eHub Video
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Click here to view
This video, made by Kai Keane ('14), ran on continuous feed in the main traffic areas throughout the Statler Hotel over the course of Celebration.
It was very common to see groups of alumni, faculty and students surrounding the TV screens - comments made during those viewings and at networking events were positive!
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| Upcoming Events | 
The Annual SAF June Meeting will be held on Friday, June 7th at 2pm in Ithaca, NY.
All Foundation members and SAF alumni (SAI and eLab) are welcome.
TO RSVP/Get Logistics
Student Agencies will be hosting a reception and you are invited - it doesn't have to be your reunion year as all SAF's friends & family are welcome!
Let everyone know you are coming!
RSVP via
and/or our
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Congratulations on your recent promotion or new position!
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Quick Calendar check for SAI Alumni:
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Alumni that served as BRSS mangers should recognize this time of year -- planning for May Peak!
Have advice or memories you'd like to share with the current BRSS team?
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Did you know?
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SAI's Hired Hands GM, Alvaro Galen ('15) is a published author of one children's book with one in the works!
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SAF Mission
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To provide Cornell University students extraordinary opportunities to:
- Gain experience starting and running businesses
- Offset the cost of the Cornell education
- Provide valuable services to the community
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Student Agencies Foundation
eNewsletter
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Message from Michael Karangelen, SAF President
Alumni & Friends,
The focus for SAF, beyond creating a supportive and viable network for our alumni, is to provide strong, experiential-based learning opportunities for business and entrepreneurial-minded Cornell Students. Students from both SAI and eLab gave strong evidence on the health of that part of our Mission this past month, and I'm very proud to share details with you in this eNewsletter.
Upcoming Events:
June is reunion time at Cornell and also when two important events for SAF are taking place in Ithaca - the SAF Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 7th and our reunion reception will be on June 8th. I hope you can join us, and I look forward to sharing stories with many of you. Details are provided under the Upcoming Events Section in this newsletter.
In this issue:
- We mentioned in the March eNews that two eLab teams, Yorango (CEO: Dylan Yang '15) and Rosie (CEO: Nick Nickitas, MBA '14), were among the five finalists in one of New York State's largest business competitions. The winning company, of $200,000 cash/prizes, was announced this month, and we are proud to say the winner is Rosie. Learn more in their 'Congratulations' article.
- E@C's Annual Celebration took place in Ithaca on April 18-19th where alumni and students enjoyed the interactive panels and networking events. The highlight for us was the eLab Demo Day!
- Experiential Learning on Display:
- eLab Demo Day: All ten of the eLab teams presented their businesses to a group of apx. 300 alumni, faculty, students and venture capitalists at the eLab Demo Day during the E@C Annual Celebration. The feedback we received (during and) after the event was both overwhelming and positive. I was personally touched when two parents of students who were on different eLab teams came up to me after the event and thanked SAF for making this opportunity possible for their sons. It is moments like this that allow us to appreciate how incredibly satisfying it is as alumnus to advance our Mission at SAF. I encourage each of you to share in that joy. We will share some of the details and photos of this event in the article below.
- SAI: The student managers presented a quarterly update on their business to the SAI Board of Directors this past month. This experiential learning process, students interacting with a real private company Board of Directors (who ask very tough questions), is unique among the Ivy League Student Agencies. It was a valuable learning opportunity for the managers and the student executive team that helped prepare them for the experience.
- eHub is gaining both buzz among Cornell students and excitement among the alumni! Be sure to check out the new video to learn more.
Your feedback is always welcome! (Easiest way to be heard...just hit reply to this email and give us your comments, article suggestions, news and updates!)
Sincerely,
Michael Karangelen '90
President
Student Agencies Foundation, Inc
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Congratulations - Rosie Team
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(Cornell Chronicle Article) |
The student team from Rosie were winners of the $200,000 Grand Prize from the Startup Labs Syracuse Business Competition.
If you really want to get a feel for these students and their current business activities: visit their FB page! Press from the April announcement:
Cornell Daily Sun
Cornell Chronicle
Syracuse Post Standard
Business Journal CNY
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SAF and Celebration "Entrepreneurship Celebration is the premier event on campus for students, faculty, staff and alumni interested in business. Student Agencies has been a long-time sponsor of the event and host of a well-attended panel. SAF (SAI and eLab) and Cornell alumni are passionate about supporting students. SAI managers (and eLab student teams) participated in the entire weekend and made great connections to alumni who can help them not just with their business opportunities at Student Agencies but in their careers." Tom Schryver ('93, MBA '02), Interim GM of Student Agencies, Inc.
We are going to highlight 3 events in this article: the Student Agencies Panel, the AfterGlow Networking Reception and the Big Idea Competition.
The Student Agencies Panel was made up of Cornell Alumni that are friends/family of SAF : Sharon Dauk (MBA '89), is a SAF Trustee and acted as moderator, Randy Brandoff ('98) is an E@C Advisory Council Member and friend of SAF, Matt Ackerson ('09) was a previous Big Idea Competition Winner and Kristen McClellan ('12) is an eLab alumnus. Sharon opened the panel workshop by saying that  the mission of Student Agencies Foundation is to provide experiential learning opportunities to Cornell Students and the panel, entitled "Managing Your Career...Lessons from Battle Tested Entrepreneurs", is unlike the majority of panels at Celebration. Most of them [panels] are geared toward alumni, Sharon stated, ours is intended to provide an interactive platform for students to gain insight from those who went before them. There were over 65 attendees (students, young alumni and others) that actively participated with the panelists.   | Ashini Ganesalingam ('16) attended panel with classmate
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 | | Patricia McTiernan ('15) and Laura Furman ('15) |
------------- The AfterGlow Reception was a very well attended event which provided valuable networking opportunities both for Celebration attendees and the on campus SAF family of SAI student managers, SAI young alumni (classes '13/'14) and eLab students/mentors. "All events that E@C had were really awesome! At the AfterGlow Networking Event, I got to meet a handful of alumni and everyone was so willing to share his or her experience with me. Everyone had a fascinating story and I also got a lot of great career-related advice." Sheng-Nan Zhao (15), TakeNote GM Here are just a few photos (more will be posted on FB shortly):  | | CU Alum, Nick Nickitas (Rosie, MBA '14), Don Milley (SAI alum, '92) |
 | | Patricia, Laura and Josh Benamram ('14, 2012 SAI BRSS GM, current CFO Yorango) |
 | Nancy Humphries (SAI Board) with John Alexander (74, MBA '76) and Greg Hubbell (MBA '02)
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 | | Evan Smith (SAI Real Estate Fellow MBA '15) and Robert Frisch (eLab Fellow, MBA '13) |
------------- The Big Idea Competition is an event that SAF and E@C worked to bring back to the forefront of entrepreneurial and business-minded students and have done so - successfully. To learn more about this year's event, please read the article by E@C's Kathy Hovis . There were several SA-related students involved in this year's competition: eLab Team, ThinkPlay and SA tech analyst, Rahul Shah ('16) and his team (they came in third - Congratulations Rahul!) |
Experiential Learning on Display - eLab Demo Day
 | | photo by SAI's own Ethan Kannel ('16) |
eLab was created by SAF, in partnership with E@C, to provide a business incubator for the students at Cornell. Student Teams apply to the program in the Fall and spend several months honing their business concepts with the aid of the eLab resources including their graduate fellows and alumni mentors. This year's eLab teams reflect the University's diversity in entrepreneurial classes with students from many of the Colleges within the University.
Learn more specifics from the first annual Demo Day: Program BrochureArticle - Cornell Chronicle on Demo Day
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 | Jesse Orshan ('13)
Thinkplay developed a software program where musicians can build, perform and sell unique musical effects. |
 | Jeff Schick ('13)
Pet Shampoo World save pet owners time and money through online access to veterinary-grade non-prescription medicated shampoos and supplies. |
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 | Lindsay Boyajian ('13)
Wearever is an ecommerce platform that gives travelers the tools to discover global fashion. |
 | Ricky Panzer ('13)
Splat device plugs into your smart phone and transforms it into the ultimate face-to-face gaming system. |
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 | Adam Kirsch ('15)
Yorango is a secure platform that streamlines the rental and housing experience. |
 | Miles Biggs ('13)
Marshfillows is changing the world of campfire treats through our patented chocolate-filled marshmallows. |
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Experiential Learning on Display - SAI Managers  April 20th was the first board meeting for most of the 2013 SAI team. " Experiential learning in business is the heart and soul of Student Agencies. Each of the management teams (and their subsidiary businesses) were responsible for presenting on their strategy and performance to date to the board of SAI - this kind of opportunity to 'stand and deliver' provides tremendously valuable experience for these students as they launch their careers."Tom Schryver ('93, MBA '02), SAI's Interim GM.
"The managers at SAI have the unique and rewarding experience of reporting to a board of directors that is comprised entirely of alumni and adult professionals. While the opportunity to present to an accomplished and (highly) intimidating crowd is an excellent learning moment in itself, I saw this as a place where we could implement effective public speaking and professionalism training. As this was my fifth board meeting, I noticed that managers became increasingly comfortable during this exercise over the course of their term and it was clear that first-time managers could use some advanced practice. By bringing the team together on multiple occasions to prepare them for the board meeting and give them honest and constructive feedback on their public speaking and group performance, they all walked into the (April) meeting feeling confident and excited. By the end of the day they all left with visible pride in their work and their businesses and the Board of Directors was impressed with everyone's presentation. Seeing their success and knowing it came out of a group initiative to match effective training with a defined need was a great feeling for the whole team." Annelise Schuepbach ('15), Director of Human Resources
"I was very proud of my team both in the work that went into their quarterly results, their preparation for the Board Meeting and the growth I saw between the training sessions and their actual reports." Rob Ainslie ('14) President of Student Agencies, Inc. |
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