SENO would like to congratulate Frank Delaney, the winner of PitchNOLA: Social Entrepreneurs for Change, who presented the Final Fridayze program to offer quality entertainment alternatives for the teenage demographic.

Savannah Solomon, presenting Heart of Passion, a boutique hotel that would offer support services for families caring for individuals with debilitating diseases, took third place, and Valerie Bodet of Educators for Quality Alternatives, a school that would work with children with some of the most difficult backgrounds in the system, took second place.

PitchNOLA was a terrific showcase of the talent, programs, and ideas in New Orleans. We would also like to congratulate the 12 other Social Entrepreneurs who presented at our competition. We would like to thank the three excellent judges, Michael Hecht of GNO, Inc., Flozell Daniels of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and Will Bradshaw of Greencoast Enterprises, and the over 150 audience members who showed up to connect them with resources, feedback and ideas to further enhance their ventures.

Please keep checking the SENO website for more information about them and how to get involved.

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If you answered “YES!” to any of these questions, please consider submitting your idea to:

2009 PitchNOLA: Social Entrepreneurs for Change

PitchNOLA is an "elevator pitch" competition open to people with ideas for ventures that will effect positive change in New Orleans.

Entrepreneurs behind the ideas selected will have the opportunity to attend a short workshop on effective pitching, taught by Chris Schultz of LaunchPad and Tulane faculty, and will subsequently present to a large audience and a panel of judges who will offer constructive feedback and ideas for resources, contacts, and connections to be made.

The motivation behind PitchNOLA is to:
• Inform the community-at-large about great ideas both in the works and already being implemented locally
• Allow local social entrepreneurs to hone their pitch and presentation skills
• Facilitate connections between people interested in implementing similar ideas and/or people with resources or connections that will help make entrepreneurs’ ideas reality.

SPONSORS:

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Entrants need only submit a 500-word proposal to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by August 21st, 2009, 11:59pm, and be prepared to pitch their ideas to the audience and a panel of "celebrity judges."

Although PitchNOLA is not a business plan contest, entrants are encouraged to put concrete thought into submissions, and should attempt to address the following in their proposals:

• The social problem their venture will address
• A description of the product or service they will provide
• Ideas for marketing their product or service
• An estimate of initial cost and revenue projects and/or sources of funding

KEY DATES

• August 21st:          All entries must be submitted by this date.
• August 24th:         SENO will announce the entrants/ideas that have been invited to present.
• September 1st:      Selected presenters will receive coaching from Chris Schultz of LaunchPad and Tulane faculty to further develop their pitches.
•September 22nd:   PitchNOLA takes place at Tulane University.

ELIGIBILITY

• The contest is open to individuals and teams from the New Orleans region; however, only one (1) individual from each team may present at the PitchNOLA event.
• Ventures/ideas can be at any stage: just an idea in the mind of the entrant, in start-up mode, or an established venture.
• Ideas must seek to create social value and impact in a sustainable manner.  The model can be nonprofit or for-profit, as long as social impact is central to its mission.

JUDGING CRITERIA

Although there will be no monetary prize, judges will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place pitch ideas.  Pitch ideas will be assessed on:

• Innovation: the level of creativity of concept and model.
• Potential impact: the potential scale and influence of the project on the identified social problem.
• Viability: the potential for the idea to become a sustainable organization, practically and financially.
• Presentation: the clarity, uniqueness, and persuasiveness of written and/or verbal presentations.

MORE INFORMATION

Contact PitchNOLA/SENO with submissions, questions, and/or comments at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

To participate in PitchNOLA as an audience member, please register here.

Audience members will play a key role in this competition since one of PitchNOLA’s aims is to better connect entrepreneurs with resources and contacts.

Audience members will be provided with feedback cards on which they can provide constructive criticism as well as ideas on funding, people to connect with and anything else related to the idea.