Digital Campus supports international training opportunities through partnerships with leading universities across the Atlantic. In May and June, three of our students headed to the prestigious Laval University in Quebec for a training programme focused on entrepreneurship in the digital field. Here are the accounts of Marie Dupuy, Arthur Louge, and Andy Nadeau — students in the first year of the Expert Master's in Digital Strategy and the Web Project Management bridging year — sharing their experience of this adventure.
Testimonials, , Chapter 1: The Montmorency Forest, "For the first three days, we headed into the forest for a team-building and fail-fast exercise. We started working on Saturday. After an intense brainstorming session, we each pitched 10 ideas in 30 minutes (easier said than done). We then presented them verbally, identified the sectors each idea belonged to, and voted for the projects we found most interesting. We also worked through a self-reflection exercise to identify our own strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Another exercise involved representing ourselves visually — everyone had to find the medium that suited them best (video, coding, sculpture, origami, drawing...). By Sunday, there were 6 different projects underway, and each team had two days to refine their pitch. These intensive reflection phases, set in motion over this start-up weekend, allow ideas to be developed into something far more concrete."
Chapter 2: La Fabrique — Laval University's School of Design, "We spent the first two weeks at La Fabrique, an extension of Laval University located in the heart of the lower city, where art and creativity converge. Searching for ideas, themes, and the right mindset… The goal was to form teams for the next three weeks. We were able to launch our projects and kick off the process of seeing them through to completion. Over these weeks, punctuated by city discoveries and meetings with many experienced professionals, we ultimately defined our concepts in a lasting way after countless rounds of reflection, exchange, and testing. Our aim was to continue the start-up creation process for the key week at the Carré des Affaires."
Chapter 3: The Carré des Affaires, "The Carré des Affaires is the university's administrative pavilion. Beautiful, fully equipped, brand-new rooms. We spent a week and a half there."
Chapter 4: The Final Verdict, , "From 8 to 11 June, we had the opportunity to take part in La Ruche Académie, an entrepreneurial creativity event! After three weeks of intense work, we spent these final 4 days alongside La Ruche Académie, a crowdfunding organisation. Our business plan was challenged and pushed to the limit in the final stretch of this adventure, all in preparation for the final pitch, which took place on Saturday the 11th. Being an entrepreneur isn't easy, but when a whole community of innovators comes to support you, you feel inspired and motivated. This 4-day bootcamp aimed to accelerate the development and launch of projects through talks, coaching, hands-on workshops, advisory services, and original networking activities. At the end of the programme, each project was presented before a jury (a 1-minute pitch, timed to the second) for a chance to win one of the grants: $5,000, $1,000, or $250. Arthur and Andy will agree with me that it was an event full of emotion, inspiration, encounters, and potential collaborations… It was one of our project teammates, Thomas, who pitched our project so compellingly that we were selected for the second phase: a 3-minute Q&A. We didn't win a grant, but I still feel like a winner! I took part in an exceptional experience and met truly inspiring people. The third prize was nonetheless won by a Startup Fuze project — and it was so well received that the prize was not $250 but $500! What struck us most during this trip was how many questions the Quebecers asked. After each presentation, there were at least 10 questions and remarks from the students to improve the project or seek clarification from the team. In France, we would never dare do that — we tend instead to hold back our questions for fear of asking something obvious. Quebec students think in a completely different way. The goal behind all those questions was to work together and push the project further. It is truly a different culture — one that seeks continuous improvement. We would like to thank Michel de Blois and Marie-Claude Dore, who guided us throughout the month, as well as Eva Garraud and Charlotte Campanella, thanks to whom we were able to take part in this wonderful adventure. The month is already over, but we haven't said goodbye to Quebec — we sincerely hope to go back!"