LUMS YLES concludes with a bang

Lahore – Closing ceremony of the Young Leadership and Entrepreneur Summit (YLES) 2011 was held at Sports Complex of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Saturday. Winners of different events were rewarded, who received a big applause from the audience. Distinguished guests included entrepreneurs including Mohsin Naqvi from the ICI, Atif Saeed from FM 91, Mahum from Tetra Pack and founding members of the LUMS Entrepreneurship Society (LES) also attended the closing ceremony. Smiles were evident on faces of LES founding members who said that they had planted a small sampling, which has been replaced with a big tree.
The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) rocked the event, as it was announced overall winner of the competition. The Textile Institute of Pakistan won the PLAY IT event, which aimed to provide a platform to students to think out of the box and to show the world their creative side in order to establish themselves as witty businessmen in today’s world. Teams were asked to prepare a minute-long advertisement on a pre-assigned product.
The Lyceum School made its name in the Business Case Study, as they were awarded the best prize by judges. In this event, teams were given a case study one day before the YLES commenced, so that they had ample time to read and analyse their case. During the competition, a discussion supervised by a moderator was held. Teams were awarded on basis of quality of their discussion. Delegates had to make documentaries for the Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, in which the Lyceum School reigned supreme. The result was determined through number of likes made on social networking website Facebook.
The Business Idea Competition was won by the Iqra University. The event was designed to instill spirit of innovation and realism amongst budding entrepreneurs by encouraging them to identify and explore potential gaps in the market and come up with viable business models. The Aitchison College, Lyceum School and Lahore Grammar School (LGS), Kabana won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively in the “Enspire” Magazine, Essay writing competition.
Competitors were asked to write on “Floods, an opportunity to rebuild”. Writers were requested to emphasise upon challenges and opportunities present in flood-hit areas. Top three articles were given special mention at the closing ceremony along with shields and certificates. Winners looked extremely exuberant and excited and lauded efforts of organisers. They also appreciated qualities of social events and said that this event would definitely help them in the future. Students said that a special focus on rural entrepreneurship was need of the hour and LES had provided an excellent opportunity to explore business opportunities in our rural economy.