The overall outcome of my team’s evaluation phase was very rewarding. With many late nights, team debates and strenuous hours deciding how we could best improve Hershey’s, preparation for the Evaluation phase wasn’t easy. However, our hard work was rewarded with great amounts of feedback, the majority of which was positive. We now have a great idea of the direction we need to go and modifications we need to make before our final presentation.
The Evaluation phase consisted of three “pitches,” and each pitch gradually gave us more and more confidence that the hard work we’ve invested into our product, Hershey’s Crumbles, will pay dividends. Feedback from Pitch #1 to the Facebook team of our section was very helpful. It was our first run through of our pitch, and we got a grasp on how the pitch should go, like which information could we emphasize more and which points should be avoided completely. After this pitch, I gained the confidence that our idea was well thought out and had great potential. Our 2nd pitch to the entire class went similarly to our first one, but we gathered much more constructive criticism than before and our confidence in our Crumbles was boosted even further. Although we didn’t follow every bit of feedback we received, we made our final tweaks prior to our Friday presentation.
Going into our 3rd pitch on Friday, I’ll admit I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure how our idea would be taken by the experienced EP’s and the other section of SIID who I was unfamiliar with. Thankfully, things went incredibly well. Our whiteboard was cohesive, organized and vibrant which attracted a good amount of people. Our pitches gradually improved as the day went on and we became more comfortable speaking publicly. The majority of our feedback from both the EPs and other section was very positive. We made the right modifications and put forth enough effort to give a successful pitch to anyone who asked.