Event Alert: Calling social entrepreneurs and creatives

Entrepreneurs and creative minds have a lot to do this weekend, with two events in Cairo creating spaces for innovation and knowledge sharing: “Ideation Station” and the “Creative Industry Summit.”

On Friday at the GrEEk Campus, social entrepreneurs are invited to take part in Ideation Station, a gathering organized by V-Works, which provides professional, capacity building programs and resources tailored to the social entrepreneurial and voluntary sectors.

Ideation Station will provide a space for innovative social projects by bringing together successful social entrepreneurs to share their stories and experiences. Those who have project ideas can apply to “Mobaderoon Masr” (Pioneers of Egypt), a start-up program that provides the kind of technical support, training and mentorship needed to help make their ideas a reality.

“Social Entrepreneurship means innovatively using creative means to solve any and all social problems: cultural, educational, environmental, or health-related … all to positively affect society, not merely to achieve financial gain,” the event statement says. However, social entrepreneurs often lack the finances to enable them to work sustainably on having a positive social impact, it added.

On Saturday and Sunday, Creative Industry, which describes itself as Egypt’s first hub for the creative ecosystem, is hosting its first summit at the American University in Cairo’s campus in Tahrir Square.

Creative Industry is a newly-formed and much needed platform for Egypt’s creative minds and their work, whether it is through media, design, advertisements, marketing campaigns, arts, performances or films. The upcoming summit is the first event being organized to bring people together in this field through workshops and panel discussions and give them a chance to share success stories and network.

In the four parallel tracks, there will be talks by industry insiders, workshops, panel discussions and a showcase at the “creative pavilion.”