Led by Susan Amat (@SusanAmat), the LaunchPad at the University of Miami continues to pile up the events and competitions during Global Entrepreneurship Week / USA. In each of the last two years, it has held more than 20 activities during GEW--and at the time of this post, the LaunchPad had registered twenty (20) activities during GEW/USA 2011.

The centerpiece is the 2011 Elevator Pitch Contest open to entrepreneurs from all over the South Florida Community. Sponsored by the Miami Herald, the Pitch Finale--scheduled for November 15--gives seven student entrepreneurs and 13 from the community the chance to compete for more than $100,000 in prizes.

People's Choice voting is now open for the finalists.

In preparation for the competition, The Launch Pad presented five Perfect Your Pitch workshops. Hosted by Miami Dade College’s School of Business and Miami Dade College’s Meek Center, Florida International University’s Pino Entrepreneurship Center, as well as two Launch Pad locations, the Perfect Your Pitch Workshops were led by Melissa Krinzman, Senior Entrepreneurial Fellow at The Launch Pad. Krinzman has a twenty-year history of starting, growing, and advising private companies and non-profit organizations--and currently serves as the managing director of Venture Architects, LLC, and positions private companies for success in the capital-raising process through development of business plans, financial projections, and investor presentations.

Other events slated for the week of November 14-20 include:

• An Evening of Fashion: An evening of fashion entrepreneurship with South Florida's top taste makers.
• Energetic Entrepreneurs: A discussion of the newest technologies and energy solutions from Florida.
• Republica Presents 'Building Your Brand': America's top marketers to the Hispanic community discuss strategy for reaching their demographic.
• A Legal Legacy: The entrepreneurial journey of starting one of the most successful law firms.
• Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Health Care: The story of Robert Finzio, CEO of TherapeuticsMD who went from pre-med student to successful entrepreneur.
• High-Growth Florida: Florida entrepreneurs from the Inc. 500 list discuss growth, strategy and economic prowess.

For a full list of events and competitions organized by the Launch Pad, visit their profile page on this site.

About the Launch Pad

The Launch Pad started as a career guidance initiative at the University of Miami Toppel Career Center in 2008. Since then it has inspired other colleges to create similar systems to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to transform untested ideas into vital business. In fact, it has become so popular, that the Blackstone Foundation is working in partnership with the University of Miami to implement Blackstone LaunchPad, which plans to spend $50 million in a five-region expansion across America. 

tags: Launch Pad, Miami, Susan Amat