Lahore – The second day of the Lahore University of Management Sciences’ (LUMS) Young Leaders Entrepreneurial Summit (YLES) included exciting events such as the Gold Rush and Business Idea Competition (BIC) mentoring session while the first day of YLES ended with a spectacular carnival.
The host team took carnival essentials such as games and photo booths and turned them into eclectic rural pieces. Blue string lights were placed around trees, illuminating the path by their glow, complimented by the pale full-moon overhead. This was the path that led to the YLES carnival whose arrangements were made by the host team with hard work, which was evident.
Once past the security checks placed in the narrow passage way, a crackling bonfire in the centre and stalls set-up on two sides provided a welcoming atmosphere to tackle the chilly winter wave. Charpoys were set-up close to the fire and a small rural scene (titled the ‘rural photo booth’ by one volunteer), complete with decorative hookahs and small stools, provided the backdrop for photos all night long.
The stalls were well thought out and the decor was festive and cozy, enabling everyone to enjoy without feeling like they were stranded in a sparse and empty field. ‘Minute to Win It’, a contemporary rural game stall, alongside ‘Shoot the Balloons’ and darts stalls were also seen on the occasion.
The carnival provided plenty of opportunities to shop and show support for small entrepreneurship, be it for stalls of live clay pottery-making, shawls and mufflers, or even handmade jewelry and cards and some extremely adroit charcoal sketching. Continuing in the same manner as the first day, beginning of the second day was no less exciting. The day started off with all delegates assembled in an open expanse awaiting further instruction for an event relatively new to the YLES, namely ‘Gold Rush’.
This event was a chance for young entrepreneurs to carry out transactions in manner of a real economy. The event aimed to simulate an actual business in which delegates were asked to name their business, buy fundamental supplies and produce products that they could sell to other teams. Electric atmosphere during whole Gold Rush event was evident and students were shouting and literally begging to sell their items, with one of the students saying “I am selling the best chips in the world, buy it”, whereas another one was asking others to buy his pizzas.
Then the teams, which had qualified for next round of BIC, met their mentors, a body of distinguished people who were former LES members. This was the mentoring session and basically involved mentors guiding these selected teams on how they could improve their ideas and how their strategies could be made more practicable and sustainable in the real world. They helped guide these teams in making viable decisions for long-term plans.
After a grueling day of presentations and mentor sessions, coupled with running around in frenzy for the Gold Rush, delegates were treated to a concert by the host team. To make the deal even sweeter, performing artists were none other than Strings. Bilal and Faisal set the stage on fire and made people hop to their tunes.
