The Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs' Summit (YLES) 2010, hosted by Lums Entrepreneurial Society (LES) at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) concluded here on Saturday. The five-day event provides students a chance to display their leadership skills and to vent out their entrepreneurial energies.
During this weeklong event, students interacted with business leaders and successful entrepreneurs, developed marketing strategies, devised business ideas and forged life-long associations. According to the spokesperson of the event, the trophy winners are Lahore Grammar School Defence, IMS Peshawar, FAST NU Peshawar Kinnard College Lahore and others.
The theme of the YLES 2010 was "Sustainopreneurship, business with a cause, and innovation for sustainability". YLES forces students to think out of the box and look at entrepreneurship and leadership from an entirely different perspective.
The summit was comprised of events ranging from workshops to business events to social events. The first day at YLES 2010 started with vigour and excitement. After the registrations, the summit was formally inaugurated with an energetic opening ceremony attended by veteran entrepreneurs, Ali Zaman from ICI Pakistan and. Nadeem Naqvi from AKD Securities.
The ceremony also included a pep talk by Nadeem Chauhan from NAVITUS that left the crowd thoroughly entertained and ready for the competitive conference ahead. The day also featured the first round of the Social Enterprise Challenge. The challenge provided delegates a platform to come up with innovative solutions to pressing issues of ecological, economic and social sustainability through entrepreneurial ventures. The delegates came up with impressive ideas for business ventures focusing on various issues varying from microfinance schemes to illiteracy and sanitation.
The second day at the Summit started with a seven-hour long workshop titled Networkathon - Networking for a Change". The workshop included activities that focused on team building while employing the concept of Sustainopreneurship - the theme for YLES '10. Umair Jalianwala kick started the event and handed it over to fifty leadership facilitators from Lums.
The Networkathon workshop provided the delegates with an opportunity to enhance their entrepreneurial skills and to mingle with students from diverse backgrounds. Day three started with the essence of YLES - the Business Idea Competition (BIC). The day also featured a number of workshops from successful entrepreneurs, organisations and trainers. Among those conducting the workshops were, Zafar Moti from the Acumen Fund Pakistan and Omair Rana of TL entertainment productions.
The fourth day at the summit saw the competition grow intense as delegates tried to impress the judges with their entrepreneurial skills in the Business Case Study competition and Leaders' Quiz. The Business Case Study competition gave students a rare insight into the corporate world by putting them into the shoes of an actual entrepreneur. The competition tested the delegates' ability of business decision making, as students were required to guide an organisation to success.
The fifth day wrapped up the summit as the final rounds and the Business Idea Competition were held. The delegates came up with innovative radio jingles for their assigned product. The final teams in the BIC competition fine-tuned their business ideas and presented them in much greater detail.