I think that the evaluation stage might be my favorite of them all. It was really rewarding to see all of our work throughout the semester come together and it was nice to hear positive things about our project. The evaluation stage was particularly helpful because it brought in fresh eyes and ideas. It also forced our team to clarify and solidify our thoughts, pitch, etc. I also liked that every time we gave our pitch, we could learn a little bit from the last time and improve it! For Pitch Day specifically, however, I think we could have gained more from having a more diverse group. Most of the Executive Partners were white men, and while I did notice some female professors at Pitch Day, I think we would have benefited from having different experiences and perspectives.
The feedback that we received was interesting. Some of the feedback made it clear that we didn’t do a good job explaining the concept, so it was a flag for us to do better. Some of the feedback was very helpful, as it helped me see things in a new/different light. However, some of the feedback simply didn’t make sense to me. It was a task to try to sort out the different types of feedback into what was helpful and what was not, but I ultimately think that it will strengthen the project overall.