Judy Fox, Director, The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property
Michelson IP attends a lot of annual events as most in the higher education space do. Director Judy Fox, highlights why NACCE 2022 will go down as a top higher ed conference of the year.
NACCE 2022 was Revolutionary Thinking in Action
“Revolutionary Thinking” at the forefront of the 2022 National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) Annual Conference. The three and a half day event, which this year celebrated its’ 20th Anniversary Celebration, brought entrepreneurship faculty from across the country together with instructors from diverse programs, eager to share ideas on how to elevate entrepreneurship integrations across disciplines and throughout community colleges. The engagement showcased organizations that support the development of the entrepreneurial mindset and those who help put intellectual property into action. It was a high-energy, topic-rich, creativity-infused, networking extravaganza of this revolutionary thinking in action.
Community colleges are the economic engines of communities, supplying their regions with a talent pipeline more aware of how to provide value as business creators and intrapreneurial contributors. This was demonstrated through live student pitches for the Skills Trades and Foundations, and underscored with the awarding of over $300,000 in pitch prizes. Creativity was high as can be seen from this photo of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology’s “The Ride of Frankenstein (Electric Car)” pitch, pictured below.
Marrying IP and Entrepreneurship Education
Tennessee College of Applied Technology’s “The Ride of Frankenstein (Electric Car)” pitch
Intellectual property can exist without entrepreneurship. But entrepreneurship cannot exist without intellectual property.
– Judy Fox, Director, The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property
As a Silver Sponsor of the event, Michelson IP was stood out among a sea of hopeful exhibitors, giving us great visibility and the space to welcome booth patrons for stimulating and inquisitive dialogue. We also hosted a workshop presenting “IPxEd 101: A Guide for Teaching Intellectual Property for Innovative Educators,” delivered by two of the five NACCE & Michelson IP Educators-In-Residence faculty (IP EIRs) who co-created this wonderful resource. The response to the presentation confirmed there is great interest in delivering IP education. You can find the IPxEd 101 guide here.
As these instructors work with their community college entrepreneurs on growing their brands and businesses, awareness of IP becomes increasingly important. They are hungry for more. Additionally, Michelson IP was also invited to join Fatema Baldiwala, adjunct faculty for LA Valley College in Los Angeles, California, for her workshop, a Photovoice Project Special Session, where a message of intellectual property concluded the presentation.
Fatema Baldiwala, adjunct faculty for LA Valley College in Los Angeles, pictured with fellow attendees after her Photovoice Project Special session workshop
Awarding IP Excellence
The biggest highlight of course was handing the Michelson IP Educator of Excellence award to two deserving community college faculty from Springfield Technical Community College, Diane Sabato and John Diffley, Esq.. These faculty partners went above and beyond during their tenure as NACCE & Michelson IP EIRs to create and implement additional tools, workshops, trainings, networking, and publicity opportunities for IP among the community college population, with great success.
Among those stellar accomplishments was managing to bring IP education and Michelson into the national conversation via a published journal article in the Western New England Law Review–take a peek at the cover here. Lastly, there were additional highlights of the conference which I cannot neglect to mention:
- The idea that the industrial revolution is dead and our way of approaching opportunities needs to be more fluid, as the future is unpredictable.
- Catchy phrases like “manifesting ambition” and “responsible audacity” served as springboards for evolving the way we think about our students.
- Where else can you begin a serious meeting by pairing up with a partner and doing the Soul Train dance down the center of the conference room to, “my, my, my, my, my boogie shoes?” It was pure joy.
- Lastly, I won a t-shirt and matching socks from the famous Johnny Cupcakes. How sweet is that?
Judy (pictured center) announcing the Michelson IP Educator of Excellence award for Springfield Technical Community College faculty and IP EIRs Diane Sabato and John Diffley, Esq (pictured left)
Michelson as leaders in IP Education
Since the conference, I have been busy following up with contacts who are eager to engage with Michelson IP on many different levels. I am excited and encouraged by the outreach to Michelson IP for connection, collaboration, and co-creation. That’s the power of “revolutionary thinking” and the thinkers who become doers.
Further Reading
PROPERTY LAW—THE IMPORTANCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EDUCATION IN A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY, Western New England Law Review