Have you and your college roommate created the coolest new social networking company? Are you convinced that you could quickly become the next Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin (but hopefully without that whole lawsuit thing)? Or are you currently spending hours in the tech lab creating the best new gadget that will make the iPad look mundane?

Whatever your innovation is, we at TMC want to know about it.

In just a few days, on Thursday, Feb. 2, the highly anticipated Startup Camp 5 will kick off at ITEXPO East 2012, taking place this week from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 in Miami, Fla. The goal is simple – find the next big shot tech leader.  Given five minutes to wow a panel of judges, early-stage entrepreneurs and innovators in communication technology are asked to pitch their products or services to a panel of potential investors, media, bloggers and industry influencers in the hopes that they receive funding. 

The event is nothing short of awesome. Some of the youngest, brightest minds in the tech space get the chance to give video presentations of their companies and innovations; a group of judges throws some tough curve balls to participants to see if they are ready for their companies to really take off, and then audience members vote on which company deserves the funding. The event is priceless as these creative minds have 300 seconds to get as much information out as they can as audience members sit there wide-eyed, wondering if they have just witnessed the Next Big Thing in tech.

So I’m putting out a call to all college students now. Get your company in place in the next few months so you can participate in our next Startup Camp.

The chance is priceless. You will have a captive audience, a bevy of investors a few feet away from you and feedback that will warmly be dispensed. So start hitting the labs. We hope to see you at the next Startup Camp in Austin, Texas, this September.