{"id":46230,"date":"2017-08-17T12:38:45","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T16:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=46230"},"modified":"2017-08-17T12:40:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T16:40:59","slug":"podcast-the-virtual-reality-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/08\/podcast-the-virtual-reality-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"PODCAST: The virtual reality of business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/338024553&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a kick-start from BioLinc that launched\u00a0Evan Sitler into the realm of virtual reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third-year business student, along with three of his Brock peers, has been working out of the business incubator run by the Goodman School of Business to grow experiential marketing company, UP360.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sitler\u2019s time with BioLinc began with participation in its Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship program, which is now accepting applications for the fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the program, which allows young entrepreneurs to explore their innovative ideas and advance their early-stage business concepts, Sitler teamed up with fellow student Harrison Olajos, who had just launched UP360.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The start-up, which focuses on virtual reality and 360-degree videos, has since taken on work for brands such as Brock University, Red Bull and Niagara Falls Tourism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019ve always had an entrepreneurial passion,\u201d said Sitler, a Kitchener-Waterloo native who was raised in a family of business owners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was well acquainted with the business world before beginning his degree, having served as co-president of his high school\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/2016.deca.ca\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DECA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> chapter and participated in <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jacocompanyprogram.ca\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Junior Achievement\u2019s Company Program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As one of 35 young entrepreneurs chosen for the BioLinc Kick-Starting program, Sitler used the opportunity to advance his knowledge and his business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The company has since purchased more equipment and expanded its team, forging ahead into the realm of 360-degree videos and virtual reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are no tutorials online. Everything we\u2019re doing we have to teach ourselves,\u201d Sitler said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to creating videos for recognizable brands, UP360 has also developed virtual reality training environments for various organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a lot more affordable for organizations to train many people at one time in virtual reality than through other methods,\u201d he said. This approach allows for team building experiences, communication, leadership and public speaking training activities \u2014 all using virtual reality software.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sitler said the Kick-Starting program provided him with valuable networking and mentorship opportunities that have contributed to his entrepreneurial success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship events allow you to network with and meet so many people and the mentorship from BioLinc staff and residents is always helpful for any obstacles and challenges we have to overcome as young entrepreneurs,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou learn so much. It\u2019s the perfect place to grow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/biolinc\/young-entrepreneurs\/kick-starting-entrepreneurship-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Applications for the Kick-Starting program are now open<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 29 who are living in Niagara. The program, which includes advisory services, two intensive training weekends and regular seminars and events, begins in October and runs until April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sitler was featured on this week\u2019s <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversations with Goodman<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N4FcGJ5_3Kk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a kick-start from BioLinc that launched Evan Sitler into the realm of virtual reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":46231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,1,4],"tags":[592,3569,594,4503,420,5697],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}