Are You up for the Challenge? The Canadian Mentorship Challenge kicks off Global Entrepreneur Week

Oct. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- Are You up for the Challenge?
The Canadian Mentorship Challenge kicks off Global Entrepreneur Week

When nominated as a Rock Star Mentor by protégée and colleague Jeremy O’Krafka from MENTORnetwork, Donna Messer knew it was time to get her community involved.  

In answer to the challenge, ConnectUs Communications Canada and Donna Messer invite entrepreneurs in Halton to help celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week by participating with her in a Canadian Mentorship Challenge Event.  

As the Moderator for The World’s Largest Business Mentoring Event for Entrepreneurs and Innovators at Ontario Centres of Excellence, Discovery 2012 conference, Messer recognizes the importance of mentoring.

The event recognized mentorship as a key pillar for success and by bringing the brightest minds together with mentors in one on one 3 minute sessions – the team set a Guinness World Record. The record was for over 4,000 business matches being made in just over 2 hours.

Messer and ConnectUs will be partnering with Startup Canada , CATAAlliance, and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation to host a local event for the Canadian Mentorship Challenge, a national initiative to mentor 10,000 enterprising Canadians over the course of Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 12 - 18, 2012.

The local event will take place on November 15th, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. – noon at E Spot, owned by Grace Attard, who is also a Mentor . The venue is located at 353 Iroquois Shore Road , Unit#200 in  Oakville .

Messer is a Rotarian and currently involved with an initiative called The Pythons’ Pit. The Pythons’ Pit is a partnership between the Rotary Clubs of Halton and McMaster University ’s DeGroote School of Business. The purpose of the initiative is to give creative, entrepreneurial residents and high school students of Halton an opportunity to pitch their innovative business ideas or products to the Pythons. There is an investment pool of more than $150,000 that will be up for grabs during the competition.

“Involving participants that will be pitching to the Pythons seemed logical. By hosting this workshop and speed mentoring session we can walk potential participants through the paces of what they will face in the Pit,” said Messer.

By participating in this event, attendees will:

·          Learn how to leverage mentorship to accelerate their business

·          Develop a 1-minute Mentor Pitch

·          Understand the key mistakes many entrepreneurs make in pursuing investment

·          Meet with mentors who will help tighten up their business plan

·          Become part of a community committed to helping you survive the entrepreneurial jungle

The event is open to residents of Halton Region, students attending McMaster University , Mohawk College or Sheridan College . They must have a business or a strong business proposal that can benefit from investment or in-kind professional services. Participants must be committed to going the distance in this competition

For this event there will be 10 – 12 entrepreneurs selected. Selection will be based on the quality of their business profile and the identification of their challenges. Preference will be given, but not limited to, entrepreneurs who are already considering the Pythons' Pit as an opportunity. Two additional spots will be reserved for high school students who want to compete.

Participants will leave the event with a well defined pitch that will catch the attention of the Pythons. The Mentors will share their expertise, helping each participant maximize their pitch.  

“We want to support and encourage participation in the Canadian Mentorship Challenge because if will help raise awareness for the Pythons’ Pit and the financial opportunities for entrepreneurs in Halton.” said Rotarian Fareen Samje, one of the organizers of The Pythons’ Pit.

“We heard from entrepreneurs of all ages, start up stages and business sectors – mentorship is an essential ingredient for building a more collaborative and sustainable entrepreneurial culture in Canada ,” said Victoria Lennox, Co-Founder of Startup Canada . “The transfer of knowledge and ideas is inspiring for everyone involved and mentoring definitely contributes to the success of future start ups.”

To apply for the Oakville event - click on the link https://guestlistapp.com/events/129864

To contact Donna Messer – ConnectUs Communications Canada Phone: 905-337-9578 or Email: dmesser@connectuscanada.com  The Pythons’ Pit is on March 23rd 2013. www.PythonsPit.ca

Hyperlink on the graphics for Donna’s Audible Name Tag, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.


For more information on the Canadian Mentorship Challenge visit http://www.mentorshipchallenge.ca. You can also follow the Challenge at #mentorscan or @Startup_Canada on Twitter.

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