Originally Published 05 November 2002

Delegates to the next Warwick Business School Masterclass at the University of Warwick from 28 - 29 November will have a chance to discover first-hand from leading media entrepreneurs how they exploited rapid change and emerging technological and market opportunities to develop exciting new businesses.

Speakers at the Entrepreneurship in the Creative and Media Industries Masterclass include Dean James (a Warwick MBA alumnus), COO of Mean Fiddler, and Chris Montgomery, CEO of MP3.com Europe. Together with other entrepreneurs from the music, creative and publishing industries, they will present live case studies of their businesses and participate in panel discussions focusing on the themes of innovation, intrapreneurial leadership, turbulence and technology.

An in-depth case study on Mean Fiddler, who organise the live music festivals at Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury, will show how the group has developed innovative new ventures, including outdoor dance at Homelands, music sales over the internet and, most recently, entry into the radio market. Their case will review the strategic issues of niches, marketing across a varied customer base, and managing dynamic brand values. Channelfly's insurgent marketing of the newest music and its innovative use of the internet will also be presented, by its co-founder and CEO, Adam Driscoll, who is also a member of the team behind The Storm radio launch.

The fascinating history of MP3.com will be discussed, from the entrepreneurial launch by Michael Robertson and progress through dot.com IPO to purchase by Vivendi Universal. This revolution in the music business provides lessons about new ventures, industry economics and business models, use of innovative technology and copyright/intellectual property.

There will be a chance to explore how break-through technology can be managed entrepreneurially, by looking at the experience of global first movers like Sony and Crown Castle, pioneers in Digital broadcasting. Delegates will look at ways in which entrepreneurs and corporates can work together to benefit from new technologies and the potential break-up of previous market structures, led by Dr Simon Collinson and Dr David Crawford.

Other speakers include Jamie Moore, Marketing Director of Virgin Books and Tony Hodges, non-executive director of Locum Destination Consulting.

Grier Palmer, Senior Teaching Fellow at Warwick Business School says of the Masterclass, "This promises to be a very stimulating two days, exploring and learning about enterprise and break-through technology in dynamic converging industries like Media and Music, with all the challenges of Digital and the Internet. Key players will combine with leading Entrepreneurship academics in a truly innovative event at Warwick."

The Warwick Masterclass series runs from 28 November 2002 to 3 April 2003:

28-29 November 2002 Entrepreneurship in the Creative and Media Industries

29 January 2003 Leading Strategic IT for Business Value

30 January 2003 Developing IT for Business Value

31 January 2003 Managing Strategic IT and Business Process Outsourcing

3 April 2003 The Europeanisation of UK Employment Relations: Towards a Consultation Culture, presented in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD)

Programme fees

The programme fee for the two-day Entrepreneurship in the Creative and Media Industries Masterclass is £1200, which includes tuition, course materials, all meals and residential accommodation at Scarman House Executive Development Centre at the University of Warwick, Coventry.

For further information on the Masterclass series or to make a booking contact:
Sue Philpott, Masterclass Co-ordinator
Warwick Business School Executive Programme
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL
Tel: 024 7657 2688

Sue.Philpott@wbs.ac.uk

Also see here for further details on the event and to buy tickets online.