Three selected finalists rose to the occasion of Squamish's first Eagle's Den contest on Thursday (Sept. 22) at the Squamish Adventure Centre, with heartfelt and creative presentations imbued with community spirit. In the end, the Howe Sound Women's Centre (HSWC) won over the three-person judging panel and secured the honour of becoming the featured project of Inside Edge's 2011 Innovation Challenge.
"We feel great, very excited and honoured to be the first winners in this ongoing competition," said HSWC director Sheila Allen. Allen, along with Kate Harvey and Tessa McLoughlin, spoke on behalf of the HSWC and gave a moving presentation about the local demand for support services offered by the centre to help victims of domestic violence.
Their proposal outlined an online auction website as the next step in the expansion of Pearls 2nds, the centre's thrift store on Cleveland Ave. in downtown Squamish that raises money for HSWC programming to help the women and children of the Sea to Sky Corridor.
A local knowledge-based industry group, Inside Edge, issued an "Innovation Challenge" in June to non-profit groups in the Sea to Sky to come up with an idea for a project that Inside Edge members would contribute through one weekend's worth of output.
Viable applications had to be innovative and as well as provide benefit to the community. Out of seven serious applications by notable community groups including Squamish FM and the Squamish Trails Society, three finalists were chosen, Inside Edge director David Olsson told the audience that assembled to witness the first-ever Squamish version of the popular CBC television show Dragon's Den.
The Squamish Writer's Group, Discovery Farm (formerly known as the Squamish CAN farm) and the HSWC vied for the judges' votes with 10-minute long presentations that were as entertaining as they were meaningful.
In the five-minute question-and-answer periods after each presentation, the judging panel, comprised of Coun. Patricia Heintzman, start-up Tiipz CEO Jason Cyr and software consultant Chris Pettingill, was asked to determine whether each finalist met all five criteria of creative merit, community benefit, eligibility of application, feasibility and long-term viability.
Hoping to secure Inside Edge's help in developing an online collection of stories, photos, videos and sound bytes that would serve as an interactive resource for the entire community, nine members of the Squamish Writers' Group took over the stage with a chorus of storytelling and personal accounts of stories as an integral part of community building.
Next, Discovery Farm manager Katie Pease delivered a sophisticated proposal for creating a web platform for the farm that would serve as an important building block in creating a sustainable food system in the Sea to Sky Corridor, one that would incorporate features such as online ordering, blogging, a community page, calendars and more.
"All three presentations were absolutely spectacular," Heintzman said.
Before announcing the winner, audience members with mobile devices were encouraged to participate in a popular vote using the Tiipz application. The HSWC came out on top at 63 per cent. The Squamish Writers' Group and Discovery Farm tied for second place at nine per cent, respectively.
"I think this has opportunity to become even a bigger event in our community," Cyr said.
