Team TRU put on a fun, exciting, Race to a Million half time event, held at the Commodore Grand Cafe and Lounge. Trent Hardaker, Bernie Warren and Lisa Ottenbreit gave us a few words on planning the half time show as well as the overall outcome of the event. Check it out in the link below!!

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Michael Koehn, a member of Team Genie, teaches us a simple way to reduce your stress level at work. The BC Association of Clinical Counselors and Sahali Center Mall paired together with Michael to do a public education seminar. Monitoring your heart rate and nervous system is one subject he spoke about. If you want to learn more check out this video!

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Every new product needs to be tested for durability, functionality, and design; these are just a few things among many. Bernie Warren, a race participant on Team TRU, brought an idea on a new way to crowd test new mobile applications. Thanks for the submission Bernie, and of course we’ll be sending your t-shirt to you and entering you into the BIG DRAW at the end of the race in July, good luck Bernie!!!

Idea Title:
Meta-App to Crowd-Test Mobile Apps

From:
Bernie Warren, Kamloops BC

Idea Summary:
A Meta-App

A mobile application to test the usability and functionality of potential mobile apps.

One of the great difficulties in developing a mobile app is how are the various users going to use the app and how good is the user interface.

This meta-app would deliver the prototype application to a wide audience which could be delineated on demo or pysco graphics, depending on the need.

The meta-app envelope would track usage keystrokes, time spent etc. After a certain period of use a survey would initiated and the opinion of the user would be captured and emailed to the app developer.

Idea Description:
For using the meta app for a period of time and once the user answered the survey then the user would then be rewarded by owning the app permanently and perhaps have their name put in credits of the program.

This type of “crowd testing” could be very effective and could be even set up to provide ongoing feedback for optional upgrades etc.

Message:
An automated and more cost efficient Mob4Hire
http://www.mob4hire.com/

SPECIAL MESSAGE:
Do you have an idea that you think could make money? Submit your money-making ideas using the form located here.  If any of the teams use your idea or if we publish your idea to our website we’ll give you credit, automatically send you a cool Race To A Million T-Shirt AND enter you for a chance to win your choice of either…

1. A Trip for 2 with all expenses paid to Kamloops, BC, Canada for the season finale;  or
2. $10,000 … That’s ONE MILLION cents in exchange for your 2 cents … A great return on investment that makes cents … as well as sense! (Don’t worry we won’t pay out in pennies… we promise.)

Pete & Dean

Dr. Hafiz Rahman, the Associate Dean of the TRU School of Business & Economics joins in the studio to lend us some of his knowledge. Additionally we shine the spotlight on them to recognize their recent sponsorship of our event The Art of Doing Business Series.

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For episode 17 we talked to all the student participants in the Race to a Million and had a chance to get some insight on what it’s like competing in a business competition with little business experience, against those who have been doing business for much longer. Check it out and give us the thumbs up!!!

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Once again we are reminded that Kamloops is full of creative entrepreneurs and incredible talent.  Choosing the finalists for the Fast Pitch Competition at Aberdeen Mall for this coming weekend has not been as easy as we had anticipated.

There have been many great submissions but we have finally come to our top eight who will be pitching their creative business ideas and start-up businesses on Saturday to our expert panel of judges.

1. Kids Coffee & Tea Company – Team Genie from Race to a Million will be pitching their long awaited business model which supports children’s charities including the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Kids Coffee and Tea Company plan on measuring their success by the health and wellness of local children in the community. They maintain that every aspect of their operation from their suppliers, to their roasters, to their customers will be approached with a goal of supporting kids’ programs and enrichment opportunities in a sustainable and effective way. With an exciting distribution program already underway and plans for future retail outlets and franchises, Kids Coffee and Tea Company aim to be so much more than a great cup of coffee.
2. Agile Schedule – Jarrod Goddard from Net Shift Media will be pitching his web-based personal scheduling system that solves the problem of checking multiple calendar sources for your own calendar of activities. Personal schedules, work schedules and school schedules are all combined into a single calendar system to save time and frustration for users, business owners, and schools. Agile Schedule will combine a unique approach to serving the business community, post secondary schools, and individuals while integrating social media and communications tools with this unique approach that Jarrod believes is poised to become a prominent personal scheduling system and a single definitive source for managing our daily lives.
3. HeatPads.ca – Team Alpha from Race to A Million will pitch their latest business idea for reusable heat pads.   Team Alpha’s Heat Pads are reusable self-powered heating devices.  Popular uses for the pads include warming your hands, soothing tense muscles, and a variety of other applications. Team Alpha believes they have developed a business model capable of providing significant return on investment. Team Alpha plans to sell the business for what they believe is a low cost opportunity to have a great money-making small business.
4. The Ripcharger Supercharger - Dennis Smith will present the world’s first commercially available super-charger for 2 stroke engines. Starting with the snowmobile market and expanding into other power sports markets, the Ripcharger Supercharger provides more power, better handling and increased fuel efficiency. Dennis and his business partners at Ripcharger have been getting a lot of practice pitching with their recent entry into the New Ventures BC Competitions so get ready to see a rip roaring presentation as they set their sites on impressing our great judges.
5. Spark Your Imagination Story Starters – Tamara Vukusic will pitch her collection of 52 scenarios to kick-start imagination, encourage problem-solving and get families talking. Only recently launched, in December, Spark Story Starters are already being retailed across Canada as both a deck of cards and an App available for iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Android devices. Spark Your Imagination Story Starters inspire kids to think beyond the boundaries of what is. Tamara says “The future needs our creative kids. Get your kids to think outside the box with Spark Story Starters and empower them to hone an increasingly valuable skill.”
6. Cell Pods – Matthew Muzzillo will unveil and pitch his rapid charging “vending” machine for providing a quick charge to mobile and hand held devices. This technology will service people in public locations who are on-the-go. Matthew says “Let’s face it, cellphone demand and usage is on the rise each and every single day. Keeping in touch with friends and family, surfing the internet and snapping pictures can take a lot out of your battery. On-the-go is when you need access to your cellphone the most, so don’t get stuck without power. Utilize a CELLPODS Rapid Charging Machine to ensure that you’ll always have power.”
7. Wild West Adventure Vacations – Larry Foss will pitch an adventure vacation package he claims to be the only package like it in North America. 6 Days and 6 nights of adventure, visiting historic ranches in the interior of BC. Amongst the unique memories created for a lifetime vacationers will experience robbing a stage coach and a train and they will take a DVD recording of their adventure to share with friends and family. Larry plans on serving 108 clients from late June to early September with 5 days of “old west” combined with one day of “new west”.
8. ShareMy360.com – Jason Wassing from Greater Than Technology will pitch to our esteemed judges (and unveil to the public for the very first time) a new software platform which has been in development for almost 2 years. Nearing completion this new web based virtual tour online platform will provide an easy and unique way of marketing businesses and sharing information with the world through social media. Jason says there is already significant demand from many sectors including real estate, hospitality tourism, retail marketing, education, and manufacturing.

Tickets for the Fast Pitch Business Competition and more information can be found at http://www.racetoamillion.ca/events

Episode 18 of the Race to a Million is dedicated to Marc Pouliot and his parents Melanie and Leo. Their message of inspiration and hope inspires us even more to continue our message that businesses should not only focus on making money but also on making a difference for it’s there that we find more passion and reason for life. In business we sometimes say “Seize the day!” but Marc would have us “Squeeze The Day” instead … Squeeze every ounce of awesome out of it that you can get! Thank you Marc.

http://www.racetoamillion.ca/sponsors/full-shows-on-shaw-tv/

Episode 17 of the Race to a Million can now be viewed on the website.  This week we have a TRU theme to the Race.  We take a look at what’s happening with the teams, what it’s like to be a student and a participant in the Race, the Associate Dean of the School of Business and Economics joins us in the study to talk about sponsoring the upcoming Art of Doing Business Series, and we head up to TRU for International Days and speak with TRU World about their marketing efforts to International students.

http://www.racetoamillion.ca/sponsors/full-shows-on-shaw-tv/

Team Alpha started off the month on Team TRU’s tail at a total of $2382.78 but with their expenses so far has fallen back to a new total of $1141.22.

• $ 2382.78 Total at the beginning of February
• + $446.43 Adding a sponsorship for their website from Cathy Morgan
• - $740.00 For refund on the sale of the car
• + $ 75.00 From the auto wreckers for the car
• - $22.99 For Domain Name registrations
• - $1,000 Deposit on heat pad hand warmers

Learn more about the bright and beautiful Jennifer O’Donnell,  a new member to Team Matrix! Dean had a chance to sit down with her to learn about the latest events and happenings in the life of Jennifer O’Donnell. More than that we introduce you to her business, Design off the Block. Find out more about our participants in previous and upcoming segments of Participant Spotlight!!

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Follow the latest strategy’s, get up to speed and stay on top of all the hard core business action that these teams have been doing as we take you on the ground and follow two business meetings to show you the leg work these three teams have been doing. Which team is leading the pack? Find out in this Race update!!!

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For this Participant Spotlight we brought in Mike Harrison from Team Alpha!!  In this  video he tells us the top 3 things you should know before purchasing your home! Mike Harrison lends his advice on his years of experience in real estate. Check out this video and find out more about how to contact him if you need help!!!

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Episode 13 is now airing …

This episode is running on Shaw TV on the following dates: Thursday January, 20th at 8PM, Saturday, January 22nd at 5PM and Sunday, January 23rd at 5PM (Moved from 3PM)

If you can’t catch it on Shaw TV in the local Kamloops market you can check out the entire episode here on this website through our Vimeo channel in full HD by following the link at the end of this post!

In this episode:

1. BIZ APPS:  Great applications for mobile smart phones and devices. Dean and Peter do battle to see who has the better application. Who do you think better this week? We’d love to hear from you. Vote for your favorite in the comments section of this post!
2. BIG IDEAS:  Bryan Wickham from Dragon’s Decorative Concrete joins us in the studio for a segment we like to call BIG IDEAS. Where we talk about one of his former inventions called the Umbrachipin… A Golf Umbrella that doubles as a putting and chipping practice tool.
3. PARTICIPANT SPOTLIGHT:  Local Realtor, Mike Harrison, from Team Alpha joins us in the studio for a participant spotlight.
4. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT:  We head up to Aberdeen Mall and interview Trish Baldwin to talk about the mall, its connections to the community, and why they became a Race to a Million sponsor.
5. RACE UPDATE:  We tune into to watch Team Genie, Team Alpha and Team TRU with a race update. Team Genie works on their marketing for the Kids Coffee and Tea Company while Team Alpha and Team TRU team up to “pitch” the Kamloops SPCA on a great business idea which can also help the BCSPCA with a great fund-raising program.

Check it all out at the following page:

http://www.racetoamillion.ca/sponsors/full-shows-on-shaw-tv/

Get the full Race Update from Episode 8 here!!!!! Team Alpha talks about three different investment strategies… From Team Nexus is Professor Investor who promotes healing with the top five products on www.dealsvm.com… Matrix and their new website along with the distribution of Vatahealth… We went up to TRU to get an update from Bernie Warren and Usman Vahidy for Team TRU… and lastly Team Genie’s Michael Koehn came into the studio to talk about Kids Coffee and Tea Company!

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Get ready for some exciting race updates from Team Alpha!!! Matt Oginski brings us up to speed on the new strategy with the TRU Wolfpack Hockey mosaic campaign in episode 6. Then in episode 7 Jason Wassing and Matt Oginski unleash the the Kraft Dinner noodle contest!!! Lastly in Episode 8 we will update you on three of Alpha’s projects.

Episode 8

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Episode 7 Kraft Dinner Contest

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Episode 6 Wolfpack Hockey

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