Last month, Regency Centers teamed up with Rethink Connect as a participating sponsor in its inaugural Ideathon at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Spanning more than 24 hours without breaks, the event challenged more than 150 students from the Wharton Arts & Sciences, Engineering and Design schools to create and pitch innovative solutions to three business challenges for cash prizes presented by Ralph Lauren.
The three scenarios centered around e-commerce, in-store and mobile retail, and served as opportunities for students to learn from, and collaborate with, mentors and industry experts from startups and tech companies. This allowed them to better understand retailers’ priorities, challenges, and areas of investment for innovation. One of the mentors in place was Regency's own Misty Alexander.
It’s vital that Regency keeps a finger on the pulse of the dynamic environment that retailers are navigating and the trends shaping it," said Misty Alexander, Regency Centers' Director of Strategy and Innovation. "The Wharton Ideathon session was a great opportunity for us to do this. We were thrilled to be a part of such an innovative, thought-provoking and educational event and look forward to future Ideathons to come.
The Ideathon — also referred to as a “non-coding required hackathon” — featured Daymond John, Founder/CEO of FUBU, Star of ABC’s Shark Tank and CEO of The Shark Group, as the VIP guest. The event also included breakout activities, speaker sessions and networking opportunities.