Last weekend, 24 students had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to hone their entrepreneurial skills.

Between 1,300 and 1,500 students attended the annual Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Conference Nov. 4–6 and were able to explore different businesses and companies. The conference enabled students to meet different business leaders and create contacts and job opportunities for life after college.

“You can go to the career fair, but you’re just another name, number and resume,” said Miles Moore, senior in finance. “But if you go to the conference you can meet the owner and have a better chance of getting into a company.”

Students selected nine of the various sessions that were offered to attend.

“The sessions were just really good,” said Judi Eyles, Entrepreneur Club adviser. “There were really good speakers, but it’s an overwhelming thing. There’s so much cool stuff to learn in two and a half days.”

“Personally, I liked the speakers better this year,” said Stephanie Curtis, sophomore in hotel restaurant, institution management. “Overall, I guess the main thing I learned was that networking is key to success. You could have all the money in the world, but if you don’t know anyone to help you, you won’t succeed.”

The students were able to hear the stories of many influential speakers during the conference. Some of these speakers included Jimmy John Liautaud, the founder of Jimmy Johns; the founder of Redbox; and Madolyn Johnson, an ISU alumna.

The speakers offered helpful advice on how to begin their own businesses, as well as how to be successful in them.

“A few things I noted: ‘The only thing you need to start a business is a customer … a paying one,'” said Diana Wright, junior in advertising, quoting Redbox founder Michael DeLazzer. “Overall, I learned how I want to go about my career path and just how a business while in college is attainable.”

Of the 24 ISU students that went to the conference, seven had previously attended, Curtis, Moore and Wright being three of them. The group of 24 all took part in the trip for the opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship; however, they all had different areas of interest they wanted to look into at the conference.

“I chose to attend the conference mainly to gain knowledge from successful entrepreneurs about their experiences in starting and running a business,” said Casey Frank, freshman in engineering. “I did just that, and even gained knowledge on how to invest and start online blogging.”

The conference informed the students of various ways of creating and maintaining a prosperous business. They also learned that there is no predetermined age a person must be before they can start a business.

“I learned that entrepreneurship can be started at an early age, and is best to start in college due to not having to pay rent or mortgage,” Frank said.

Although the conference is called the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, students that participated did not need to be majoring or minoring in entrepreneurship.

“I would just say that it’s a great opportunity for ISU students [any major] to get inspired to create their own lifestyle and not go down the traditional path,” Wright said. “It’s a great way to network and reach out to people you normally wouldn’t have the chance to.”