There were three judges to give their feedback after each presentation American Idol style (there was no Simon thankfully).  Followed up by a voting session, where the people in attendance chose the winner.

And the first winner… Eric McCarty for FellowTip.  Yeah that guy who locked himself in his garage for 9 days in July.

Keep checking www.willthisfloat.com for details on upcoming events… so get those ideas ready.

Congratulations to all the companies and folks that won and participated in tonight’s get together in Knoxville. This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week UnleashingIdeas.org along with WillThisFloat.com.

First Annual Knoxville Overground Awards
In conjunction with KO/EOK Entrepreneurial Lollapooloza 2008
and Global Entrepreneurship Week

Rules:

1. All nominees must reside at least 30 miles from downtown Knoxville.
2. All businesses must adopt a “triple-bottom line” philosophy – meaning they a) are profitable, b) endeavor to not have an adverse impact on the environment, and 3) seek to improve the quality of life for people.
3. Nominations must be received through knoxvilleoverground@gmail.com before November 10, 2008.
4. Individuals cannot nominate themselves or a company they own.

Award Descriptions:

PINK Excellence in Entrepreneurship for Women Award
This award is given to a female entrepreneurial executive that best exemplifies the values of KO such as building community, public service, and demonstrating innovation in business leadership.

PINK WINNER: April Cox, President and Cofounder of Efficience for http://www.flockgps.com

GREEN Successful Green Startup Award
What company in Knoxville was one of the early adopters to the emerging green industry boom that has already experienced tremendous success?

GREEN WINNER: James “Vig” Sherrill, President and CEO of Aldis; http://www.aldiscorp.com.

WHITE Model Nonprofit Entrepreneur Award
Nonprofits and grassroots organizations bear the same degree of challenges as for-profit ventures. This award is given to an individual who has over the past three years started up either a nonprofit or a grassroots organization from scratch that benefits the community in an innovative way that was only possible with the entrepreneurial spirit of its visionary.

WHITE WINNER: Monika Miller, Community Organizer for Green Drinks; http://www.greendrinks.org.

RED Power to the Persistent Award
Entrepreneurs are known for their drive and determination. By the time most people would have given up, these “bulldogs” are just getting started and never give up on their vision. This honor is given to the individual who has overcome what seemed to be insurmountable odds but yet still came out on top.

RED WINNER: Gavin Baker, CEO of http://www.abunga.com.

BLUE Best Patent of 2008 Award
Inventors are abundance around Knoxville. What’s been the most exciting patent to be filed in 2008 in Knoxville and by whom?

BLUE WINNER: Chris Clark, Nexnet Corporation; http://GetThePearl.com

BLACK Elevating Intrapreneurship Award
Being your own boss isn’t the only way to get involved with a successful venture. Several corporations now of days have to stay on the cutting edge of their learning curve as they continuously explore new emerging markets and develop new brands and products to meet those demands within their organization. Who is the a model entrepreneurial employee, or a model team of a company that helps their company position itself for embracing change?

BLACK WINNER: Scripps Networks, http://www.scripps.com & Chad Parizman (to receive the award on behalf of the team at Scripps)

ORANGE Inspiring Website Startup Award
It’s never been a better time to startup a website business now that after the dot com boom we have plethora of case studies regarding what works and what doesn’t. What’s a Web site startup in town, either established or in development, that inspires us with its design, marketing, and the value it provides us?

ORANGE WINNER: Will Overstreet, Founder & CEO of Voices Heard Media; http://www.voicesheardmedia.com/

BROWN Minority in Entrepreneurship Award
Nominate a minority that you know of that our community regards as a recent and successful entrepreneur.

BROWN WINNER: Santiago Ramirez and Stephanie Ramirez, founders of Copal Creative Communications; http://www.copacreative.com.

YELLOW Community Organizer for Innovative Collaboration Award
Which organization or individual in the community is one of the highest regarded for bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and visionaries together to discuss emerging markets, business, and entrepreneurship?

YELLOW WINNER: Leonoard Knight, Founder of Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EOK); http://www.eokhq.com

SILVER Overground Platinum Award
Which tech company / person has done more to help put Knoxville on the map as a “up and coming” entrepreneurial hub for tech startups and small business do to national and possibly international media recognition?

SILVER WINNER: Patrick Hunt, CEO of Tingz; http://www.tingz.net

GOLD Overground Gold Award
Like King Midas, as if they all touch turns into gold, this award is given to a startup in the Knoxville / Oak Ridge region that started with relatively little to no capital investment upfront at their birth and yet is now earning a substantial return.

GOLD WINNER: Spruz; http://www.spruz.com

PURPLE Best in Biotech Award
What’s the biotech company that seemed to hit the ground running and provides an innovative solution in the market with room for rampant scalability?

PURPLE WINNER: Dr. Edward Sobek & Assured Biotechnology Corporation; http://www.assuredbio.com

TEAL Medical Device Startup Award
What’s the top startup in 2008 that demonstrated creativity, caring, and business savvy with a technological development in the medical industry?

TEAL WINNER: Joseph L. Ortiz & 4D Medical Systems Inc.

Find out more at KnoxvilleOverground.com

Will This Float?

Next Thursday the 1st ever Will This Float? business idea pitch competition will be happening at the Carnegie in Johnson City.  Come on out and have your vote counted!  There will be food, a cash bar, and plenty of time to mingle and brainstorm with other idea people from all around the region.

The first two people to direct message @geeksouth on Twitter get a free ticket to the event.  Congrats to @carrie37601 and @stephenhendrix for picking up the free tickets!

Be sure to check out www.willthisfloat.com for all the details.

Turns out there were other groups in our area planning some of the same things… so we combined forces to create Will This Float?

The event will take place November 20, 2008 at the Carnegie Hotel.  October 10th is the deadline to submit your idea.  Check out www.willthisfloat.com for all the details about the location, the date, and tickets to the event.  And pass it on to everyone you know.  We’d love to get ideas from all over eastern Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and western North Carolina.