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The July NEF Forum was a lot of fun in case you missed it. Kim Gamez, from Mi Padrino, was the showcase presenter. After going through the headaches of trying to organize a Quinceanera, she knew there had to be a better way. What is a Quinceanera? It is a coming of age party for fifteen year old Hispanic girls. The parties are as large as weddings. Hispanic families request the help of their family and friends to sponsor the event. Those who sponsor are called Padrinos and are honored to be asked. The problem is the logistics of organizing everyone across different geographical regions and collecting the donations from the padrinos. Kim’s “online mobile application makes planning and paying for Hispanic celebrations easy and effective.” Consider that a typical Quinceanera can cost $20k - $25k. The Hispanic market for these and other similar events are in the billions. Mi Padrino is catching a great deal of attention.
There were three presenters for the Pitch Pit. We heard from William Becker of Rev Match which is a social platform to connect people based on their love of cars. He plans on using Face Book and attracting advertisers to fund his venture. Rick Coughlin informed us about Grove Studios which is a creative way to gather musicians, artists, and makers into a community space using renovated shipping containers as studio space. The containers are rentable and are an efficient way to handle noise and temporary office space for artists. Omari Lewis told us about his vision for Putt Tracker which is a golfer’s training tool to help them improve their putts using cameras to track motion up to 20 feet. He is working on his prototype and hopes to have it finished soon. When the judges returned, they awarded Rick Coughlin of Grove Studios as the winner of the competition. The prize was $240 and a certificate for bragging rights.
Enjoy the event photos on our Facebook page.
