Contest urges student creativity: Pitches entered in online-only competition could earn winner $1,000
December 5, 2014
By Sophia Mahmood
UK students now have the opportunity to pitch their original ideas in the University’s first-ever student pitch competition for prize money.
UK150 is an entrepreneurship competition where students can win $1,000 by submitting product pitches online. Competitors must create a 150-second pitch, upload it to YouTube and share it on the competition website, uk150.com, by Dec. 12.
Charlie Hales, a communications senior, is one of the hopefuls entering the competition.
Hales, a member of the UK hockey team, is in the process of designing a hockey app that he believes will revolutionize the way hockey players connect.
Hales is currently enrolled in COM 381, a leadership and entrepreneurship class taught by Jamie and Patrick Leddin, he said.
“Jamie is one of the board members of iNET and that’s how I found out about the competition,” Hales said.
If he wins, Hales hopes to spend the prize money on a trip to Europe over the summer.
“One goal of UK150 is to tap into the incredible creativity and innovation of all UK students for at least 150 ideas,” College of Communication and Information dean Dan O’Hair told UKNow in their preview of the event. “We’re also hoping to start some buzz about the fourth annual UK Venture Challenge on March 7.”
O’Hair founded iNET, the Innovation Network for Entrepreneurial Thinking, which is providing the prize money along with Awesome Inc., a Kentucky tech startup company.
To be eligible for the $1,000 grand prize, competitors’ pitches should be no more than 150 seconds long. Pitches may only be given by students enrolled at UK and group pitches are allowed.
“We all have ideas for how to make our campus, our job, this world a better place,” Awesome Inc. founder Brian Raney wrote in an email to the Kentucky Kernel. “Participating in UK150 is ridiculously easy and is an opportunity for students’ ideas to be heard.”
A panel comprised of local entrepreneurs and current student entrepreneurs will judge the entries.
“This contest is an awesome opportunity for students and it’s so easy to do,” Hales said. “I am so excited at the possibility of winning a thousand dollars (for) an idea I had years ago.”
