I'm a mentor at a program kind of similar to this (except it's 1 evening a month for 6 months or so).
I see this all the time. Everyone comes along with their own idea 90% of which are mediocre (and the 10% that aren't usually have their own team sorted out)
The real solution isn't to try and sell your idea, it's to change your expectations.
It's very unlikely anything you build on one of these programs will be any good unless you were already working on it with an existing team prior to the start of the program
But it is likely that you will meet some people who - at some point in the future - might be interested in doing some - as yet undefined - project with you.
Treat it as a learning experience, where your expected outcome is to learn something and to hopefully meet some good people.
The learning part of the experience was definitely the most important part... A handful of teams built really impressive shippable products.
The hope or fantasy that your idea or your team will be one of those teams is part of what fuels and attracts people to these events. I didn't expect a Wayne's World type ending or anything.
I just acknowledge that I could have done more hustling, and pitched better...
Had I done a better job pitching/mingling my weekend would have been much different, BUT I'm not sure I would trade the experience I DID have with the team I landed on for anything (well almost anything...)
I see this all the time. Everyone comes along with their own idea 90% of which are mediocre (and the 10% that aren't usually have their own team sorted out)
The real solution isn't to try and sell your idea, it's to change your expectations.
It's very unlikely anything you build on one of these programs will be any good unless you were already working on it with an existing team prior to the start of the program
But it is likely that you will meet some people who - at some point in the future - might be interested in doing some - as yet undefined - project with you.
Treat it as a learning experience, where your expected outcome is to learn something and to hopefully meet some good people.