Wall College Connections 2011, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Wheelwright Auditorium, will feature guest speakers and panel discussions designed to give students insight into career opportunities and the professional world.

Wall College Connections is a signature event sponsored annually by the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University.

All business classes will be redirected to the daylong, collegewide event. This year's event is titled "Making Connections in a World of Change."

Keynote speakers Peter Gasca and Rhett Power, co-CEOs of Wild Creations, will address the topic "Sustainable business practices in a changing world" at 1 p.m. Wild Creations is a Myrtle Beach-based company that creates, manufactures and distributes educational toys and specialty gifts. The co-owners were 2011 finalists for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, as well as one of 75 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award Winners chosen by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The company has also been recognized as one of the Fastest Growing Companies in South Carolina (2011) by the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

The event will feature a panel discussion on the topic "What it takes to make it in your own business" with Jeff Mense, managing partner of Emenson LLC and broker-in-charge of Commercial Property Management LLC; Alexander Klaus, managing partner, of Addisco Value LLC; and Brynjólfur Baldursson, CEO of ALFA (Iceland). Both Klaus and Baldursson are alumni of the Wall College of Business.

"Coping in a world of change: The financial crisis from different sides of the Atlantic Ocean" will feature an interactive, international discussion conducted via web conferencing between faculty and students at CCU and one of its German partner universities, Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, along with Baldursson, who will join the discussion from Iceland.

The final event of the day will be "Internships: Making Career Connections," with current CCU students who have participated in internships, and CCU alumni whose internships developed into full-time employment.

This program of inquiry will help students to develop an understanding of the impact of globalization on business, to cultivate a broader perspective of the world, to appreciate the roles, rewards, and challenges of entrepreneurs, and to value interconnectedness in the world of business.

The event is open to the public and free of charge, but reservations must be made. For more information call Wendi Lee at 843-349-2284.