#mark conference

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Lead!

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Wanna relive Mark Conference? here is a storify collection of tweets and pics from the day

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Action! It’s easy to talk about your great ideas, but they’re nothing until you take action to make them a reality.

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Official Conference Schedule

We are overhauling the traditional conference model, usually composed of one keynote and several breakout sessions presented by faculty or staff, and creating a progressive new conference model. In this new model we are taking elements from other conference industry leaders to create something that will prove to be more engaging and leave students empowered to act as agents of change and innovation. The conference will be a mixture of TED-style talks and “talk show style” interviews on a main stage. We will also offer 2-3 rounds of 45 minute break out sessions delivered by experts in various industries. One of our main stage sessions will showcase student speakers using the Ignite format of 5 minute talks with 20 slides, a format known to be one of the toughest to master for public speakers. The leadership office is orchestrating an intensive training program in public speaking for these students in preparation for their main stage debut. 

  CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

11:00-11:30AM Check In

MAIN STAGE SESSION ONE     11:30AM-1:10PM

Michael DuDell: Entrepreneur and Former Editor of the Domino Project

Dawn J. Fraser: Storyteller and Humorist

Gloria Alvarez: Moderator, Ghetto Film School MasterClass

Bill Rosemann: Editor for Marvel Comics

Nicholas Kubian and Dominic Rodriguez: Founders, SouperVan

BREAKOUT SESSION ONE 1:15-2:00PM

45 Minute Breakout Sessions featuring industry leaders facilitating round table discussions, interactive hands on workshops , and “Inside the Actors Studio”-Style Interviews with Leaders

Mark Finkelpearl: Producer and Creator of TLC’s Hit Show “DC Cupcakes”

Tom Murphy: Former Mayor of Pittsburgh Leading the Development Plans for PNC Park and Heinz Field

Improv Workshop with Brandon Gulya: Performer, Upright Citizens Brigade

Advisor/Staff Workshop Presented by Rosetta Thurman: Non-Profit Consultant and Nationally Recognized Speaker on Leadership

LUNCH AND INTERACTIVE SESSION 2:00-3:00PM

Light lunch and snacks will be served throughout the venue at different stations, and students will have their first chance to be able to experience some of our interactive displays as well as network with conference speakers.

Interactive Booths

“Design Gym”: Idea Mapping and Visual Brainstorming presented by Business and Innovation Strategists Andy Hagerman & Jason Wisdom

Get to Know Social Entrepreneurship with SouperVan presented by Co-Founders Nicholas Kubian and Dominic Rodriguez

Rutgers Alumni Leaving their Mark on the World presented by Donna Donahue

Innovation Infused Leadership presented by The Leadership and Training Office at Rutgers

Speaker Meet and Greets

Bill Rosemann

Michael DuDell

Dawn Fraser

Gloria Alvarez and Stosh Mintek

Mark Finkelpearl

Rosetta Thurman

MAIN STAGE SESSION TWO : Ignite Rutgers 3:00-3:50PM

Rapid Fire talks delivered by selected and trained students. Students have been selected to participate in our intensive public speaking training opportunity that culminates with their main-stage debut at the conference. The talks in this session will be 5 minutes long and delivered by fellow students that have been through training in slide design, public speaking and storytelling throughout the months leading up to the conference. This will be an experience to remember!

Georges Richa

Alyea Pierce

Kinjal Bhalodia

Gwendolyn Baxley

Luke Modzier

Ava Sirrah

Anna Phung

BREAKOUT SESSION TWO 4:00-4:45PM

Brian Bennett: Director of Time Lapse Photography for the hit AMC series Breaking Bad

Barbara Young: Founding Affiliate of Domestic Workers United

Bill Smartt: Nationally Recognized Public Speaking Coach 

Jen Bokoff: Non-Profit Professional, Blogger and Storyteller

MAIN STAGE SESSION THREE 4:50-6:00PM

Kambri Crews: Author of Burn Down the Ground, PR executive and Storyteller

Janet Mock: Author, Activist and Transgender Woman

Marty Yudkovitz: Senior VP, The Walt Disney Company & Rutgers University Alumni

Fabien Cousteau: Founder of Plant a Fish & Grandson of Jacques Cousteau

SOCIAL ON THE MARK 6:00-6:50PM

A spectacular social event, with dinner, entertainment, and a final opportunity to soak in the carefully crafted conference experience. Below is a list of meet and greets that will also be going on during the social.

 Speaker Meet and Greets

Kambri Crews

Janet Mock

Marty Yudkovitz

Fabien Cousteau

Brian Bennett

Barbara Young

Bill Smartt

Jen Bokoff

CLOSING PROGRAM 7:00-7:30PM: One last session before the day ends, and it is sure to be a great note to end on. 

Turning Big Ideas into Big Action: Stosh Mintek and Gloria Alvarez of Ghetto Film School

Gloria and Stosh are the brains behind the Ghetto Film School MasterClass. The MasterClass  an innovative virtual classroom that connects top film directors with young storytellers around the world through a unique Google+ Hangout series. The classes have been hosted in major cities around the world and have featured filmmakers, including Lee Daniels, Catherine Hardwicke, Spike Jonze, Ed Burns, Tamra Davis, Paola Mendoza and Adam Shankman. Gloria and Stosh will talk about MasterClass from the stages of conceiving the idea to becoming one of the most innovative new initiatives in the film industry. They will discuss how they partnered with Google+ and built relationships with some of the biggest names in the film industry in the process.

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Doubt yourself?

By Marlene Garzona

Have you ever felt like everything was going wrong and like you couldn't do anything right? Believe me, it happens to the best of us. If we didn't ever second guess ourselves and always acted on impulse the world would be a very messy place. There's nothing wrong with taking a little moment to question what it is your doing, why it is your doing it, and where it is going to lead you. Doubt doesn't have to be crushing, it can be taken humbly. Take it as a chance to breathe and thoroughly think about your actions.  That questioning feeling came from somewhere, use it to get to the root of the issue.

The next step is a little harder, though you must overcome it. If your mind is made up about something then you should try for it regardless of your insecurities. After all at the end of the day you have nothing to lose but you will always regret not trying. If it's something your not at all feeling then you can drop it while moving onto a brighter pursuit.

This life. Your life. Is what you make of it, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results you may acquire when you simply try.