Visit from Queensland’s chief entrepreneur
How do you start a new term in the DeLorean Project? You get Leanne Kemp, Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur to kick things off and take it up a notch. The Office of Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur was an Australian first and is established as a government office dedicated to building and promoting the importance and contribution of entrepreneurship and investment in the state. The aim of the OQCE is to support, connect, showcase, stimulate and create in all areas of entrepreneurship. Whether that is incubators and startups, or regional communities, encouraging local talent or creating jobs – the OQCE has a broad aim to invest in tomorrow and the future of Queensland and Queenslanders. Leanne Kemp is the third Chief Entrepreneur following on from Steve Baxter. This is a 2-year honorary position and is held by a Queenslander who is all things entrepreneurial. It was a great honour and privilege to host Leanne and members of her office for our first day back.
Our guests delivered masterclasses on ‘How to turn your ideas into action’, ‘Logistics and Project Management’ and ‘The Art of Communications’ and the students had the opportunity to learn and discover practical ways to take their projects to the next level. Feedback from previous DeLorean students suggests that they find it hard to plan out their day in DeLorean and rightly so. In every other class, the teacher is essentially the project manager and has the plan for every lesson and every week already sorted. Where do students get to actually experience project management and to this level at this age? Following the masterclasses, students were given access to a host of resources, including Gantt charts, day planners and weekly planners and were encouraged to explore and adapt the level of simplicity or complexity of these resources to suit their needs and capacity. Students are also welcome and encouraged to explore project management software to make the experience even more authentic.
The main event for Term 3 in the project is our Shark Tank. Scheduled for Weeks 5, 6 and 7, these are an authentic way for students to pitch their ideas to entrepreneurs in the community and receive valuable feedback, advice and contact points for their projects. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as the teams prepare and present at Shark Tank.
If you would like to know more about The DeLorean Project in general, check out our brand new website www.deloreanproject.com.au and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@thedeloreanproj) to stay up-to-date with the latest news.
Tanya Cullen
