?Embracing Social Business, Overcoming Social Problem?

ASEAN Young Socialpreneurship Competition 2015 is a regional business plan competition held by Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is a part of ASEAN Young Socialpreneurship Program (AYSPP) which set up to provide  deep understanding and support initiatives of student and youth around ASEAN countries, related to social entrepreneurship and its  role to foster ASEAN Economic Community 2015.

Our team, Live N Share, which consists of Unchisa Jarungjitsunthon, Pitchaluck Chamchuen and Boonsita Pavavongsak (BBA#22) is very pleased to be chosen as Thailand team representative and Top 20 finalist teams from more than 200 teams in ASEAN. By entering the competition, we first have gone through preliminary round which require each team to send proposal of their social business through the website. The top 20 finalist teams then will be chosen to come and present the social business plan in the Semi-Final round at Gadjah Mada University. In the Semi-Final round, each team will be given only five minutes to conduct pitching session by following Rocket Pitch Model and there will be only the top 3 teams that proceed to the Final Round. We can say that this five minute presentation is the most challenging of all presentations we ever had and creating a compelling, focused speech with a single message is the hardest part of this presentation. Although we didn?t reach the final round, we have heard a lot of awesome social business ideas that we can use to develop our social business plan.

Apart from the competition, the program also provide workshop on Social Entrepreneurship, Lecture on ASEAN, Excursion, as well as Cultural activities. For workshop and lecturer has the spotlight on the speakers, Mr. Jonathan Chang (Director at Lien Center for Social Innovation, SMU), Ms. Sabrina  Mustopo (Founder and CEO Kakoa Chocolate/Former  Senior Associate McKinsey and Company), Mr. Ahmad Yuniarto (Former CEO PT Schlumberger Geophysic Nusantara) and J.S. George Lantu (Director of ASEAN Functional Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia)have share their knowledge and breadth of experience and leaving us with a tangible skill and lesson learned to apply to our own projects and change making trajectories. Also, as a participant, we have a chance to learn about how ?REAL? social entrepreneurs run their business and effectively overcome social problems particularly in their surroundings. There are two places we have visited which are Gemah Ripah Waste Bank (a social business where people can do savings by not giving money but rather collecting and giving waste to the bank) and Hoshizora Foundation (a tour agency with the tagline of traveling charitably) in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Lastly, beside the tight schedule of the Social Entrepreneurship Competition as well as workshop, lecture and excursion, we have time to enjoy the cultural programs, including cultural night and cultural visit to tourism places and historical sites like Prambanan Temple and Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta. All we can say now is that AYSPP make this competition and program as our most incredible and memorable experience. Thanks for this great opportunity.

Written By Unchisa Jarungjitsunthon, Pitchaluck Chamchuen and Boonsita Pavavongsak (BBA #22)

Posted date: October 2, 2015 ? 10:11 a.m.