ITHACA, N.Y. -- Interested in launching your own business, attracting venture capital or picking a winning startup company to invest in? Sign up for the Third Annual Entrepreneurship and Private Equity Symposium, "Creative Strategies for Today's Economy," at Cornell University.

The symposium is a full day of interactive panel discussions led by experienced entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and private equity investors. It will take place Friday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Johnson Graduate School of Management in the Sage Hall atrium and in rooms B8 and B9.

The event's main sponsors are the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, a student group at the Johnson School, Cornell's Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise (EPE) program and the Cornell Entrepreneur Network. The event is open to the public. A fee, with discounts for alumni and students, covers the cost of breakfast, lunch and evening reception. (Admission is free to EPE students taking classes at the Johnson School.) For details and to register, visit this Web site: http://www.evcclub.com .

Symposium topics include "Managing the Process from Idea to Business," "Today's High Growth Ventures," "Payoffs of Social Entrepreneurship and Investing" and "Private Equity Opportunities in the Current Economy." The events include keynote speeches, morning and afternoon interactive panel discussions, networking breakfast, lunch and evening reception and presentations by the winners of this year's Business Idea Competition, which is sponsored by BR Ventures, a Johnson School student-managed venture capital investment fund.

A keynote speaker at the symposium is John Katzman, founder, chairman and CEO of The Princeton Review. The Standard Aptitude Test (SAT) preparatory program tutors more than 110,000 students a year, markets its own line of software, books and videos and maintains two extensively used Web sites. Katzman also has helped found Student Monitor, Tutor.com, Bolt, Law Preview and Student Advantage. He is author of Class Action: How to Create Accountability, Innovation and Excellence in American Schools (Random House, 1995). A second keynote speaker is Kevin McGovern, A.B. '70, chairman and CEO, McGovern Capital LLC. McGovern is an intellectual property strategist who is part owner/principal in SoBe Beverages, OP40 Inc. and KX Industries.

Guest speakers and panelists include John Alexander (A.B. '74, MBA '76), founder and president of Cbord Group, a major supplier of food and nutrition software, campus ID card programs and cashless dining systems; Joe Bartlett, senior partner of Morrison & Foerster, LLP, and an expert on corporate restructurings and venture capital transactions; and Daniel Simpkins (B.S. '80, M.E.E. '81), president and CEO, Hillcrest Communications Inc., an investment company with telecommunications interests.

Panel moderators are: David J. BenDaniel, the Don and Margi Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Johnson School, and Bruce Ganem, the Franz and Elisabeth Roessler Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology as well as a professor in Cornell's EPE program.

For details on the event and to register, visit the Web site listed above or contact Renee Clark at rnc23@cornell.edu .