Frances Dumenci
VCU Communications and Public Relations
804-828-7701
fdumenci@vcu.edu

The Virginia Commonwealth University da Vinci Center for Innovation hosted the 2012 VCU Venture Creation Competition and winners of the inaugural campus-wide competition were announced Friday, April 27, as part of VCU Student Research Week.

The competition began earlier this semester with 40 student teams submitting executive summaries of ideas, concepts or technologies for a business venture. These teams represented 87 individuals across nine of VCU’s schools. A panel of judges evaluated the summaries and selected 12 semifinalist teams, which then submitted business plans. Following another round of judging, five finalist teams gave 20-minute presentations to the judges on Friday.

The Quinn-Tyrell Corp., comprising VCU Brandcenter students Katie Acosta, Brian Jang, Jerry Roback and Mena Xiong, won $4,000 as the first-place finisher in the competition. Their venture aims to elevate the in-home ice cream eating experience by introducing uniquely flavored ice cream cones.

Cycle Stay won $3,000 as the second-place finisher. VCU School of Business students Austin Callwood, Justin Kauszler and Joshua Newton introduced a publicly accessible bicycle rack system with integrated locking, mobile communication and security features.

Fourpoint Art was the third-place finisher winning $2,000. Led by Owen Duffy, a VCU School of the Arts graduate student, the team introduced a virtual space and Internet marketplace to help emerging artists showcase their work and connect with consumers worldwide.

Two other teams were awarded $1,000 each as finalists in the competition. Control, comprising Brandcenter students Matt Fischer, Rajikumar Kuppuswamy, Anthony DiMarco, Jacqueline Rogers and School of Medicine student Jesse Swift, introduced a software and hardware system for helping asthmatics enjoy a more normal life. Gryffindor, comprising School of the Arts students Angela Melito and Moria Pruefer, proposed a 24-hour art supply and print services store venture.

“The response to our inaugural VCU Venture Creation Competition has been very strong," said Kenneth Kahn, director of VCU’s da Vinci Center and a professor of marketing in the VCU School of Business. “It shows that there is truly an innovation and entrepreneurship spirit here in the VCU community. We aim to make the 2012 competition the first of many annual VCU Venture Creation Competitions.”

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Retiring Brandcenter director joins American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame

Tom Gresham

(804) 221-0528
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-6051
tmgresham@vcu.edu

Rick Boyko has always been an ad guy. Even when he was a kid, Boyko paid special attention to the billboards he could see from the backseat of the car. His father worked in advertising, and Boyko used to love watching him take on projects in the family’s garage.

Last week, a lifetime of devotion to that unique, offbeat world culminated in Boyko, director of the VCU Brandcenter, the university’s renowned graduate marketing communications and advertising program, reaching the pinnacle of the advertising field. Boyko was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in a ceremony in New York on March 28.

Even after decades of successes, Boyko seems surprised about his selection, wondering aloud if he truly deserves it.

“It’s something I was not expecting nor do I feel that I’ve accomplished enough to receive it,” he said.

However, Mike Hughes and others have no doubts.

“(Boyko) is a remarkably focused and determined leader who never, ever gives up,” said Hughes, president of the Martin Agency and chairman of the VCU Brandcenter Board of Directors since its founding in 1995. “His impact on the (Brandcenter) and on the industry will be felt for decades to come.”

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Come find out about the VCU Brandcenter master’s program for marketing communications. We’ll have a general info session, breakout sessions for Q&A with students in each track, tours of the building, guest speakers for attendees interested in communications strategy and brand management and portfolio reviews for attendees interested in art direction, copywriting, and creative technology.

RSVP is required as space is limited. Attendees are also encouraged to pack a lunch.

Agenda

11am        Overall Brandcenter Info Session: Katherine Keogh, Student Affairs and Communications Manager (LECTURE HALL)

11:45am    Breakout sessions for each track (Art Direction, Copywriting, Creative Technology, Communications Strategy, Creative Brand Management). Current VCU Brandcenter students will lead breakout sessions and answer questions about their tracks. (4 CLASSROOMS + LECTURE HALL)

12:30pm    Brandcenter students to give tours to the attendees

1-2:30pm  Guest Speakers: Seth Gaffney and Ben Johanneman, Strategists at Mother, New York. For current Brandcenter students and information session attendees interested in communications strategy and creative brand management  (LECTURE HALL)

1:30-4pm    Portfolio Reviews conducted by VCU Brandcenter creative faculty. For attendees interested in art direction, copywriting and creative technology only. (3RD FLOOR FACULTY OFFICES)

RSVP

RSVP to Katherine Keogh at kkeogh@vcu.edu with the following information:
        1.    Name
        2.    Track you are interested in (you can note if you’re not sure yet!)
        3.    College
        4.    Would you like to participate in the portfolio review?

Parking

Parking is $5 in the Chili’s lot at Cary and Jefferson Streets, diagonal from the VCU Brandcenter. Free street parking may also be available, but watch out for time limitations.

Questions

Contact Katherine Keogh at kkeogh@vcu.edu if you have any questions!

Rick Boyko, Director of the VCU Brandcenter and former Co-President and Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather North America, will be inducted into the AAF's 63rd Advertising Hall of Fame® on Tuesday, March 27th in New York's historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Rick will be inducted with six other honorees, including O. Burtch Drake, Former President and CEO of the 4A's, and David Kennedy, Co-Founder of Wieden+Kennedy, along with corporate inductee The Coca-Cola Company, all chosen by the Hall of Fame's distinguished Council of Judges.

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A VCU Brandcenter team led  by first year CBM, Jen Clinehens, and including first year AD, Cody Pate, first year CT, Ryan Dowling, and first year CW, Katlyn Williams bested second year teams from the Harvard Business School, the Indian School  of Business, The Tuck school at Dartmouth and UC Berkeley to win sponsor AT&T’s division of the 2011 Innovation Challenge. The team emerged from among the 186 MBA teams from around the world as one of three winners, the other two being from Wharton and the Chapman Business School in California. Final ranking of the three will be made following another round of presentations in January which will determine who gets the $25,000 grand prize and the title of "The World's Most Innovative MBA Team." All three winning teams will be ringing the bell at the NYSE in February.

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Out of 150 teams from the leading business schools in the world, three teams of first year Brandcenter students have been selected as semi-finalists in the annual Innovation Challenge MBA competition. This is more than any other school in the world.

The Innovation Challenge was sponsored by three different companies with varying objectives: AT&T, GE, and Syngenta. Student teams were given two weeks to research, prepare and submit their concept plan for the challenge they chose. Five teams for each challenge were selected as semi-finalists and given feedback from their challenge's sponsoring company.

Semi-finalists will present their revised concepts to the judges Nov. 30th-Dec. 2nd.

The winning team will be named "the most innovative MBA team in the world" and will receive $20,000; the top three teams are invited to New York to the ring the morning bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Congratulations to the three Brandcenter semi-finalist teams!

AT&T Team:
Team Leader: Jennifer Clinehens, CBM
Team Members: Cody Pate, AD; Katlyn Williams, CW; Ryan Dowling, CT

GE Team:
Team Leader: Hunter Pechin, CBM
Team Members: Chelsea Garber, CT; Amy Ruiz, CW

Syngenta Team:
Team Leader: Katy Nash, CBM
Team Members: Lisa Guadagni, CS; Cory Bowles, AD; Jon Robbins, AD

 

<See Full List of Semi-Finalists  

 

Mike Karnjanaprakorn, who graduated from the VCU Adcenter's media planning track in 2006, is one of 25 innovators from around the globe selected for the 2012 class of TED Fellows. The TED Fellows program brings outstanding individuals who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage and moral imagination into the TED community in order to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.  

 

Mike is Co-founder of Skillshare, a community marketplace to learn anything from anyone, leading to the democratization of teaching.  

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Check out the VCU Brandcenter Summer 2011 Alumni Newsletter!

 Download PDF: Summer 2011.pdf

VCU Brandcenter Director Rick Boyko is one of the advertising leaders interviewed by Brandcenter alum William Burks Spencer in his new book "Breaking In: Over 100 Advertising Insiders Reveal How to Build a Portfolio That Will Get You Hired."

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

RB: What I have always looked for in any book are consistent conceptual and strategic solutions to legitimate business problems. No longer can books be filled with fun, little, easy-to-do, local-business print executions. We challenge Brandcenter students to take on real brands with difficult problems as assignments. Then they have to build out communications across whatever mediums best come in contact with the target, which in almost all cases include or begin with a digital, social component. Any book that does not demonstrate the ability to think about real brands strategically across multiple mediums will most likely not even get a viewing by most agencies today. 

WS: How important is finish? If ideas are the most important thing, can sketches be enough? Do you look at actual books anymore, or is it all websites?

RB: Execution is still very important because craft still matters. You have to be able to demonstrate that you are not just someone who can think strategically and conceptually but you can also execute. So, while ideas are king, being able to bring them to life is just as important. While most books today are first viewed on a website, I still believe having a tangible one is valuable to bring the thinking to life and helpful in judging craft.

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Four graduates and two faculty members of the VCU Brandcenter were recognized today for their contributions to an innovative crime prevention advertising campaign.

Former Brandcenter students Adam Wiese, Jarrod Higgins, Christopher Trumbull and Vijay Patil, along with faculty members Kelly O'Keefe and Wayne Gibson, were honored during the Richmond Police Department's Salute to Excellence Awards ceremony for their work toward Richmond Crime Sweep, a collaborative marketing campaign aimed at preventing violent crimes in the Richmond area.

"The idea that our students can use their talents, not only to promote a brand, but to also stop a bullet, is something we try to get across in our teaching at the Brandcenter," said Kelly O'Keefe, professor of brand strategy in the VCU Brandcenter, and faculty supervisor of the Richmond Crime Sweep project.

Some view marketing as a tool that is as effective as a gun in crime prevention, so various law enforcement agencies looked to the Brandcenter for brand development and violent crime reduction promotions. O'Keefe was approached by members of several agencies for help with the project, and a team of four student volunteers was formed.

The goal of the campaign was to influence criminals and would-be-criminals to participate in less crime because of fear of law enforcement, which proved to be challenging for many reasons, including a limited budget, and an unusual target audience - criminals. In order to gain more insight into their audience, the team spent a great deal of time researching crime and reading reports provided from various police departments. They interviewed a criminal psychologist to assess the mindset of a criminal, and even went on ride-alongs with local police.

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