How do we win with our civic centre sales pitch?

Question

Our school is having two design days in which we design a building in a new eco-town which is being built in '10. We've been assigned the civic centre. (Which is like a community centre). We first have to win out of three groups, then beat another to go into the finals. If we win the final, we get to go over the eco-town site in a helicopter! And bragging rights, of course.

Does anybody have any fantastic winning ideas for us? We've already come up with a trademark for the town (concrete 'green rainbows' which have solar panels) but does anybody have ideas on how to deliver our five minute sales pitch? (we can use multimedia) Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Perhaps you could adopt a Green theme.

Everyone on your pitch team should wear green - preferably the same color. Perhaps you could consider designing a team t-shirt that each of you could wear. This will demonstrate team unity and underscore your enthusiasm to the judging committee.

Perhaps as a leave behind, you could present each member of the judging committee with a small box of grass planted in  some dirt - or a small tree might be better. This leave behind could be tied in with a Green/Eco message about planning for the future or "big ideas starting out small."

For the Community Centre itself, I think you need to emphasize (and re-emphasize) how the centre is a gathering point for the entire community, and that it makes sense for the centre to exhibit eco-friendly ideas/designs from all over the world. I like the idea of the concrete rainbows. You should explain how th energy collected from the solar panels will provide power to the center and "energize" the community as a whole. You could also talk about the design of the rainbow and how an arc is the strongest architectural shape in the world. While the rainbow suggests hope and a brighter future, the arc underscores how solar energy can one day support the world's energy needs.

In terms of the presentation itself, I don't think you can over-do the green theme. Use green ink. Or use brightly colored flowers on each of your PowerPoint slides. This will give your presentation a bright, energetic feel, and you will soon have the judging committee feeding off of your positive energy.

Good luck with your presentation. And send me a photo from your helicopter ride.