The Big Idea Poster Competition
Do you have a great idea for a business, product or nonprofit organization? Put that idea on paper and get feedback in a low-pressure environment from judges. Participants create posters communicating their ideas and will display them in a public format for a panel of judges. Open to all students, faculty and staff.
Date & Time: Friday, Oct. 13, 2017
Location: PAWS, 2-5 p.m.
Prizes: Automatic advancement to Tiger Cage competition and recognition in college media for the first, second and third place winners.
WHY PARTICIPATE?
This is your chance to explore your ideas and begin thinking about how to turn them into action. You’ll get to network with the professional judges and get useful feedback in a low-pressure environment.
How to Participate
Students must submit an Intent to Compete Form. Email jbaum@towson.edu for more information.
Rules
- Competition is open to the Towson University campus community. Interested participants must fill out this short online form.
- The competition is focused on pre-startup or early stage ideas (a product/service/technology/business) in development. Ideas may be for profit or not-for-profit.
- Ideas must be in compliance with all federal, state and local laws and regulation.
- Entries may be submitted by individuals or teams.
- Applicants are required to have two mentor sessions to review their poster by designated mentors. See startup resources below. Applicants who do not attend two mentor session will be disqualified from the competition.
- Participants must use the poster template. Submitted posters deviating from the prescribed format will be disqualified.
Guidelines
- All types of ideas are welcome but should be fairly developed. If you need assistance in developing or refining your idea, see startup resources below.
- Successful applications will offer growth potential and scalability. Ideas will be reviewed for the potential to be in business in five years.
- Posters will be judged on concept, clarity, comprehensiveness, feasibility and potential value of opportunity.
- Posters should be self-explanatory and visually attractive. Viewers should be able to read a poster in less than five minutes. The participating team member will have one to two minutes to explain their idea to the judging team. Images, diagrams, and graphs are a great way to make your research accessible to an audience with a short attention span.
Resources
INNOVATION CALISTHENICS
Interactive space for innovation
Some Mondays Some Wednesdays, 4:30pm-6pm
LaunchPad – Cook Librayr, Room 401
Sept 18 – Design Thinking
Sept 25 – Idea to Business Model
October 2 – Competition Bootcamp
October 4 – Competition Bootcamp
October 9 – Competition Bootcamp
October 16 – Murder Board
October 18 – Pitch Practice
October 23 – Pitch Practice
October 25 – Pitch Practice
MENTOR NETWORK
Email mentors to scheudle appointments
David Brannon, Management Department
dbrannon@towson.edu
Shanshan Qian, Management Department
sqian@towson.edu
Bridget Nistico, Launch Pad
bnistico@towson.edu
Josh Russakis, Venture for America
josh@ventureforamerica.org (Fridays only)
Lori Ellison, Mangement Department
lellison@towson.edu
POSTER TEMPLATES
Participants are required to use the poster template below. Submitted posters deviating from the prescribed format will be disqualified.
