Your LEAP experiences will run concurrently with your coursework in the classroom and range in length depending on your knowledge, skill and stage of entrepreneurial development.  All LEAP experiences can be repeated as needed to achieve mastery and are offered in whatever order, we believe, will best serves your entrepreneurial development. Below is a sample of some of the LEAPS we will be offering.

SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

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Raising Money to Serve Another

You will participate in a fund raising campaign to support a cause, person or institution you believe in. A time line will be established for your fund raising goals and you will seek to achieve them. Through promoting the ideas, beliefs or values of another you will learn, through service, to more effectively communicate passion and develop leadership strength.

Key Skills: Unconventional Ways of Raising Money, Service and Leadership, Follow Through, Finance, Networking, Vision Creation.

Volunteer for a Start-Up

You will volunteer and offer your gifts and talents to an entrepreneurial start-up enterprise that is less than five years old and who's mission or vision you believe in.

Key Skills: Service and Leadership, Working with Others, Networking, Idea Generation.

CRITICAL AND STRATEGIC THINKING

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The Life of An Entrepreneur

Through a series of external internships you will work alongside up to 4 entrepreneurs for 7-14 consecutive business days. The objective of this LEAP is to help you learn by both observing an entrepreneur's daily activities and participating in their process of decision making. You will learn how each entrepreneur operates their creative venture and see how involved they are in how their business gets generated and completed.

Key Skills: Critical & Strategic Decision Making, Execution and Delivery, Managing Staff, Communication, Follow Through, Finance, Networking.

MARKETING

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Developing an Online Presence

You will blog, podcast, twitter, create online video's and learn about how to measure the effectiveness of your online presence to develop an online marketing strategy.

Key Skills: Guerrilla Marketing, Analysis, Social Media, Strategic Planning

Quick and Dirty Websites

You don't need to know HTML to create an awesome website for you and your business.  We'll show you how to get a site up and running to promote and sell yourself as an artist and how to maintain the site as your ideas develop into a real working creative enterprise. No design or coding experience needed.

Key Skills: Business Development, Online marketing, Social Media, Practical Marketing 

Create Your Own "Merch" (Merchandise)

"Merch" isn't just for musicians anymore.  No matter your product, learn how to make giveaways or sellables to promote your business or yourself.  You'll learn how to screen print t-shirts, pricing tricks, merch booth strategies, easy packaging and choosing the right product mix and more.

Key Skills: DIY technique, Branding, Salesmanship, Strategic Sampling, Screen Printing, Packaging

Your Public Identity

Go in depth and develop the vital components of your graphic identity, from logo design to key colors to product photography. 

Key Skills: Branding, Marketing, Design Theory

Creating Effective Materials

You've developed your graphic identity, now you need promotional materials.  You'll learn the basics of layout and design as you create brochures, sell sheets, flyers and whatever else you need to spread the word about your materials.

Key Skills: Branding, Marketing, Design Theory

Touring Lab

During your regular coursework, you've learned the importance of touring for any artist, no matter your discipline.  Now put those lessons to practice as you coordinate, book and promote an actual tour.

Key Skills: Time Management, Venue & Logistics Management, Marketing, Event Planning

The Organized Chaos Pod

We understand that individual disciplines have individual challenges, and this pod is your chance to develop special projects with the help of our faculty that will serve you as a unique artistic entrepreneur.

While the IAE puts a strong emphasis on real world experiential learning combined with ongoing mentorship, we believe strongly in a foundational education that can best be achieved in the classroom.  From developing your idea to executing it as a business, each one of our six classroom modules will move you one step closer towards opening a creative venture that best suits your talents and interests. 

YEAR ONE: CREATIVE VENTURE INCUBATION

Module #1 - Mindset and Identity
(Who We Are and How We Think)
- Innovation
- Collaboration
- Emotional Intelligence
- Improvisation
- Self Analysis/Discovery
- Creativity
- Time Management
- Leadership
- Ethics
- Inventory of Skill Sets
- Risk
- Comfort Zone
- Strategic Thinking
- Brainstorming
- Problem Solving
- Communication

Module #2 - Opportunities In the Arts
- Careers and Opportunities in the arts
- Power(s) of the Arts
- Case Studies
- Cultural and Economic Environments
- Artistry and Relevance
- American Arts Culture
- International Arts Culture
- Goals of Artists
- New Professions: Teaching Artists, Health care Artists, Consulting Artists
- Leadership Models
- Basic Writing Skills

Module #3 - From Research To Commitment
- Market Research
- Differentiation
- Framing
- Need Analysis
- Budgeting
- Team Building
- Product Development
- Critical and Strategic Problem Solving and Decision Making
- Continuation of Writing Skills

YEAR TWO: EXECUTION

Module #4 - Operations and Funding
- Business Structures
- Accounting
- Fund raising
- Licensing
- Legal Issues
- How Have You Grown? (a debriefing of year one)
- Event Planning
- Venue Logistics
- Delegation
- Scalability
- Sustainability

Module #5 - Marketing Is Everything
- Technology
- Social Media
- Branding
- Networking
- Traditional Marketing
- Public Relations
- Design
- Writing
- Communication Skills

Module #6 - Taking the Leap
- Sustainability part II
- Starting a Business
- Creating Entrepreneurial Culture
- Employee Management
- Personal Finance
- Balancing Work and Home
- Advocacy
- Long Term Visioning
- Presentation of Business Plan
- Venture Funding and Launch

Are you ready to live life as an artist on your own terms?