Center for Entrepreneurship to Present Series of Lectures

Don Marinelli, Douglas McMeekin, and Mike Lytz to speak at The College of Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — The College of Wooster’s Center for Entrepreneurship will present two lectures this week. The first, by Don Marinelli, executive producer of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, will take place on Tuesday, April 5, from 5-7 p.m. in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall (303 E. University St.). The second, featuring Douglas McKeekin, founder of Yachana Foundation (Ecuador), and Mike Lytz, co-founder of Sarah’s Vineyard in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, will be held on Thursday, April 7, from 7:30-9:30 p.m., also in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall.

Marinelli will discuss “Entrepreneurship and Electronic Media: Creation of Video Games, Social Networking, and Gaming Edu-tainment.” A professor of drama and arts management at Carnegie Mellon for the past 29 years, Marinelli will also talk about his role at the Entertainment Technology Center, which focuses on the collaboration of artists and technologists to work on real-world projects that utilize both skill sets for educational and entertainment purposes. He is the author of The Comet & The Tornado: Reflections on the Legacy of Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture & The Creation of Our Carnegie Mellon Dream Fulfillment Factory (2010).

McMeekin will present “Entrepreneurship and Service to the Land.” In 1991, after experiencing disappointment as an environmental consultant for the oil industry in the Amazon Region of Ecuador, McMeekin created the Yachana Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting poverty, disease, and the destruction of Ecuador’s threatened rainforest. Currently, the foundation owns 4,300 acres of protected forest and serves as part of the conservation program at Yachana Technical High School. In 2008, McMeekin was chosen to be an Ashoka Fellow, a renowned position for leading social entrepreneurs. Then in 2009, he was selected as an Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow for his innovative use of technology in fighting poverty.

Lytz, who along with his wife, Margaret, established Sarah's Vineyard in 2001, will talk about their sustainable farming efforts, as well as the construction of the building that houses the Gallery and Winery, which blends with the cultural and scenic characteristics of the park and enriches the lives of visitors.

Additional information is available through the Center for Entrepreneurship by phone (330-263-2267) or e-mail.