EngenuitySC and Wells Fargo Announce $5000 Ignite! 2012 Ideas Contest, Deadline October 19
October 4, 2012
COLUMBIA, SC – October 4, 2012 –EngenuitySC and Wells Fargo announce their second annual Ignite! 2012 Ideas Contest, a public competition open to individuals and organizations with ideas about how to start something new, novel and innovative in the Greater Columbia, South Carolina area. All start-ups, small business owners, social entrepreneurs, savvy students, big thinkers and go-getters are encouraged to enter to win a $5,000 prize. Entry deadline is October 19, 2012 at http://www.engenuitysc.com/ignite/i-have-idea.
Individuals or organizations can enter the contest by submitting a short form and video clip on the EngenuitySC website. Ideas should be well-thought-out, exciting and represent a chance to use $5000 to create a new product or solve a problem through a novel business solution. The challenge: to tell why your solution is new, unique, novel and scalable.
“Wells Fargo is pleased to support those who embrace the entrepreneurial spirit through the Ignite! 2012 Ideas Contest, said Holt Chetwood, EngenuitySC Executive Committee Member and Midlands Market President for Wells Fargo. “This helps demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Midlands region. Wells Fargo is known as America’s community bank and we’re responsible for being leaders to promote the long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in our communities. If our communities prosper, we all prosper.”
To enter the Ignite! 2012 Ideas Contest, contestants should record a two-minute video flaunting their creative presentation skills, then fill out the entry form at http://www.engenuitysc.com/ignite/i-have-idea. Videos can range in production quality from cameraphone to HD; what matters is the quality of the idea. Submissions close at 11:14pm on October 19, 2012.
In 2011, Jim Stritzinger, founder of EnduringFX and winner of the popular audience vote for the Ignite! 2011 contest, walked away with $5000 courtesy of Wells Fargo and EngenuitySC to help fund his new venture.
A group of knowledge economy notables will serve as judges and pick the top five finalists. Judges for the 2011 contest included Dan Cook, Editor at The Free Times; Andy Smith, Executive Director of the Nickelodeon Theatre; Barbara Blau, President of DP Professionals; Heather Mitchell, Principal at the Boudreaux Group; Katherine Swartz, Executive Director of Columbia Opportunity Resource; Katie Fox of TedXColumbiaSC and Director of Theatre Operations at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College; John Denise of Advanced Automation Consulting (AAC). This year’s panel will be announced soon.
Finalists will present to judges the week of November 5. The judges will pick the top three finalists by November 9, who will present for live audience voting at the Ignite! 2012 knowledge economy celebration on November 14, 2012 at the Carolina Coliseum, 5:30-8:30pm.
Ignite! is EngenuitySC’s annual celebration of the Midlands’ knowledge economy in Columbia, S.C. The event, which sold out in 2011, brings together new media, technology and business leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to celebrate the growth of the Midlands’ knowledge economy. Ticketholders partake in an open bar, a networking cocktail hour, and a full array of heavy hors d’oeuvres by high-quality local chefs, banquet seating, short performances, a high-energy audience voting session and short keynote presentations by innovators who are moving Columbia forward. After the event, speakers, contestants, community leaders, young professionals, arts mavericks and the general public gathered for a fun, informal afterparty with signature Ignite! cocktails.
More details including full speaker roster, after party location and more will be announced at http://www.engenuitysc.com/ignite.
Stay on top of Ignite! 2012 updates by following the #IgniteCAE hashtag and @EngenuitySC on Twitter or via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/engenuitysc.
About EngenuitySC
Headquartered in Columbia, EngenuitySC is a public/private partnership formed to develop and grow the South Carolina Midlands’ knowledge-based economy by fostering an environment where entrepreneurship, innovation, and the creation of knowledge are fundamental elements of the region’s culture, identity, and economic development strategy. Through collaboration with business, government, and higher education, EngenuitySC leads initiatives that support research development, promote commercialization, and leverage the region’s assets. For more information, visit http://www.engenuitysc.com.
