On April 12th, UM San Francisco and the Walter A. Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley hosted an annual networking event to benefit Bplan, one of the foremost competitive events for student entrepreneurs—a forum providing the best possible resources including education, networking, team creation, mentorship and new venture financing—to help turn innovative ideas into real businesses. Past winners have included TubeMogul, a media buying platform for video advertising.

Members of the media, venture capital, brand management, and startup communities joined the UM leadership team at 111 Minna Gallery to provide the opportunity to connect with some of the most forward-thinking minds in our industry, as well as to hear pitches from select teams of the Bplan competition’s semi-finalists.

Scan, a local startup, created customized QR codes for each attendee, which were displayed on nametags. The QR codes were linked to information provided during guest registration (attendee category, email, Twitter handle, Linked in profile), and a fun prize was awarded to the “most scanned” person at Minna Gallery. Attendees were also invited to connect and stay in touch via an online community.

Beyond the event itself, UM San Francisco viewed the evening as the beginning of a conversation among a broader community in helping define and transform innovation within their industry.

Photos: Mark Likosky and Ksenia Smith