Let’s Have a Look at “ChangeMakers’ON” Boost Camp 2018: Valuable Lessons from Business Experts and Famous Guests
by Ieva Tilindytė
Today is already the sixth day of intensive “ChangeMakers’ON” boost camp. Participants are busy working on the development of social innovations, sharing ideas and learning from experienced entrepreneurs. This year camp was open for everyone, who attended its open sessions - there all visitors have had the opportunity to get to know the participants and experts more closely. So let’s have a look from the inside and find out how do the participants feel?
The initiator and the soul of “ChangeMakers’ON”, Simona Simulyte, is pleased to see the participants becoming a united community that does not compete with each other but at the same time generate incredible ideas: “I feel great enthusiasm both from the participants and from the experts, and I see the successful creation of a strong community of innovators. At this point the inexplicable magic occurs — people discover each other, while discovering themselves and all this creates a positive atmosphere that I can not even explain “- the organizer smiles.
“I am very pleased that the camp attracts IT specialists who themselves show the initiative to come and contribute. This is very important for us, because without them, social innovators would have much more difficulties to develop business in today’s global world” — says Simona and invites everyone to the closing camp event that will take place this evening at Raudondvaris Castle.
Camp experts are famous Lithuanian businessmen
Algirdas Stonys, Founder and CEO of the IT company “TeleSoftas”, shared a positive mood during the opening of the camp. He told the story of his success, which began in the dormitory room: “I always wanted to be the best and this stubbornness brought me to where am I now. That’s why I wish everyone of you will find the same inner stubbornness that’ll help achieving your goals“- says A. Stonys.
The second camp evening was crowned by another special guest — a businessman, PhD in computer science and public figure Vladas Lašas, who won the highest personal businessmen award in the world — the international Business Peace Prize. By sharing his experiences and stories about the passion for space, which was born in his childhood, V. Lašas encouraged start-up entrepreneurs by saying: “The world needs developers of change. And while the hardest thing is to start, you have to convince yourself that there is no other way. And don’t be afraid to be misunderstood sometimes“.
When asked what changes in his opinion are needed in Lithuania, V. Lašas replied that “although Lithuania is a small country, we have a lot of people who can make a meaningful change. The key is to look not only at local but also global issues and try to address them. “
The participants of the camp also got acquainted with the non-traditional professionals — Girmantu Neniškiu, President of the Lithuanian Surfing Association, and Žydrūnas Kazlauskas, President of the Lithuanian Air Balloonists Association, who gave the camp participants an opportunity to see the unexpected view - the preparation for an air balloon flight.
Business Experts Help Participants To Enter The Market
Undoubtedly, within this 6-day camp, team ideas have progressed significantly. Participants learned business, communication, financial, marketing, self-cognitive subtleties from such experts as Phil Tulba (UK business consultant), Sten-Kristian Saluveer (communication guru from Estonia), Erika Zakarauskienė (one of the best financial experts in Lithuania) and many others.
One of the participants, Darius Kniūkšta, a member of the “Three Cubes” team, says he found much more than expected: “We met a lot of mentors who were gave many ideas that helped our team, for example, how to communicate not only with our target audience but also with the business world. Even more, we have discovered potential business partners who really liked the idea of developing “Minecraft” as an educational game. The entire team feels greatly improved,“ — Darius shares his emotions.
Andrius Vosylius and Izolda Lebedeva, members of the team working on implementing the idea of a men’s festival, also hardly exerted their emotions: “I did not even think that such events are taking place in Lithuania. I can not believe that people, experts in their field, come to share their experiences and are sincerely interested in our idea. I believe that the relationship with many of them will not stop, and in the future I will be able to seek advice. It’s hard to even describe, but the knowledge gained in the camp is completely invaluable, “ — A. Vosylius smiles.
Andrius’ teammate Izolda Lebedeva adds that during these days the idea of their innovation has changed radically: “We did not even think about some organizational issues, and here there were so many possible alternatives that now we have no doubt that the festival will succeed.”
A special evening is waiting for all the teams today — in the final event of the camp in Raudondvaris, participants will present the final pitches and show the progress made in recent days. We look forward to and wish you all success!
ChangeMakers’ON is supported by “Barclays”. Social innovations program is implemented by European Social Entrepreneurship and Innovative Studies Institute, Kaunas University of Technology and Enterprise Lithuania. Media partner “Kas Vyksta Kaune”.
Do you wish to know more about ChangeMakers’ON programs ?— learn more here.
Have any questions? Do you want to participate? Contact us! https://www.facebook.com/ChangeMakersON/
