Trek consulting with entrepreneur in residence Don Morrison and Big Idea Center director Babs Carryer on their Randall Family Big Idea Competition presentation
Let’s get to the topic at hand: 5 Reasons Why You Should Get Involved with the Big Idea Center. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking to you students who have thought about it for quite some time but haven’t tried it because “well, it might take up a little too much time”, “I don’t have an idea yet”, “it costs a lot of money”, etc. …we’re going to talk about all of that! Let’s dive in shall we?
#1: The Big Idea Center is for everyone!
You see, unlike other programs, we quite literally do not care what your background is. As long as you’re a Pitt student, we want to see you. Now you might possibly be thinking “But Jess, I’m a film major, it has nothing to do with innovation or entrepreneurship -- your programs can’t possibly be for me!” And to you I say that does not matter. Like. At all. Our center will provide you with the resources and knowledge that you need to lift any idea off the ground. Even if you don’t have an idea yet and aren’t the *slightest* bit inspired by the word “innovation”, we can help you! And uh… do you want to know a secret? I was a film major. And now my full time job is building programs around the topics of innovation and entrepreneurship. So let me tell you something: Had I had the knowledge I have now back when I was trying to start my photography business, well, it may have been more successful.
Anyway, as I was saying, we have no prerequisites, we have no restrictions other than you being a Pitt student. And that includes undergraduate all the way through postdocs, our center can increase the quality of your university experience by giving you access to so many resources that are meant to assist you in achieving a position in the career of your choice, or by making a career of your own!
Students participating in our IBM BlueHack competition
#2: We are flexible!
Here’s a question we receive a lot: “Is there a monthly meeting that I need to attend?” NO! You can put in as much or as little time as you deem necessary. We want to be a part of your university experience, but that doesn’t mean that we require you to spend so much time with us that you feel like you can’t handle another activity in your already busy schedule! At the end of the day, our ultimate concern is your success in whatever field that you desire and we want to be a part of the success, so please never feel that you shouldn’t get involved with us because you don’t have enough time.
For example, your commitment might just be a regular half-hour meeting with one of our entrepreneurs in residence. Or you might want to compete in every single hackathon and pitch competition that we have to offer. You get out of our center what you put into it, whatever that may be. No matter what, we encourage you to at least give it a shot!
#3: We offer a variety of programs!
You see, because we want to be flexible and cater to every kind of student, we offer a huge variety of programs meant to fit anyone at any stage in their entrepreneurship journey. Let’s take a look at what we have to offer, shall we? We have panel discussions where you get to hear all about what it’s like to work in the field of entrepreneurship who are actually out there doing it. We have networking receptions where you can introduce yourself to professionals at Pitt and throughout the greater city of Pittsburgh. And we have competitions during which you learn to build up your ideas and possibly win some prizes along the way! And we also have mentorship and coaching experiences available throughout the entire year. Take your pick of any one of our programs, or two, or three, or more! You can participate as much or as little as you’d like. You get to decide what type of experience you have with us. We even have a variety of entrepreneurs in residence from different backgrounds who dedicate their time to meeting with students throughout the year as part of the programs and EIR 1-on-1 meetings!
Our Big Idea Blitz program
#4: We have entrepreneurs in residence to help guide you throughout your entrepreneurship journey!
On any given year, we have 4-5 entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs) who make time in their otherwise busy schedule to meet with students. I won’t elaborate too much on how awesome our EIRs are because I did talk about that in a previous Big Idea Coffee Conversations episode. If you are interested in watching that particular video, click here.
Okay, long story short, our EIRs are professionals in their respective fields and they have been there, done that when it comes to working in innovation and entrepreneurship. Anyone can make an appointment to meet with them face-to-face or in a virtual format.
Now, you may be wondering, what does it all cost? After all, many groups within the university have entry fees or club dues. And that is the BEST part about the Big Idea Center…
#5: It’s literally FREE!
Seriously. Everything we have to offer is free to Pitt students (I swear)! Okay, well free as in it doesn’t cost any money, but it does cost a certain amount of time and effort to really get anything out of the programs and services that we have to offer. What we’re saying is is that you shouldn’t take money into account when you’re trying to decide whether or not you want to get involved with the Big Idea Center. Our goal is not to take money from you, but rather to give you everything you need to know in order to make some of it after your time at the university is over. AND we don’t take any equity in your startup either!
You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain when getting involved with us here the Big Idea Center. The center was started in 2018 in order to give Pitt students their best chance at success in innovation and entrepreneurship and to make this type of programming available to all students, no matter what their course of study or where they’re at in their college careers.
So there you have it, the top 5 reasons as to why you should get involved with the Big Idea Center. To recap,
- It’s for everyone
- We’re flexible to student schedules
- We have a ton of variety in our programming
- We have a group of entrepreneurs in residence that are here to help you and give you professional advice
- It’s FREE!
Some of you who are reading this may already have known about everything that I’ve just listed. That doesn’t mean that this is not a helpful reminder to you to take advantage of our resources while you still can (and while they’re still free) before you get that diploma!
On that note, we at the Big Idea Center look forward to helping you start your journey into the wonderful world of innovation and entrepreneurship, no matter what stage you are at, what major you are, or what your student level is! To learn more about the Big Idea Center, please click on any of the links below!
- About Us
- Our Staff
- Our Entrepreneurs in Residence
- Our Programs
- Our Contact Form
- Big Idea Blog
- Our Instagram
- Our Facebook
- Our Twitter
- Our YouTube Channel
- Our LinkedIn Group