ETEC 522 – Sept. 2011

bcourey 6:30 pm on November 26, 2011

3 votes

Log in to leave a Comment  

• 

  Kristopher 4:00 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Wow Brenda! What a beautiful presentation!

  Your pitch we well crafted and included all of the information required for an effective pitch. The delivery is stunning, so kudos on building the pitch. If I were to suggest an enhancement for your pitch, I would suggest that you modify your language slightly; for example, instead of ‘let me build this…’, I might say more affirmatively ‘I WILL build…’, or ‘this concept has been designed…’– something that shows that the product/service exists and is ready to be purchased.

  This is the first Animoto presentation that I have come across and it has absolutely been added to my toolbox.

  Best,

  Kristopher

• 

  Everton Walker 10:42 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Brenda,

  Great idea! Nicely thought out and executed. I only wish if I had more time to read. The slides never provided me with adequate time to do so. However, it is a product I would give some attention to even though I would need to know more before investing.

  Everton

• 

  ashleyross 4:31 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Hi Brenda,

  I really like your idea and I enjoyed watching your elevator pitch. I agree with Kristopher’s suggestion about modifying your language, I think it will make you sound more confident about your product.

• 

  bcourey 5:48 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  thanks for your comments everyone! I agree, I should really change the language to show more confidence! I am a big fan of Animoto – I have created family videos using pictures of holidays and special events – I have quite a library of them already! I wasn’t sure if it was suitable for an Elevator Pitch, because it is not a face-to-face video (tried that and it was AWFUL!) and I didn’t have the ability to slow the slides down so that you could read all the text in time…so hoping that the longer venture pitch covers the details. Thanks again.

  Brenda

  Brenda

• 

  Tamara Wong 7:31 pm on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Breada,
  Great venture! I love the idea. It strikes me that you are taking on the idea that Google had with running the cloud to cut costs and to create one big business that can do more than many small schools. With the advent of the Margaret Atwood and Doug Ford debate on libraries this would solve the problems that many people are having with theses spaces that are quickly becoming outdated.

  Your elevator pitch was great and I liked the use of the animoto. The only problems I had were I had to stop the video a few times to finish reading the slides. I think you can devote more times to the text slides and less to the references and ending. Your full venture pitch is great and I think that the example you’ve added is a great addition. I had a few problems with the audio cutting out a bit near the end of the slide but it didn’t hinder my understanding of your project. Amazing idea!!

  Tamara
  P.S. My partner was sitting in the same room as me while I was watching your pitch and he was impressed by it too!! He commented on how much better it was than mine 😀

• 

  Doug Smith 2:36 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Hi Brenda,
  I like your pitch, I think it touches on many aspects that an investor would want to know about. You give off a lot of confidence, which is a huge part of a pitch. I think I understand what it is you’re pitching, but at first I wasn’t clear on where I come into this as an investor: I had to replay the video and pause on the one crucial slide to learn about the portal. But the pitch was good enough to make me watch it again to find this out!

  cheers
  Doug

• 

  David William Price 11:09 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Elevator pitch assessment

  B. Courey – Learning Commons

  First Impression: no face or voice, only music & slides, moved too fast to read, had to watch many times and pause to read

  CEO Credibility: The CEO does not appear at all – no voice, no image or appearance. I have nothing to judge CEO credibility on. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to appear and be heard.

  Management Team: No team is mentioned, so I have no way to judge. I might take a negative inference based on the fact the CEO is unwilling to talk about the team.

  Venture Concept: “Join the movement to the learning commons”. Apparently the idea is kids working quietly in the library is bad and kids should instead be working collaboratively using a computer system. I don’t know what a learning commons is or what the benefits to kids are.

  Opportunity Space: mentions 72 Ontario school boards and that only 5 are using Learning Commons. That implies a potential market of 77 although the pitch says 60 are available. No revenue is mentioned. Apparently the idea is to build a learning portal for schools to get what they need for a Learning Commons and to pay a subscription fee.

  Market Readiness: Apparently only 5 out of 72 Ontario boards are using “Learning Commons” and the rest don’t because of a lack of staff to do it. Savings are implied by switching to this concept from existing license fees, however there’s no indication of sunk costs, switching costs, or likelihood of switching from established decisions and investments.

  Competitive Edge: Implication that the new solution will be cheaper but there is no discussion of current costs vs. suggested fees, or what fees would be necessary to cover development and service costs. Not sure how to compare existing situation vs proposed situation.

  Exit Strategy: No indication of projected sales, revenues or intended goals for market share.

  Overall Investment Status: I don’t see the CEO or the team and I don’t really get the concept. It’s possible that schools may use a subscription service, but I the switching costs may be high, and they may need integration with existing systems. I don’t know the projected goal although I can guess that it’s signing up all Ontario boards. I consider this high risk and would not pursue.

• 

  Allie 11:38 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Hi Brenda,
  I think that the idea that you’re presenting in your EP is compelling, and the presentation is very beautiful. I know of the learning commons movement, but I don’t know much about it. I think that something that I’m wondering from your EP is whether there is a demand for learning commons. I imagine that most would nod approvingly at the idea, but I am wondering if school boards would buy this service when push comes to shove; are the benefits to students worth the investment?

  • 

    Allie 11:41 am on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    I hit reply too soon! And so, let me add, I think that you can strengthen your EP really quickly and easily if you can address whether schools and school boards want to move to learning commons.

• 

  Julie S 1:33 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Hi Brenda,

  I see from the comments above that you already got the message about the slides going by to fast to read so I’ll move on. I do like the first two comparison slides because they tell me exactly what your venture is going to be about. What I don’t have a sense of is what evidence there is that the learning commons is better than the traditional library from the kids perspective. I like the benefit statement of ‘one stop shopping’ and lower costs for the schools but I think a benefit statement from the kids perspective would make it a stronger sell.
  Cheers,
  Julie

  • 

    bcourey 3:39 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

    Thanks for your comments Julie – I can see that I didn’t give enough background for people outside of Ontario – because here, learning commons is huge. Most schools are finding that the traditional library in schools is not meeting the learning needs of students and so we are exploring (and many have adopted) a new model – we based a lot of our research on the Calgary Board of Education model and the Ontario Librarian Association recommendations…perhaps I should have included that in my message – bad idea to forget the background knowledge of the audience!

    Thanks again for your advice,

    Brenda

• 

  Allie 5:47 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  Venture Pitch Review
  Hi Brenda,

  After my first viewing of your pitch for Inspiration Learning Commons (ILC), I had the distinct sense how passionate you feel about the need for learning commons (LC). Your vision of the role of LC in education is pretty clear, and I felt it would fit quite nicely within the arena of political activism to increase provincial support for LC’s. For the purposes of this course, I wonder if we can tighten up its life as a prospective venture? I think that all you need is a bit of editing, and bit more detail.

  For me, there were two key pieces of information that you presented that really spoke to the possibilities for ILC as a *venture opportunity* – but these pieces felt a little buried. Maybe you can foreground them right at the beginning. One is something you mentioned in the comments: that the idea of LC is huge in Ontario, & that it is perceived within the ON education system as a real need. The other is how you describe, at around minute 3, how smaller boards in Ontario can’t afford to develop their own learning commons. They want to, but how? Enter ILC! A LC service for boards who can’t afford to develop their own!

  As for a bit more detail, I feel that, if I were an investor – or a school board thinking of purchasing the product, I would want to know these things:

  $ Why would school boards want to invest in learning commons if there is such shockingly declining support for libraries (around 1:00)? *6:09 I’m wondering what the licenses are that schools could stop using to free up $ for Inspiration? Are they well and truly expendable – or perceived as expendable?
  *Return on Investment: what precisely are the skills that students might learn in the Learning Commons, as opposed to traditional libraries, that might ultimately help them contribute to Ontario’s economy as adults? What kind of difference might this make to the future economic life of (rural?) areas whose areas cannot currently afford to develop their own LC? (1:30)?
  *Tech: Is the LC compatible with LMS? Could it be an add-on? Do the schools use LMS?
  *Exactly which resources do students access through the learning commons (2:08)? I think that some of your work here might be strengthened by showing us what some of the best resources are, and how they can be used to effectively bolster education in needed ways.

  With my best regards,
  Allie

• 

  verenanz 11:32 pm on November 30, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

  HI Brenda! I tried to get to your pitches. I am in China this week, and can’t access them. I just wanted to say that I really wanted to look them over because you have always given me such great feedback in this class. So I apologize that I can’t do the same. I will check them out next week in Canada though!!!
  Thank you for being such a terrific participant!!!!
  Verena:)