From Politico:
Founder Elliott Bisnow, a 24-year-old Washington native and mastermind behind the Bisnow newsletters — which provide city-specific business news via e-mail — aims to gather some of the world’s top entrepreneurs and CEOs to, well, talk and have fun.
“The biggest difference between Summit Series and anything else — the biggest take-away,” said Bisnow, “is it’s all about friendship and fun and shared experience.” The Summit grew from a small skiing trip a couple years back, which he started simply by cold-calling up-and-coming CEOs.
“It’s all about collectivism, ‘how can I help you?’” Summit Series’ co-founder Jeff Rosenthal added.
The twice-yearly conference will draw 750 attendees and take place Thursday through Sunday at the JW Marriott. Various business leaders (and famous faces) will lead discussions on subjects ranging from relief work in Haiti to grass-roots fundraising to the power of storytelling to start-up investing. Attendees include musician John Legend, President Bill Clinton, Ted Turner, model Christy Turlington Burns, actress Kristen Bell, fashion designer Marc Ecko, the cast of MTV’s “The Buried Life" (sharing their stories at 1:30 a.m., another example of why this isn’t your typical business conference) and six NASA astronauts.
The official site
I LOVE this idea and have already been following the hastags on twitter: #summitseries and #DC10
I really enjoy listening to and learning about social entrepreneurs and this seems the perfect chance to do that. Tickets cost $3,500 and are invite only so it will be a long time before I can attend one of these events (this and TED are on my dream events list) but the idea is one I can't stop thinking about. Just today I was thinking about what a great experience How It Ends was last Summer and how much I enjoy the networking aspect of these events. I will actually be heading to Tampa after work tomorrow for the Florida Young Democrats convention and am excited to meet like minded Floridians!
Everyone who I speak about TOMS shoes asks how I first found out about the company. I have no idea. I honestly cannot remember where I first heard about TOMS but I know I wanted to get involved right away. TOMS employees a "one for one" model of giving. For every pair of shoes you buy from them (and I promise you, these are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned), they give a pair to a child in need. They have given shoes to children all over the globe, including Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa, and the United States. TOMS started giving away shoes in May 2006 and, as of December 2009, they have given over 400,000 pairs of shoes to children in need.
A few facts about children and shoes worldwide (from the TOMS site):
Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:
* A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.
* Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.
* Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.
In the Fall of 2008, I was lucky enough to be the TOMS Campus Rep at UNF. My role was to plan and execute two on campus events to promote TOMS. I was also lucky enough to be a part of the "Shoe Drop" (the trips on which the shoes are given away) in Orlando. It was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend one of the TOMS Shoe Drops to anyone (you can apply to volunteer on their website).
All of this brings me to April 8th. TOMS is holding their 3rd annual "One Day Without Shoes" next Thursday. Unfortunately I will not be able to participate (I will be in meetings at the White House, State Department, etc and my professor would freak) but I wanted to use my first blog post to spread the word.
Please consider going barefoot and supporting this movement. Check out
http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/ or http://www.toms.com/ for more information!
Edited to add this video by my #1 girlcrush, Kristen Bell:
