You never know who you might run into.

That’s the idea behind Champlain College’s Elevator Pitch Competition, where students have 90 seconds to pitch their idea, or themselves, to an imaginary executive in an imaginary elevator.

Eighteen students vied for three $500 cash prizes in the contest, held Tuesday night. Each student’s goal was to get a follow-up meeting with the executive, dubbed “the suit.”

“It’s fun and it’s upbeat and it’s lively,” said Pat Boera, associate director of career services at Champlain. Organizers handed out voting devices, so the “audience can weigh in, sort of like American Idol,” Boera said.

The students, narrowed down from a pool of nearly 50 competitors, gave their pitches in front of more than 60 audience members, as a giant clock ticked down the time.

The competition had three categories: entrepreneurs, internship and job seekers, and non-profit or social advocates.

David Muse, a freshman, won in the entrepreneur category for his production company idea, Wine and Die Productions, which hosts murder-mystery dinners.

Junior Jenna Londynsky came in first in the non-profit category with her pitch about an event to raise awareness of violence against women.

Van Dang, a junior, won in the job-seeking category, promoting herself as a dynamic candidate for an accounting internship.

The event began three years ago, started by Bob Bloch, director of the school’s BYOBiz, or Bring Your Own Business, program.

“This has turned into a really cool program, if I do say so,” Bloch said.

“Being able to come up with a succinct story is a skill you can carry throughout your life,” Boera said. “It’s all about believing in yourself and not being afraid to put yourself out there and getting your message across. You never know when an opportunity is going to come up.”

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