|
Pitch Dingman Competition
“The Dingman Center has given me a very benign and
optimistic introduction to the business world, which can be extremely
challenging without basic support. Winning the Pitch Dingman Competition
enabled me to motivate others and to rally support and interest to my
start-up. Also due to their support we have turned our first nebulous indoor
soil-less gardening idea into 6 unique products and have focused on
production and marketing in just a few months.”
-Michael Armani, Edentro Indoor Gardens,
www.Edentro.com
So, you’ve attended at least one Pitch Dingman session and you think you’re
ready to test your business idea against your peers’? Go ahead and apply to
participate in the monthly Pitch Dingman competition! Please
click here to read more about how to register, and
click here to read more on how to prepare and polish your
pitch.
If you are not ready to compete, come and see how your fellow students are
doing it, what feedback and questions they receive. You will also have a chance
to compare your assessment to the judges by voting for the company you like best
as the Audience Choice Award!
Competitions are scheduled for the last Friday of the month during the school
year (except November) from 11 am – 12 pm. The judging panel consists of
distinguished UMD alumni (not Dingman Center staff). The judges are not given
much information about participants in advance. Approximately 1 hour prior to
the competition the judges receive packets with brief descriptions of the
businesses (descriptions are supplied by the entrepreneurs during application
process and are not edited by the Dingman Center staff).
Depending on the number of competitors, each participant receives 5-7 minutes
to deliver their pitch, followed by 2-3 minutes of questions from the judges. In
the interest of time and fairness, audience members are not allowed to ask
questions. Participants may not request a specific order placement, order is
chosen randomly (unless ALL participants agree on a certain order).
After all participants have delivered their pitches, the judges leave the
competition room and take 10-15 minutes to deliberate and choose the winner(s).
In the meantime, the audience members are casting their vote for Audience Choice
Award winner (a $250 award).
The most exciting part of the competition is, of course, the announcement of
the winners! It is always interesting to see whether the audience agrees with
the judging panel. All participants are encouraged to stay for a few minutes and
ask judges for a quick feedback and advice.
The prize at each competition is $2,500. It is usually awarded to one winner,
but may be split between several competitors. The prize money is to be used to
start or grow the business idea that was pitched at the competition.
Click here to read more about what happens
after you win the competition.
Competition participants who did not win are encouraged to come back to the
Pitch Dingman informal sessions to develop their ideas further. Students who
make a significant progress since their initial competition may be allowed to
compete again.
Competition dates for the 2009-2010 year are:
- September 25, 2009
- October 30, 2009
- November 20, 2009
- February 26, 2010
- March 26, 2010
- April 30, 2010
- May 28, 2010
| 
