With just a click, audience members have the opportunity to voice their opinion during the fifth annual Big Sell competition, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday April 18 at the Radisson Star Plaza, 800 E. 81st Ave.
“Our audience members have the power right in their hands to select the next big idea through electronic voting,” said Dushan Nikolovski, the Big Sell founder and director of the Purdue University Calumet Center for Entrepreneurship Success. “Audience participation is such an integral part of the event and a key component of what makes it unique and exciting.”
Subsidized by sponsors, tickets are $25 and include breakfast, lunch and snacks as well as the opportunity to participate in voting and network with members of the business community. Tickets are available online at www.thebigsell.org.
The business idea competition gives emerging entrepreneurs two minutes to pitch their innovative ideas on stage for a chance at $80,000 in money and professional services including guidance in legal, marketing, accounting, business plan and business advisory arenas. Office space for a year at the Hammond INnovation Center will also be offered to local Chicago-land winners.
The audience participates directly in the event by selecting the Top 10 finalists. They vote again in Round 2 and their input is combined with the judges’ to select two winners in each category: technology or open and social entrepreneurship or environmental.
“The ability to have audience engagement is really why we are a business idea competition. Entrepreneurs are able to receive input and connect with potential customers at the initial stages of a possible start-up,” Nikolovski said. “As an audience member, you have a hand in what ideas may make it into the marketplace.”
The event also features insight from two keynote speakers: Ersal Ozdemir and Erick Stewart. Ozdemir is owner of Indy Eleven, Indiana’s professional soccer team, and Keystone Construction Corp. Stewart is co-owner of Stewart Industries, a Battle Creek, Mich.-based sub-assembly and inspection company.
Based out of Northwest Indiana, the Purdue University Calumet Big Sell Entrepreneurship Competition is a platform for potential entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for an opportunity to receive guidance and monetary prizes. The nationwide business idea contest blends instant feedback on concept marketability through audience voting with the chance to connect with potential customers and start-up resources. For more information, visit www.thebigsell.org.