Innovation Hub Transcript of Orientation video 2020
Heather Lovejoy: Hello, and welcome to the Innovation Hub overview session! I’m Heather Lovejoy and I’m the director of programs at the hub. The hub is one of the experiential learning centers alongside the Center for Careers and Internships and the Center for Community Engagement.
We are a team of staff and faculty that offers creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and social impact programming. On this webinar you will get to know some of our team and learn about some of our programs.
One of the most important things you need to know about our programs is that they are available to everyone—you do not need to identify as an innovator or entrepreneur! So much of our programming is dedicated to exposure and skill-building. In fact, we see about two-thirds of the student body in our programs each school year. The first step to getting involved is meeting with an advisor to learn about our offerings in course work, mentoring, funding, events and space.
I also wanted to share a few examples of how you can plug into our Creativity and Innovation suite; MiddSTART is a crowdfunding website for your creative projects, you can participate in the TEDx student board to organize a speakers’ conference, you can apply to work on a business idea in our MiddEntrepreneurs course over winter term, or you can pitch for a MiddChallenge grant to work on a project over the summer. There are many other opportunities for funding and mentorship through the hub, so feel free to schedule a meeting with us. Now I’ll pass it off to my colleagues to share some details about their programs.
Charlotte Sullivan: Hi, my name is Charlotte Sullivan and I help facilitate Middlebury’s Social Entrepreneurship programs at the Innovation Hub. For example, each fall, I help select a small cohort of students from the sophomore and sophomore Feb classes who are interested in studying and implementing social change. The program offers funding, mentorship, and experiential learning opportunities for students to pursue this goal during their career at Middlebury. I would be happy to email with you or make a time to meet if you have any questions about this or our other programs. Now I’d like to introduce you to Greg Conrad.
Greg Conrad: Hi, my name is Greg Conrad and I am the associate director of Middlebury’s leadership and innovation program, MiddCORE.
We are a one-month, mentor-led program designed to help you launch your education, your passions, and your purpose into the professional world. By consulting for companies, with real-world problems to solve, you will up-level your potential: develop the confidence, skills, hands-on experience, and network you’ll need to make a positive impact on the world and on your future. As a MiddCORE alum, I can say with certainty that MiddCORE was a highlight of my Middlebury experience.
For more information, please check out our website and feel free to email us at MiddCORE@middlebury.edu. Our team is looking forward to hearing from you! Next up, I’m excited to introduce, Ben Powers!
Ben Powers: Hi there! I’m Ben Powers, and I help run Oratory Now, Middlebury’s FREE peer coaching service dedicated to public speaking. Each semester, we train about 50 students to work as peer Oratory Coaches, who can help you get ready for presentations, pitches, interviews—anything that involves oral expression. Lately, we’ve been especially focused on helping speakers to present ONLINE. We now offer both synchronous and asynchronous remote coaching options. Oratory Now coaches and interns also produce speech competitions, do coaching work in the local community, and this fall we’re offering an online, credit-bearing course called Oratory in Action. You can find us at the Hub, or at oratorynow.org. We look forward to speaking with you this fall! Now I get to pass you over to EJ Bartlett.
EJ Bartlett: Hi and welcome to Middlebury College. We are glad you are here. I am EJ Bartlett, the marketing director at the Innovation Hub and MiddCORE. Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit more about Innovation Hub. We’d like to invite you to connect with us in person. We will be hosting two drop-in Zoom chats—one on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 10:30 a.m.–noon and a second one Wednesday, Sept. 9, 10:30–noon. We will be available to answer any of your questions. We will also have student representatives from our various programs available for you to chat with and ask questions about the student experience.
Slide: Drop-in Zoom chats
Aug. 26 10:30-noon
Sept. 9th 10:30-noon
You can find those Zoom links below. If any of these programs have peaked your interest, there are videos below on the orientation page on the individual programs or visit go/innovaitonhub.
Slide: go/innovationhub
Thank you for coming and we look forward to working with you.