Stonyfield ‘boot camp’ set for April

Registration is now open for the 2012 edition of the Stonyfield Entrepreneurial Institute, a two-day “boot camp” for entrepreneurs that will feature sessions on finance, branding and social media marketing.Presented by the Carsey Institute and the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, the boot camp will be held at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord on April 26and 27. New Hampshire Business Review is a media sponsor.Speakers at the conference will include Tom First, founder of OWATER and a co-founder of Nantucket Nectars, which was sold to Cadbury Schweppes in 2002.While building Nantucket Nectars — which was named to Inc. magazine’s list of the 500-fastest growing U.S. companies for five consecutive years — First won several awards, including the Mercury Award for Advertising and Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.First will join Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry and founder of the Stonyfield Institute, in sharing “Tales from the Trenches” on Thursday evening.Also speaking at the conference will be Hirshberg’s wife, Meg Cadoux Hirshberg, an author and columnist for Inc., which is also a media sponsor.Since 2009, she has written a column for Inc. called “Balancing Acts,” which explores work-life balance and the intersection of family and business in an entrepreneurial setting. She is also author of “For Better or For Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and Their Families.”The boot camp will also feature several panels, on topics such as raising early and second-stage capital, work/life balance, brand building and social media marketing.Attendees are encouraged to submit case studies of their business challenges concerning these topics in advance of the conference. The boot camp’s final panel will present six selected case studies, and panelists will offer feedback and advice.Panelists for the event will include Andrew Whitman, managing partner, 2X Consumer Products, Jeffrey Sohl, director of the WSBE Center for Venture Research, Howard Brodsky, CEO, CCA Global Partners, and John Hamilton, managing director, Vested for Growth, among others.Cost of the institute is $250 and includes lunch and dinner on Thursday, and breakfast and lunch on Friday. Discounted rooms are available at the Courtyard Marriott for $102 per night.Deadline for submitting case studies is Friday, March 30. Institute registration deadline is Monday, April 2.For more information or to register, visit the Stonyfield Farm Entrepreneurship Institute at http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/SEI.html, or contact Susan Colucci at susan.colucci@unh.edu or 603-862-2821. — KATHLEEN CALLAHAN