I find this article on mega sport events very interesting . Liz Such, the author, writes on the legacy of London Olympic games and whether it has had an impact on physical activity of young people. I like most her final reflection:

It seems the ‘inspire’ slogan was successful as a social marketing message in the sense that it was received and understood by the young people in this study. Its longevity, however, can only be judged by sustained change in physical activity patterns of young people and this is located in the negotiations of everyday life in which young people and family members engage. The effects of sport mega events do not, as other research has shown, ‘trickle down’ to the general population and get us out of our armchairs but ‘diffuse’ or ‘trickle though and around’ our relational everyday lives. It is my suggestion that it is through family and peer networks that sport legacy policy could lever longer-term outcomes from what is huge economic investment.

Concretely, it was the bold sentence what caught my attention and led me to write this post. The idea that the important changes in our life take place after everyday life negotiations with our family member. I’d also include friends and acquaintances. I do believe that this idea is also applicable to other situations, like entrepreneurship related events. I’ve noticed, both in Poland and Spain, a growing interest in such events as competitions for the best entrepreneurial idea, the best entrepreneur awards, entrepreneurs conferences, etc. (Well, actually I think that they are being, at a great extent, the core of the current economic public policy in many cases). Needless to say that they are often wrapped in sophisticated and expensive marketing campaigns and funded by public institutions. The aim of all these events are always the same, that is, highlight the success in life and business of a young and apparently regular person (I mean in terms of income) and how he or she managed to start up from zero. But, what’s the real legacy of this. Do these events really encourage new entrepreneurships?

Another response from some of the Liz Such’s interviewees may shed light on this issue:

“I was like, ‘wow, I can’t do that’ basically what I thought about the whole thing it’s like ‘oh God, I’m rubbish at everything’”

Here is my (research) question:  do (public funded) mega entrepreneurship related events encourage or discourage new entrepreneurs? What’s more, what are the psicological effects on those young people unable to start up new projects for economic or whatever reasons.