Following on from the unsung heroes of  Heat 1 post – here’s some classics from Heat 2:

• “A self propelled ‘message in a bottle’ that uses solar energy to suck up, and pump out sea water, from seringe like tubes” – kate
• “launch a concave mirror the size of a planet and send it 4 light years away- charge people to look back at past events reflected back” – chris proctor
• “Pop and sniff bubble wrap” – kate
• “Vote for me and if I win I’ll sell all the prizes and hold a big free party! VOTE TO PARTY!” – monkey business
• “A website that compiles all of the houses in the area that will accept students. So it is easier for students to find their first rental.” – Luke Egginton-Groves
• “A company which produces champagne in a can… called CAN-PAGNE!!” – emma wood
• “Use golf club cars, like the golf caddy’s drive, or tuk tuk’s as taxi’s to drop students at different places on the huge campus” – Oliver Gerring
• “A way of finding your friends in a club. A set of bands set to specific frequency that goes green when within 2 metres of a friend” – romilly lynn
• “sanitary towels in colours to match underwear” – helen
• “Dare should b a product wit a LED incased & photosensitive film dat u lay over important info in a book den transfer on 2 ur notes instantly” – Oisin O’Reilly

We’ve had some great ideas come in over the months from Beermat Challenge – The competition is specifically looking for business ideas, but there has been some classic examples of whimsy and genuine insight to campus life at UWE… so we’ve decided to post some of the best here for your viewing pleasure! Starting with the creme-de-la-creme of silliness, stupidity and downright over-looked genius from Heat 1:

• “beer bottles should have notes on the side so that you can drink to a certain level then play a note-great tunes with multiple bottles” – from piers radclyffe, 136
• “make software that stores your dictionary on your sim card so that when you get a new phone you don’t have to reenter all your words” – from denise robinson, 144
• “A puppy rental service for single guys to meet girls…. awww!” – from Gemma Boyce, 90
• “A mechanism for umbrellas that pings them back into shape when blown inside out” – from Dave vous, 95
• “Kinetic energy powered work-out music player. Charge those batteries by human work out power!” – Colleen Doreen, 102
• ““rapping paper” – wrapping paper with photos/lyrics by rappers” -jonathon fletcher, 210
• “UK Monkey Farms. Getting hold of pet monkeys is near impossible in the UK. We nee docile, well-aclimatised primates grown on British farms.” – Jenny Jordan, 151

The Beermat Challenge website now has a dedicated Facebok Sharing button to make sharing your idea with your friends a breeze!

The idea with the most votes wins the prize for each heat. At the moment Heat 3 is in full swing with the chance to win a Flip Mino HD 4Gb Video Camera So get those ideas submitted and shared with your friends on Facebook! The more of your friends you can get involved with voting for your big business idea the better your chances of winning the prize!

Heat 4 is just around the corner starting on Feb13th where you can win an Xbox 360 Arcade – its also a very important date as this is the last round where you will be able to submit new ideas before the Grand Final ending on 12th March 2010.

Heat 5 – THE GRAND FINAL is where one lucky winner will win an Asus eeepc 1005HA Netbook – The top ten ideas from each heat will be entered into the final heat where the lucky punters will slug it out for the most votes in total to win the grand prize. So get those social networking strands spreading through the interwebs and make sure you stand a chance to win the grand prize!

Good luck!

A big WELL DONE to Abbie Thompson – Winner of Heat 2 of the UWE Beermat Challenge

Adult nursing student Abbie wins a a Sony Cyber-shot DSCW180 Digital Camera for her idea “Students should be able to buy parking permits rather than tokens think of all the wasted paper and trees !!!!”

Heat 3 of the Beermat Challenge is now under way with the chance of winning a great Flip Mino HD 4Gb Video Camera – so don’t hesitate to submit those, ideas, tell your friends and get those votes flowing. There’s still 1 more heat left before the grand final where the 10 ten top ideas from each heat will fight it out for the most votes to win the coveted top prize of an Asus eeepc 1005HA Netbook!

Beermat Challenge now has a live TWITTER FEED tweeting directly just for you. Either click the link provided or navigate to twitter.com/bmchallenge

This allows easy access to the latest ideas submitted to the beermat challenge website, which appear in real-time as they are posted. Each tweet contains a direct link to the idea so you can instantly vote on whether you think the submission is a good idea… or not!

As well as a direct feed of new ideas the BMChallenge twitter feed also gives up to date information on the ranking of the top 5 ideas in each heat. As each idea competes for the top slot the feed updates the ranking based on new votes.

So, fire up twitter and start following the Beermat Challenge – and don’t forget to tell your friends!

The UWE Beermat Challenge now has a facebook group so you can keep up to date with the latest happenings in the project.

We’ve had a great response from the first 2 heats and are getting some fab ideas coming through in the 3rd Heat. The prizes are getting increasingly desirable as the heats roll on, so be sure to get your ideas in now and tell your friends – remember VOTES WIN PRIZES – so lets see those index mouse fingers wiggling!

The Top 10 ideas from each Heat go through the Beermat Challenge Grand Final ending on March 12th where you can win a whizzy Asus eeepc 1005HA Netbook. So tell your friends and get involved!

Well done to Rosie Mears! –  Heat 1 Winner of the inaugural UWE beermat Challenge.

Third year psychology student Rosie wins an Olympus WS-550M Digital Voice Recorder to help out with her personal life and studies.

The Beermat Challenge was designed to raise awareness of the RBI (Research, business and innovation) department, The Ideas Factory and The Biz Idea competition. With so many brilliant business ideas in the student population of UWE, the Beermat Challenge provides a simple and fun way of getting your thoughts and ideas heard and winning some great prizes along the way.

The ideas coming through are really inspiring, especially as so many of them relate to life on campus.

In the second heat we have had various thoughts on how lectures can be recorded so that you can still access the material after it has been delivered, in case you can’t make it (those pesky buses!). Lots of great ideas as well relating to how facilities can be improved with new eating places and chill out areas . One of my favourites is for commuter facilities for those avoiding the pesky buses.

…and the weird and wonderful just keep coming – underwear coordinating sanitary towels…..just may win if you vote for it!

Following the nearly 7000 strong response in December, the second heat of the Beermat challenge is upon us. For those of you who have not heard of it, now is your time to get involved.

With a view to increase awareness of the Ideas Factory and the BizIdea competition that runs during spring term, the challenge is a light hearted and engaging way to put forward any business ideas you may have.

Western Eye