Institutes’ Breakfast Featuring the Innovation Whiteboard Challenge
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By Sheryl S. Jackson
"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.
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