Post by Julie Lopez
This past Friday, Freewheeling Craft and Makerspace North teamed up and hosted the first ever Pitch Party for local, modern makers.
The premise of this Pitch Party was for eight makers of the Ottawa area to pitch their businesses within three minutes. Based on the cumulative scores from the five judges, the winning entrepreneur was awarded a sweet prize pack that was carefully curated to take their business to the next level.
Opening the evening and welcoming the attendees were Makerspace North Director Sheri Chiprout and Amanda Cockburn, founder of Freewheeling Craft. Sheri said that their motivation for creating this event was “combining community, entrepreneurship and celebration,” and that was a feeling that reverberated amongst the group on Friday.
Over a two hour span there were twelve entrepreneurs that pitched eight awesome ideas, making me thankful to not to be in the position of choosing just one winner.
The two pitches that stood out most for the judges also embodied the values that Sheri spoke of earlier in the evening, and were those of Sarah Jaynes for Mississippi North, and Adam Wilk for Northbound Notebooks.
Mississippi North, created and powered by the incredibly gifted Sarah Jaynes, was this Pitch Party’s runner-up. Her paintings put the focus on the wildlife she sees on her daily commute, and at her cabin along the Mississippi. Beautiful and raw, her paintings make us take a moment to appreciate the animals with whom we share our world, and to stare truth in the eyes of donkeys, pigs and raccoons.
Taking home the top prize, and now the first ever Pitch Party winner, was Northbound Notebooks, designed and made by Adam Wilk.
Northbound Notebooks are everything one would want from their notebook – quality binding, simple design, and high grade, refillable paper – this all-star feature line-up makes this the perfect option for creatives of all types, but it wasn’t only those that brought it home for Northbound Notebooks.
Extending from Northbound Notebooks is Northbound and Notable, a magazine and blog that Adam has founded, and that is dedicated to giving artists, authors, thinkers and photographers a voice.
This creative collective, and the content that is shared bring to life the values that brought to life the Pitch Party. In building a community through entrepreneurship, Northbound Notebooks threw the pitch, making it something uniquely special that we can all celebrate.
To stay up-to-date on everything that is happening, and being made, in the Ottawa Area, be sure to stay on top of Makerspace North events and to check out the Makerhouse Company journal.