{"id":2354,"date":"2024-08-14T17:20:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T17:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2025-06-23T16:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T16:52:40","slug":"%ef%bf%bcdifferencemaker-demo-day-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/differencemaker\/2024\/08\/14\/%ef%bf%bcdifferencemaker-demo-day-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"DifferenceMaker 2024 Demo Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On July 9, from 5:00 \u2013 8:00 p.m., DifferenceMaker hosted their annual Demo Day event. At this event, the 2024 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge Finalists<\/a> presented their updated and improved ideas since advancing in the 2024 DifferenceMaker Summer Boot Camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Tello, Interim Director, Rist DifferenceMaker Institute<\/a>, opened up the event for the evening. To start, he presented to the audience a brief overview of the DifferenceMaker program. DifferenceMaker is a campus-wide program that helps students define problems and create real-life solutions to those problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Steve Tello, Interim Director of Rist DifferenceMaker Institute<\/a> welcomes guests to Demo Day and provides opening remarks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then, Steve introduced Brian Rist, Chairman at Rist Family Foundation, to the audience. Brian Rist attended UMass Lowell himself and helps to support the Rist DifferenceMaker Program! Steve invited Brian up to join him in front of the audience so he could say a few words. While speaking to the audience Brian mentioned that he is impressed by the growth that he has seen leading up to this event and he ensured that the audience members continue to work hard in their futures! Brian even said, \u201cI\u2019m living proof that you don\u2019t have to be a genius to be successful in business\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brian Rist, Chairman at Rist Family Foundation, engaging with the audience while he speaks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Brian Rist then spoke about his appearance a week prior as a guest speaker during the DifferenceMaker Summer Boot Camp series. The $50,000 Idea Challenge finalists go through the DifferenceMaker Boot Camp to workshop their ideas and prepare for Demo Day! The objective of the Boot Camp is to increase teams\u2019 understanding of their customer segments, business model, revenue streams, and more. Teams are also encouraged to develop a one-year project plan with milestones and tasks for utilizing their winning funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve thanked everyone who makes DifferenceMaker possible \u2013 faculty fellows, co-op students, mentors, and advisors. The Boot Camp Advisors this year were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n