Leading entrepreneurs and experts in cutting-edge business trends will discuss winning strategies for young entrepreneurs during a public forum Tuesday, April 1, at the University of Central Florida.
The Central Florida Global Economic Forum 2014, organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, will be held in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration will be at 11:30 a.m., with luncheon and presentations to follow.
The forum is free and open to the public, with advance registration required. Those who wish to attend can email lauren.adair@ucf.edu to sign up.
Three presenters will speak at this year’s forum: “Planet Money” radio show co-host Adam Davidson, digital strategist Soraya Darabi and high-tech entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari.
Davidson helps listeners of “Planet Money” understand how dramatic economic change is affecting their lives. The show is regularly featured on NPR, but also boasts a bi-weekly podcast and blog. For his presentation at UCF, he will underscore the areas that are most relevant to those students preparing to enter the business world.
Darabi is a leading authority on digital commerce. She established her career as a manager of digital partnerships and social media at The New York Times. After her tenure there, she co-founded the mobile application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “app of the year.”
Her new project, Zady.com, integrates commerce, rich media content and social media to provide customers with a dynamic shopping experience. Darabi will speak at UCF about what is next in emerging media.
Ansari is CEO, chair, and co-founder of Prodea Systems, a company that is working to change the way consumers interact with the Internet. Telecom Technologies Inc., a company she co-founded in 1993, sold for more than $750 million in 2001.
After that time, Ansari fulfilled a childhood dream, and became the first female private space explorer in 2006. At UCF, she will discuss the future of space commercialization.
For more information about Central Florida Global Economic Forum 2014, visit www.ucfglobalperspectives.org.
In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, campus sponsors and partners include the Global Peace and Security Studies Program, Diplomacy Program, Middle Eastern Studies Program, The India Center, China-Taiwan Cross-Strait Program, Kurdish Political Studies Initiative, Human Trafficking Awareness Program, International Services Center, Political Science Department, UCF LIFE and UCF Book Festival 2014 in association with the Morgridge International Reading Center. Other sponsors include the Chastang Charitable Foundation and the Global Connections Foundation.