The Economics Department and Entrepreneurship Seminar hosted the first “Gustie Tank” event on March 12. The event took place in the courtyard and welcomed students to pitch ideas for a business prospect.
Each group presented for approximately four minutes and the winner, Junior Jack Anderson, received an award of $50.
Business prospects pitched various ideas ranging from traditional restaurants and Apps to beauty salons and boutiques.
The winning idea pitched by Anderson was “So You Think You Can’t Dance?” Anderson proposed a five-week partner dance class after telling an embellished story about his desire to please his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day.
“What I said up there was exactly true. She really was always nagging me to dance. So I was like, well, she wants to learn how to dance, let’s learn how to dance,” Anderson said.
The main concern Anderson had with putting his plan into action was how to get people involved in teaching and attending the class.
After opening up conversation around campus, the Gustavus community became intrigued and helped Anderson organize his dance sessions.
With the support of Gusties, the first trial of Anderson’s plan will run on April 8 at the St. Peter Community Center.
“If the test run goes well, then I’ll do my classes and we can figure out a way to make it work out. It will be really fun for couples to interact with each other and it’s a new date experience. From here on out, it’s figuring out exactly what it will look like each day. There’s four days of instruction and the fifth day is a performance in Alumni Hall,” Anderson said.
In addition to Anderson’s success, other competitors agreed that the event was worthwhile.
The first “Gustie Tank,” gave students the opportunity to practice some of the skills they had been learning in the classroom.
“I think this event was very successful. It’s a great time to get your idea out there and see how people respond to it and learn how to keep the audience engaged,” Senior Amy Medearis said.
The event served to get the Gustavus community involved and interested in entrepreneurship.
Gusties have not had opportunities to engage in entrepreneurship competitions, and many students involved in the Economics Department are looking forward to bigger competitions coming up this year, welcoming anyone to come participate or watch.
“This (Gustie Tank) event was primarily to get people together and create an entrepreneurship culture. Other MIAC schools have entrepreneurship competitions and Gustavus doesn’t have one yet, but there will be one on May 9 from 3 to 7p.m. We are really excited and there’s a grand prize of $3,000 for the first place winner. It will be much more formal and there will be alumni flying in,” Junior Matthew Boyce said.
“It’s a great time to get your idea out there and see how people respond to it and learn how to keep the audience engaged.”—Amy Medearis
Another Gustie Tank event will be held after spring break similar to the original, giving students another chance to practice their speech and get comfortable talking in front of others and pitching their ideas before the big event on May 9 that will take place in Beck Atrium.
-Haley Bell