Saint Louis University held its, ‘Pure Idea Generator’ Competition recently and held the finals at the City Museum in downtown St. Louis.
Students were given a challenge and then the 24 finalists met at the City Museum to pitch to a panel of judges (yours truly was one). The three winning teams were selcted from amongst the finalists, and each won a $500 prize.
Immediately following the announcement of the winners, all three teams were the first interviewees of Techli’s new series, “Golf Cart Diaries,” in which entrepreneurs and others in the community are interviewed in downtown St. Louis. (See winners in the videos below)
As if that excitement wasn’t enough (who WOULDN’T want to ride with ME in a Golf Cart?) the winners were put into a Limo and were greeted by St. Louis’ Mayor, Francis Slay, who had a message for them:
SLU’s Pure Idea Generator Challenge :: Mayor Slay’s Secret Challenge from SLU-Center for Entrepreneurship on Vimeo.
The winners then went to City Hall and pitched Mayor Slay directly. For an hour, the teams presented and answered questions from the Mayor and his entire senior staff. It was a lively discussion and by the end, the Mayor and several of his staff members were asking how they could get these students to help implement a number of the initiatives discussed. (You can follow the WHOLE event through this stream: Pure Idea Generator)
As one of the winners said, “Reality hasn’t sunk in. I pitched an idea for the $500, and I’m presenting to the Mayor. How does this even happen…and can I put it on my resume.”