The Apprentice Program by The Simplifiers – Tech Startup of the Year Awards 2015
Last night, I got to pitch The Apprentice Program by The Simplifiers to a room of 150 entrepreneurs and 5 judges as a finalist in the Tech Startup of the Year Awards in Nottingham. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled to take part in it all.
FINALIST – Tech Startup of the Year Awards 2015
It’s hard to believe that only a year ago, I attended Startup Weekend Nottingham (on a whim and a nudge), pitched it there and that’s where it all began.
momentum took over and…
- I was scouted to participate in a UK business accelerator
- we launched it publicly in May 2015
- gained clients all over the US, using our eLearning tools to train their wedding planning interns
- was selected as “Top 25 Young Event Pros to Watch Globally” – Special Events Magazine
- grew to a team of 5
- …and moved offices three times to our new, awesome little slice of heaven in the city centre of the Creative Quarter, Nottingham.
two floors up, that’s us! – image credit: Rich Will Nixon
While we didn’t win the award last night, I feel absolutely honored to be able to say we are “one of the top 4 new tech startups in Nottingham.”
No small feat.
how we got here
It all started with a dream 8 years ago, when we began The Apprentice Program as our in-house training program for our own interns at The Simplifiers…
…And that dream is finally coming to life, helping people to step up and become better mentors for emerging event professionals, giving them the training tools to make it all happen at their firms.
thank you…
Thank you to our clients who believe in us and are training their interns now with The Apprentice Program.
Thank you to our families and friends who support us and cheer us on when the race of a startup feels like a crazy-fast sprint instead of a steady marathon.
Thank you to our International Special Events Society (ISES) family who help us spread the word to all corners of the Earth, that there are BETTER ways to train and empower your team.
And thank YOU (you know who you are) for giving me little bursts of “you can do it…I believe in you” messages here and there, that always seem divinely sent at the right moments when I needed them.
One year down, many more to come…we aim to launch our official Kickstarter campaign in January 2016 and will share details over the next month on how you can contribute. Join the revolution to transform how people learn thru the crowd-sourced online social network that will be known as The Apprentice Program.
To stay in the loop and gain insider mentoring tips, join our email list:
Let’s do this.
Sign up today to access The Apprentice Program for your Spring 2016 interns and apprentices. $75/intern for a 6-week license that includes:
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weekly “spark” training videos
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intern homework missions
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intern pop quizzes + report cards
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mentor support