If you have a great business idea and plan to join Black Enterprise at the 2014 African American Festival in Baltimore on the weekend of June 21-22, here’s your chance to get the feedback you need to make your concept a reality: The Black Enterprise Best Pitch Contest.
The Best Pitch Contest, set to take place in the Pepsi Pavilion at the African American Festival on Saturday, June 21, is an opportunity for inventors and aspiring moguls to
“swim with the sharks” and pitch their business idea before a panel of judges and a live audience, for a chance to win valuable prizes and business resources. The top prize: Complimentary registration and hotel for the winner and a guest at the 2015 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. Additional prizes will also be awarded to other Best Pitch Contest finalists.Contestants for the B.E. Best Pitch Contest will be selected from those who plan to attend the African
American Festival, and who post Instagram videos of their business idea with the hash tag #BEBestPitch, along with an email address where they can be contacted if selected to compete at the live pitch event on Saturday, June 21, at the festival. The deadline for posting the videos on Instagram is Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. EST.The Best Pitch Contest is also an opportunity to present ideas to a nationally renown panel of angel investors and business experts, including Rodney Sampson
, author of Kingonomics, founder of Opportunity HUB and the head of diversity and inclusion for the popular business reality show “Shark Tank.” Black Enterprise SVP/Chief Content Officer Alfred Edmond Jr.; Sharon R. Pinder, director of minority and women business development for the Baltimore Mayor’s Office; and early-stage venture investor and serial entrepreneur Lauren Maillian Bias, author of The Path Redefined, will also judge the contest at the festival.The 2014 African American Festival will take place on Saturday, June 21, 2014, 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 22, 2014, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Camden Yards Sports & Entertainment Complex. The festival, which features a wide range of family activities along with live music performances, including from headliners Brandy and Mint Condition, is produced by GreiBO Entertainment on behalf of the City of Baltimore, with Black Enterprise as presenting sponsor and Pepsi as a platinum sponsor.