Cedars, February 2020

February 2020 5 CAMPUS Second Place: Rufus Mathew and Cameron Roseman Rufus Mathew and Cameron Rose- man, who are sophomores majoring in Computer Science and Marketing, respec- tively, developed an idea that would use GPS on mobile devices and allow users to connect with social media influencers who are interested in the same things they are. The target market is students struggling to find their niche on social media in a world full of influencers. Mathew said word-of-mouth is the most effective means of communication today, and influencers can play a big role in that. “You trust a friend of yours way more than you trust an advertisement that could have been made with half a million dollars,” Mathew said. “So that was our whole business plan; advocating for the effectiveness of word-of-mouth advertise - ment.” Mathew said that The Pitch is just the beginning of his and Roseman’s ideas. “I would say the overall best expe- rience was just learning; learning how to present, how to get the right points, and how to be confident but not cocky,” Mathew said. “It’s a very important bal- ance to find.” Mathew was also excited to see that his major was well-represented at the event. “We were really excited that most of the people who won, even in the top four, were [computer science]-based,” Mathew said. “It shows … that there’s actually a lot of new entrepreneurship that can hap- pen.” Another Computer Science major, Jake Allinson, won the first Pitch, which took place in the fall semester. As he prepared for the Pitch, Matthew asked Allinson about his experience so he and Roseman could learn from his suc- cesses. Matthew said Allinson told them to predict the questions the audience would ask and prepare answers. Both Cissel and Mathew said Cedar- ville’s sponsorship of The Pitch encourages entrepreneurship and innovation in stu- dents who otherwise might not have had the confidence to put themselves in front of a crowd with their ideas. “It’s fun to see all these ideas that peo- ple have put together and are passionate about and watch them present,” Cissel said. “Watching others innovative and getting to know them; that was really cool for me.” Mathew agreed with Cissel. “For some reason I don’t feel like the Christian world got on the train as quickly as other people did for entrepreneurship, and these products are really able to help people,” Mathew said. “It isn’t about the money, it’s literally us trying to make a tool that can help people, and that’s what we were thinking about when we were presenting our idea.” Zach Krauss is a Pharmacy grad student from central Texas and campus reporter for Cedars. He loves music, theatre, biol- ogy, community and meeting new people. Photo by Scott Huck The winners of The Second Pitch: [Left to Right]: Caleb Stanton, Cameron Roseman, Rufus Mathew, Colson, Cissel, David Sinkonis. and Luke Marquardt all pose with their giant checks. Wedding Dress Rental Wedding Dress Sales Photography Gift Wrapping @dressforadaybridal 33West Franklin Street Centerville, Ohio 45459 www.adressforaday.com 937.303.8881 adressforaday@gmail.com Photo by Lauren Jacobs Rufus Matthew and Cameron Roseman’s design capitalized on the power of word-of-mouth.