Tidbits

Penn State Students Hijack Flour Box Bakery

Posted by Anne Yorks on Monday, October 4, 2010

I promised a big announcement on October 4th. And although it's literally the 11th hour, I'm still hitting the deadline. I am ready to spill the beans on an idea that has been in the making for some time.

Flour Box Bakery is partnering with 15 Penn State students for a super exciting Halloween cookie contest that will be kicking off on October 13th and run through October 25th. The class is called Entrepreneurial Leadership and these students are learning what it's like to start and run a business. 

Meet the class. Fourteen men and one woman. (I learned today that 80 percent of entrepreneurs are male.)


There will be many more details in the days and weeks to come, but basically the class is divided into 4 teams. Each team has one Halloween/Fall cookie collection that they are responsible for marketing. They will be creating the product name and description, developing web tag words, writing a newsletter blurb, and other important tasks. Each team will be hijacking my blog for a day. They will introduce their team and cookie collection. Plus, what fun is a blog post without a cookie giveaway? Each team will be running a contest and giving away one box of cookies - for a total of four giveaways! Finally, the teams will take over my facebook and twitter account. Sounds like fun, right? Want to follow our crazy adventure? CLICK HERE to join the facebook group and CLICK HERE to follow @flourboxbakery on twitter for all the contest updates.

So, here's the deal. Today, I went to back to school (remember that Rodney Dangerfield movie. It was kind of like that except my son wasn't in the class and none of us were on the diving team.)

Here's me presenting the Flour Box Bakery story. 


We chatted for awhile about how this sweet little biz got started and then we got down to the nitty gritty of the contest. 

Did I mention I brought cookies? Yep - I brought all the Halloween samples. I can't show you the pictures yet. It will be a fun surprise when the team brings them to you for the first time through their blog post. The students got to munch on a few sweet treats while I met with each team one-on-one.

And the professor brought the milk. From Meyer Dairy. Yummy.


I'm not sure how excited the students were when they got to class, but after some cookies and milk I think the ice really started breaking.

Maybe you're wondering what you can do to help Flour Box and the Entrepreneurial Leadership students? Well, for starters, you can follow our progress on this blog and on Facebook and Twitter. Second, you can support your favorite team (and my business) by purchasing your favorite Halloween collection when the contest kicks off on October 13th. Quantities on the collections will be limited. So maybe some will sell out? That's the hope!! And finally, you can cheer us on. This is the riskiest thing I've done since I started, and I'm as excited as I am nervous. 

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: During the month of October, my complete attention will be on this project and working with the students. I will not be taking any custom projects that are not already booked. Come November, I'll resume my typical baking schedule, but until then, I will be focusing on the Halloween web orders. 

That's the update for now. Wish me luck! This is just so exciting! I feel truly blessed to have this opportunity and could not be more thankful to all the people that are making it happen. 

Have a very sweet week!!

Anne