Putting the “FUN” in Crowd-FUNding

Camp BizGym Logo

Camp BizGym LogoCamp BizGym is a 1-week summer camp in which K-12 students create a short video on a business idea of their own to promote through online “crowd-funding” platforms to gain donations for student projects.

Camp BizGym is scheduled to take place Monday-Friday, 8am-12noon, July 29th-August 2nd, 2013 at Mid Pacific Institute in Manoa Valley. Up to 30 students will be accepted to this program with approximately half of the spot already reserved for scholarship winners of the past Lemonade Alley Kid-Biz Contests. Remaining space is available on a first-come basis for K-12 students. A $100 dollar per student participation fee will be charged to defray costs.

Participants only need to come with an idea for a business they are interested in pursuing. At the Camp, students will be guided by mentors to create a script, shoot video, edit and implement a viral media strategy to get their projects funded through “crowd-funding” sites such as Indiegogo.com or kickstarter.com. Crowd-funding sites allow individuals to make pleas for worthy projects so public viewers can donate money to support great ideas.

Steve Sue, founder of Camp BizGym says, “Our goal is to make business fun. So how fun is it to make a movie about your idea, get it up in lights and have others donate money to your cause?” Sue continues, “Through the week, kids will be mentored by some of Hawaii’s best pitch-sters and performance coaches who will make cool ideas into super-cool reality!” The pile-on for this event has begun with Mid Pacific Institute contributing Weinberg Technology Plaza for the camp and sneak-peek film festival with additional screenings scheduled at up-coming events including Senator Susie Chun Oakland’s Children & Youth Day and HCEE’s annual gala in the fall.

To register or learn more about how to get involved with Camp BizGym, e-mail Caroline Kim at caroline[at]bizgym.org