presentations, and interactive panels that embrace the spring 2018 theme, “Business Reimagined Through Globalization, Innovation, Leadership, and Diversity.”

The Marlin Prestige represents months of hard work by students in the Virginia Wesleyan business course, “Principles of Management.” Students coordinate all elements of the event, exercising key management skills such as product development, networking, project and financial planning, and more.

Throughout the semester I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with many of our conference participants, including student leaders Julie Manning, Chief Executive Officer, Faith Auad, Chief Operations Officer, and Dylan Ardinger, Chief Marketing Officer. Together with their classmates and Virginia Wesleyan business faculty, this group has worked hard to create a conference that focuses on the importance of globalization, innovation, leadership, and diversity as essential components of a successful business model in today's marketplace.

I am proud to share that among this semester’s guest speakers are Virginia Wesleyan graduate Joe Ruddy '83, Chief Innovation Officer for the Port of Virginia and a member of the University's Corporate Leaders Council, and alumna Sydney Covey '15, Sustainability Program Analyst at Hourigan and recipient of VWU’s 2017 Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award.

They join presenters Chris Stuart, Vice President of Top Guard Security, Dr. Tony Astro, a United States Navy veteran and Founder/CEO of Mvoss Creation LLC, Maxine Williams, Human Resource Manager/Employee Relations Lead at Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems, Heidi Brinker, '18, Strategic Planner at VisualZen, Inc., Patrick Suttle '19, Public Relations Correspondent for The Marlin Prestige, Douglas Jackson, Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at Elizabeth City State University, and former Peace Corps volunteers Emily Nuss and Jennifer Jiggetts.

Daily activities will once again include the popular “Shark Tank” presentations, which closely mirror the ABC television series, and presentations by “Information Systems Programs” (ISP) students. For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit
The Marlin Prestige webpage.

Many thanks to Dr. Paul Ewell, Batten Associate Professor of Management, Business, and Economics, and all business department faculty and students for hosting this educational event for our community.