Join The Launch Pad at Toppel for the 2010 Elevator Pitch Contest sponsored by The Miami Herald.

An elevator pitch is a brief overview of a company, product, service or project, delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (less than 90 seconds). All South Florida entrepreneurs with existing for-profit businesses are invited to participate in the contest. Entry is free. Winners will be awarded with generous prize packages, as this competition is designed to boost companies to the next level. Preliminary rounds for the contest start the week of October 25 at 7 p.m. at a location still to be determined.

The Launch Pad will conduct Perfect Your Pitch workshops designed to prepare entrepreneurs for the Elevator Pitch contest. The workshops will be two hours, including a 30- to 45-minute presentation, a break-out session for the participants to work in small groups, followed by practice and feedback.

The workshops will be lead by Melissa Krinzman, senior entrepreneurial fellow, who has a 20-year history of starting, growing, and advising private companies and nonprofit organizations and is a frequent speaker on the topic of business plan development. Krinzman is the managing director of Venture Architects LLC, and positions private companies for success in the capital-raising process through the development of business plans, financial projections, and investor presentations. Since 1998, Venture Architects has worked with more than 500 companies that have raised approximately $750 million in investment capital.

Workshops are free to all students, alumni, and community members interested in competing in the contest, or to those who just want to perfect their pitch. Workshops will be held as follows:

• Thursday, September 30 at 8:30 a.m. at Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, 1601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, (located inside the Hilton Miami Downtown)
• Thursday, September 30 at 12 p.m. at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus, Hurricane 100 Room at BankUnited Center.
• Friday, October 1 at 8:30 a.m. at Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, third-floor boardroom, 1920 Meridian Ave, Miami Beach.
• Saturday, October 2 at 2 p.m. at Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, 512 NE 3rd Ave, Fort Lauderdale.

Breakfast or lunch will be provided at all workshops. Pre-registration is complimentary and required. Please visit the events calendar at http://www.thelaunchpad.org/events for more information and to reserve your space, or email [email protected].