Marketing Bootcamp & The Innovation Challenge
By Zachary Milligan
It was not long ago that I was one of those bright eyed students,finally getting to dive into their major. However, when I did the Innovation Challenge we did not have The Innovation Hub, where the later students would have. While there were many locations in the school well suited to lectures, meetings, conferences and most any other function you could think of a college needing. What we did not however have was a large activity space to spread out and be creative. This is where the Innovation Hub comes in to add value to SLC.
The Innovation Hub was designed for activities that involve a high degree of active participation, making experiential learning techniques, such as those used by the Marketing Program, really shine. In addition to the large main space furnished with three smart boards and multitude of school and crafts supplies, there are three smaller adjoining rooms for breakout activities and large meetings, and the ever present staff whose job it is to lend a hand in anyway to keep guests happy and events running properly. The spaces follow a set of values that focus on collaboration, creativity, social impact, and critical thinking amongst students. This alone makes the Innovation Hub the perfect space for hosting The Innovation Challenge.
The Innovation Challenge is facilitated by Pam Bovey Armstrong, Kathleen Wright, and Polina Buchan, our wonderful marketing faculty at the college. In it, the students are presented a large used tire at the front of the room and are informed of the strain on society and the environment that the massive amount of used tires around the world causes. Their job is to form groups to come up with a product that is a derivative of recycled tires. It doesn’t end there though, once the ideation phase is complete the students then gather in front of a panel of judges comprised of faculty, business people from the community, and former students to present their product. Winners are chosen, trophies are handed out, but in the end everyone gets practical entrepreneurial and sales experience on day one of classes. And doesn’t that make all of us winners.
The Innovation Hub isn’t only beneficial to marketing students however, providing various services to the school and community. It was designed with a purpose in mind that is transferable across all programs. Any faculty member from any program has the right to book the space so long as they can relate the activities facilitated to the Innovation Hubs values of creativity, critical thinking, reflection, collaboration, and social impact. With these far reaching values no matter what field of study someone finds themselves in, they will surely be able to take advantage of the Innovation Hub.
Looking out on these new students, I feel comfort in the knowledge that they will never be at a loss for space in their education. I can rest assured that now every program has a space to get