Forum to Help Kick-Off Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 and explore how creativity and innovation drive commerce, culture and education
OKLAHOMA CITY, NOV. 3, 2010 – The Creativity World Forum is a celebration of business creativity that brings together forward-thinkers to gain inspiration, exchange ideas and best practices, and network. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs, business leaders, technology experts, educators, scientists, artists, students and policy makers from around the globe will be attendance. Now in its seventh year, the event will be hosted by Creative Oklahoma on Nov. 16 - 17, 2010 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The 2010 Creativity World Forum will help kick-off Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2010, a movement designed to change lives and economies by spurring firm creation and growth around the globe. Millions of people at thousands of events in more than 100 countries will celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity during Global Entrepreneurship Week from Nov. 15-21 this year.
The 2010 Creativity World Forum will feature an extraordinary lineup of more than 65 speakers and presenters, including some of the world’s most respected thinkers on creativity.
Speakers include (photos and speaker bios are available online at www.stateofcreativity.com):

• Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver of TOMS Shoes Inc., which donates shoes to people in need;
• Erik Logan, president of Harpo Productions, Oprah Winfrey’s development company;
• David Pogue, The New York Times personal technology columnist and author;
• Daniel Pink, The New York Times best-selling author of “A Whole New Mind.”

“Entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. is at a 14-year high, so the time is now to put our collective foot on the gas pedal to accelerate these new firms and give them the best opportunity to succeed,” said Bo Fishback, vice president of entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation co-founded GEW. “The Creativity World Forum is the perfect venue to help kick-off for Global Entrepreneurship Week because its mission closely mirrors GEW’s.”
“People all over the world are talking about Oklahoma, and to me that’s a testament to the culture being created here,” said Susan McCalmont, of the Kirkpatrick Foundation and one of Creative Oklahoma’s founders and board members. “This Forum brings together creative thinkers from around the world and provides opportunities for learning and sharing creative ideas to help propel us to the next level.”
The State of Oklahoma and the Chickasaw Nation are presenting sponsors of the two-day event.
To register, go to www.stateofcreativity.com
About Creative Oklahoma, Inc. Formed in 2006, Creative Oklahoma (CO) is a statewide non-profit organization that promotes and catalyzes creative idea generation in individuals and institutions. The goal is to transform the state of Oklahoma through initiatives which lead to a more entrepreneurial and vibrant economy along with a better quality of life for its citizens. Through this organization, Oklahoma has become a "District of Creativity”, which is an international network of delegates. It consists of 12 regions of the world that have been working together in the field of creative innovation policies since 2004. Oklahoma City was selected to host the Districts of Creativity’s annual Creativity World Forum at the Cox Convention Center on November 16 & 17. For more information, visit www.stateofcreativity.com.
About Creativity World Forum Creativity World Forum is the 7th annual conference on creativity and innovation that brings together entrepreneurs, knowledge workers and policy makers from around the globe. Participants will share best practices, learn about proven programs that successfully encourage, promote and enhance creativity in Commerce, Culture and Education.
The Forum will consist of pre- and post- conference tours, international meetings, a two-day conference, a Creative Convergence Showcase, an evening dinner featuring entertainment provided by Oklahoma talent and a Creativity World Biennale.
About Global Entrepreneurship Week With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week will encourage youth to think big and turn their ideas into reality. From November 15-21, 2010, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Tens of thousands of activities are being planned in dozens of countries. Global Entrepreneurship Week is founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise UK. For more information, visit www.unleashingideas.org, and follow @unleashingideas on Twitter.
About the Kauffman Foundation The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. In addition, the Foundation focuses on initiatives in the Kansas City region to advance students’ math and science skills, and improve the educational achievement of urban students, including the Ewing Marion Kauffman School, a college preparatory charter school for middle and high school students set to open in 2011. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on Twitter at @kauffmanfdn and Facebook.
Creative Oklahoma, Inc. Media Contact: Kathy Oden-Hall koden-hall@stateofcreativity.com 405-203-5742 Meg Jackson mjackson@stateofcreativity.com 405-232-5572
Kauffman Media Contacts: Barbara Pruitt Kauffman Foundation (816) 932-1288 bpruitt@kauffman.org
Matthew Hantz M Booth & Associates (212) 481-7000 matthewh@mbooth.com
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