Everyone’s excited about pitch competitions, even the Postal Service

As part of the 2016 Small Business Week Conference, the United States Postal Service is teaming up with NotionTheory and Bunker Labs DC to host a pitch competition.
William Bentley, small business specialist at USPS, told Technical.ly in an email that this will be the first such pitch competition the postal service has hosted, but it won’t be the last.
“I am planning a program for FY17 called the USPS Eagle Tour,” he said. “We are traveling to colleges and universities that have business schools and want to include a product pitch at each event.”
Asked what makes this competition stand out in the myriad of pitch competition options in D.C., Bentley cited the “unique opportunity to pitch in front of USPS executives and marketing specialists.”
There is no cash prize on the line for this particular competition. However, Stephen Kae, who works in growth and marketing at NotionTheory, told Technical.ly that the winner will be automatically entered in the second round of the Bunker Battle. In that ongoing pitch series there is $25,000 at stake.
But sticking with the pitch competition immediately at hand for the moment: Just 10 lucky startups will eventually be selected to pitch before the USPS audience and judges. The rest of the day will be filled out with networking, lunch and speeches by, as of the time of writing, longtime Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), motivational speaker Dr. Willie Jolley and USPS VP of Sales Cliff Rucker.
It sounds like quite the day.
Want to pitch? Applications are being accepted until April 27.