Juicy Ideas Collegiate Competition
Date Posted: 8/26/2008

August 2008

HOW MUCH VALUE CAN YOU SQUEEZE OUT OF A THROWAWAY ITEM?

New competition wants college students to get their creative juices flowing

ASHEVILLE, NC -- Regional college students can turn a piece of trash into cash in a new competition designed to tap their imagination, innovation and collaboration.

The JUICY IDEAS COLLEGIATE COMPETITION challenges student teams to create value out of a throwaway item and communicate a message of environmental responsibility. Teams chronicle their experiences on video and upload to YouTube for judging by some of the region’s top technology entrepreneurs and educators.

Teams are competing for thousands of dollars in scholarships, prizes and professional development opportunities, as well as a chance at the grand prize – a day at Google Headquarters in California.

The concept for JUICY IDEAS was developed by Pam Lewis of AdvantageWest Economic Development Group along with Troy Tolle of DigitalChalk online learning system; Bryan Toney, director of Appalachian State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship; and Dr. Phil Sanger, director of the Center for Rapid Product Realization at Western Carolina University. JUICY IDEAS was created as a way to encourage entrepreneurship and the vital role it plays in the economic growth of rural regions across the U.S. and around the globe.

“As part of AdvantageWest’s economic development strategy, we must continuously explore new and innovative paths to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship,” said CEO Dale Carroll. “We believe one of the best ways to accomplish this is by encouraging the use of technology and stimulating creativity in the young people of our region. They represent our future workforce and business owners.”

The competition begins Sept. 11 when the throwaway item is revealed during a live webcast from the Carolina Connect conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. The conference provides professional development and networking to entrepreneurs and investors from across the Southeast.

Teams have 10 days from the time of the reveal to complete their video for judging. They will be evaluated in five areas: originality and creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation, environmental responsibility, critical thinking skills, and team building and leadership.

Judges for the regional competition are Erskine Bowles, UNC System; Rhett Weiss, Google Inc.; Ryan Allis, iContact; Kurt Mann, AmericanGreen TV; June Atkinson, NC Dept. of Public Instruction; and a representative of the NC Community College System.

Western North Carolina’s regional champion will face the winning regional teams from South Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa and Oregon to compete for the JUICY IDEAS grand prize trip to Google in January.

“Created by entrepreneurial students at Stanford University and today recognized as one of the world’s leading companies, Google is an ideal fit as the grand prize sponsor of the competition,” said Carroll. “The company recently opened a major data center in the AdvantageWest region and we are proud to have them as a corporate neighbor.”

On Aug. 20, 2008, Google Inc. in California released the following statement about the JUICY IDEAS COLLEGIATE COMPETITION: "Google is excited to help support the Creative Juice competition. The contest promotes many of Google's core values such as innovation, environmentalism, and entrepreneurship, and we are proud to host the winning team at Google at the beginning of 2009."

JUICY IDEAS is also sponsored by DigitalChalk, AmericanGreen TV and Jute Networks.

Go to www.CreativeJuiceCompetition.com to learn more and register your team.

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