Aspiring student entrepreneurs saw the inner workings of businesses during the main attraction of RECESS, an all-day festival sponsored by the Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music.

RECESS comprised a number of events, including the Playground, Study Hall and the RECESS Pitch Competition.

At the Playground, a networking event, as students roamed the room lined with folding tables, tents and slide projector screens, they were exposed to gadgets, social media sites and business models. The myriad of emerging companies included the app builder MobileXLabs, the people-finder app ONE and the apartment-finder RadPad.

Jack Shannon and his partner Deuce Thevenow said they were inspired to create RECESS while organizing concerts for Avicii and Pretty Lights at different college campuses. Seeing the explosion of entrepreneurial activity at these shows made them want to create an event that could help promote student entrepreneurship in a manner different from traditional business school outlets.

“We wanted to create an event that was both inspirational to students as well as helpful by connecting them to cool start-ups and potential internships while at the same time having fun at the end of the night,” Shannon said.

At the Study Hall event, which took place at the Wasserman Center for Career Development, students had the opportunity to interact with Splice and GroupMe co-founder Steve Martocci and renowned music lawyer Ed Shapiro in a question-and-answer session. Clive Davis chair Jeff Rabhan led the event, during which Shapiro advised students to be both flexible and bold.

“If you’re planning on launching a startup in the music industry, just disregard the old legalities and just do it,” Shapiro said.

Five student teams competed in the RECESS Pitch Competition for the chance to travel to Las Vegas and pitch their ideas to major investors.  The idea for the competition stemmed from the difficulties Shannon and Thevenow faced while finding financial backing for their own company, which the two men founded while in college.

“We want to create an opportunity where people who want to be entrepreneurial in college can follow that track,” Shannon said.

LS sophomore Rebecca Krasity said a better turnout would have improved the entrepreneurship summit.

“I think more advertising’s the key,” Krasity said.

Jamison Williams is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected]