This summer, we were super stoked to have yet another round of Camp BizGym fun! Our buddies at Mid-Pacific Institute once again opened the doors to their Weinberg Tech Plaza as we hosted 20 Rockstar Kidpreneurs! Camp BizGym 2014 focused on marketing for kids’ own businesses as well as real clients. Participants had the opportunity to work with real local businesses and helped them script, film, and edit videos for marketing. Our two lucky clients, The Pacific Asian Center of Entrepreneurship (PACE), a program dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in the community and HaHa Hawaiian Organics, a local company featuring Hawaii’s only certified organic kitchen loved the finished videos!
We had a number of awesome first-day mentors including, Head Mentor Steve Sue, who walked the kids through the importance of strong storytelling and how to grab an audience right away; and Camp BizGym Director and professional actor Kimee Balmilero who gave our CBG Kidpreneurs tips on how to bring their scripts to life when performing on the camera. It was great watching all the kids get into character! The kids then broke off into small groups to work on radio scripts for their own businesses. We had everything from a pet store to a juice shop to a body odor bag!
We were joined by professional videographer and mentor, Dennis Burns, from 1013 Integrated who talked to participants about translating their scripts to screen. Lee Harper from HaHa Hawaiian Organics came in to talk about her local, Hawaii, beverage business. The assignment for the day was to create a 15-second video featuring HaHa Hawaiian Organics’ company and products. By the end of the day, most participants were done and ready for another awesome day of creating! We “ooed and aahed” over everyone’s finished videos.
PACE Executive Director Susan Yamada joined our camp along with several young PACE Entrepreneurs! They shared PACE’s background with participants and also told them what they were looking for in a promotional video. We had a lot of fun connecting with our PACE mentors! Maybe we’ll be seeing them at their center soon!
Day 4 was all about sweetening: final edits, re-shoots, adding music, etc. With our mini Film Festival just one day away..the kids had A LOT of work to do. After a quick round of morning warm ups and announcements…the kids were off to work!
On the final day of Camp BizGym, participants quickly got to working to complete their videos. All videos were due by 9:30am, so they were going, going, GOING! Family and friends started coming in around 10:30am and then…IT WAS TIME FOR OUR FILM FESTIVAL! It was such a cool feeling to see ohana faces light up when they saw their kid’s work! They were definitely as proud of them as we were! After all videos were shared, PACE and HaHa Hawaiian Organics announced their two winners! I think we can all agree, though, that all participants walked away with a prize and grew so much in such a short amount of time.
We held a small reception outside of the Weinberg Tech Plaza with light pupus and “bubbly” (sparkling apple cider). It was the perfect way to wrap up this summer’s Camp BizGym!
Check out all our 2014 Camp BizGym Videos here: http://campbizgym.com/2014-videos
Our Sponsors! The BizGym Foundation, Mid-Pacific Institute, Final Draft, City Mill, The Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, 1013 Integrated, SurroundsMe, The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Hawaii and HaHa Hawaiian Organics. We can’t thank you enough for supporting our young kidpreneurs!
Our Mentors! Thank you for taking some time out of your BUSY schedules to help us! The kids are so lucky to know rock stars like you!
Our CBG Parents! You guys are AWESOME! Mahalo for supporting this program AND of course your amazingly talented kids!
Our Participants! We literally couldn’t have done it without you! You are all so fantastic and we are super stoked to have worked with you! For more on 2014 Camp BizGym, click here
Hope to see you all at the next one! For more info: http://campbizgym.com
Day 4, check out this interview with Camp BizGym mentor Dennis Burns
OK, anyone panicking yet? Many teams found that video storytelling isn’t as easy as it looks. 
They also found that running hard toward a worthy deadline is rewarding and fun. We know that when they see their finished videos up in lights tomorrow that they’ll all feel fat and happy about a good week’s work well done.
On other notes, Dennis Burns celebrated his birthday today by mentoring once again (like every day at Camp BizGym!) without a peep that it was a special day for him! Dennis has been unbelievably dedicated to so many worthy causes and always puts others before himself. Take note of Dennis kids, he’s a role model that you should all aspire to be.
Now for the main event of the week… Tomorrow’s Sneak Peek Premiere! Invite everyone you know to come to Mid Pac Institute at 10am-12noon for your first official showing!
Think your idea is awesome? Well, it could be, but its important to polish and validate your idea through feedback!
Team Omiage editing their video at CampBiz Gym with the help of our mentors
On day 3 of Camp BizGym, the Kidpreneurs were working hard to edit their video and have it ready to present to the cohort for feedback.
Team Moonlight rough cut video
