Several teams of students have proven that the spirit of business is alive and well at Trent, after taking part in the 2nd annual Entrepreneurship Games this past week at the Splice Lounge in downtown Peterborough. Business Administration students were given the opportunity to strut their stuff while presenting proposals to a panel of judges made up of staff from the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce and members of the Peterborough Young Professionals Group.
Along with bragging rights, winners Dylan Hunt and Abhijit Modi earned student associate memberships to the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce as well as an opportunity to present their winning idea at a future Chamber event.
Working with a theme of “Small City, Big Ideas,” each of the three participating teams was charged with the task of pitching new media and marketing initiatives for Peterborough and the Kawarthas Tourism. While all three teams presented strong business cases, the Hunt and Modi duo made the biggest impact with an impressive understanding of the impact of social media.
“We wanted to create an interactive web experience,” said Mr. Modi, “meshing various social media with YouTube for an entire package that Kawartha Tourism could use.”
While winning is always a goal in business case competitions, the experience alone is worthwhile.
“You get the opportunity to put yourself out there,” explained Mr. Modi. “You get a better feeling about how to best present yourself, your ideas, and your case. And you get to wrap your head around the creation of new ideas and new ways to present them.”
Mr. Hunt is no stranger to winning, having broken records in case competitions last year. Later this year, he’ll be competing on the international business team at JDC Central (an annual business competition), which will be held in Ottawa.
Both Mr. Modi and Mr. Hunt have taken part in Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales internships. Mr. Hunt was also one of Trent’s prestigious Justin Chiu Hong Kong Summer Interns in 2011.
According to Will Cuthbert, co-chair of the Entrepreneurship Games, the competition is an opportunity for gaining contacts and opportunities. “You get the chance to use some of the knowledge that you’ve experienced in the classroom and apply it to real life situations,” he said. “And from a Business Administration program perspective, it is great to see people building links between the student population, potential local mentors, and judges from the local business community.”
Co-chair Emily Morrison takes pride in the competition and what it means to the Business Administration program. “It goes a long way in showing local businesses what our students are capable of,” she said. “It showcases some of our brightest talents that are on the cusp of entering the job market.”
Posted on Friday, December 2, 2011.