Eighteen Champlain College students put their best foot forward Tuesday night at the second annual Elevator Pitch Competition, presented by the Bring Your Own Business (BYOBiz) program and KeyBank.
Students, ranging from public relations to game design majors each had 90 seconds to tell their story and make a connection with a business person inside a mock elevator. The top three winners in three categories non-profit/social advocates, job/intership seekers and entrepreneurs - went home with cash prizes. Students from all of the College s major areas of academic study were represented.
Thanks to KeyBank s President Scott Carpenter, the top winners received cash prizes of $500, $300 and $100 each for the top presentations.
A panel of community and business leaders scored the content of the message, the delivery, confidence, body language and the ability to make a connection and ask for a follow-up meeting with the suit. New this year was the ability for the audience to vote for their favorite presenters via text messages on cell phones.
The annual competition, hosted by Champlain alumni Tim Kavanagh of Late Night Saturday, gets its name from the business notion that you should be able to explain your cause or business to someone else in under a minute and half or the average time on an elevator, according to Robert Bloch, director of BYOBiz, which helps entrepreneurial Champlain College students plan, begin and run their own businesses while still in college.
Congratulations to all who participated. The level of competition was definitely higher this year across all three categories and the results were very tight, said Bloch. The level of competition increased dramatically over last year as evidenced by the consistently high quality of the pitches. It was truly inspirational to watch one Champlain student after another come up and give an articulate, compelling and confident presentation of themselves, he said.
The 2009 student winners with their year and major:
Non Profit/Social Advocacy: 1st - Elisha Kottler ( 10) Social Work & Non Profit Management; 2nd - Amanda Wheeler ( 09) Computer Information Technology; 3rd - Shannon Maguire ( 09) Multimedia & Graphic Design.
Job / Internship Seekers: 1st - Erica Rosenthal ( 09) Early Education; 2nd - Chris Barnes ( 09) International Business; 3rd - Kristen Mercure ( 09) Mass Communications.
Entrepreneurs: 1st - Cliff Huntington ( 09) Computer Networking & Information Security; 2nd -Kevin Besecker ( 09) e- Business Management; 3rd - O. Raphael Diaz ( 10) Game Design.
Judges for the competition were: former Champlain Trustee Dr. Terry Allen, Former CEO of Pier 1 Imports Robert E. Camp, Champlain Trustee and Keybank President Scott Carpenter, Executive Director of NeighborKeepers and founder of the Good News Garage Hal Colston, Champlain Trustee and CEO of Dwight Asset Management Laura P. Dagan, Magic Hat Brewing Company founder Alan Newman and Champlain College parent Christine Stiller.
The Suits were played by Robert Bloch of BYOBiz, Kyle Dodson, director of Champlain s Center for Service and Civic Engagement, and Moneer Greenbaum, senior development officer at Champlain College. Pat Boera of Champlain College Career Services was the event producer and stage manager.
The competition was videotaped and will be broadcast on RETN (Channel 16) on Thursday, March 26 at 8:30 p.m.
For more information about Champlain College and its programs for entrepreneurial students, contact Bloch at (802) 865-6490 or [email protected]. For more information about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.
Photo Captions:
2009 Champlain College Elevator Pitch II Competition first place winners, from left, BYOBiz Director Robert Bloch; Erica Rosenthal, Early Education ( 09); Cliff Huntington, Computer Networking and Information Security ( 09); Elisha Kottler, Social Work & Non-profit Management ( 10); KeyBank President Scott D. Carpenter. The competition was sponsored by KeyBank and Champlain College's Bring Your Own Business program, with support from The Coleman Foundation.
The 2009 Champlain College Elevator Pitch II Competition participants. Students had 90 seconds to make their best pitch for a job, a social cause or an entrepreneurial business. The event was held Tuesday at Champlain College s Alumni Auditorium and was sponsored by KeyBank. The competition will air on RETN Channel 16 on March 26 at 8:30 p.m.
(Photos by Stephen Mease / Champlain College)
BURLINGTON, Vt., (Feb. 24, 2009)