 Mike Draper |
Drake University and the Greater Des Moines Partnership invite alumni and friends to attend the spring Let’s DU Lunch speaker series, which will be held at a new location — the Des Moines Club on the 34th floor of the Ruan Building, 666 Grand Ave.
The series begins Wednesday, Feb. 2, with Mike Draper, founder and owner of RAYGUN, who will discuss the entrepreneurial spirit. Draper briefly attended Drake before leaving Iowa in 2000 to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied history. After graduation, he began selling “Not Penn State” T-shirts on campus, which lead him to create an online storefront and expand his line to other universities on the East Coast.
By 2005, he returned to Des Moines to open his own screen-printing shop, RAYGUN. Since then, RAYGUN has added an Iowa City site, as well as a custom printing and design firm spinoff, 8/7 CENTRAL. RAYGUN now has more than 30 employees and reports sales of more than $2 million.
The series continues throughout the spring with the following presentations:
- Wednesday, March 2 — Carol Giglione, GR’05, president of the board of directors of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, who will discuss animal advocacy.
- Wednesday, April 6 — Martha Willits, FA’69, GR’72,’97, president of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, who will discuss advancing central Iowa.All of the luncheons begin with networking at 11:30 a.m., followed by the lecture and meal at noon.
Each luncheon costs $17 while the entire series costs $42, only $14 per event. There is a special young professional rate of $13 per luncheon for those who are 35 and under.
To RSVP, visit http://www.alumni.drake.edu/letsdulunch2011. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 515-271-3147.