Gannon University held the first Elevator Pitch Competition Tuesday night and brought networking opportunities to students on campus.
The Elevator Pitch Competition was created based on the idea of an elevator pitch which is a short speech, traditionally up to 90 seconds, in order to market a product to a potential investor.
This event was open to all students and featured opportunities and information that all students could benefit from.
According to Sarah Maguire, a senior risk management and insurance major, the competitors were chosen after students submitted resumes to the Student Success Center.
The Student Success Center then chose 10 resumes to be the finalists who would compete in the competition.
Maguire said that the competition was created as a part of the senior capstone course, Business Policy. The idea began as a service learning project.
Lindsay Lucas, a Gannon senior, said that students who were to take part in the competition were required to attend workshops prior to the event. These workshops consisted of resume writing and elevator pitch workshops.
“We believe that both of these components are very important interviewing skills that all students, regardless of major, should be fluent in before leaving Gannon,” she said.
The event began with networking opportunities for the students. They were given time to discover potential internships, as well as take advantage of the free professional photographer who was available to take pictures for LinkedIn profiles.
Hayley Woebse, a sophomore undecided major, said that these opportunities were beneficial.
“I think that having new opportunities, such as networking and job opportunities, are extremely important to take advantage of when you get the chance,” she said.
“Even though I am not a marketing major, I think that opportunities like this can benefit myself and anyone else who is interested in learning anything about marketing.”
Among the 10 finalists, freshmen through seniors of a variety of different majors participated in the competition.
During the event, students presented their brief elevator pitches to the panel of judges.
They had the opportunity to present a pitch of themselves for a future employer or the pitch of a business idea or product.
Competitors told the judges about themselves and their backgrounds, as well as their personal skills.
They spoke about communication, time management and leadership skills as a way to market themselves to future employers.
The winner of the competition was Anthony Sparacino, who was awarded the $300 top prize.
The sponsors of this event included the Small Business Development Center, the Activities Programming Board, Erie Technology Incubator, the Student Government Association, R. Frank Photography, the Student Success Center and Kurt Hersch, Ph.D.
HARLEE BOEHM
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