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Uninhibited conference attracts young CEOs

No boring speeches for these folks. A conference for young CEOs features all sorts of fun activities.

bcarey@MiamiHerald.com

Sky diving, yoga, scavenger hunts, gelatos and dancing till 2 in the morning on South Beach -- sounds more like a vacation than a business conference of top CEOs.

But the Summit Series -- an invitation-only gathering of some of the world's top young entrepreneurs -- purposefully breaks the mold to inspire startups to improve their businesses, meet peers and give back to the community.

``It's like summer camp for CEOs,'' said 24-year-old Elliott Bisnow, who started the Summit Series a year and a half ago. ``The key is that you keep it fun and it's still about learning and friendship. This is how our generation operates.''

There is no age limit, but the goal of the summit is to gather leaders in their 20s and 30s. The conference was organized by seven entrepreneurs -- most of whom are close friends with Bisnow, who was listed in Inc. Magazine's 2009 list of 30 Under 30.

They travel the world to meet young business leaders and invite them to this twice-a-year conference, and they also put on several smaller events during the year.

``I think a lot of people come to just learn from one another and to do it in a more relaxed setting,'' said Darnell Strom, 28, director of the Millennium Network of the William J. Clinton Foundation. ``Everyone's casual; it's not stuffy; it's not corporate.''

Casual certainly was the key, as pretty much everyone sported shorts and T-shirts. Aside from running around South Beach in team-building scavenger hunts or sky diving at dawn, there are more than a dozen panels throughout the weekend -- like advice on how to sell a company, led by folks who were involved in the sale of MySpace, Club Penguin and Advertising.com, and MTV's president of programming and the executive producer of In Treatment discussing how to create a hit series.

Several sessions focused on philanthropy -- including an appearance by Elizabeth Gore, who spoke about the UN Foundation.

``You almost feel that pro-social engagement is part of the DNA of this crowd,'' said Michael Madnick, deputy director of external relations at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

``This conference is filled with people that are going to be tomorrow's greatest philanthropists, whether they know it yet or not,'' said Eric Kessler, principal at Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors in Washington. ``Our hope is to help them plan for that ahead of time.''

With more than 250 in attendance, this is the largest Summit Series yet. It began with 19 members after Bisnow -- who runs the business news publishing firm Bisnow Media -- cold-called a few young CEOs, like the head of CollegeHumor, TOMS Shoes and Thrillist.

Brett Leve, 25, is one of the conference curators and helped raise roughly a quarter-million dollars in sponsorships to fund the Miami event.

``This isn't a conference that people pass through and people watch from the sidelines,'' Leve said.

``You'll see life-changing things will happen for people here,'' he said. ``People will take their business in new directions, people will find new business, people will find new partners.''

There's no plan for the next conference yet, but if the trend continues, it's sure to be twice as big -- although size isn't what Bisnow has in mind. It's about knowing what growth -- of the business and philanthropic varieties -- has come from these meetings.

``The next step, no question, is results,'' Bisnow said. ``Whether we get smaller or whether we get bigger, the next step is tangible results.''

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