Pittsurgh Innovates

==Background==
* Contest with an October 2008 deadline and November 2008 announcement
==Details==
Who Enters: Students, Academics, Entrepreneurs, professionals, and community groups can enter submissions as an individual or as a team. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter the contest. 
Who can vote: The public can see all of the entries and rank them 1-5 stars. The public can rank each entry up to 1 time per day. 
What: Create a submission with a clear connection to Pittsburgh and Innovation. Individuals and Teams are welcome to use any form of media they find compelling including, but not limited to simulations, podcasts, video, flash games, social networking applications, blogs, and static images (but please no business plans!). The submission can be your innovation itself (if it is interactive like a game) or just something that discusses and showcases your innovation (like in a video). This submission can be accompanied to a link to another website for further information. Submitters allow the GO KIZ and its partners to use the image and submission for marketing technology in the Pittsburgh region. 
When: Submissions are accepted from 12:00:01 AM EDT August 26, 2008 to 11:59:59 PM EDT October 26, 2008. Ranking by the public will occur simultaneously from August 26, 2008 to October 26, 2008, so get your entry in early for the most exposure! 
Winners: 
Finalists will be highlighted at local Pittsburgh events and in press releases. 
At the end of the contest period, The Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone (GO KIZ) will select the one winner from each category: 
Judges’ Award- $20,000 for the highest ranked entry by our judging panel 
Peoples’ Choice Award- $10,000 for the entry with the highest combination of rank and page views. 
At this time we are not releasing the details of this calculation as we do not want anyone to attempt to alter the rankings artificially or use a program to increase their likelihood of winning. If GO KIZ suspects that artificial methods were used to increase the ranking of an entry, then the submission may be disqualified. 
Submission Details: 
All submissions must be uploaded through this website (pittsburghinnovates.com) in order to be considered 
All submissions must include an image. This image will be used as a thumbnail for your entry on our website! We recommend using an image that best describes and attracts voters to your innovation! 
For video entries we strongly encourage using YouTube. Other types of video will be delayed at minimum 24 hours from time of submission because encoding will occur during business hours. 
Entry types include: audio, video, social networking applications, mobile applications, websites, blogs, widgets, games, simulations 
File Size and Types Accepted: 
Images, Video (including video embedded from YouTube), Audio, html links [Please double check this list against reality of the website] 
Film/Video should be a maximum of 5 minutes and no more than 80 MB 
Quicktime and Windows Media Files only encoded at 300KB/second data rate 
Widgets, Social Networking Apps, Websites, Blogs, Simulations must be hosted at submitter’s expense and will be linked to from the Pittsburgh Innovates website 
===Rules===
So in this section we get into the nitty gritty details of the contest. The majority of your questions should be answered in the frequently asked questions section, but make sure to refer to the Contest Rules and Regulations as well as Terms and Conditions for more detail. 
Frequently Asked Questions 
Detailed Contest Rules and Regulations 
Detailed Terms and Conditions 
Pittsburgh Innovates Frequently Asked Questions 
Curious minds want to know. Here are the answers to your burning Pittsburgh Innovates questions. 
What is Pittsburghinnovates.com? 
Is there a fee to enter? 
When does the Contest Start? 
When does the Contest End? 
How do you submit an innovation to Pittsburgh Innovates? 
What kind of files can be submitted? 
How is the winner decided? 
Why would people submit ideas? 
Who can participate? 
What is a Pittsburgh Region Connection? 
What must the entry include? 
Who are the judges? 
How long will the judges be interacting with my entry? 
Can a person or business submit more than one idea? 
Why is Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone launching Pittsburghinnovates.com? 
When will Winners be announced? 
How will the winner be notified? 
Is Pittsburgh Innovates open to GO KIZ employees? 
How can GO KIZ use my innovation information and submission materials? 
How many times can I vote for an idea? 
What prevents someone from stealing my idea? 
Can I win both prizes? 
If I win, how can I spend the money? 
If I win, what do I have to do? 
What is the Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone (GO KIZ)? 
Who helped the GO KIZ create the website and video content? 
What is Pittsburghinnovates.com?
Pittsburghinnovates.com is a collection of students, small business owners, university faculty and entrepreneurs who have an innovation with a connection to the Pittsburgh region. The community and other people with an interest in innovation in Pittsburgh rank the best idea. In addition, a team of judges from various technology and innovation industries will judge the entries. The community choice Award winner gets $10,000 to help their idea grow. The judges’ award winner gets $20,000 to jumpstart their innovation. Have a new technology or innovation? Go ahead, post away. 
Is there a fee to enter?
No, there is not a fee to enter the contest. The only requirements are that it must have a Pittsburgh Connection and focus on an innovation 
When does the contest start?
The contest will begin accepting entries and allowing individuals to rate those entries 12:00:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time August 26, 2008. 
When does the contest end? 
The contest will stop accepting entries and allowing individuals to rate those entries at 11:59:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time October 26, 2008.
How do you submit an idea to Pittsburgh Innovates? 
Submitting your idea is easy. All you need to do is click here. On this page you need to enter your contact information, the entry title, a summary of the entry. In addition we will want you to upload an image of your entry, the file itself, or an html link that allows people to interact with your innovation. Once you agree to the rules and regulations you can submit the entry. All entries will be screened prior to posting, to ensure they conform to contest rules, so there will be a delay before you can view it on the site. You will receive a confirmation email, so that you know that the entry has been received. 
What kind of files can be submitted? 
This contest is all about technology - so we want to be open to a wide variety of file formats. At the same time, we recognize that some of you are developing really high powered things that may require more bandwidth than we can readily support on this site. Therefore the website is designed to allow you to upload graphics, audio, video, and pdf files. If your content does not fit into one of those narrow categories, then we still encourage you to upload an entry image that is no more than 400 px by 600 px and then provide a URL where individuals can interact with your entry. Some of the files we anticipate receiving are audio and video podcasts, games, social networking applications, mobile applications, widgets, and blogs. What we are not looking for is business plans! There are other great competitions for that! 
How is the winner decided? 
Well as there are two separate prizes there are two different ways that the winner will be decided. 
For the community choice award, we find the entry with the highest ranking and view combination at the end of the ranking period. Since this is the public voting, presentation is very important. A funny video or engaging program will receive more notice than a highly technical description of an innovation. 
For the judges’ award, the judges are asked to rank each entry on the basis of its transformational nature. The entry with the highest average ranking among our judging panel will win the judges category. 
Certain eligibility and other contest rules apply. See the Official Contest Rules for details. 
Why would people submit ideas? 
They're proud to share their innovation with the world 
They need and want some free publicity for their technology 
They want to show the world what is going on in Pittsburgh 
They're looking for input, advice and feedback on their ideas. 
They’re looking to connect with non-profit organizations designed to help guide entrepreneurs and small technology companies to success. Our contest partners can provide valuable services to the winners of the contest. 
They want their work to be seen by local and national technology experts in fields ranging from entertainment technology to cutting edge medical technologies. 
And maybe the best reason, they want to win up to $20,000. 
Who can participate? 
Anyone 18 and over with a technology or innovation with a Pittsburgh connection. People like small business owners, entrepreneurs, students, and stay-at-home moms and dads. Your profession or lack there of doesn't matter - just your idea. 
Your concept can also be in any stage of development from a drawing to a retail ready product. 
If you do know one of the contest judges for the judge’s award, then you are still eligible to compete for the prizes, but you do need to identify that conflict of interest on the entry form. Judges with a conflict of interest will recuse themselves from voting on entries from these parties. Certain eligibility and other rules apply to the contest. Check the Official Contest Rules for details. 
What is a Pittsburgh Region Connection? 
Having a connection to the "Pittsburgh Region" is defined broadly for this contest. The 10 county Pittsburgh Region includes Lawrence, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, Beaver, Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette, and Greene in Pennsylvania. A Pittsburgh connection includes but may not be limited to: 
Invented in Pittsburgh Region 
Innovation is the product of a student, staff or researcher of an educational institution in the Pittsburgh region 
Setting is in Pittsburgh Region for example a game or simulation that showcases Pittsburgh's skyline 
Company or individual who owns the innovation is located in the Pittsburgh Region 
The inventor is originally from Pittsburgh 
If you have an alternate connection to Pittsburgh, then feel free to put it on the entry form where we will consider it but we cannot guarantee it will pass muster. The sponsor has the sole and ultimate discretion to determine whether there is sufficient connection to the Pittsburgh Region.
What must the entry include to be considered? 
All entries must include:
A Title 
A summary 
A description of the connection to the Pittsburgh Region 
An image or screenshot of the innovation 
A file or a url where the innovation can be accessed by the judges and or public 
For all “timed” entries like video or audio, the content cannot exceed 5 minutes 
Contact Name and or Team Name and contact information 
Who are the judges? 
For the community choice Award, your friends, family, other innovators, and anyone who stumbles across the Pittsburghinnovates.com can be a judge. These individuals can vote up to 1 time per day towards your technology or innovation for the entire voting period. 
For the Judges Award we have a panel of 11 judges which include representatives from the gaming industry, entertainment industry, hardware technologies, and other innovative sectors. Judges will be required to identify conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from voting for those entries. A conflict of interest is define as having a business, family, or close personal relationship with an individual and or team. For instance if the Judge is an administrator of a school you attend currently or is a member of your board then he/she cannot vote on your entry. Having a conflict of interest with one of the following judges in no way hurts or helps your chances of winning an award.
Joe Warren of Disney Imagineering, Catherine V. Mott of Blue Tree Capital, Jack Lew of Electronic Arts, Walter Plosila consultant to Battelle, Kyle Gray of Electronic Arts, Mark Re of Seagate, Mick McManus of MAYA Design, Charlie Humphrey of Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Center for the Arts, Don Marinelli of Carnegie Mellon University ’s Entertainment Technology Center, Jesse Schell of Schell Games, Todd Eckert of Eutechnyx, Ashley DiParlo of WTAE Tech News 
===Ideas and Inspirtation===
Having trouble thinking of a great idea or invention? Have a great idea, but you don’t have the technical expertise to make it happen? Or you have an invention, but you aren’t sure how to present it on this website? 
In this forum people can post ideas that they want to turn into realities OR they can post skills and expertise that they have in video, graphic design, product design, etc. The possibilities are endless and having creative types work with technical experts is what makes Pittsburgh truly great! We can't wait to see what you guys can do when you collaborate!
Forum Posts (7)
sanna 10/22/2008 9:02:59 PM
I think this contest is a great idea and should be an annual thing. I don't think that the voters should be allowed to see who is the highest rank or see the rating for each entry. It leads to competitors rally their friends to vote other people down instead of having it be a contest about the most interesting idea.
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John 10/16/2008 7:03:07 PM
Brian Feldman has submitted at least six entries but none of them are actually innovations, they're simply suggestions for improving things, he hasn't acutally created anything. One of them is suggesting a pedestrian bridge - I think this is something he should call the City of Pittsburgh for and not submit it as his innovation. The same with the rest of his ideas... they're just ideas, he hasn't taken any steps to actually start them. It is a doing a disservice to the other companies that have actually completed their innovations and have taken or have nearly taken them to market. I'd like to see a better review of the submissions b/c he is hurting the integrity of the contest because he hasnt' actually made an innovation.
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Kathryn 10/6/2008 12:41:23 PM
Want to learn how to protect your IP better?: Attend this Brownbag Protecting and PromotingYour Intellectual Property Assets Wednesday, October 8, 2008 from NOON to 1:00pm Technology Transfer—Commercial and Legal Aspects of Intellectual Property With human creativity and inventiveness, intellectual property is all around us. Intellectual property often springs from academic or industrial innovation—such as improvements to existing technology or the creation of new pioneering technology. These technologies should—and can be—protected by patents or trade secrets. And when new technologies reach the marketplace in the form of products or services, they’re often “branded” with trademarks or servicemarks. For further protection, promotional materials and product design, packaging and manuals benefit from copyrights. This session will provide a general overview of intellectual property —with a special emphasis on patents. It will appeal to anyone interested in creating or managing intellectual property, including academics and industry professionals. Intellectual property is essential to the success of individuals and organizations (educational institutions and businesses) hoping to capitalize on their intellectual creations. Tucker Arensberg PC—Technology/Intellectual Property Law Group: Ralph F. Manning, Esq.—Chair and Registered Patent Attorney Lee Kim, Esq.—Associate and Registered Patent Attorney register… The sessions are free and open to the public. Soft drinks, coffee and cookies will be provided, attendees are welcome to bring a lunch. To register, e-mail volk@duq.edu or call 412.396.6326 where… Room 618, Duquesne Union, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue
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Jen Katzfey 9/20/2008 8:20:30 AM
I love the contest, but have concerns that the entries on the last page are not getting a fair shake. Perhaps they can be rotated, or all the images can be set to show all automatically. Otherwise, I doubt it will be possible for a last page entry to win the contest.
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Peter 9/12/2008 3:49:12 PM
The images on the 'rate the entries' page are huge, which causes that page to load very slowly. We should reduce their size to < 100 k apiece. Right now, the big ones are up to 3 MB apiece. We only need 150x100 px or so, and those images are like 10 times that size.
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Justin Kownacki 8/29/2008 10:49:50 AM
I'm a web video producer here in Pittsburgh, as well as a chief organizer of PodCamp Pittsburgh 3, our region's annual un-conference for social media creators bloggers, podcasters, etc. If anyone has an idea they'd like to submit but they're not sure how to best present it, email me and I can help you find a local media creator to work with you. (And if you'd like to learn more about creating these types of media yourselves, join us at this year's PodCamp it's free! at http://podcamppittsburgh.com )
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Kathryn 8/29/2008 8:47:31 AM
I found this inspiring! I didn't realize how much has been innovated here historically. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o75yBx8XBK0
 
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