The pressure is on at RIT-48
News Date:
March 23, 2012
Posted at: 03/23/2012 11:16 PM | Updated at: 03/23/2012 11:31 PM
By: Amanda Ciavarri | WHEC.com
The countdown is on... RIT-48 has begun.
Students that compete have until Sunday to pitch a plan and launch a website or mobile app. 20 teams are competing for more than $2,000 in prizes. The crazy part is that they're doing in 48 hours what takes some businesses years.
"There is not a lot of time, they are still in school and they just have to work as hard as they can. The advantage of doing this is that they can find out if something is gonna work before they go out into the real world," says RIT-48 lead Matt Gardner.
Here's what some of them have come up with so far:
Team Zwapple's idea is to create a website and app that allows people to barter. The team says forget the cash, with their website, you'll get better results by simply doing what you're good at.
"If you have something that you can do- if you are a really good artist, if you are a mechanic, if you are an accountant- you have a lot of skills to offer. But there are often things that you need done for you," says team member Nikko Schaff. "If you are going to say build a website for a mechanic, who can fix your car in exchange, aren't you going to put a little more effort into it?"
Another team is working on a website called "A Cool Game a Day."
"Each day users come on, share the game with their friends, compete with each other on leader boards and really just discover a lot of new fun games," says RIT junior Chris Burton.
They're two very different ideas, but for both teams the clock is ticking.
"I love it. I love this little simulation of a business in just a very short period of time," says Schaff.
Chris Burton agrees. "It's kinda fun. The time constraint is tricky, but that's what makes it exciting."
The ideas created with RIT-48 don't stop this weekend. The students say even if they don't win, they plan on developing their ideas and honing them into successful businesses.
The winners will be announced around 2:30 on Sunday. It's open to the public.