Zappos educates educators on making students workforce ready

If universities are economic engines, then teachers can learn from business.

This week Zappos forayed into higher education with Innovation Insights 2014, a two-day workshop co-hosted by Pearson, a publishing and education company, to foster collaboration between business and colleges.

The goal is to boost job readiness in students and improve efficiency in institutions of higher learning.

Today, 100 educators will participate in six workshops at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas that will cover preparing for the world of work, talent sustainability, new trends and project-based learning.

Speakers include Katherine von Jan, vice president of innovation at Salesforce.com, and Patrick Gardner, director of the Center for Rapid Product Realization at Western Carolina University in North Carolina.

Erin Gardner, senior strategic marketing manager with Pearson, said she heard Tony Hsieh speak several years ago, was inpsired by his story and wanted to include Zappos in the conference.

For educators, the goal is to learn business concepts and apply them to academia. Industry people can recruit and land competitive hires.

“It’s about helping the profs and how they can frame (information) for students,” said Jonathan Wolske, a culture evangelist at Zappos.

Wolske kicked off the conference Friday with a talk about the importance of company culture and how that can translate to the classroom.

Jonathan Cropper, founder of Futurlogic, will give the keynote address today. Cropper, a marketing and branding expert, will talk about branding and education and the idea that corporations might one day replace universities.

Contact Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @TrevonMilliard.