Welcome and Introduction!
This is the official web page of The Mount Royal Innovation Tournament!
It provides an agenda for the kickoff event and an introduction
to the tournament. It also serves as the reference for all students on
all manner of details about the tournament, so be sure to bookmark it
and check back often.
Read on to learn more about our tournament, the rules, how you will be assessed and much more...
Kickoff event
- Moot Court in the EA building, EA1031 (map)
- Tuesday March 9, 2010
- 7:00 PM
Agenda:
1. Welcome and introduction (Laurie)
2. Background: (Stephen)
3. Your Challenge: The Mount Royal Innovation Tournament (Alex)
4. Show me some samples! (Alex)
5. The Big Room Lab (Laurie)
6. Entrepreneurs Can Change the World
7. Unveiling of Mount Royal's mystery item
Background
Although Mount Royal has put it's stamp on it, the tournament itself was inspired by a similar tournament put on by Stanford University
in 2006. In that, their
first year, they introduced the idea of a challenge in which teams
compete to create as much value as possible from everyday items. It's been very successful and repeated in different forms every year since then.
The Mount Royal Innovation Tournament
You are challenged to figure out how to create as much value as possible from an ordinary object.
Then create that value. Then measure it. Then report on each of these in a creative and impactful 3-minute video.
Step By Step Directions
To succeed in this challenge, you will need to follow these steps:
Step 1: Come to the kickoff on March 9, 2010
- Moot Court at 7:00 PM sharp
- Learn about the tournament
- Find out what the mystery object is
Step 2: Figure out who you're going to invite to join you for the Big Room Lab at the Finals
- You don't want to leave this too late
- You can use the invitation letter to invite them (and to make sure they know where to park)
Step 3: Create as much value as possible using the mystery object
Step 4: Prepare a video that shares with others your process and the value you created
Step 5: Submit your video for judging at the semifinals:
- The semifinals take place during your regular class time
- Check your Topic Schedule for details
Step 6: Judge your peers' submissions during the semifinals
Step 7: Do your goal-setting for the Big Room Lab
Step 8: Attend the Finals on March 18, 2010:
- Continuous Learning Centre at 6:30 PM sharp
- Show up with your guest
Step 9: Carry out the
Big Room Lab exercise while at the Finals
Step 10: Do your Big Room Lab Reflection
- Use the reflection sheet below
- Submit it to your teacher in class
What's the deal (FAQ)?
Who's eligible?
Working in your teams, all students taking ENTR 2201/3301 in the Winter 2010 semester will compete in the tournament.
What are the goals?
- To create as much value as possible using an everyday object.
- To go out and actually create that value.
- To measure the value you create in a reasonable way.
- To report on the value you created in a creative and impactful 3-minute (max) video.
What's the mystery object?
That won't be announced until the end of the kickoff event. After that you can find a description of the object here
How long do we have?
The tournament runs from March 9, 2010, to March 18, 2010:
- The tournament starts tonight
- The semi finals will take place during your regular class time class on March 17 or 18
- The finals will take place on March 18 at 6:30 PM (more details below)
How is "value" defined?
That's a good question and one of the toughest parts of this challenge!
Since it's your job to create value out of almost nothing at
all, it's also your job to decide how you're going to do it. Your team
has to decide how you'll measure the value your create and how
you'll communicate that value to others.
Check out the assessment criteria for more on how this will be judged.
What do we have to submit?
Nothing other than one 3-minute video submission for your team.
Your submission must be 3 minutes or less.
Other than that, we're not giving you any direction about your submission.
(Having said that, be sure to check out the assessment criteria which outline how your work will be judged.)
How do we submit it?
It must be uploaded to www.viddler.com (your teacher will give you an account name and password for this.)
- Your teacher will give you the username and password via Blackboard
- Name the file as follows:
- CourseNum-SectionNum-TeamName, e.g. 3301-001-SportyTeam
- Viddler accepts the following file formats for upload:
- .avi .dv .mov .qt .mpg .mpg2 .mpeg2 .mpeg4 .mp4 .3gp .3g2 .asf .wmv .flv.
- Make sure that you output your video for upload in one of these formats
- Viddler only accepts files up to 500 MB in size
You also must bring a copy on a CD in case you move on to the finals:
- This has to be in one of the above file formats too (and not a DVD format)
What do we get if we win?
The top team overall will get an extra 2% added their final mark in ENTR 2201/3301.
How will we be assessed?
As described in your course outline and on the course website, your performance in this tournament is worth 20% of your overall grade in ENTR 2201/3301.
Each of your classmates will judge your team's submission using the following judging criteria:
Your instructor will obtain your 20% from the average of these results.
Show me some samples
Sure, sounds great. But how do we create value from an everyday object?
How does it really turn out when student teams are let loose on
this sort of challenge?
For background check out Imagine It, an overview of the first competition held by Stanford. And although the rules were different then (they were not three minutes long, for example), here's a simple submission that ended up changing the energy conservation policies on a whole campus:
- Unplug-It (Stanford, 2007, object: Post-It Notes)
Then check out the following videos from the Mount Royal Innovation Tournament. Some of these did well, others hit on a few of the criteria, and others just made us laugh:
- Contenders:
- Entertainers:
- Pimp My Bag (Mount Royal, Fall 2008, object: brown paper lunch bags)
- 2 cups 1 string (Mount Royal, Fall 2009, object: household string)
These are just intended to make the whole thing a little more tangible for you and to get the creative juices flowing.
And for inspiration be sure to check this out (not a competition submission, but plenty inspiring):
The Finals
The finals will take place on in the Continuous Learning Centre (on campus) at 6:30 PM start on March 18, 2010.
All students must be there.
The top two videos from each section will be shown on the big screens.
A panel of distinguished judges will pick the top 3 winners.
You are required to carry out the
Big Room Lab exercise while you're there.
The Big Room Lab
Why the Big Room Lab?
One of the most difficult and scary activities in which an entrepreneur must engage is networking. A successful entrepreneur needs to meet people that have knowledge and resources to assist in the successful operations of his/her venture. A good network is invaluable in gaining access to scarce resources. Often in the form of meetings, trade shows or conferences there are opportunities to meet with many people at one time at events like receptions, presentations or networking sessions. These opportunities to meet many people at once are usually held in a “Big Room” and can be some of the most intimidating of networking opportunities but needn’t be if you are well prepared. The way to become prepared to take advantage of this opportunity is to plan and practice.
What is it?
The Big Room Lab is being held immediately prior to the Innovation Tournament finals and it is an opportunity for you to experience networking and the “Big Room” in all of its glory.
What do I have to do?
Each of you will be bringing 1 experienced person besides yourself to participate in the adventure. You (just the student) will each have a plan to network and gain information from people in the room.
You can use this opportunity to solicit information and/or opinions about your venture or find job opportunities or just to practice talking to strangers, but you will have to set a number of goals that you will accomplish in the networking portion of the evening.
Use the sheet
below to set your goals. Knowing that often opportunities are missed as we tend to stay within our personal comfort zones talking to people that we know already, this exercise will force you out of that comfort zone into gaining a skill and personal insight into your feelings about networking. The great thing is that your practice in networking will be done in a safe and supportive environment. The skills gained in this exercise will serve you well in many of life’s activities that find you in the company of strangers from weddings to trade shows.
How do I dress?
The dress code for the event is business casual as we discussed at the kick-off. If you have any questions about appropriate dress for men or women check these links.
Required resources
Guest invitation letter
Goal-setting and preparation sheet
- Goal-setting and preparation sheet (Word, PDF)
Some helpful hints for working a room
- Have a 15 second personal pitch ready for introducing yourself, e.g. “Hi, I am _______________, a student in the __________________ program, I am here tonight looking for.....”
- Have a few ice breakers to gain rapport, these could be questions about sports, weather, the economy etc. Try to stay away from religion and politics.
- Help each other out by practicing introducing each other to new people “Tyler, I’d like to introduce you to my guest, Elaine. Elaine, this is Tyler he is in my program at Mount Royal”
- Finally, disengage politely by saying something like “Excuse me but I see a colleague that I need to talk to about tonight’s events. Thanks so much for that information on_______, enjoy the show,” or “I have to move on and chat with a few more people or my instructor will fail me, it has been great meeting you and thanks so much for coming tonight,” or “Can I call you next week to get more information about those financing ideas that you had? Thanks I will see you then.”
Reflection sheet
- Reflection sheet for the Big Room Lab exercise (Word, PDF)
