RISE 2009 Reaches New Heights

Austin, TX (PRWEB) March 10, 2009 -

In a show of entrepreneurial spirit undeterred by the current economy and a hopeful sign for Austin's future, aspiring, new and established entrepreneurs turned out in record numbers for the third annual Relationship & Information Series for Entrepreneurs (RISE) this week, doubling last year's attendance.

The four-day conference series, which featured more than 122 independently organized and peer-led sessions free of charge, connected more than 1,600 entrepreneurs of all sizes and industries with tools, resources, information and connections to help them grow their businesses. Texas Governor Rick Perry and Austin Mayor Will Wynn named the week of RISE Entrepreneurship Week.

"We've worked hard to make RISE an event that belongs to the community it serves and a proud symbol of what makes this city so great," said RISE co-creator Roy Sosa, general manager of MPOWER Ventures and CEO and co-founder of MPOWER Labs. "Our hosts, sponsors, volunteers and participants have proven again it's great to be an entrepreneur in Austin - no matter your size, stage, industry or background - and will be for generations to come."

The week began with a keynote and book signing from Roy Spence, CEO of GSD&M Idea City and author of It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose. RISE continued with entrepreneurs gathering in venues all over the city to connect and exchange ideas.

Notable community and business leaders Elizabeth Avell?n, vice president and co-owner of Troublemaker Studios; Philip Berber, founder of A Glimmer of Hope and CyBerCorp; Clayton Christopher, founder and CEO of Sweet Leaf Tea; Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice; Admiral Bobby R. Inman, one of Austin's best known angel investors; Doug Ulman, president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation; and Ellen Wood, president and CEO of vcfo were among the diverse range of speakers at RISE.

Unlike a traditional conference, RISE sessions are peer-led, limited to 25 participants and take place in venues throughout Greater Austin. Popular session themes at RISE09 included bootstrapping your way to the top, using social media to grow your business and leading the way out of the economic downturn.

RISE09 venues ranged from coffee shops, restaurants and the board rooms and lobbies of Enspire Learning and GSD&M Idea City to the classrooms of The Acton School and community spaces like Leadership Austin, Tech Ranch, the Mexican American Cultural Center and Austin's greenest boardroom at the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

"If you want to get something done, just ask an entrepreneur," said RISE co-creator Bertrand Sosa, founding partner of MPOWER Ventures and president and co-founder of MPOWER Labs. "Thanks to the incredible energy of the entrepreneurs among us, we've had an incredible year with amazing sessions at great venues and something to offer every entrepreneur."

New this year were the Austin Women Entrepreneurs series - more than 40 sessions - and the Hispanic Entrepreneurs series - more than 18 sessions - as well as sessions on filmmaking, music festivals, Spanish-language web site creation, social enterprise and Hispanic community engagement. This year, the conference also introduced online networking tools to help participants connect and interact before, during and after the conference.

Later in the week, some of Austin's youngest aspiring entrepreneurs participated in RISE high, an annual business plan competition where the winners receive a cash prize. The winning team from Austin's Liberal Arts and Science Academy presented a plan for a consulting business that would provide legal and social services for Austin's foreign-born professionals.

The week concluded with a talk by Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey and the release of Passion & Purpose: The Power of Conscious Capitalism a conversation with John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market and Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems by Michael Strong with a foreword by John Mackey.

RISE is co-hosted by MPOWER Foundation and the Acton School of Business, and participation is free due to the generosity of sponsors Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP; anthonyBarnum Public Relations; Austin Business Journal; Austin Ventures; Austin Women Entrepreneurs; Capital One Bank; Club E; Ernst & Young; Give Realty; GSD&M Idea City; Holtzman Moellenberg Panozzo and Perkins, LLP; Sante Ventures; and Silverton Foundation.

For more information on RISE, visit http://www.riseaustin.org.

About RISE

RISE, a Relationship and Information Series for Entrepreneurs, provides a forum for entrepreneurs to connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit. RISE 2009 takes place March 2-5 when more than 1,500 entrepreneurs will participate in approximately 100 sessions hosted by successful business leaders throughout the Greater Austin area. There is no cost to participate. For more information, to register or to volunteer to host a session, visit http://www.riseaustin.org. RISE is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

About the Acton School of Business

The Acton School of Business, located in Austin, Texas, is a one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship program taught by successful, practicing entrepreneurs. The program is based entirely on experiential learning, featuring intensive 90-hour work weeks where students stand in the shoes of the entrepreneur in over 300 case studies, run real assembly lines and must sell products door-to-door in order to graduate. The student-faculty ratio is lower than any MBA program in the country, allowing students to develop strong bonds with their entrepreneur teachers. The Princeton Review has ranked Acton's teachers among the top five MBA faculties in the country for the past five years and rates Acton as the second "Best Classroom Experience" in the nation. The Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship is offered through Hardin Simmons University.

About MPOWER Foundation

The MPOWER Foundation (http://www.mpowerfoundation.org) is the philanthropic arm of MPOWER Ventures (http://www.mpowerventures.com), a socially committed venture fund that identifies, creates and invests in early-stage businesses targeting underserved markets. The Foundation extends MPOWER Ventures' efforts to promote access to financial services and extend the global reach of markets by supporting mission-critical programs that cannot sustainably return revenues. It funds, conceives and operates financial education, research, policy and social initiatives independently and through strategic partnerships. The MPOWER Foundation awards grants by invitation only.

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The Swine Flu Cure - a Brew of Witch Halloween Costumes Introduced for 2009

Houston, TX (PRWEB) September 10, 2009

As Americans get ready for the anticipated Swine Flu season this fall, Costume Cauldron http://www.costumecauldron.com will brew up a cure to take your mind off the illness. The Halloween store is stirring the pot with a new batch witch costume collection complete with spell casting accessories meant to scare the flu out of its online shoppers.

Costume Cauldron is the finest online retailer of more than 10,000 adult Halloween costumes, kids costumes, baby costumes, costume accessories, props and costume party favors which can be ordered from the company's website from anywhere in the world. Witch Halloween costumes and wizard Halloween costumes continue to remain the hottest product during the annual celebration year after year, according to the company.

"Witch Halloween Costumes are a big hit with children and adults alike. A classic favorite," remarks Heather Green, customer service representative at Costume Cauldron who has personally recommended witch Halloween costumes to customers seeking a genuinely spooky metamorphosis on ghost-and-goblin night. "We are well stocked for October 31st," she adds.

The star attraction in Costume Cauldron's 2009 witch's ensemble is the Black Witch Halloween costumes available in both medium and large sizes for ladies planning to rest on the laurels of evil for one night. The Black Witch is an enchanting open-back lycra dress with spidernet sleeves and lace-up front. The costume is adorned with a matching collar and a white brimmed hat. The dress has a spooky sheen. Further embellished with a real wicked gathering and a naughty torn hemline, this witch Halloween costume is expected to be the "in" thing during this year's midnight masquerade.

For those women hell bent on becoming a sorceress for one night, there is the Dark Witch witch costume, http://www.costumecauldron.com/shop/halloween-costume/Witch--Wizard-Costumes-title0-p-2-c-354.html a purple, low cut scalloped dress with black sheer layers, a killer lace-up bodice look front and a matching hat. This adult Halloween costume is available in plus sizes 16-24 and is also expertly crafted using premium quality fabric and material. The store also stocks a complete line of witch Halloween costumes for kids and toddlers. The Witchy Witch line is a realistic replica of the real thing also designed for comfort and features a knee length dress in many sizes with a button front and a matching witch hat. The Witchy Witch collection for adults also features a long sleeve dress with a button look front and a matching witch hat as well. In the accessories department Madam Spell Caster can choose to wear matching shoes from the Women's Witch Black Shoes collection--pointed tow witch shoes with buckle and medium high heels. See the Witch Wig for adults, a 31-inch long black wig made of synthetic fiber perfect for a true Halloween transformation. Costume Cauldron carries a wide range of costume makeup including green and red makeup so that the wicked witch incarnation can be complete. A broom in one hand, a dead reptile in another and the witch is ready to boil her poison.????

The practice of witchcraft in the US dates back to the age of the Puritans many of whom laid claims to the powers of the supernatural. From a historical perspective, the development of witchcraft as a religion is closely associated with the early days of Puritanism and its strict measures to cleanse the church from its evil practices. The membership of the church continued to become more priest-centered. People had to confess their experience of conversion to be a member of the church. To get rid of all these difficulties, many separatist groups were formed and some women started practicing witchcraft. In 1692, the church became fearful of these evil practices and started a fierce attack on this religion called Wicca in an attempt to get rid of sin. Halloween's traditional association with the occult has inspired many women, young and old, to celebrate the festivity by projecting this image.

According to Dr. Richard Golden, editor of the Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition, the practice of door-to-door solicitation for charity in the early years of the festival gradually evolved into today's custom of trick-or-treating with costumed children out for a good time and some candy to take home with them. Moreover, those accused of diabolical witchcraft in the 15th through the 18th centuries were believed to fly in darkness on brooms, which is why many of today's Witch Halloween costumes include brooms.

Don't be caught out in the cold with the swine flu this Halloween season, wear a spell binding witch Halloween costume to ward off the bug.

About Costume Cauldron

Costume Cauldron is an e-commerce store retailing Halloween costumes for children, teens and adults. The company provides more than ten thousand items; Halloween costumes, props and accessories in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes to suit every Halloween costume themed party. Costume Cauldron deploys a state-of-the-art website to enhance the customer buying experience, which is further enhanced through telephone, e-mail, and live chat customer support.

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Arizona Resident Rex Maughan Presented 2009 Great Outdoors Award

Scottsdale, AZ (Vocus) October 28, 2009

One of the highest honors in the outdoor world, the most prestigious accolade in the recreation community, was given to an Arizonan this year --- a first among the 20 previous recipients of the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award. Rex Maughan, Chairman of the Scottsdale-based Forever Resorts and Forever Living Products International, received the 2009 annual award presented to "an individual whose personal efforts have contributed substantially to enhancing outdoor experiences across America."

The American Recreation Coalition called Mr. Maughan, "A visionary leader whose companies in the recreation and concession industries lead the way for others and show how business should be done to enhance recreation experiences for generations to come."

The nationally-known Arizona entrepreneur joins an elite list of previous winners including former President George H.W. Bush; former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne; Gil Grosvenor, Chairman of the National Geographic Society and a number of Senators and Representatives.

Maughan has a lengthy business history of fostering responsible development and leadership involving environmental initiatives and corporate responsibility. President Reagan appointed him to the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors to help define public and private partnerships. He has served as Chairman of the National Park Hospitality Association representing 132 national parks. And for his role in producing the Outdoor Recreation Village during Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, he received a Get Outdoors USA! National Leadership Award.

Putting projects with promises, in 2002, every Forever Resort property in the United States became a part of an environmental management system certified to ISO 14001 called Forever Earth, formally acknowledging a corporate commitment to be honorable stewards of the environment.

"Each of us doing what we can to preserve nature's beauty for future generations to enjoy can be simple," stated Maughan. Since 1981, Forever Resorts has grown to include more than 75 locations world wide providing houseboat vacations, lodging, restaurants, retail, marinas, watercraft rentals, river rafting, mobile catering and conference services for visitors to national and state parks, regional recreation areas and destinations throughout the U.S., Hungary and South Africa.

In Arizona, Forever Resorts operates Mormon Lake Lodge, Temple Bar Marina on Lake Mead, Lake Powell Houseboat Rentals at Antelope Point Marina and Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim. Recently they were selected as the new concessioner at Bryce Canyon Lodge in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah starting January 1, 2010. Details can be found at http://www.ForeverResorts.com.

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