Tag: St. Louis

Olin’s 19th Annual Holiday Brunch for Eliot Society Members, hosted by Dean Mark P. Taylor, will be held on Sunday, December 3rd. The event is full of fun for the entire family.

Brian (MBA 2000) and Lindsey (BSBA 2000) Glass have attended this event with their family for almost a decade! We asked them to share their experience below.

What is your connection to Olin?

Lindsey and I first met in the computer lab in the basement of Simon Hall.  It was fall of 1999, my second year of the full-time MBA program and Lindsey’s senior year of undergrad.  It didn’t appear that we had ever crossed paths in the hallways before (I would have remembered).  After I found the courage to introduce myself before she left (I remember saying a few requisite quirky things most guys say when they fumble through an introduction), we began dating and the rest is history. We were married in 2002, and we just celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary and we have two adorable kids, Charlie (10) and Sadie (3).

What does it mean to be an Eliot Society Member?

We both feel a strong connection to WashU and Olin, having met there and graduating together in 2000. We feel fortunate to live in St. Louis, where we can continue to participate in the WashU community.

The Eliot Society is a fun and easy way to stay connected. There are several family-friendly events that we look forward to attending each year, including the Olin Holiday Brunch. It’s great to see friends and faculty, enjoy good food and activities, and be surrounded by WashU’s beautiful campus—and to know that even our modest donation is helping other students have the same enriching and rewarding experience that we had many years ago.

For our family, the Olin Holiday Brunch seems to be the unofficial start to the holiday season, which we look forward to every year. If you ask our son, the all-you-can-eat bacon and sugar cookies aren’t bad, either.

What do you enjoy most about Olin’s Holiday Brunch?

We’ve attended the Olin Holiday Brunch for about 8 or 9 years—ever since we became Eliot Society members.  I remember being introduced to Eliot Society in a lunch meeting with Jill Lustberg, who worked in Olin’s Alumni and Development office at the time. Jill was one of the most vivacious, engaging and fun-loving people I’ve ever met.  You couldn’t help but want to be a part of the Eliot Society after having met her.  Jill passed away a few years ago. She is missed, but will never be forgotten.

We love coming to the brunch and being surrounded by friends, fellow alums, and faculty who all enjoy ushering in the holiday season. Our kids love the balloon animals and face painting, arts and crafts projects, the holiday music and choir, and of course, the decorated sugar cookies. We always get a kick seeing the older alums dressed in their holiday plaid pants and Christmas-inspired sport coats!

View photos from last year’s Holiday Brunch below. Click to expand the image. 

If you are interested in joining the Eliot Society or RSVPing for the Holiday Brunch, contact Kent Dunson at dunsonk@wustl.edu or make your gift online today!

Photos by Emily Rose Photography

Book lovers of all ages can celebrate St. Louis’ literary heritage at the inaugural BookFest St. Louis, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, in the Central West End. The event is presented by the Central West End, Left Bank Books and the Left Bank Books Foundation.

The book festival will bring a diverse mix of locally and internationally renowned writers, with appearances by award-winning authors such as Sherman Alexie, Ann Leckie and many more. Link to schedule.

Festival-goers will be able to enjoy panels highlighting the best of contemporary literary fiction, poetry, memoir, science fiction, young adult fiction, mystery and history, as well as participate in family-friendly activities including book sales, literary crafts, live music and more within the McPherson Avenue festival zone and at other venues throughout the Central West End.

All BookFest St. Louis activities are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

In between BookFest St. Louis author events, be sure to check out the McPherson Avenue festival zone, featuring live music, demonstrations, book sellers, local artisans and more! Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.

William Burroughs in London, 1989

Celebrate CWE’s Literary Legacy at Writer’s Corner
Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs will join busts of other one-time CWE residents Tennessee Williams, T.S. Eliot and Kate Chopin at the intersection of Euclid and McPherson. Burroughs’ sculpture will be installed on the southwest corner, outside Left Bank Books, and will be unveiled at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23. Link for more info.

More events this weekend on and off campus:

In “Raindropped,” Scott Greenberg, a senior in Arts & Sciences, explores the idea of tumbling from grace, both figuratively and literally. This weekend, “Raindropped” will receive its world premiere staged reading at Washington University in St. Louis as part of the annual A.E. Hotchner New Play Festival.

Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival
Friday September 22-Sunday September 25
Soulard Market
The annual event will feature Hispanic Folkloric dancers, over 70 booths and the Los Ninos Kids Corner with piñatas and traditional Hispanic games.
Link to more information.

David Dresner, BSBA’10, is getting closer to making his dumpling dreams come true. The founder of Sleeve a Message – a company he dreamed up while a student at Olin – is reported to be launching his next venture called Crispy Edge, a gourmet potsticker company by the end of the year.

In a profile published by the St. Louis Business Journal, Dresner explains why he wants to be in the fried dumpling business:

“I love dumplings; I dream dumplings. I used to make them with my grandfather. These potstickers are artisanal, creative, wholesome and crispy, not soggy. Our output will be similar to Sleeve a Message. We’ll do small runs and ship eventually big orders everywhere.”

Dresner is in the process of converting a former community center in the Tower Grove neighborhood into his potsticker factory. The building will also house a restaurant, apartments, and office spaces.

The concept for Dresner’s first venture, Sleeve a Message, was developed during the Managing Your Business Career Strategy course at Olin. Sleeve a Message produces custom coffee sleeves and coasters. The company offers four color variable printing that allows for a “no minimum” order and quick turnaround times.

Dresner is also committed to sustainability and told the Business Journal, “It takes many trees to make sleeves so I decided that for every 7,000 sleeves sold, I’d plant a tree. Working with Forest Releaf of Missouri, we’ve planted more than 20,000 to date.”

Photos courtesy of David Dresner and Crispy Edge

Andrew Glantz, BSBA’17, at 22 years old, is one of the youngest people named to the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity’s 40 Under 40 list. With 163,538 members around the world, Glantz reports he is, “the third youngest to be included on the list that includes individuals such as the Co-Founder of Reddit and VPs at Lyft and UBS, and another WashU student – Sara Miller!”

Glantz is co-founder and CEO of GiftAMeal, a for-profit social enterprise that invites customers at participating restaurants to use the GiftAMeal mobile app to share photos of their meal. For each meal shared, a donation is made to a local food bank.

Jacob Mohrman (left) and Andrew Glantz.

“I am honored to represent WashU on the Alpha Kappa Psi list. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with the Joseph W. Towle Prize for greatest potential in organizational leadership, I am excited to announce that I will be remaining in St. Louis to work full-time on GiftAMeal.” Olin faculty, mentors, and St. Louis investors can share in the excitement when a home-grown startup remains in the city’s burgeoning entrepreneurial community to evolve and and expand.

GiftAMeal won multiple awards while Glantz was an undergrad including being named a “Top 3 Student Startup” in the country at the South by Southwest Conference. The company received its first investment of $100,000 from the Capital Innovators accelerator in St. Louis, marking the first time that the group had invested in an undergraduate startup.

GiftAMeal helps restaurants acquire and retain customers, while also feeding the hungry in our communities. To date, the company has provided 68,499 meals to those in need.

Related Blog posts.

Alpha Kappa Psi is a Professional Co-ed Business Fraternity founded in 1904 with the purpose of developing its’ members into principled business leaders. Originally founded by 4 men at New York University, the professional organization now has over 240,000 initiated members at 265 universities in 3 countries. Alpha Kappa Psi has grown to be the oldest and largest business fraternity in the world.

The ITEN Board of Directors has appointed Mary Louise Helbig the new Executive Director of the not-for-profit organization, effective immediately.

After an extensive search, the Board determined the strongest candidate was among ITEN’s group of experienced Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs).  Mary Louise has been deeply involved with ITEN since 2014 as an EIR, working hands-on with many entrepreneurs and in ITEN’s Corporate Innovation Program (CIP).   Many startups have benefitted from her guidance and intervention and Mary Louise also works closely with one of ITEN’s CIP partners.

Mary Louise Helbig, Olin MBA’94

“I am honored to take on this role at a very exciting time for ITEN,” stated Mary Louise.  “The needs of entrepreneurs have evolved, and we are developing more rigorous programs that support them through the commercialization process – from concept to market entry.  Additionally, building upon the success of CIP, we are committed to increasing opportunities for collaboration between our entrepreneur community and corporate partners to facilitate innovation.”

Mary Louise has over 25 years experience working in executive marketing, product development, and business development roles for start-ups and companies with high growth initiatives in the technology, financial health, and education sectors. She is the former President of Virtual Nerd, an EdTech startup that received national and industry awards for product design, and was CEO of HealthyMe, a Health Tech company.  She has also held executive management positions in major corporations, including strategic planning for American Express Incentive Services and redesigning the high speed internet installation program at Charter Communications.

“Our search turned up many excellent candidates, but at the end of the day we realized we had the strongest candidate already in our organization and someone very engaged with the St. Louis ecosystem,” said Jim Brasunas, ITEN Board member and Interim Executive Director.  “Mary Louise’s experience spans entrepreneurial and corporate executive leadership, and combined with her exceptional people skills, she is the ideal leader for ITEN.   We are excited to have her at the helm as we take the organization to the next level.”

The ITEN Board commends the staff, mentors and EIRs who have stepped up during the three-month interim period to keep the organization’s programs and venture development services operating effectively.   In particular the Board thanks Director, Entrepreneur Development Melissa Grizzle and Senior EIR Chuck Vallurupalli for outstanding service and unwavering commitment during this time.

About ITEN

As a major catalyst driving the St. Louis region’s startup ecosystem, ITEN (www.itenstl.org) accelerates innovation across the region through targeted programs for both corporations and scalable startups that employ technology as a core driver of business.  ITEN’s programs focus on rapid market analysis, product development, connections to talent, essential networking, and for startups, access to funding and customers.  The core of the organization’s value proposition is for entrepreneurs to work together to build a vibrant innovation ecosystem across the region.   ITEN’s sponsors include the Missouri Technology Corporation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Gateway to Innovation Conference (G2i), Bank of America, BDO, CEdge, Polsinelli, Greensfelder, and Wells Fargo Advisors.

Source:  ITEN News Release, ST. LOUIS, July 31, 2017