The President of the great nation of Estonia - Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves - visited Silicon Valley from June 9th to June 14th 2009 and GEP had the great honor of providing a Professional Study Tour for him and the accompanying business delegation. This was a momentous occasion for both GEP and the Silicon Valley region.

Estonia is one of the most technically advance countries in the world and has positioned itself well within the Information Technology sector.  Additionally, the country is considered the most “wired” and advanced country in Europe in the terms of e-Government.

GEP successfully arranged visits to such organizations as Microsoft, Intel and Stanford and also arranged for a networking luncheon in which President Ilves provided the keynote speech.  We were privileged to accommodate him and his delegation and look forward to continuing to work with this great nation.

Enterprise Estonia - Silicon Valley, funded by the Estonian Government, sent a group of Journalist to the Valley to visit with New Media companies in the Bay Area. The group’s objective was to meet and network with their counterparts in the USA to understand how innovation and technology news is covered in Silicon Valley and report on it upon their return home.

GEP successfully arranged visits to Kosmix.com, Red Herring, and Vator.tv. GEP was proud to work with Enterprise Estonia and provide for their delegations needs.  It is always a pleasure to meet the folks from the great land of Estonia.

The NUS Entrepreneurship Centre at the National University of Singapore sponsored a 2 Week Study Trip to Silicon Valley from Dec. 6th to Dec. 19th, 2008. The students participated in a program called “iLEAD Programme” which is designed to teach students from various academic disciplines about entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; and what better way to do that than to visit the entrepreneurship capital of the world – Silicon Valley!One of their objectives was to meet with large, successful organizations to learn about how they develop entrepreneurs within their organization, how they retain their employees and how their roles in the Silicon Valley help to foster and develop the overall entrepreneurial community.  Another objective was to meet with start-up companies to learn about the trails and errors of owning your own business.

GEP provided visits to Microsoft, HP, US MAC and Plug and Play Tech Center.  The students met with a wide range of professionals from upper-level managers at large corporations to Founders and CEO’s of start-up companies.  Additionally, GEP was responsible for all of the groups housing accommodations, transportation and meals.

GEP was proud to work with NUS to provide their student group with a Professional Study Tour™. The students were an excellent group of knowledgeable and ambitious student entrepreneurs and we were honored to service them.  We look forward to severing them again for their 2009 Summer Trip.

TEKES - the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation - sponsored a one-day Professional Study Tour on Wednesday, Oct. 29th 2008 for a small group of executives visiting the Silicon Valley. Their objectives were to meet with start-up companies and angel investors in the software industry; preferably in the finance, eCommerce and games & entertainment space.GEP provided visits with various start-up companies at US MAC and Plug and Play Tech Center as well as such prominent start-ups as Fliqz.com and Vator.tv.  Additionally, we arranged visits with members of P.A.P.A and Sand Hill Angels; both of which are quite active Angel Investor organizations.

GEP was proud to work with TEKES to provide their executive group with a Professional Study Tour™. The executives were an excellent and quite inquisitive group and we were honored to service them.  We look forward to working with TEKES again in the future.

The NUS Entrepreneurship Centre at the National University of Singapore sponsored a 2 Week Study Trip to Silicon Valley from July 19th to July 31st, 2008. The students participated in a program called “iLEAD Programme” which is designed to teach students from various academic disciplines about entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship; and what better way to do that than to visit the entrepreneurship capital of the world – Silicon Valley!One of their objectives was to meet with large, successful organizations to learn about how they develop entrepreneurs within their organization, how they retain their employees and how their roll in the Silicon Valley helps to foster and develop the overall entrepreneurial community.  GEP provided visits to IBM, Spansion, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Cisco.  Additionally, GEP was responsible for all of the groups housing accommodations, transportations and meals.

GEP was proud to work with NUS to provide their student group with a Professional Study Tour™. The students were an excellent group of knowledgeable and ambitious student entrepreneurs and we were honored to service them.  We look forward to severing them again for their Winter trip.

Enterprise Estonia - Silicon Valley, funded by the Estonian Government, sent its third delegation to the Silicon Valley this past May 2008. Once again, the magic of Silicon Valley draws these technocrats to the Bay Area.

The group was a mix of IT business executives and journalist who wanted to meet companies in the New Media space and the IT space for business development purposes.  GEP successfully arranged visits to Digg.com, Google and Plug and Play Tech Center.  It was a short trip but always worth the mileage.

GEP was proud to work with Enterprise Estonia and provide for their delegations needs.  It is always a pleasure to meet the folks from the great land of Estonia.

For the very first time in history, the largest oil field in China - DaQing - sent a group of executives to the Silicon Valley for a five week Executive Training Program at San Jose State University; China America Management Consulting Corporation was responsible for making the connection. GEP was given the honor of arranging two days of site visits for this group as part of their training program.

The objectives of the delegation was to meet with companies to learn about innovation policies and practices, innovation management concepts and, of course, learn about the newest and latest product innovations the companies have to offer the market.

GEP successfully arranged visits to Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, VeriSign and the famous IDEO; the delegation was particularly impressed with IDEO. We even arranged a luncheon with a few senior people from Sun Microsystems who are responsible for partnering with start-ups in the Valley.

GEP was proud to work with DaQing, San Jose State and the China America Management Consulting Corporation to provide for this Professional Study Tour™. It was a pleasure to spend time with the group and watch as they explored the companies and learned about how innovation is created and fostered here in the Silicon Valley.

The Lyles Center of Entrepreneurship at Fresno State University sponsored a one-day Professional Study Tour™ on November 30th, 2007 for students in their Entrepreneurship Mentorship Program. The group consisted of 18 students, 3 mentors and the Director of the Lyles Center-Tim Stearns.The theme of the study tour was “Concept to Corporation.” The objective was to meet with large, successful organizations to learn about their trials and tribulations during the start-up to IPO process. During this one-day trip, GEP provided visits to Cypress Semiconductor, Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV) and Sun Microsystems.

GEP was proud to work with Fresno State to provide their student group with a Professional Study Tour™. The students were an excellent group of knowledgeable and ambitious student entrepreneurs and we were honored to service them.

Explora International LLC is a global direction and strategy agency providing strategic marketing and revenue-focused consulting services to international corporations launching into the U.S. market. Explora also has specialized expertise working with government-sponsored business acceleration programs.