InnoMarathon 2014: enthusiasm and fine results at Ylläs

The winner of this InnoMarathon was Team Hiihtopummit, which came up with a way to fund the cross-country ski trail network at Ylläs. Second place went to Team Lintukoto, which worked on a commission given by Matkalle Sallaan ry. Third was Team Auroras, which ideated a commission from Lapland Hotels & Lapland Safaris.

The members of the winning team were Heidi Kamppinen, Ville Laakkonen and Katja Hietala from the UAS’s Tornio unit, Joonas Tervonen from the University of Lapland and Jaana Valonen from the UAS’s Rovaniemi campus.

Altogether 107 students from Lapland UAS and the University of Lapland participated. The students formed multi-field teams; they were studying business economics, engineering and management. According to InnoMarathon’s ideology, the students did not know each other beforehand. See all the commissioners and teams.

This year InnoMarathon was given a total of eleven commissions. They came from Ylläs, Saariselkä, Salla, Kemijärvi, Pyhä-Luosto, Rovaniemi and Kemi-Tornio.

Three days and two nights

The teams began the three-day ideation session at the fells on Monday. Important sparring assistance was received from instructor Juhana Helmenkalastaja. On the last night ideating lasted to the wee hours of the morning.

“Last night the teams worked until three in the morning—they have really done a lot of work. Helmenkalastaja’s sparring clinic was busy until late at night,” marathon coach Satu Valli reported Wednesday morning.

The teams presented their innovations to the jury Wednesday afternoon. The members of the jury were Lapland University Consortium General Manager Markku Tarvainen, Lapland UAS President Martti Lampela, Director of Trade in the Municipality of Kolari Tapio Niittyranta, Senior Consultant Mikko Pesonen, Jounin Kauppa storeowner Sampo Kaulanen and instructor Juhana Helmenkalastaja. The result was clear eight o’clock in the evening.

The name of the team was a sign

Juhana Helmenkalastaja and the other coaches chose one team as the Dream Team; it did not reach the finals but it exhibited excellent cooperation, enthusiasm and a positive team spirit. Team Awesome was chosen as the Dream Team (Matias Kotila, Laura Kuismanen, Satu Ollila, Janette Peltokorpi and Antti Ruhkala).

The commissioners were surprised by the results 

The commissioners were surprised by the students’ good knowledge of the commissioners’ topics and the current trends in tourism.

“Both of our teams came up with ideas that I intend to pass on within our organisation,” Rauno Posio, chairman of the board of Lapland Safaris Group Oy, describes the results.

Lapland Safaris was a commissioner at InnoMarathon for the first time, but Rauno Posio says the company will be glad to participate again in the future, if invited.

A great experience for the jury, also

At most the student teams had polished their presentations 17 hours. The evaluating jury’s job also took over three hours, but it was not tiring to listen to the eleven enthusiastic presentations.

“The students and jury members were all enthused—the feeling was great,” jury chairman Markku Tarvainen describes the atmosphere of the finals.

The teams’ ideas were thought out to the last detail and mostly ready to be implemented immediately, which surprised both the jury members and the commissioners.

“We can also heap praises on this venue. Äkäshotel’s lodging and services as they have done their best for us,” Satu Valli thanks.

Altogether a thousand students, 30 teachers and 120 companies or organisations have participated as commissioners at InnoMarathons since the first one was arranged in 2005. 

Files

• InnomaratonRyhmat_toimeksiannoittain2014.pdf

Team Hiihtopummit before the jury. It went well!