Clay

TowsonGlobal’s Second Business Plan Competition has finally declared a winner! On May 2, after months of preparations, two teams emerged as the winners of the competition. The first place winner was ToolSpinner, a team of Towson University alumnus brothers who created an online platform for tool rentals.   Second place went to the Johns Hopkins team Innovostics, a medical device company that specializes in detecting various causes of fevers in patients within minutes, using an extremely low cost method.

Luccie Wo, Divya Maxwell, Marjon Akhavan & Luis Soenksen (Innovostics) left; Daniel Cole & Steven Cole (ToolSpinner) right

Over the course of that afternoon, these two teams, along with the other finalists—Hemova Port, NeoPersona, and Momo Scientific—presented both in front of a panel of distinguished judges and at a public forum. After careful consideration, ToolSpinner was selected the winner.  All of the presentations were impressive, well-prepared, and the concepts were not only innovative but socially conscious.

During the discussions, the judges provided insightful financial, marketing and management advice. The competition was stiff, but; after intense deliberation, it was decided that ToolSpinner offered the most viable business concept.

The first place prize package is valued at $17,400 and includes a monetary prize of $4,000, a 90-day Resident membership to TowsonGlobal and executive coaching from CEOIQ.  The second place winner also receives a prize package valued at $5,200, which includes a monetary prize of $1,000, 90-day Associate Membership to TowsonGlobal and one year membership to the online community and resources of CEO IQ.

The support of sponsors has helped make TowsonGlobal’s competition a great success. Thanks to:

TowsonGlobal’s latest effort in encouraging and strengthening entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in the Baltimore area has surpassed expectations. The response to the competition has been gratifying and shows the great potential of entrepreneurs in our region.  Stay tuned for the next competition in 2013!

Clay

With the deadline for TowsonGlobal’s second business plan competition just around the corner, I sat down with several people to talk about the competition.  In the first video, I talked with Towson University’s Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator Kelsey Beckett about the competition’s purpose, how it impacts the region’s entrepreneurial community, the many ways it provides entrepreneurs with resources that will be beneficial over the long run, and what participants can expect if they win.

Additionally, I talked with the two winners of the 2011 competition, Ben Walsh, owner of PureBang Games and Lisa Drouillard, founder of My Hopeful Journey, to gain insights on how participating in and winning the competition impacted their business plans and helped move their businesses forward.   Both Lisa and Ben believe that part of what made them successful, was the mentoring and support from experts and guidance throughout the various stages of the competition.  Both also found that access to the broad range of resources and connections at the incubator were truly helpful.

Submissions already have started coming in for this year’s competition, so be sure to get those executive summaries in by February 6, 2012.  We are excited to see which innovative business ideas will advance to the final round, and we will announce the five finalists on February 20.

To ensure that each finalist has the best possible chance, they all will attend a presentation boot camp in March and each will be assigned an individual coach from SCORE, which will help prepare them for the final presentations to the judges on May 2.

For more information visit the Business Plan Competition page on our website or email us at info@towsonglobal.com

Jackie Gratz

Want to know what’s coming up for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s spring 2012 semester?   Attend its Preview of Spring Classes to be held on Thursday, January 19 from 10 a.m. until noon in the Merrick Lecture Hall at Goucher College.  There’s plenty of free parking with a short walk to the Lecture Hall.  At the Preview you’ll see and hear teachers as they give brief presentations of their upcoming courses.  A wide array of courses in the Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences will be offered in spring as well as two book clubs and two film series.   Among the courses are

• Cosmic Puzzles
• Russia in Revolution
• Disease and History
• Roots of the Blues
• Jewish Women in the American Labor Movement
• Physics for Everyday Life
• Traits of Triumphant Survivors
• French Wines Demystified
• and many more

Some of these courses are four-week courses and some are eight-week with all offered during the day.  The spring semester begins on March 5 and ends May 3. View the full list of course offerings.

The Osher Institute offers courses to persons 50 years of age and older, but makes a special offer to Towson University faculty and staff of any age who may join Osher at a reduced rate and take one course each semester without further charge.  If you are reading this blog, you are no doubt still employed and may not have the time to attend even one course.  But please spread the word about the Osher Preview and its upcoming spring semester among the older generations of your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

For more information about the Osher program, visit the Osher website call the office at 410-704-3688.  We’d love to send you a spring 2012 catalog with descriptions of all of the courses being offered and biographical information on the teachers who will teach them.

Jenn

If you noticed that the TUOutreach Facebook and Twitter accounts were quiet on Thursday November 3,  good observation! I am the social media manager around here, and I spent Thursday at the 2011 PRSA Chesapeake Conference, learning about social media and other marketing, public relations, and advertising media.

I could go into an in-depth discussion about my day, but I’d like to instead focus on a few of the sessions that I attended, and what I learned from them.

I started my day with a video presentation by Ed Beckett and Sharon Brown from University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). My top take-away ideas from this session:

1. If you don’t have a good space for video, you may be able to rent production space from a local public television station.
2. Try to include experts in your videos, this allows for strong content.
3. Be selective about who you interview on camera and make sure they’re comfortable on camera.
4. Take a thumb drive with you to video meetings so that you can collect photos, presentations, and other visuals to include in the video.
5. Be sure to have the visuals in your video complement the spoken words (for example, if you say “dog”, show a dog, and if you see a dog, say “dog”).
6. Use phrases like “you”, “as you can see here”, and “take a look at this” to draw audience attention.
7. Use your video in other outlets such as emails and social media to maximize efficiency.

After the video session, I sat in on a Twitter session presented by Governor O’Malley’s New Media Manager, Zoe Pagonis, as well as Lori Livingston, New Media Manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Some key take-aways from this session include:

1. Use presentation platforms like Prezi to switch it up from PowerPoint.
2. Use a hashtag so that the audience can tweet about your presentation.
3. Have a laptop on hand during the presentation so that the presenters can answer questions received via Twitter.
4. Integrate social media with other departments to maximize efficiency.
5. Include videos in press releases.
6. Use videos to personalize your message.
7. Use websites like Vimeo for paid and free background music for your videos.

While the conference had several sessions, these two stuck out as my favorites. As you can see, the sessions of the 2011 PRSA Chesapeake Conference left their audiences with some great take-aways. This event was a valuable experience, and I hope to return next year.

Logo for the 2011 PRSA Chesapeake Conference

Jeremy Monn

The Center for GIS (CGIS) will be taking part in GIS Day this Wednesday, November 16, 2011.  CGIS employees, along with Community College of Baltimore County students, will travel to Lutherville Laboratory Elementary School this year for GIS Day.  The event, organized by Eric Cromwell (Coordinator of Elementary Science for Baltimore County Public Schools), will involve approximately 120 fourth grade students.  The students will be divided into groups and each group will complete a Global Positioning System (GPS) quiz consisting of multiple choice questions that have numerical answers (e.g. Abraham Lincoln was the [fill in the blank] President of the United States.).  All of the possible answers will correspond to marked locations on a field at the school.  Once the groups have completed the quiz, each will be provided with a Garmin e-Trex GPS unit and asked to walk to the locations marked with their answers while the GPS unit tracks their route.  Each group will then map the routes using Google Earth and if the group answered the questions correctly their route will appear as a star.

In addition to the event at the Elementary School, CGIS staff will also attend two events. For the past several years, CGIS has attended the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) GIS Day event located at the SHA building in Baltimore.  At this event, CGIS staff will manage a booth and provide information on current projects and initiatives that CGIS is involved in.  If you will be attending SHA’s GIS Day event stop by CGIS’ booth and see what we are up to! Also, CGIS will attend Central Pennsylvania’s GIS Day celebration that will feature an exhibit hall, geo-challenge, genius bar, workshop, demonstrations and plenty of networking.

Raquel

The Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI) hosted its 15^th annual Economic Outlook Conference on November 9^th, 2011 at the Towson University West Village Commons. As in the past, the conference provided a platform to present RESI’s economic overview and forecast. The title for this year’s economic outlook was Two Steps Forward, One Step Back .  The title reflects this year’s economic news cycle which seemed to provide us with a sense of positive forward momentum one minute and then just as quickly took that momentum away with the next data release.

Aside from the economic outlook for the year, this year’s conference focused on the implications of the 2010 Census Data.  Department of Planning Secretary Richard Hall and economist Mark Goldstein gave a thorough review of the data as it pertains to Maryland and its jurisdictions. Highlights included the significant increase in the population of people 55 and over and the growing Hispanic population in the state (percent change of 106.5 percent since 2000).

For the rest of the event, experts from many different sectors of the economy discussed the impact of the data on matters such as government services, the business community, workforce development and higher education. View photos from the entire conference.

In particular, they discussed the challenges of a changing demographic profile on their particular area of expertise.  Some of the challenges discussed included the need to cater to different languages and cultural customs, an aging population and the increased demand for higher education (and the challenges students face in financing that education).  I thought the Conference provided attendees with many significant take-aways and nuggets of information.  All the material presented and the discussions that took place will be important in preparing for the challenges the state will face as a result of its changing demographics and growing population.

It’s always incredibly fun and rewarding working on the preparation for the Conference and I’m already looking forward to developing the theme for next year’s event. Hope to see there!

Dr. Daraius Irani presents to a capacity crowd

Clay

The time has arrived! TowsonGlobal’s Business Plan Competition is back for a second year.   The inaugural competition brought entries from a diverse group of entrepreneurs with interesting business concepts.  All had the same goal in mind—success.  And this second annual event promises to be even more inspiring, helping stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.

While the basic format of the competition remains the same, a few changes have been made to help better prepare entrants and to make the competition more interactive. For this second competition, interested participants are invited to attend free workshops which focus on the basics of a business plan, including:

• writing an effective executive summary,
• conducting useful market analysis,
• and developing realistic financial projections.

The five chosen finalists will attend a required boot camp to help prepare for their final presentations.  Also, this time, presentations will be made both in private and at a public forum.  After which, the winner will be announced at a networking reception.

Business Plan Competition Workshop #1 (October 2011)

Timeline & Process:

• October 19, 2011 — Business Plan + Executive Summary Workshop
• October 26, 2011 — Market Analysis Workshop
• November 10, 2011 — Financial Projections Workshop
• February 6, 2012 — Executive Summaries Due (3-5 pages)
• February 20, 2012 — Finalists (5) selected and notified to submit business plans
• February 27, 2012 — Presentation boot camp for finalists
• March 27, 2012 — Deadline for finalists’ submissions of business plans and PowerPoint presentations
• May 2, 2012—Finalists present in front of judges, winner selected

We hope that participants will get as much of the competition as the first group did.  Lisa Drouillard of My Hopeful Journey, one of two 2011 winners, commented, “The business plan competition helped me to think of my business in a more tangible way and not just as a concept.”  The other winner, Ben Walsh of Pure Bang Games, added that participation “strengthened our ties to other early stage startups, and most importantly, Towson University.”

TowsonGlobal is looking forward to seeing the exciting, innovative concepts that will be brought to the competition.  For more details on the competition, visit TowsonGlobal’s Business Plan Competition page or email us at info@towsonglobal.com .

Kelsey

Cyber attacks continue to be a serious and growing threat to our nation’s governments and businesses. In turn, it has become a growing workforce need, especially in the Maryland-D.C. region.  The Maryland Cyber Challenge and Conference hopes to mitigate these threats and develop high school and college students with an interest in computers into cyber security experts. This year’s Conference was held October 21 and 22 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Eight college teams competed in the Cyber Challenge, held on Saturday October 22, but in the end it was TOWSON UNIVERSITY that took home First Place!

However, the road to victory was not an easy one. As Professor Michael O’Leary, team advisor, explains, “the competition between UMCP, UMBC and Towson was extremely close – when the scoreboard was turned off, each of the three teams had roughly 35,000 points, with Towson first and UMCP and UMBC tied and just 300 points behind.”

After two online qualifying competitions and the all-day event on Saturday, Towson University came out ahead. The members of TU’s team are Andrea Mobley (Captain), Brian Cather, Jonathan Fragale, Dustin Hanks, Dennis Hayden, and Roberto Melendez.

In addition to the pride of winning, each student received a $5,000 scholarship from the National Security Administration and will be offered a summer internship with SAIC, a science and engineering firm. These two fantastic prizes will help expand the student’s knowledge and experience in the growing Cyber Security field.

Image credit: jscreationzs

Team captain Andrea Mobley said of the win, “I think our win over two graduate teams (one of which is a University of Maryland team) and the rest of our competitors (Capitol College, University of Maryland Graduate students, University of Maryland Undergraduate students, Goucher, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Maryland University College, and a group of collective students) keeps Towson University on the radar for the national competition in February and for employers looking to hire security professionals.”

Be sure to read the Baltimore Sun article to learn more about the event!

Nicole Schiraldi

Towson University is home to the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) Headquarters where I work as the Program Coordinator.  Members of CUMU use the power of their campuses in education, research, and service to enhance the communities in which they are located. Institutions located in metropolitan areas often do not fit the common definition of more traditional colleges and universities. With Bobbie Laur out of the office on maternity leave, I was left to fend for myself at the 17^th Annual Conference.  The theme “Creating Tomorrow’s Future Today” focused on urban development and community engagement. This year’s host university location, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), served as the perfect backdrop for a conference.

View From Nicole's Hotel Room

The conference agenda was full of exciting speakers and sessions, but I’d like to share my top 3 conference moments:

1. Networking.  I have some of the most impressive university presidents in the country on my speed dial.  How many people can say that?  I met many incredibly influential people and networked all day and all night.
2. Meeting the 2012 Superbowl Chairperson.  Indy is home to the 2012 Superbowl and the Bowl Chairperson, Allison Melangton, was our Opening Plenary speaker.  I am now following their blog and stories of community engagement – some of which are incredibly inspiring.
3. Visiting the NCAA Hall of Fame.  Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, and former ACE Fellow, was gracious enough to host our conference guests at the NCAA Hall of Fame for a casual dinner and tour.  The Hall of Fame showcases some of the best athletes in college sports.  My favorite part? The quote they live by, “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and almost all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”

Jenn

1. Create a Facebook event page
A Facebook event page allows you to publish essential information about your event (time, location, etc.), and track who will be attending. This is a great place to post relevant articles and resources that will further engage the audience. It also gives the audience a place to make comments on the event and share the event with their Facebook friends. The sharing feature is essential because it allows your event to reach more potential attendees.

2. Connect with Guest Speakers or Event Sponsors
If your event features a notable guest speaker, be sure to mention him/her on social media. For example, you can mention the individual on Twitter or tag them on Facebook. You can also mention sponsors in the same way. Mentioning a notable speaker or sponsor on social media will associate them with your event, thus creating increased awareness and credibility. Blogs are also a great place to connect with guest speakers. For example, you can have a guest speaker do a guest blog post about your event.

3. Publish Event Updates on Social media
Social media can also be used to keep your audience up to date as the event approaches. For example, you may want to let your audience know about agenda changes, new sponsors, new speakers, or new attractions. You can also use social media to countdown to the event, and to let your audience know when the event is close to selling out.

4. Publicize Social Media URLs
Be sure to include Facebook, Twitter, and Blog URLs on all websites and/or print collateral that are used to market the event. This should result in increased traffic to your social media websites since the consistent appearance of social media icons and URL’s will remind the audience to connect with your event.  Be sure to create a hashtag and let your audience know about it through your marketing efforts. Hashtags allow the audience to follow conversations about your event if they search the hashtag on Twitter.

5. Use Social Media for Crowd Sourcing
You can also use Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to interact with the audience. For example, you can poll the audience by asking what they’d like to see at the event. This will allow you to hear the voice of your audience and to ultimately present content that is relevant to your audience, creating greater satisfaction with the event.

Check out how DECO is using social media!

Image Credit: fotographic1980