Case Study: Yale University

Game Storming: How to play in the ’emerging world’ of entrepreneurship

Official Press Release

Background

The Globalist is Yale University’s only undergraduate international affairs quarterly that is written, edited, and published entirely by students. Each issue of the Globalist centers around a theme chosen democratically by the group. Articles cover almost any global topic.

The Opportunity

A delegation of 17 Yale University journalism students were traveling to Chile for their annual trip. They were interested in covering many themes in Chile and was especially interested in learning more about the startup scene and growing culture of entrepreneurship in Chile.

The Challenge

[checklist]

  • Figuring out the best place to start to get connected with the local market
  • Limited pre-existing contacts in the country
  • Lack of story ideas/themes related to startups and entrepreneurship

[/checklist]

Rachel Brown, a student from Yale University contacted AndesBeat via email. As a student run organization, they were faced with many challenges including funding and having access to limited resources. They had less than one month before their trip to Chile and with only about 10 days to cover an entire country, they were very tight on time and had to be selective about who they could meet.

AndesBeat Game-Changing Role

AndesBeat was initially asked to provide referrals to a few local players but decided this would not provide the optimal experience for the organization.  AndesBeat decided to create a mini-entrepreneur ecosystem and ‘The Globalist’ team loved the concept. AndesBeat quickly secured the venue, came up with a theme for the event and hand-curated an invite list of key influential players from the public sector, private sector and local and national media. The U.S. Embassy in Chile also participated and provided a representative to do welcome remarks and speak on the innovation and economic development projects that the U.S. Embassy was currently supporting in Chile.

Thank you so much for organizing the wonderful event today! Both of you truly went above and beyond what was necessary….The members of our group have been talking all day about how cool the event was and the various things we learned while we were there. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to entrepreneurship in Chile.  – Rachel Brown, Yale University’s, the Globalist

AndesBeat, Yale University’s ‘The Globalist’ and some of the participants in Game Storming

The Result

Game Storming (a play off the words Brain Storming) which featured new world change-makers under the radar of old world knowledge. The program was delivered in a ‘Bar Camp’ format to provide a dynamic and social ‘real time experience’, intended to build impact with urgency.

Attendees all answered the question – What do you think is Chile’s best hidden treasure (person, place or project) in the local entrepreneurship ecosystem?

Within 5 minutes, the Yale University delegation had over 30 potential story ideas along with the local experts to speak in detail on the various topics submitted. The Yale University delegation was able to work for nearly an hour at the event, building their articles and relationship with the community in real-time.

Long-Term ‘Cultural’ Impact/Milestones

[Awareness]

AndesBeat was able to deepen the integration of Latin America’s media ecosystem into trends in the international media. AndesBeat was able to increase the amount of coverage Latin American startups received from local and international media.

[Education]

AndesBeat joined the various players in the ecosystem on the common theme of stimulating and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship within a sub-developed country. We were able to teach Yale University students about the differences in working in entrepreneurship and startups in a developing verses a sub-developed country.

And we were able to give local players a first hand experience on being a media resource and how to pitch story ideas to the media.