SOM Students at Vitalize Alaska
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, SOM students Cole Berner, Paige Best, and Claire Everts went to Anchorage to attend the first Vitalize Alaska business conference.
The Vitalize Alaska conference offered an impressive array of 75 speakers, with eight featured speakers, including UA President Jim Johnsen. In addition, the students had the opportunity to meet and speak with Michael Houlihan, co-founder of Barefoot Winery, another one of the eight featured speakers. The conference offered a wide range of breakout sessions, and the students seized the unique opportunity to learn about such topics as Exporting Alaska, Equity Investments, and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.
“I had a great time attending the breakout sessions at the conference,” said business management junior Claire Everts. “I found the discussions to be very interesting and the panelist to be knowledgeable. I learned a lot about business in Alaska at this conference.”
One of the prime breakout sessions was on the topic of Startup Accelerator Stories. This panel featured two UAF Arctic Innovation Competition (AIC) grand prize winners, Piper Foster Wilder of 60Hertz Microgrids (2017) and Eric Solie of Attently (2016), and highlights the prominence that AIC (now entering its 10th year) plays in Alaska’s startup scene. Also spotted were at least five other AIC winners who were participating in the conference.
After a long day of sessions, the students attended the Shark Tank Pitch Competition at the 49th State Brewing Company. They had the opportunity to meet one of the producers from the show, Mindy Zemrak. The pitch competition consisted of five contestants who had the opportunity to pitch their idea in front of Ms. Zemrak. At the end, all attendees were able to vote for their favorite idea and all the contestants had a chance to audition for the Shark Tank television show.
All in all, it was a long and busy day, but well worth the trip - and the students are already looking forward to next year’s Vitalize Alaska conference!