Just to bring you up to speed, two of our members of our national presentation team won individual awards last night, and we’re are very proud of them!

Shane Skinner, a presenter on the national presentation team and Team Leader for Based in Business was awarded the Gwyn Morgan Bursary for Principled Leadership.

Kaitlin Smith, alternate presenter on the national presentation team and Financial Controller for SIFE Memorial was awarded The John Dobson Foundation’s Founders Bursary.

Kaitlin and Shane – We are so proud of you guys! Thanks so much for everything you’ve dedicated to our team.

SIFE Memorial to Compete for National Championship at ACE Canada Exposition in Calgary This Week

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Memorial are in Calgary preparing for the ACE National Exposition, May 7-9.

SIFE Memorial, is a member of the largest student-run organization in the world. It’s mandate, “to create local solutions to global economic challenges” is proven through their numerous community outreach projects, which focuses on helping persons with disabilities discover their entrepreneurial potential, assisting medically discharged Armed Forces members create their own business enterprise, and much more.

Over 60 SIFE teams from across Canada will compete in the exposition this week. Twenty-nine students are in Calgary to represent Memorial University at the ACE National Exposition. Along with the presentation team competing for the title of National Champion, two topic team competitors will represent SIFE Memorial. After winning Atlantic Canadian titles, the team will be competing against five other regional champions for the national topic team titles.

Vice-President Danielle Seward describes the team’s recent success: “Over the past year, 64 members of our team have contributed over 22,000 volunteer hours to 12 projects that created 47 jobs and reinvested over $2.1 million into our economy. Our success is based on the success of the individuals we work with and we’re so excited to share our story with other SIFE teams from across the country.”

SIFE Memorial will compete in the Opening Round of competition today, with the goal of advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-final and final rounds of competition will take place on Wednesday, May 9. The 2012 National SIFE Champion will represent Canada at the 2012 SIFE World Cup in Washington, D.C. this October.

SIFE Memorial is the 2011 National Champion and represented Canada in the SIFE World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this past October, placing in the Top 24

And we are very, very excited for Monday to arrive and the opening ceremonies to be underway. The excitement that comes with getting an entire nation’s worth of SIFERS into one room is unparalleled. If this is your first time at an ACE National Exposition then we are very jealous of the experience you are about to have.

To SIFE.

CTV

CityTV

Today.MUN.ca

The national presentation itself was a definite hit with the crowd, as it received a standing ovation.

“I was really nervous”, said Shane Skinner, one of the presenters on the team, “But once we started, I could tell the crowd was with us 100%. It’s really great that we get to celebrate our accomplishments with our community before going to Calgary and the night was definitely one to remember! Michael and Erika did a fabulous job hosting the event.”

Also competing next week in Calgary are SIFE Memorial’s Entrepreneurship and Go-Green presentation teams, who took top honours at the ACE Regional Exposition in Halifax last March.

Check this website, our Facebook page, and our Twitter feed for updates on the competition next week!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHMya0RhTndFOXRwQjM0NUR4NzRhanc6MQ#gid=0

A big shout-out to our our super technologically-oriented volunteer, David Feehan, for taking the initiative on these.

On Friday, 11 SIFE teams competed in the ACE Eastern Regional Exposition, and we are proud to say that our two topic teams were named champions in their league.

By presenting on our environmental initiatives from the past year, our Go Green Team took home the Scotiabank and SIFE Go Green Challenge title, while our Entrepreneurship team took home the title in the TD SIFE Entrepreneurship Challenge. Way to go, guys!

We have to give a shout out to another champion from Memorial University - Michelle Barbour was named a regional champion for her business, Tutoring from Young Minds, in the Student Entrepreneur Competition.

Oh wait, there’s more! Rebecca Aylward, one of our fearless Vice-Presidents, was one of two students named HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow for Atlantic Canada. Congratulations Rebecca!

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the other teams who competed, and thank ACE for organizing such an awesome exposition. Seeing all of the amazing things that SIFE teams are doing in their communities is what inspires our team to keep pushing ourselves.

All of the competition winners now have the chance to compete at the ACE National Exposition in Calgary this May. Suffice to say, we are very proud and excited!

Over the weekend, SIFE Memorial held a showcase for our two regional topic teams. The presentations gave our friends, family, and supporters a sneak-peak at what the teams will be bringing to this year’s ACE Regional Competition (this week!).

The Go-Green Team and the Entrepreneurship Team presented to a packed room, and it’s safe to say that no matter what the result is at regionals, these guys love what they do and are having a blast. Good luck to them!

For more info on the ACE Regional competition, check out http://www.aceexpos.ca/_bin/easternCanada/overview.cfm