Eighteen Syracuse University teams will be battling it out “Shark Tank” style in the campus edition of the ACC InVenture Prize on Friday, February 21 at SU Libraries.  Coordinated by the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars in Bird Library, the competition is open to student startups at the 15 colleges and universities that are part of the ACC Academic Consortium.  The campus winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize sponsored by M&T Bank, and an all expense paid trip to be part of a live PBS-televised event on April 15, 2020 at NC State University in Raleigh.  In addition to Syracuse University, the 15 participating colleges are: Boston College, Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, North Carolina State, University of Notre Dame, University of Louisville, University of Miami, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and Wake Forest University.

The Syracuse University teams competing in the campus qualifier include:

Caleb	Obiagwu	Attend Pro	College of Engineering and Computer Science
Calvin	Atieku	DNA Development	College of Engineering and Computer Science
Daniel	Green	DreamByz	School of Information Studies
David	Fox	Modern Solutions	College of Law
David	Kestin	UniRide	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
David	Rosen	MedKit	School of Information Studies
James	LePage	EDGE Modular	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Justin	Diaz	EcoBamboo Living	College of Engineering and Computer Science
Kelsey	Davis	CLLCTVE	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Matt	Shumer	Visos	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Mohammed	Ali	Urban Coders	School of Information Studies
Nicole	D’Souza	IndieFlo	College of Arts and Sciences
Nikita	Chatterjee	PAANI	College of Arts and Sciences
Noel	Chang	Bluerem	College of Arts and Sciences
Rachel	Kaiser	ICED	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Russell	Fearon	SugEX	College of Engineering and Computer Science
Sam	Hollander	FISCL	Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Yuhang	Zhang	F.E.I Technology	Martin J. Whitman School of Management

For more information:  LaunchPad@syr.edu

The Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars is pleased to announce a partnership with the AWS Activate program to provide LaunchPad startups with the resources they need to quickly get started on AWS, including credits that can be used towards AWS products, services, training, and support.  As a member of the Blackstone LaunchPad Syracuse community, you are eligible for the following AWS benefits:  $5,000 in AWS Credits valid for one year; two months of AWS Business Support; and 80 credits for Self-Paced Labs.  To apply for these benefits, you need to be an active member of the LaunchPad at Syracuse University.  Once approved by the LaunchPad and submitted to AWS, credits will be deposited into your account within two weeks of your application.  AWS credits can be used to host servers, provide integrative services to make sure that software operates more efficiently, and produce comprehensive data analytics.  We are looking forward to having you join some of the world’s hottest startups on the AWS platform and to helping you launch your business to the next level and beyond.  Connect with us at LaunchPad@syr.edu to learn more.  If you are an active member, we will help you with the application process.  If you are not yet a member of the LaunchPad, stop in and see us, and join. You can also follow the AWS Startups Team on Twitter: @awsstartups. Read the AWS Startups Blog here:  https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/startups/

Here are some FAQ’s on the program:

What is AWS Activate?

AWS Activate is a free program designed specifically for startups. Activate provides resources, training, and other perks to help startups grow and get the most out of AWS, and Amazon, from day one.

How do I join AWS Activate?

AWS Activate is available only for members of certain startup enabling organizations like the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Syracuse University. If you are reading this, you are eligible to become a member of one of those programs. Please reach out to the LaunchPad @LaunchPad.syr.edu to receive instructions on how to join AWS Activate and to receive the information required to claim your credits.

Can I share or resell my credits?

There are checks and balances in place to ensure no one outside of your program can claim these AWS credits. You are also not permitted to resell or barter your credits. These credits are meant to help YOUR startup only. Any credit abuse will result in revocation of your credits and will jeopardize participation of the entire program in AWS Activate. By participating in the Activate program you agree to the AWS Promotional Credits terms and conditions.

What do the AWS Activate Credits cover?

After being approved for an AWS Activate package, you can find the exact amount, expiration date, remaining balance, and applicable products your credit can be redeemed for, under the “Credits” tab in your AWS Account. Please note that the following services are not covered by AWS Activate credits:

• Mechanical Turk
• Domain name registration
• Upfront Reserved Instances
• AWS Marketplace
• re:Invent fees and registrations
• Third party charges from services such as DevPay or Device Farm

Can AWS credits be applied to an existing bill?

AWS credits are never retroactive. When AWS credits are applied to your account, they will cover charges for the month they were deposited and going forward, until the credits are exhausted or expire.

What are AWS Business Support credits?

AWS Business Support credits provide you with access to AWS technical experts and resources meant to help you address technical and tactical issues you might be experiencing. This is a very valuable resource and one you should look to utilize to trouble shoot technical issues or questions. Response time and level of support will depend upon severity level of the ticket you submit.

Do I have to use a business email address to register? What if I do not have one yet?

When applying for credits, be sure to use the same email address as the one used when you created the account you would like the credits applied to. Please use your AWS account’s primary contact email address (e.g., name@startup.com). Using a generic email alias (e.g., info@ or admin@) or a public email domain (e.g., @gmail or @yahoo) will cause delays in your application process.

When will I receive my credits?

Because AWS reviews every credit request, it can take up to two weeks from the date of your application to have credits deposited in your account. Application status updates will be sent to the email address submitted on your application as your application review progresses.

How will I know if I have been approved for the credits?

Upon review of your application, you will receive an automated email from AWS alerting you to your status (approved or denied). In case this goes to your spam folder, you can also check your credits and balance in the “Credits” section of the AWS Billing Console.

What happens if I use all of my credits?

Once your AWS Activate credits are fully utilized, your account will begin being charged for any AWS usage. You can check your credits and balance in the “Credits” section of the AWS Billing Console.

What happens if my credits expire?

Expired credits and credits used to cover charges are viewed the same way by AWS. You will begin being charged for any AWS usage upon the expiration of your credits. Expiration date extensions cannot be granted.

What happens if I receive access to AWS Activate through another program?

AWS credit packages may vary slightly from program to program. If you have access to AWS Activate via another on campus program, an accelerator or an institutional investor, you can claim credits through those programs as well. Please note AWS credit packages are not additive. If you register for AWS Activate through a different program, you will only receive credits equal to the difference between the two Activate packages. For example, if you currently have access to a $2,000 credit package and later register for a $3,000 AWS Activate package, you will receive the difference between the two packages ($1,000) and not an additional $3,000 in credits.

Can I use my credits in markets outside of the US?

Yes, your AWS credits can be used in other markets where AWS has a presence. China has specific governmental requirements for using your credits, which can be found here (https://www.amazonaws.cn/en/about-aws/china/faqs/). Be sure to review this page (https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regionalproduct-services/) to ensure the AWS products and services you are interested in are available in your region of interest.

I received a “Free Tier Usage Limit Alert.” What does this mean?

This alert is unrelated to your AWS Activate credit usage. This message relates to your usage of the AWS Free Tier (https://aws.amazon.com/free/). The AWS Free Tier provides you with free access to multiple AWS products and services up to a certain limit defined by either a dollar amount limit or a volume limit. If you are enrolled in the AWS Free Tier and later join the Activate program, your AWS Activate credits will be drawn down after you exhaust your AWS Free Tier usage/limits.

We’re declaring it “Free February” at the LaunchPad, and our gift to you is compiling a list of free tools for startups, starting with the Techstars Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, an online educational resource, filled with foundational content from the prestigious Techstars global accelerator program. The Techstars Entrepreneur’s Toolkit includes topics such as:

• Build Your Lean Canvas
• Check Your Progress
• Get More Done
• Give Your Elevator Pitch
• Grow Your Business
• Make Progress
• Master Your Pitch
• Understand Your Customers
• 21 Ways to Blow Up Your Company
• Engage with Mentors
• Brand Your Business
• And more

The LaunchPad team at Syracuse University Libraries has also crowdsourced a handy list of free tools and platforms that could be helpful for student startups.  Many of these are completely free, while others have a flexible freemium model, or a scale up fee structure when you hit higher volume usage, at which point you will also have funding and revenue to move beyond free services.

Are you using other free tools?  We’d love to hear about them.  Send us an e-mail, LaunchPad@syr.edu, and we will continue to add to this list.

Accounting and Finance:

• Adminsoft, free, ad-supported accounting software
• Money Manager Ex, open-source, full-featured financial software
• SlickPie, small business/startup accounting software
• Wave,  financial/accounting/payment/invoicing software
• Zipbooks, accounting and online invoicing

Cloud (online) Storage:

• Amazon Drive,  back up photos, files, documents, etc.
• Box, store and manage company and personal content
• Dropbox, online file storage and sharing
• Flickr, upload, store, and share photos
• Google Drive, store and share files
• Google Photos, store and organize personal photos
• OneDrive, store and share files

Communications and Conferencing:

• ezTalk, video/audio/IM chat
• FreeConferenceCall, free HD audio/video/screen conferencing and sharing with up to 1000 participants
• Google Hangouts, online meetings with Google accounts
• GoToMeeting, online meetings and web conferencing
• Grammarly, proofreading and plagiarism checker
• Hunter: Chrome extension to find email addresses from a webpage
• Join.me, screen sharing, online meetings, team collaboration
• RocketReach, Find contact information from a name
• Skype, full-featured online meetings software
• TeamViewer, remote computer access software
• UberConference, web conferencing and online meetings
• WebEx (Cisco), enterprise video conferencing and online meetings/webinars
• Whereby, free, high-quality video conferencing
• Zoom, online meetings software

Design:

• Affinity, a creative suite for graphic design, photo editing, publishing
• Beautiful.ai, an AI-powered pitch deck designer
• Canva, a simple-to-use design tool for easy slide, logo, social post (and more) creation
• FlatIcon, a source for icons for pitch decks, websites, etc.
• Gravit, a full-featured vector design tool
• Inkscape, an online replacement for Illustrator.
• Pexels, free stock photos
• Pixabay, free stock photos
• Pixlr Editor, free online Photoshop clone.
• Sketch, Full-spectrum design toolkit.
• Unsplash, free stock photos
• Vectr, 2D vector creator.

Digital Content, Marketing and Social Media:

• Bensound, royalty-free music
• Brandmark, a machine learning-based logo creator
• Buffer, social media scheduling tool
• Feedly, news and content aggregator around specific topics and influencers
• Hootsuite, an easy social media management tool
• Hubspot, a marketing, sales, and CRM management software platform that is especially good for startups that are scaling
• Mailchimp, an easy to use email marketing platform.
• Medium, blog/publication website
• Namelix, a machine learning-based company name creator
• SEMRush, a SEO tool for auditing and optimizing social media and digital content
• Tepfu, a marketing agency platform for startups and companies
• Tube Buddy, a management and optimization tool  for YouTube creators

Forms and Data:

• Doodle, schedule meetings online
• Google Data Studio, a dashboard and report creator for data
• Google Forms,  a way to quickly create forms for surveys, events, and more.
• Qualtrics, an only tool for surveys, research, customer discovery, and questionnaires that can capture customer, product, and brand insights
• Surveymonkey, online survey tool
• Typeform, an interactive form building tool, without code.

Funding:

• AngelList, a search platform for potential investors, early hires and team members
• F6S, a tool to find and apply to accelerators (including Techstars), along with other startup resources
• FounderSuite, a CRM for raising investment capital

Management and Operations:

• Acuity, an online appointment scheduling tool
• AirTable, a flexible company/personal management platform, similar to Excel, but more extensible
• Asana, a project management tool
• Boomerang for Gmail, a way to schedule sending email reminders as an extension for Gmail
• Calendly, a way to set up a central place to book meetings
• Evernote, a note-management app that comes with a Chrome extension to quickly save web content to notes
• Fundable, a platform to help founders raise capital from investors, customers, and friends
• Gust, a suite of tools that can help ventures interested in incorporating (as a Delaware C-Corp), and getting access to simple legal documents as reference points for speaking with professional counsel
• Gusto, a payroll, HR, and benefits automation platform for startup
• Notion, a modular platform that can be used for early-stage venture management
• Slack, a centralized team communication platform
• Trello, an easy to use visual management tool to track tasks, that is good for small teams and early-stage startups
• Zapier, a way to quickly connect apps and allow them to work together to automate tasks

Misc:

• Bitly, a link shortener that can also create custom URLs
• Envoy, an open-source edge and service proxy, designed for cloud-native applications
• Google Trends, trend search with interest level graphs
• Pomodoro Timer, a tool to stage work in time increments to work more effectively, for longer
• Thingiverse, 3d models for 3d printing
• TinyURL, URL shortener

Websites and E-Commerce:

• Drupal Commerce, e-commerce for Drupal CMS
• Shopify, e-commerce website builder.
• Smylelytics, website performance monitoring
• Square Online Store, e-commerce website builder leveraging Square payments
• Squarespace, a code-free website builder for startup sites
• Webflow, a code-free HTML/CSS generator to build great websites
• Wix, a code-free website builder for startup sites
• WooCommerce, WordPress plugin for e-commerce
• WordPress, open-source website CMS software.

Remember “Get Out” by Jordan Peele? The movie arguably changed the landscape of the horror genre. The low budget independent film went on to win the 2018 Oscar and make $255 million. “Moonlight,” an independent film made for $1.5 million, won the 2016 Oscar for best picture. “Parasite,” a Korean black comedy thriller exploring social inequality, also won the Oscar this week. Independent films are on the rise, as a counterbalance to big studio movies and franchises. Not backed by a major studio or production house, they allow emerging filmmakers to be more experimental, have more creative control, and focus on more complex narratives.

While making an independent film affords creative vision, with the potential of a low investment and high reward, the flip side to this coin is that because there aren’t big studios and production houses backing them, it can be hard for them to secure distribution. Independent movies can earn Oscar nominations but only have limited release in theaters. This means that although these great films exist, there aren’t many platforms where viewers can see raw visionary cinema or discover emerging filmmakers.  If you are one of these viewers, then IndieFlo might just be for you.

Nicole D’Souza is building IndieFlo as a platform to showcase independent films. D’Souza is a senior majoring in Women and Gender Studies at the College of Arts and Sciences with a concentration in film and media studies. “Today, in Hollywood or mainstream film industry, there are a lot of remakes and adaptations, but I consider Independent film to be original stories,” opines D’Souza.  According to her, independent movies haven’t had a suitable arena where a viewer can collectively view them.

D’Souza who had always wanted to have a career in independent films, realized that these films are rarely as popular as mainstream films. “I always wanted to be an independent filmmaker, but then I realized that a lot of these films go unseen. There is really not much marketing for independent films in the United States.”  She has a point. According to Filmproposals.com, the film industry, encompassing genres like comedy, horror, action and indie, grew from $88.3 billion in 2013 to $110.1 billion in 2018. Naturally, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have each taken active steps to capitalize on this growth. They’ve either taken on new distribution contracts or started in house productions of film and TV series like ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Jack Ryan.’ However, despite this massive growth, indie films still make up a small percentage of growth. Filmdaily’s Amy Roberts, titled her article on this phenomenon, ‘Netflix and shill: Why the streaming services are where indie films go to die’

D’Souza aims to create a streaming service catered exclusively towards indie films. As an independent filmmaker the process to have your film on her service would be simple.  You would submit the film through FilmFreeway.com, after which the IndieFlo team would then curate films to assess quality. Then IndieFlo would decide to either add the film to the menu or not. In this way, the process works much like a festival application.

D’Souza says her passion for cinema began in childhood. Growing up in New York City, but originally from India, she spent time in the realm of Bollywood, because her father’s work regularly exposed her to Bollywood film making. She had noticed that Bollywood wasn’t an original storytelling business. Many of the films in that industry were either ‘inspired by’ films from other film industries and or featured similar narratives.  Once she moved to the United States, she realized that Hollywood storytelling was much of the same.  However, she found herself drawn to the regional films and stories due to their original content. Unlike the films on the big screen, D’Souza observed that this kind of content was much more interesting and engaging. Many of the television films she enjoyed most were indies, which would eventually lead her to come up with Indie Flo.

Her idea is still at the conceptial stage, but she has come a long way since coming up with the idea.  She is working on assembling tech talent and funding to help move it to the next stage.  She also notes the helpful hand that the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Syracuse University has lent. D’Souza who had initially walked into the LaunchPad with nothing but an idea, has begun to work on implementation.  She has brought on new members who are currently making the idea a reality through computer wizardry and effective marketing.  She hopes to the have the initial platform up and running a year from now.

For other indie film aficionados, this could mean an end to mindless Netflix scrolling,  and an easier way to find an entire catalog of quality independent films which are engaging.  She’s hoping IndieFlo will be the first glimpse at future award-winning filmmakers, and a chance to catch a rising star.

Story by Krishna Pamidi, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow

22,483 is the entire size of the Syracuse University student body. This includes everyone from undergraduates to law students. Given this massive student body, it might not be a surprise to find out that 20% of that figure, or just about 4,500 of those students, are international students. That suggests there possibly 4,500 students on the Syracuse University campus who may not have the same level of proficiency over English as their primary language, compared as the other 17,983 students on campus. This challenge is vastly exacerbated when one realizes that this language barrier keeps them from being a part of the conversation and fully immersing themselves in all that Syracuse University has to offer.  Enter Ze Zeng.

Zeng is a freshman in the Whitman School of Management studying Finance and Supply Chain Management. He is the campus voice for WeMediaLab, a Syracuse University platform and media think tank founded in September 2019.  WeMedia Lab helps connect the very diverse worlds of students on campus through social media. “Our job is to create a platform to connect international students and the school,” says Zeng, who describes the problem as a lack of a proper source of information especially for the international students who don’t have the same command over the English language as, say, Benedict Cumberbatch.

WeMedia Lab is a social media platform utilizing WeChat, the social media website vastly popular with the East Asian student body on campus. It is essentially a registered and official Syracuse University page on WeChat where the WeMedia Lab team push out content to recipients.  Zeng describes the platform as being helpful to introduce school to people who want to come to Syracuse University, and share information about what is happening at the university.

What is a more applaudable motive behind WeMedia Lab, is the recognition that these students are from a different culture and are not as effectively reached when information regarding school events and news take place. This difference in culture keeps them from being as involved in the campus as they would like to be, which keeps them from being an effective part of it. WeMedia Lab aims to reduce this cultural difference by acting as a bridge. Zeng describes how the main motive behind the initiative is to tailor important information to these students and not only keep them in the loop but also hear back from them.

“What we are doing right now, is creating a double way — at the same time as sending information to international students, and at the same time sending out information from the international students to American students, to let them know what is going on the international community”.

Originally from Beijing, China Zeng spent his childhood traveling the world. “ The reason I came to USA is because that my parents loved to take me traveling around the world.  If I remember correctly, I’ve been to 15 countries before I came to USA.”

After witnessing and being fascinated by various international cultures, Zeng decided to pursue an international education. He spent his high school years in Boston attending the Catholic Memorial High school, where he also served as the representative of the local international students. “I think my high school experience shaped me very much in why I wanted to join WeMedia Lab and help students.”

Zeng served as the international student representative to the school president, where he would present the international student ideas to the president. “My friends told me that we should have more international student activities like the spring festival.” Initiatives like this helped Zeng realize how much he enjoyed being an envoy, and hence pursue a similar role at Syracuse University. However, he notes it was easier to be a representative in high school with 40 international students as opposed to Syracuse University with its vastly significant number.

Despite any challenges however, Zeng carries with him a sense of confidence and fortitude. Whether the challenge includes being a voice for over 4,000 students or adapting to an entirely different culture, there is no obstacle too big. While working with the Blackstone-LaunchPad, Zeng says that his interactions and vivacious conversations with the plethora of talented individuals he meets helps inspire him to come up with innovative solutions to further drive himself and WeMedia Lab. As he continues to work on his project, he aims to one day provide a meaningful voice to the international community of students at Syracuse University.

Story by:  Krishna Pamidi, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow

A film produced by Erin Miller ’16, will have its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2020 Film Festival next month in Austin, Texas.  An Innovation Council program coordinator at the Capital Factory in Austin, Miller was a Newhouse Advertising major and an Information Technology, Design, and Startups (IDS) minor in the iSchool.  Along with co-founders Losa Amara Meru and Johnny Rosa, she launched Out There Productions as a student startup, one of the first companies to graduate from the LaunchPad.

Zoe Hanh is a narrative short that tells the story of a young woman caught in a lie by her suspicious mom.  With tensions already high from recently losing a loved one, their relationship unhinges.  It will debut at the AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER  SXSW FILM THEATER on March 13, 2020 during the 8:45 p.m. to  10:15 p.m. block, and has other showings also scheduled at the festival throughout the week.

“This was the first film I made in Austin and we finally get to share it with the world,” said Miller.  “Written and directed by the comedic mastermind Kim Tran, the film highlights the dynamic between a mother and daughter through an Asian American lens. Sometimes we lie to the people close to us because we don’t know how to talk to them. And it hurts all of us. Let’s continue to tell stories that make people think and change behavior. Let’s challenge genres and entertainment expectations. We’re taking small steps and making big moves. We ascend together.”

The film was written and directed by Kim Tran, a writer and director who has written for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and is a finalist for the HBO Pitch Competition at the Women in Comedy Festival. She performs with Austin’s first and only all Asian-American improv and sketch groups.  Miller formed the collaboration with Tran after moving to Austin to work at the Capital Factory, an accelerator where tech and creative communities come together to learn and connect. With over 81,000 square feet of coworking space, 900 tech-focused events, 150+ of the top tech mentors in Texas, quarterly Founders Academy, and a VR Lab, it brands itself as the “center of gravity” for the innovation community in Austin.Miller described her film making journey that led her to Texas. “I make shareable content about people with game-changing ideas. After graduating from Syracuse University, I raised $15,000 to purchase and renovate an old school bus into a mobile studio. My two founders and I traveled across the country for an entire year making movies about entrepreneurs to help them with their growth and marketing.  After a year on the road, my founders and I decided to park in Syracuse, NY where we got out start. We took a year to give back to the community by co-producing a short film called No Nuts which stars 11 Syracuse youth who went through a 2-day workshop to learn about character development, current issues in the film industry, and how they could identify and amplify their individual voices on and off film.”

“I am an entrepreneur, advertising specialist, and artist. With a passion for creative storytelling and a knack for making connections, I plan to make my way in the world through creating honest, moving, and shareable content to get awesome ideas out there.”

She also continues to mentor SU student entrepreneurs through the iSchool and the LaunchPad.  Catch her Tuesday evening, February 11 at 7 p.m. for a video chat in the LaunchPad in Bird Library.

Learn more about Zoe and Hanh here:  https://schedule.sxsw.com/2020/films/2024848

Jalen Nash ‘ 20 (Political Science) is rejoining the LaunchPad as a Global Media Fellow for Spring 2020, reprising the role he held last spring as digital storyteller, profiling entrepreneurs and their journeys.  “Life is a collection of stories, each moment, a word in a bigger plot. These moments come together to make up who you are in the present,” says Nash.  “As an aspiring journalist, I aim to identify the moments that brought entrepreneurs into their present day. In this position as a Blackstone Global Fellow, I enjoy illuminating the life stories of young entrepreneurs.”

Read Jalen’s story here and learn about the experiences and environment that shaped his journey before he came to Syracuse, his transition to college, and how the thinking of individual people can create change through larger groups.  From his role as an editor at the Daily Orange to being a Literacy Corps volunteer, his campaign for SA president, member of the Student Advisory Council and co-chair of Student Life, to his role as co-editor in chief of Renegade Magazine, which he launched in June 2019, Nash has been a change-maker in his personal life, as well as across campus.

Along the way, he has created relationships to facilitate change, and stayed true to his love of storytelling.  “I love stories, and writers are storytellers. In this position, I have the opportunity to both listen to, and present new unique stories, something I have always valued coming from others.”

We welcome him back, and look forward to his stories this spring.

Are you working on an idea and need help understanding content marketing?  Are you a lifestyle brand and want to take it to the next level?  How can understanding the fundamentals of media and marketing help you build audience and engagement?  Learn from the best.  Sean Branagan, executive director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, will be hosting a three-part series, “Media + Marketing for Startups,” at the LaunchPad in Bird Library. The highly interactive and engaging workshops will be held February 13, February 27 and March 5 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Topics will include:  The history of media; content marketing; lifestyle brands; and why every company is a media company.  The workshops are free, but registrataion is requested to help with planning.  It is not necessary to attend all three workshops in the series, but would be highly valuable for startups in any sector.

Branagan established the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship in 2011, offering courses, consulting and connections to encourage students to start digital media ventures, and to engage Newhouse alumni.  He is a serial entrepreneur, interactive marketer and evangelist for innovation and startups who is founder and president of Communigration, Inc., a technology marketing firm.  He is well known in the startup world as creator and commissioner of Student Startup Madness, a national tournament for college student startups. He also holds board and advisory board positions with several early-stage tech companies and serves on a number of charitable boards.

A graduate of the Newhouse School in 1980 with a degree in magazine, Branagan has started lifestyle businesses, small businesses and high-tech companies (with a profitable exit from one), and became part of an Internet roll-up business that bought 10 companies in 18 months and was later sold to Time Warner Cable. Along the way, he served as senior director of marketing for a $125 million Internet services company in Boston’s Route 128 corridor, head of e-commerce strategy and interactive marketing for a New York City public company, and corporate communications manager for a publicly traded distribution company.

Branagan has taught a graduate-level course in interactive marketing and advertising at Newhouse as well as other courses at Syracuse University, including “What’s the Big Idea?” and a course on online retailing and interactive marketing at the Whitman School of Management. He served for five years as Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) at the Technology Garden, helping start-up and early stage technology companies in Upstate New York. He has been instrumental in SU’s award-winning Student Start-up Accelerator (a Kauffman-funded initiative), where he’s developed programs and courses and coached and mentored student startups.

He is a founding member and board member of the Famous Entrepreneurs Series; a certified facilitator and veteran coach with the Pre-Seed Workshop; mentor with a new TechStars accelerator in Upstate New York; and a consultant to venture funding groups on digital media and online business.  He regularly presents at innovation conferences around the world.

CPA Matt Gardner, co-founder of Gardner & Capparelli is offering a pro bono business accounting office session at the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars in Bird Library, on Wednesday, February 12 and Friday, February 14 at 10 a.m.  It’s tax season, so what do you need to know if you have raised funds, made revenue, won business plan competitions?  If you are doing business, what about business expenses and deductions to minimize your tax liability?  If you will be making sales this year, how should you structure your businesses, and set up important functions like payroll, bookkeeping and essential accounting?  How should you plan ahead for taxes? It is an opportunity for student startups to get professional business accounting advice from the start.  This is especially important for new businesses, to set up the right systems, and to plan for tax and reporting requirements.

Gardner & Capparelli is a boutique, integrated services solution for small and medium sized businesses.  The firm has pioneered the Virtual CFO and Accounting Services model, providing a team-based delivery approach with expertise in accounting, finance, tax, and human resources. It alsos provide the traditional tax preparation, compliance and attestation services that are part of a traditional accounting firm.

“We are entrepreneurs bringing a fresh perspective to the public accounting industry,” says the team. “With our progressive approach and outside-the-box thinking, we strive to make a meaningful impact in our community.”

Stop in for the accounting and finance session, or e-mail LaunchPad@syr.edu for an appointment.

Claire Howard ‘23, a freshman majoring in economics and international relations in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, couldn’t be more thrilled to join LaunchPad this spring as a Global Media Fellow. She loves the passion and determination it inspires in Syracuse students to shape their ideas, while giving them the necessary support and practical skills to do so.

“Though my interactions with LaunchPad have only just begun, I’m already blown away by the support and encouragement the LaunchPad team offers. The very first time I came into LaunchPad I left feeling confident and capable of accomplishing my goals.”

Those goals include creating a connected world where differences are embraced, and ideas are fostered, as well as shaping the environment around her to be full of warmth, community, and growth. A Coronat scholar and a student of the Renée Crown Honors Program, she’s excited for her future at Syracuse University and hopes to work in global development economics. Currently studying German and Arabic, she’s passionate about understanding the richness of diversity across the world and how connections between cultures strengthens our understanding of humanity and enriches innovation.  She plans to study abroad in Berlin and in an Arabic-speaking country during her time at Syracuse.

She believes one of the most meaningful ways she spends her time in Syracuse is the work she does with Northside Learning Center in the City assisting in teaching refugees English. “I am consistently shocked and inspired by the hope and resilience found in those who left their families and communities behind to move into a society where they don’t understand the culture and can’t even communicate with others.  Every time I see them, they greet me with warmth and call me friend.” She wants to see that hope fulfilled in the communities and world around her.

Howard is a content editor and staff writer for Globalists, a campus magazine dedicated to sharing stories and ideas from unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. She writes the weekly column “Musings,” which is an exploration of shared human experiences through the lenses of different cultures and varying perspectives. She values the magazine because she believes it opens students to share their thoughts from their own individual voice and serves as an inviting and empathetic space for all people and all ideas.

From Atlanta, Howard is continually enamored with the cold Syracuse winter and the beautiful snow it brings. She is enthusiastic about skiing and hiking through the northern nature, exploring the city, creating a home out of Syracuse, and diving into the dizzying array of opportunities for learning at the university — especially with the empowering entrepreneurial force that is LaunchPad.