NetworkBash – Three Meaningful Events – One Great Idea

This was the third year for NetworkBash, an idea that germinated in the minds of several faculty teaching Business and Technical Writing. The Rutland Institute for Ethics was proud to be part of the planning and a sponsor this year.

From the website: “NetworkBash is an event driven concept designed to bring college students and industry professionals under one roof to engage, connect, and build relationships for career opportunities. The foundation of NetworkBash is based on using Social Media technologies as a connection point, building conversations as the catalyst of relationship building.”We’d previously written about the first two events, Ignite and Excite and wanted to be sure to include a piece about event number 3, Engage, that occurred in November. It consisted of “rocket pitches” (thanks to the entrepreneurial mindset of Dave Wyman of the Spiro Institute) in three categories. The winners in each category, as judged by a panel of experts (aka area executives and entrepreneurs) were:

Dan Dinger, How can I change the world?

Wilson Smith, What is my greatest idea?

Mike Goode, How can I make the world smile?

Each won $250. Then, based on an audience vote, the Overall Winner was Dan Dinger, who received an additional $500.

Probably one of the best ways to convey the value of NetworkBash is to let students speak about it. Following are comments from two students after the final Engage event.

Student 1: "The event was a hit! It was honestly VERY entertaining. At first I thought it was going to be students giving short speeches about the three topics—how can he/she change the world, how can he/she make the world smile, and what his/her greatest idea was. Instead, it was like a talent show with people acting things out and not talking from scripts. It was amazing to see that people had started businesses on campus and had these great ideas that could ultimately help the environment and/or people all around the world. I was writing down on my sheet after every performance so that I could know who to pick in the end for the grand prize, but it was so hard to pick! The person I chose to win turned out to be the grand prize winner of $750. The guy that won had the idea to use the theory of a Camel waterbottle not spilling/leaking for a gas pump. He said that every time someone fills up their tank, a few drops of gas always drop outside of the tank when the person pulls the pump out. It is something that has annoyed me forever because it is so wasteful, and he came up with a solution! I voted for him over the guy that came up with the idea for the boxers with a condom pocket because his could make a huge difference in the world."

Student 2:" I 'm sending this quick email to let you know that I really enjoyed the NetworkBash event last night.  I thought it was highly entertaining.  The talents were very good, and I enjoyed hearing all of the great ideas from my peers.  It was refreshing to hear new ideas from people my own age.  So many other presentations and events at Clemson are done by very experienced professionals and sometimes it's hard to relate.  I also love the two-minute rule.  It kept everything fresh and exciting.  It was a very unique presentation and it surpassed my expectation.  Great job to everyone involved!"