Entrepreneurship major helps plan virtual conference

Brady Hillhouse, center.

Rising senior and entrepreneurship major Brady Hillhouse can add conference organizer to his list of accomplishments while at the College of Business and its Miller School of Entrepreneurship.

Hillhouse, along with 12 other national Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) chapter leaders, recently organized the virtual Interconnect Conference. The goal of the conference was to educate, motivate, and equip young entrepreneurs with the knowledge to move forward in the business world during unprecedented times or times of crisis. The conference theme was “Pioneering through a Pandemic.” Organized in just two weeks, 400 individuals from universities across the country participated. Money raised went to support small businesses, as well as conference support and management.

“Working on InterConnect Conference was a fun and great experience being able to collaborate with chapter leaders around the nation,” said Hillhouse. “I’ve met several of the co-organizers at the Global CEO Conference over the past two years, so it was rewarding to work with them in a professional capacity. To turn the idea into reality in two weeks, we only had six days of marketing to prepare us for the conference.”

When asked if they plan to have the conference again, Hillhouse said yes.

“Moving forward, we do plan on hosting InterConnect Conference biannually, once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester,” said Hillhouse. “We’re meeting later this month to discuss moving forward in more detail.”

In addition to his work in planning this conference, Hillhouse is the past president of the ECU CEO chapter and won a national Student Leadership Award last October at the Global CEO Conference.