Thanks for a great evening last night!
David Parker
“It takes a village!”
If you’re receiving this email, you helped us put together and run a terrific event last night in Lawrence. Thank you so much for being a key part of the “village” of the Merrimack Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem that led to a great pitch contest – we can see the momentum building! Over 100 attendees, 47 applicants, at least 25 entrepreneurs (aspiring and underway) in the audience – the numbers continue to grow from pitch contest to pitch contest.
What I was most pleased with last night was how engaged the crowd was – there seemed to be conversations happening everywhere, with few people left alone. While the pitch contests are exciting because of the competition among the presenters, we also want to recognize and help as many aspiring entrepreneurs as we can – so they can get encouragement, feedback, advice, and contacts.
I suspect our wonderful judges – Nathan, Anita, Adam, Jean, and Frank – were set upon by many in the crowd! Thanks for doing a great job deciding on the winners and as well for your time and enthusiasm you put into the networking. And John Howard, thanks for helping the judges throughout the evening.
Once again, our sponsors were terrific at not only funding the prizes but also for their volunteers. Both MFA and Enterprise brought terrific staff who helped to make everything run smoothly.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who read the 47 applications – an often overlooked task that is super important. In case you don’t know, we have each application read by at least three people – so it takes many dedicated people to get this done, and we get it done well. (All you readers: Get ready for the next batch coming soon!)
Finally, a great big thank you to the Sandbox staff, all of whom pitched in to help: Todd, Janin, Vlad, Max, and especially Emil (who logged incredible hours making sure our numbers of applicants and attendees were high) and Lianna (who was in charge of all the programming/volunteers/scheduling, plus being the co-MC).
So again, thanks for being a key part of the Sandbox – we’re all tied to one another, no matter where we work/live, or what our jobs are – we are united in our desire to encourage and grow entrepreneurship in Lawrence and Lowell and throughout the Merrimack Valley.
Hope to see you again soon!
David
David Parker
Co-Executive Director
Director of Entrepreneur Development
Merrimack Valley Sandbox
Merrimack Valley Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UMass Lowell
Wannalancit Mills, First Floor
600 Suffolk Street, Lowell, MA 01854
Da...@MerrimackValleySandbox.org
MerrimackValleySandbox.org
office: 978-934-6619
cell: 781-325-3085
Park, Theresa
It all sounds great. Congrats to the team!