Press ReleaseUPDATE: PioPitch has been postponed until further notice.
The Mid- Ohio Valley Community is invited to participate in PioPitch Program on Thursday, March 19, at 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in Cooper Aditorium, in 124 Thomas Hall on Marietta College Campus. The theme of the program is Energy & Life. The presenters are Ruston Seaman, CEO of GLOgames LLC and New Vision Renewable Energy and Jay Warmke, co-owner of Blue Rock Station. Ruston and Jay are eager to share their ideas with you and receive feedback from you.
Ruston Seaman established the GLOgames Company because of his love for basketball; in high school, he was recognized as the State Champion Basketball Player. The GLOgames Company produces the world’s first LED lit attachable basketball rim light “Light it up” in Chestnut Ridge community of Barbour County in West Virginia. The New Vision Renewable Energy is a non-profit that was created, in part, due to Ruston’s passion for solar energy and his desire to reenergize communities and help leaders to understand and use renewable energy solutions in the work they do. New Vision’s innovation mobilization center develops renewable products that help address energy poverty challenges in the US and around the world. Ruston is also the Senior Pastor at the People’s Chapel Church in Philippi, West Virginia, with over thirty-nine years of experience.
Jay Warmke is the co-owner (along with his wife Annie) of Blue Rock Station, a sustainable living center that features the first Earthship (a 2,200 sq ft passive solar home constructed out of garbage) built east of the Mississippi. The Blue Rock Station includes many straw bale buildings, a plastic bottle greenhouse, a solar shower, gardens, and milk goats. It also hosts summer interns and way too many cats. In the years since establishing the Blue Rock Station, more than 35,000 people have wandered through Jay and Annie’s living room – drawn by the vision of a truly sustainable lifestyle. Jay and Annie host a weekly radio program on sustainability called “When the BioMass Hits the Wind Turbine” which is aired on WOUB (Athens, OH), WGRN (Columbus, OH) and is syndicated through the Pacifica broadcasting network. Jay is the author of numerous green technology books and articles. Jay served as general manager of Diamond Comic Distributors (1982-1987) – the world’s largest distributor of comic books, now with over 500 employees and sales of over $500 million. He then served as executive director of BICSI (1987-2001), one of the world’s largest telecommunications associations. He resigned that role in 2001 and moved to France and then England, where he worked in a horse stable.
Each PioPitch session functions similarly to a large focus group or a brainstorming session, with two presenters per session. Each presenter is on stage for 30 minutes, providing an overview of his/her organization/idea for 5-10 minutes, followed by an introduction of a current opportunity or challenge (problem). The remainder of each presenter’s time is devoted to feedback from and dialogue with the audience. The event is free and open to the community.