Published: March 23, 2015
UT’s Main Street Speaker Series to Feature Co-Founder of Redbox April 1
The University of Tampa will welcome Michael DeLazzer, co-founder of Redbox, on Wednesday, April 1, to speak on “Thoughts are Things: How the idea of a DVD kiosk became Redbox.”
The event will be held in the Crescent Club on the ninth floor of the Vaughn Center, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. Breakfast and networking begins at 7:30 a.m., and the program will start at 7:45 a.m.
DeLazzer is a serial entrepreneur who has been involved with eight startup ventures, most notably Redbox, LLC. Redbox has since become the largest video rental company in the world, with more than 45,000 locations in the U.S. and revenues exceeding $2 billion.
Building on past success in the DVD kiosk industry, in 2010 DeLazzer co-founded New Retail, LTC. This company is currently deploying a new platform of DVD rental machines in the United Kingdom under the Xtra-Vision brand. In 2014, he accepted the CEO position at Freeze Frame Tennis, which allows amateur tennis players to receive video stroke lessons from professional Grand Slam tennis coaches via a unique Web-based coaching tool.
In 2009, he was given a lifetime achievement award from the Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization for his work in supporting entrepreneurship globally.
The event is part of the Sykes College of Business Entrepreneurship Center Main Street Speaker Series and is sponsored by NorthStar Bank. UT students must pay a $5 reservation fee, which will be refunded upon attending. Tickets are free for UT faculty and staff, $15 for individuals and $150 for a table of eight (four seats go to sponsor a student). A corporate sponsorship is $500. RSVP by Monday, March 30.
For more information or to register, go to 2015MSSRedBox.eventbrite.com or contact James Zebrowski, staff assistant for the Entrepreneurship Center, at (813) 257-3039 or jzebrowski@ut.edu.
On Friday, April 17, a panel of four industry professionals will present the obstacles and challenges faced in today’s business environment related to whistleblowing.
The panel will be held at The University of Tampa Sykes College of Business, Room 234, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This “Hot Seat Event” is sponsored by UT’s Center for Ethics. The public is invited, and there is no charge for the event.University of Tampa film students will screen their work at the first annual Moon Dance Film Festival at UT’s Reeves Theater on Tuesday, April 14, at 8:30 p.m.
Aaron Walker, assistant professor of communication, said the festival is an opportunity for UT students both to screen their work and to curate the best work of their peers.“It’s fully student-run, so it shows how deeply the students care about celebrating the strong work of their peers, but also shows how much desire there is for our FMA students to create venues of success for one another,” Walker said. “It’s a terrific collaboration, and will be a terrific party for film. Plus, the movies are great.”
The Sustainable Business Coalition of Tampa Bay Inc. and The University of Tampa Center for Ethics is calling for nominations for their annual Sustainable Business Awards, which will be held on Wednesday, June 10, at The University of Tampa’s Vaughn Center.
Now in its seventh year, the Sustainable Business Awards, sponsored by the Sustany Foundation, recognize and honor for-profit businesses in the Tampa Bay area that engage in practices that increase economic opportunities and improve the environment and community.