WHEELING, W.Va. - From February 10-12, three WJU undergrads need your vote to win a $10,000 prize for their startup company called Reel Deal.

Brock Colaner, Phil Mshelbwala, and Ramee Naja, the creators of Reel Deal, have entered into an online contest that will give five startups the opportunity to pitch their product to the entire conference. To vote for Reel Deal, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fuYGplp4Cs and “like” the video on YouTube. Voting ends February 8th.

The three entrepreneurs will also travel to a startup conference called “Everywhereelse.co” in Memphis, Tennessee to network with hundreds of other startups and entrepreneurs located outside of Silicon Valley.

It started for them on an evening that was a typical one for Brock, Phil, and Ramee when they started talking about a “Redbox for students” that could be incorporated into the dorms. Redbox, a DVD rental kiosk that represents over a third of the disc rental market, has more than 34,000 locations and rivals disc-by-mail services such as Netflix.

For college students, however, a kiosk isn’t always convenient; many don’t have vehicles on campus, and it is easier just to stream a movie to a laptop or tablet. Brock, Phil, and Ramee realized, though, that watching a movie on one’s laptop or tablet isn’t the kind of social experience many college students want. As they continued to talk about what kind of media experience they would really want and use, a wholly new media platform – Reel Deal – was born.

Reel Deal was initially envisioned as a way for students to stream classic Hollywood movies to their televisions via a set-top box. As the product developed, though, Brock, Phil, and Ramee recognized that they could incorporate other features into the user interface, making the service useful not only for entertainment but also for community networking. Currently, along with streaming movies, the Reel Deal can function as: an info base for campus information such as sporting events, meal menus, and important dates on the academic calendar; a safety alert system for events like winter storms; a message board for students seeking or offering goods and services; and a community advertising platform, where local businesses can connect with college students to offer campus-specific deals and information.

This is an opportunity that Ramee states is “worth way more” than the $10,000 grand prize for “Best Startup.”