Big idea wins day at Yahoo! office

By Caitlin Kenny

Kenn0290@algonquincollege.com

Marketing Student Belinda Tessier's 90 second pitch won Yahoo! Canada's Big idea Chair contest.

Of all the awards given out at the Ontario Colleges’ Marketing Competition in November, perhaps the most coveted was the special “mystery prize” that one Algonquin competitor proudly earned.

When she entered the contest, Belinda Tessier had no idea what the prize was. The 46-year-old business marketing student had just finished giving her sales presentation before the judges and decided to get rid of her pent-up energy by entering Yahoo! Canada’s Big Idea Chair contest, a special challenge set up outside the formal competition in Niagara Falls.

It wasn’t until the final awards ceremony that the prize was revealed: a chance to visit the Yahoo! Canada office in Toronto and spend a day in the life of an employee.

Tessier remembers being shocked by the announcement of the prize. “We were all like ‘Oh my God, I should have done better and prepped more,’” she said. But the next announcement caught her even more off guard: Tessier had won.

Looking back, she couldn’t have predicted that outcome. The contest’s challenge was to make a 90-second pitch in front of a camera about how Yahoo! could get more people to use their product. Tessier felt good about her entry, but had modestly accepted that there was a lot of competition given that the contest was open to everyone.

But Tessier’s solid idea of getting Yahoo! involved with schools, along with her confident and organized performance, set it apart from the rest, said Vanessa Wynn-Williams from Yahoo! Canada.

The reward for her strong entry came on Dec.18, when Tessier spent the day at Yahoo! Canada’s office. Although her day was packed with back-to-back meetings, the tight schedule gave Tessier the chance to experience many aspects of business and build several contacts for the future.

“Everyone who met her noticed how much she loved Yahoo!,” said Wynn-Williams. “Her knowledge about the brand and her passion for it were very apparent throughout all the conversations.”

Now in her last semester at Algonquin, Tessier is preparing to enter the marketing field, hopefully with a significant advantage thanks to this experience.

 “I’m hoping that she’ll get offered a job at Yahoo!,” said Wendy Threader, a professor of marketing and management studies who coached Tessier for the competition. “She obviously made quite an impression on them, both at Niagara and during her visit with them.”

Although Tessier also brought home an award for placing third in the sales presentation category of the competition, her job-shadowing opportunity at Yahoo! holds special importance. “I think it has more value than a trophy,” said Cheryl Dowell, one of Algonquin’s OCMC coaches. “Not only did she network but she got to live and breathe the experience.”

As it turns out, it was an experience that Tessier almost missed out on entirely. Tessier, who originally thought that pitches were to be made by written submission, was ready to skip the contest when she learned that she’d have to present her idea live.

Fortunately, her Algonquin teammates would not let her give up that easily. “Belinda had a great idea but wasn’t sure if she wanted to go up and support it,” said Jonathan Arnold, one of Algonquin’s 21 OCMC competitors. “So about four or five of us practically pushed her in front of the camera.”

In the end, Tessier is undoubtedly pleased with the outcome. “I made friendships within Yahoo! and I made a lot of networking contacts,” she said. “It really was the best prize.”