Sector leaders met with IUE Vocational School students

The “2^nd Bi’ Dünya İş” titled conference, organized by the Vocational School of Izmir University of Economics (IUE), brought sector leaders and students and academics together at IUE Conference Hall on 9-10 April 2019. The two-day conference series included interactive talks about inspiring stories of leading entrepreneurs locally and globally, service sector, digital transformation, brand management, and design thinking.

On the first day of the conference, Kemal Şahin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Şahinler Holding, delivered “A Success Story Stretching from the Taurus Mountains to Europe”, titled speech at the “Inspiring Business Stories” session. Şahin was selected the “Businessman of the Year" in Germany, the "Honorary Entrepreneur of Europe" by Club of Europe, and the first Turkish businessman to be admitted to the “Entrepreneur of the Year Institute” in America that is known as the "World Entrepreneurs Club".  Levent Yılmaz, Founding Partner and Chairman of the Executive Board of Baydöner, shared the “Inspirational Story of Doner Kebab Becoming a Brand” with students. Yılmaz was awarded the Honorary Award (Ruban d’Honneur) at the European Business Awards 2014, the most prestigious award program in Europe; his business model became a research subject at Georgetown University, one of America’s most prestigious universities, and he was elected EY Entrepreneur of the Year, 2014 by Ernst & Young.  At the “Service Sector in Business World and Digital Transformation” session, Osman Ünal, LinkedIn Consultant of Europe, Middle East and Africa Regions, and Management Consultant of Ekol Logistics, delivered the “Logistics Sector in Turkey and Worldwide and Career” titled speech; Murat Erdör, Founder of Me Consultancy, delivered “The Impact of Digital Transformation Era on Business and Social Life” titled speech; Deniz Selen Kılıçözgürler, Regional Director of CarrefourSA Istanbul, delivered the “Women in Retail Industry “titled speech.  

On the second day of the conference, the “Value-Based Entrepreneurship in Business World” session welcomed Muhterem İlgüner, Çelik Ören, İpek Dorak, and Gökhan Peksarı as guest speakers.  Muhterem İlgüner, one of the leading brand specialists of Turkey, and the Director of Brand Finance Turkey, one of the most significant brand valuation companies of Turkey, and the author of books “Golden Rules of Creating and Maintaining a Brand in Turkey”, “Creating a Value”, and “Brand City”, delivered the “Creating Value” titled speech. Çelik Ören, Founding Partner of İninal and Kredico, Chairman of the Executive Board of Junior Achievement Turkey, and the holder of Kellogg’s Mediterranean countries best market development award, Endeavor’s Entrepreneurship Award, delivered “Road Map from Professional Life to Entrepreneurship” titled speech. At the “Brand and Design in Business World” session, İpek Dorak, Managing Partner of Mindshare, delivered the “Brand and Digital Communication” titled speech; Gökhan Peksarı, Founder of Kök-N Design and Consultancy Agency, and Founding Partner and Chairman of the Executive Board of DOGO, delivered the “Basics of Design Thinking” titled speech.

Also as part of the conference, students of Vocational School of Izmir University of Economics and students of Balçova Salih Dede Anadolu High School attended a workshop on design-based thinking, and participated in a case analysis competition. Students tried to solve the “vocational education” issue in Turkey via design-based thinking method. The Jury, consisting of lecturers of IUE Vocational School Business and Management Programs evaluated the student projects. The team consisting of Onur Öğretmenler from IUE VS Marketing Program, and Zeynep Deniz Yıldırım and Polat Bakır from Salih Dede High School, who proposed “experienced-based” solution to the vocational education issue, came in first place. The winning team received gift checks from Media Markt and shoes from Dogo Design. The conference ended with the award ceremony.