19 APRIL 2012
The third edition of “Startup Weekend” took place from April 13-15 at the Catholic School of Arts and Professions in Lyon. Placed under the banner of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this event was to bring together professionals and amateurs passionate about innovation to share ideas and put into place a project to start a new company. From amongst more than 40 projects presented, the “Laboratoire des toqués”, thought up by a group of 3rd year students in International Hotel and Restaurant Management, was awarded 2nd prize.
The principle of Startup Weekends is to bring together some one hundred participants who, for 54 hours, meet each other, exchange ideas, vote on the best ones, form teams, create new products or services and present their results before a jury of professionals.
“Le laboratoire des Toqués” concept addressed both entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry and customers desiring new culinary experiences. Originating from the observation that it is often difficult to get started in this business, the concept helps bring together these two populations who can exchange, share and experiment through the construction of a restaurant project.
The entrepreneur in the restaurant business (The Chef’s Hat), guided by a network of experts in the sector, gains access to the experimental restaurant to test the project for 3 weeks and receive feedback from the clientele.
Customers in the experimental restaurant (the consum’actors) become members of the “chef’s hat community” and give the entrepreneur feedback on their experience as consumers. Each time that consumers participate in an event, they receive an invitation to the inauguration of the entrepreneur’s company. The “consum’actors” thus participate in the creation of new companies through their support.
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