Have you submitted your pitch to The Pitchies competition yet for your chance to win over $20k in prizes? Our experts want to see the finest new innovations so get your webcam or videocamera in action. We are just coming up to the announcement of our first semi-finalists so simply enter your pitch in our Compete section after you have uploaded it.

We also wanted to share some more background on the stellar judges we have lined up for the big November event where the Expert Pick winners will be announced. Plus, don’t forget to get your network voting for you for the People’s Choice Awards!

2008 Pitchies Judges - Bios

Basil Peters , Angel Investor, Entrepreneurial CEO, Fund Manager

While still in grad school, Basil co-founded Nexus Engineering. Nexus grew to seven companies with over 300 employees with operations in Hong Kong, Jakarta, London and five Canadian cities.  Basil is currently the manager of the Angel Fund Fundamental Technologies II.  Full bio

Greg Wolfe, Executive Vice President, Operations of SAP-Business Objects

Greg Wolfe is responsible for managing SAP-Business Objects operations and ensuring customer success in the Americas and EMEA. Wolfe has a strong track record of success in creating and managing high-growth and customer-obsessed organizations. Full bio

Mike Desjardins , Driver, Virtus

Mike is the Driver of Virtus and Past President of the Vancouver chapter of EO - the Entrepreneurs Organization. A graduate of UBC’s Commerce Faculty with a specialization in Marketing. Mike also spent three and a half years as the President of Purity Water Treatment Products. Full bio .

Robin Chakrabarti, Vice President, Corporate Development of T & M Group of Companies

The T&M Group have over 30 years of experience investing in, acquiring, building and growing profitable businesses, including Boston Pizza, Mr. Lube and Global Entertainment. In 2005, Robin was named one of BC’s top 40 businesspeople under 40. See Robin’s profile on Linked In

Ron Bertram, General Manager, Nintendo of Canada Ltd.

Ron Bertram is the Vice-President, General Manager for Nintendo of Canada Ltd . He is responsible for all of Nintendo’s business activities in Canada. Under Ron’s stewardship, Nintendo of Canada’s business has quadrupled in size to over ½ billion dollars. More bio here.

Ron Moravek, Chief Executive Officer, Sitemasher

Ron Moravek’s extraordinary ability to identify business opportunities and execute business plans made his joining Phil Calvin a natural next step in Sitemasher’s development path. The results-oriented, creative, high-energy leader comes packaged with an inspirational, fun and empowering management style. Full bio

Thomas Hellmann, B.I. Ghert Family Foundation Professor in Finance and Policy, Sauder School of Business University of British Columbia

Dr. Thomas Hellmann is a Professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He holds a BA from the London School of Economics and a PhD from Stanford and teaches executive, MBA and undergraduate courses in the areas of entrepreneurship and strategic management. Full bio

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VANCOUVER, BC - If you can pitch your million-dollar idea in the time it takes to take a ride in an elevator, it’s time to take your shot at the big-time.

Fundfindr Media Inc. launched the Pitchies contest this week, inviting entrepreneurs to record their elevator pitch on video for the chance to win a prize package that will help make their business vision a reality.

The Pitchies contestants are eligible to win prizes in the Expert’s Pick round or in the People’s Choice round.

The winners of the Expert’s Pick Grand Prize includes a professionally produced corporate video, a website builder subscription, professional start-up kits, mentorship meetings and a bundle of service packages with a total value of about $20,000. Second prize will include a combination of services and mentorship experience valued at about $3,500. The Expert’s Pick will be judged by entrepreneurial experts including Sitemasher CEO Ron Moravek, Virtus Driver Mike Desjardins, Nintendo of Canada GM Ron Bertram, UBC Professor of Entrepreneurship Thomas Hellmann, Business Objects Executive Vice President Greg Wolfe and T&M Group of Companies Vice President Robin Chakrabarti.

The People’s Choice Prize winners selected by popular vote can win round-trip airfare to Vancouver, BC, one night in a Vancouver hotel, a two-night Whistler weekend, Website builder subscription,fundfindr premium service bundle and webnames.ca services with a total value of around $4,000.

More sponsors and judges will be announced shortly.

“The contest is like ‘Dragon’s Den meets YouTube”, says fundfindr CEO Bret Conkin. “With all of the Internet’s social media tools available now, why just restrict their elevator pitch to a boardroom office when they can instantly pitch thousands of investors in a video. This contest will give entrepreneurs with that next big idea the chance to refine their pitch, get noticed by investors and possibly take their venture from the idea stage to the big-time.”

Entrepreneurs will submit their video pitches for the Pitchies contest to the Fundfindr website at www.fundfindr.com. There will be monthly Pitch Reviews by business experts like Director of Fundamental Technologies II angel fund Basil Peters. For more detailed contest information, visit www.pitchies.com.

fundfindr Media Inc. is a Vancouver-based social media company that matches entrepreneurs with investors and service providers. Fundfindr’s online tools and consulting services help ventures get exposure, find investment, make connections and get expert feedback to improve their businesses over the long term.

fundfindr’s online video pitch forum is a popular example of how online social media tools are changing how businesses compete, Conkin says. “Many of our clients have described us as speed dating for entrepreneurs. It’s a really convenient way for investors to find their perfect match – a lot like how the Internet has revolutionized the dating scene.”

fundfindr also includes a broadcast channel and professional video production service, fundfindr.tv. For those still just getting their feet wet in business or investing, the fundfinder community offers success snacks — short video tutorials on everything from how to pitch investors to how to do PR, finance and human resources. Through fundfindr.tv, fans can also get updates, news, interviews, advice and invitations to hot events through streaming video, webcasts and a blog.