“It’s a Saturday night, and you get to come to this event to hear what your peers are doing on campus. Let the projects challenge you in different ways. The projects themselves might have nothing to do with what you do on a daily basis, but they can challenge everything you do on a daily basis and give you creative ways to approach that. Come see what students are doing and let that challenge your marketing for your fraternity or sorority, let that challenge you in a classroom or in an interview,” says Shelton.

“You have to approach the competition with a willingness to ask questions. You have to be willing to ask your peers hard questions and see how that relates to you and how that is going to help you get where you’re going” says Boeh.

Besides being an opportunity to learn from peers, the competition is an opportunity for students to network as well. “I would say that is one of the really exciting parts about this event. It feels professional and also very fun. It feels light hearted, but it also feels like you are in New York. You are hearing these students talk about these really cool things, which allows for an atmosphere for discussion.

There is also a bulk of professionals at the event, so you get the opportunity during the dinner to walk around and meet with them and speak with them,” says Shelton.

The New York atmosphere has been an artistic vision for the event since the first competition.

The venue at Phase V gives the Impact and Launch Competition an industrial and modern feel, which Shelton and Boeh believe is an incredible location to achieve their desired atmosphere. They explain that part of the atmosphere this year will be inspired by student projects.

“The venue matches the projects. We play around with different layouts, food, the structure of the program and event works. The projects inspire the venue atmosphere. The programs and crews that help us set-up the event read the projects and look at pictures from the past and try to match that,” Shelton explains.

Ten of the projects will be competing for cash prizes on the event stage, pitching their projects to judges. Five of those will be from the Impact program and five will be from Launch. The competition will display all of the students’ projects, however, in an expo format. For Boeh, this is the most exciting part of the competition.

“The most exciting part is that everybody gets to showcase their idea. Even if you’re not a finalist you still get time to showcase your idea. A student attending the Impact and Launch Competition may run into a friend and learn about their project that you never knew they were doing. At most colleges the focus would only be on the 10 finalist we focus on every student. And we have even more students involved this year—more of the general student body are participating,” says Boeh.

Senior Kathryn Tacy remembers this being an exciting part of attending the competition.

“I love how the competition both raises awareness and gets the Wofford community involved in all of the exciting new organizations students are starting,” says Currin. “It is interesting to watch how many of the student programs and businesses have grown from freshman year until now.”

The Impact and Launch Competition will take place at the Michael S. Brown Village Center. The schedule includes Impact Pitches from 5 – 6:30, dinner and expo from 6:30 – 7:45, Launch Pitches from 7:45 -9:15, and an after party and dessert reception from 9:15 – 11. The winners will be announced at 9:45. Those attending the event may register for raffle prizes at each expo station to win prizes at the competition. If you are planning to attend, you will need to register online at wofford.edu/impactLaunchComp/register.aspx.