E3 Conference set for April 19

The ninth annual Emerson Entrepreneurship Experience (E3) Conference will be held Saturday, April 19, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Bordy Theater, 216 Tremont Street, and feature nine new student business ventures as well as speakers from the Boston business community, according to an announcement from the Marketing Communication Department.

This will be the first E3 Conference since the November death of faculty member Karl Baehr, who founded the E3 program, which is now under the leadership of faculty member Ja-Nae Duane.

The Entrepreneurial Studies Program is a yearlong immersion for students in crafting a new business venture. The students will present their business ideas at the conference and compete for a combined $20,000 in cash and prizes to launch their businesses.

More than 150 ventures have been created through the E3 program, which has about a 30 percent success rate. That is 25 percent better than the majority of similar programs at other colleges nationwide, according to the Princeton Review.

Among the speakers at this year’s E3 Conference are James DiSabatino ’09, of Roxy’s Grilled Cheese; Evy Chen ’10, founder of EvyTea; and Jon Allen ’14, of Temple Twist. The keynote speaker is Helena Fruscio, director of Creative Industries for Massachusetts.

Additional speakers include Vlad Vukicevic of Rocket Hub; Sam Aquillano, co-founder of Design Museum Boston; Joanna Meiselles, founder of Snip-its; and Morgan First, founder of Wine Riot.

There is no charge to attend the conference, which is open to the public. A light lunch and breakfast will be provided. Participants are encouraged to tweet about the conference using the hashtag #e3.

The students who will present business venture ideas are: Samuel Fishman ’15, Nisreen Galloway ’14, Kelly Groglio ’15, James Johnston ’15, Max Lyons ’15, Samuel Milstein ’14, Elizabeth Nash ’14, Timothy-John Roncal ’14, and Sergio Vaccaro ’14.