Institutes’ Breakfast Featuring the Innovation Whiteboard Challenge
 "We expect all
of you to experience your own personal breakthrough to be the best you
can be." With these words, Kim Wilson, NBMBAA acting president and vice
president of strategic program initiatives, challenged attendees at the
Institutes’ breakfast to take advantage of the opportunities to learn,
network and further develop their skills and connections.The eight semi-finalists of the NBMBAA Innovation Whiteboard Challenge were identified. This year, for the first time, all eight semi-finalists attended the conference to present to judges on Friday night. Three finalists were selected for the Wednesday final. All three presented their ideas to a panel of judges at the Wednesday morning Institutes Breakfast, competing for an iPad and $10,000 prize money they would use to further develop or produce their products. The overall winner of the 2012 Whiteboard Challenge was Ashton Clark and his company, Uticketit.com Inc." The idea for his innovation came when he realized how ineffective collecting cash for his collegiate Black MBA events was. Not only was he unable to accept credit or debit cards, but the times he was able to collect registration fees were not necessarily convenient for those who wanted to register. His online ticket sales product is a low cost solution for small groups, non-profits, churches and even student groups that want to sell tickets online for both general admission and reserved seating events. In addition to offering a low cost option for online ticket sales, Clark provides extensive customer service to ensure successful events for his clients. The other two 2012 finalists in the Challenge were: Floyd Newsum and his product "Loud Money," which that combines music videos with financial, investment and retirement education geared toward Gen Y. As the user watches a music video, pop-ups tied to product references in the video visuals or lyrics in the songs tell the user how to invest in that product’s stock or provide links to other financial educational resources. Saying that "when it comes to money and good music, you should always increase the volume," Newsum made the point that his product reaches young people who are not knowledgeable or comfortable with saving and investing. Karleen Leveille and her "Super Hero Academy Student Management System." While it looks like a video game, it is designed as a platform to assess, diagnose and recommend therapies for special needs children, especially non-verbal children. In addition to engaging a non-verbal child in a game that is designed to assess as well as provide therapeutic intervention, the platform captures data that is transmitted to parents, teachers and board of education representatives overseeing the child’s occupational therapy needs. This frees the occupational therapist to focus on the child and one providing needed therapies rather than completing paperwork needed to keep everyone up-to-date on the child’s progress and needs. Members of the audience had a chance to text their votes for the fan favorite. At the Institutes’ luncheon later in the day, Leveille was announced as the fan favorite. |
|
Print this article