Blackstone LaunchPad at UAlbany Hosts Their 2nd Annual "Can You Pitch?" Event

UAlbany’s Blackstone LaunchPad will be hosting the second annual “Can You Pitch?” contest. Students stop by the table and pull a prop from a bag, they are then given 30 seconds to give an improvised prop-based pitch. Each week following the “Can You Pitch?” event, videos will be posted on the UAlbany Blackstone LaunchPad instagram, along with questions that are based on the chosen videos.

 At the end of the week, one winner will be chosen among all of those who have submitted answers to the posted questions. The prizes include Amazon gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, Blackstone LaunchPad gear, school spirit bead necklaces, and candy.

 Last year, UAlbany Blackstone LaunchPad won the Global Orientation Competition competing against 30 other universities. UAlbany Blackstone LaunchPad used the “Can You Pitch?” event to register more than 1,400 students.

 Almost 9 percent of UAlbany’s student body registered to join Blackstone LaunchPad’s network. That is the highest percentage of any of the program’s 30 university partners, including four other major university campuses in New York State – Cornell University, New York University, Syracuse University, and the University at Buffalo.

Pitch Please Event 2018

Blackstone LaunchPad at SUNY Albany hosted an innovation pitch and networking event on Tuesday, February 13th. Numerous established companies and ventures came out to hear student groups pitch their innovative ideas. Students were able to receive feedback from different professionals in various fields such as Jerry Golub, the Vice Chairman of Price Chopper, Gary Goldstein, the Director of EmblemHealth Dental Program, and David Siegfeld, Partner at Ganz Wolkenbreit & Seigfeld LLC. Each student group was given five minutes to deliver their pitches and an additional five minutes were granted for Q&A afterwards. 

Once all the student groups presented and received their feedback, students and professionals were able to network and connect for about an hour before the evening was brought to a close. Blackstone Launchpad at SUNY Albany has had success in the past with similar events that they’ve hosted and have a innovation competition event coming up in April.

We want to thank all of the student groups and the professional mentors that took time to come out and participate. 

Mentors: Stephen Hartmann, David Siegfeld, Dan Finkle, Neil Packer, Jerry Golub, and Gary Goldstein.

Student Groups: Classmates, MASH Co., NutMeg's PB, RiboDynamics, Sweat-Teach, Verified Lifeguards, Campus Pro, Toasty Naturals, and Polis.