Where can I find the QA transcript from the Business of Design event?
Why is the NYCEDC holding the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge?
Who is eligible to enter the competition?
Can I enter more than one submission?
What types of products are eligible for the competition?
Are there any limits around what type of production my product will require?
Do I need to send in an actual physical prototype for judging?
What type of design files should I include in my submission?
Can I use open source hardware in my submission?
If I become a finalist, do I have to take part in the Studio Phase?
What happens during the Studio Phase? What is required of me/my team during that time?
How much assistance will I be given during the Studio Phase? Do I need to know how to make my product?
Why do I have to upload a video?
I don't want people to steal my idea before I can get it on the market. Do I have to enter the public parts of the submission?
By entering this challenge, am I giving up any equity rights to my product?
Do I retain intellectual property ownership?
Can more than one person work on a submission and receive credit for it? And if the product wins a prize, how will the prize money be split among the creators?
Do the submitted products have to be newly created for this competition, or can they be pre-existing products?
What are the criteria for choosing the list of finalists?
What will the NYCEDC and ChallengePost do with my submission?
What are the key competition dates?
How to Enter
How do I follow the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge and get updates?
How does public voting work?
Do I need a ChallengePost account to vote?
How do I vote?
Do tweets and Facebook likes count as votes?
Can I create more than one account to vote?
Can I pay people to vote for me?
Are votes checked for eligibility before the Popular Choice Finalist Award winner is determined?
What do I do if I think someone is cheating to get more votes?
Who can I contact if I have questions about the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge?
Where can I find the QA transcript from the Business of Design event?
You can find the QA transcript from the Business of Design event here.
Why is the NYCEDC holding the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge?
New York City is committed to helping NYC businesses grow and prosper. The goal of the challenge is to support design-driven production, promote a culture of innovation and commercialization, and foster the development of new businesses within New York City’s industrial business, design and engineering communities.
Who is eligible to enter the competition?
New York’s Next Top Makers is open to individuals and teams of individuals who are over 18 years of age and who are residents of New York City. The competition is also open to small companies and non-profit organizations based in New York City with < 10 total employees.
Can I enter more than one submission?
A contestant may enter more than one submission. However, each submission must, at the sole discretion of NYCEDC and ChallengePost, be substantially different from the contestant’s other submissions. If similar submissions are received, NYCEDC and ChallengePost may require the contestant to choose one of the similar submissions to enter.
What types of products are eligible for the competition?
The physical product described in the submission must be new and must not be commercially available at the time of entry or during the competition submission period or finalist judging period.
The proposed new product may not be a:
- Consumer non-durable good (including but not limited to food; beverages; garments shoes and other textile goods; and health and beauty products such as cosmetics, medicines, nutritional supplements and vitamins);
- Agricultural product;
- Media product (including, but not limited to books, publications, music, photographs, video, and film);
- Weapon;
- Sex toy;
- Chemical, liquid or gas;
- Permanent structure;
- Raw material; or
- Art, sculpture, or painting, unless the Product is reproducible, scalable and has functionality beyond decoration.
For more information please see the Official Rules.
Are there any limits around what type of production my product will require?
Your product must be scientifically feasible, and must be able to be produced, manufactured, or fabricated using existing technology.
Do I need to send in an actual physical prototype for judging?
Contestants depicting a physical prototype of their product may be required to provide access to the physical prototype upon request. However, you do not need to provide access to your physical prototype in order to submit an entry.
What type of design files should I include in my submission?
Please submit your design files as PDF’s or JPEG’s so that judges without your specific software can open them. You can use any program you like to create the PDF’s or JPEG’s.
Can I use open source hardware in my submission?
Contestants may utilize open source hardware in their submission, provided they follow all terms outlined by the license of the specific open hardware project, for example, the criteria outlined by the Open Source Hardware Association, and provided their proposed new product includes substantial modifications and improvements to the open source hardware. Submissions proposing to manufacture and commercialize open source hardware without substantial modification will not be eligible. For more information about the different open source licenses available, visit http://opensource.org.
If I become a finalist, do I have to take part in the Studio Phase?
In order to become a finalist you must indicate in your submission that 1-3 members of your team are available to take part in the Studio Phase. The purpose of the competition is to help a group of finalists advance on the path to commercializing their product.
What happens during the Studio Phase? What is required of me/my team during that time?
During the Studio Phase each finalist team will receive 5 months of studio space from NYDesigns (valued at approximately $1,650), $300 in 3D printing services from Shapeways, as well as a $4,000 budget for prototyping materials and access to equipment. Technical support and mentorship from other industry leaders such as Adafruit Industries and Honeybee Robotics will also be provided.
The goal of the Studio Phase is to provide support for each team to help them launch their product and bring it to market.
In order to remain eligible for the Studio Phase finalists will be required to use the studio space at least once per week and provide bi-weekly documentation of the team’s progress by posting an update to the Challenge Tumblr. This Tumblr will be publicly linked to on the challenge site and access to the Tumblr will be given once the Studio Phase has begun. The update must include one or both of the items below in order to meet the documentation requirement.
- A text description of the progress made which may address the following questions:
- How has your product or team changed during the last two weeks?
- What new constraints have you been confronted with and how have you dealt with them?
- What new insights have you had regarding your product’s manufacturing & distribution and business plans?
- Images or video to further describe the team’s work to date
Please see the Official Rules for more information.
How much assistance will I be given during the Studio Phase? Do I need to know how to make my product?
You are expected to know how to make your product, however you are not required to make it on your own. There may be some portions of your product that need to be outsourced - that is okay. There will be some assistance given during the Studio Phase in the form of workshops. Topics for these workshops will be determined based upon the needs of the finalists. It is a good idea to list any barriers you have to bringing your product to market (for example skills you may need) in your submission so that the EDC can take those barriers into consideration when lining up workshops.
Why do I have to upload a video?
The Popular Choice Finalist Award is determined by public voting. A video helps ensure that all users can view and experience your product. The video will also be helpful to the panel of judges. You may create a screencast or use a handheld video camera to make your video, or choose any other method that captures the product’s design, functionality and use scenarios.
I don't want people to steal my idea before I can get it on the market. Do I have to enter the public parts of the submission?
You are required to include a title, video, image, and text description of your product in your submission. These elements of your submission will be publicly accessible on the challenge website. However, if there is a trade secret to your product that you do not want to share publicly, you can opt to address that trade secret in your Required Questions document only (viewable only by ChallengePost, EDC, and the judges). Just be sure that your video, images, and text description, and all other required fields meet the requirements in the Official Rules.
By entering this challenge, am I giving up any equity rights to my product?
No, all equity remains with you and your team.
Do I retain intellectual property ownership?
Yes. By submitting a product to the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge, you do not transfer any intellectual property rights to NYCEDC or ChallengePost. However NYCEDC and ChallengePost will have the right to feature your submission for promotional purposes. See the Official Rules for details.
Can more than one person work on a submission and receive credit for it? And if the product wins a prize, how will the prize money be split among the creators?
Yes, teams are encouraged, however studio space during the Studio Phase will only be available for up to three team members If a team of individuals or an organization is selected as the Grand Prize Award winner, the full cash prize amount will be sent to the submitter. It will be up to the winning team or organization to reallocate the prize money between the team members, as they deem it appropriate.
Do the submitted products have to be newly created for this competition, or can they be pre-existing products?
The physical product described in the submission must be new and must not be commercially available at the time of entry or during the competition submission period or finalist judging period. The proposed new product may not be substantially similar to an existing product distributed commercially by the contestant.
What are the criteria for choosing the list of finalists?
All eligible submissions will be judged on the following criteria to determine the list of finalists.
- Quality of the idea (including originality and creativity and whether the new product design is substantially different from current market offerings)
- Quality of the product design (including thoroughness of product design documentation submitted; the degree to which the product’s visual appeal and user experience are demonstrated; and the inclusion and quality of a physical prototype, if appropriate)
- Commercial potential (including feasibility of production, material and production costs, scalability, and potential demand)
- Potential impact on NYC (including business ecosystem fit, whether part of the production value chain could exist locally, and potential for local product adoption)
- Potential to benefit from Studio Phase (including how a submitter/team plans to use the studio phase to move their product forward in a way that could not be achieved without assistance)
- Quality of Team (including prior successes and experience of team members and capacity of the team to execute and bring a product to market)
What will the NYCEDC and ChallengePost do with my submission?
NYCEDC and ChallengePost will have the right to publicly display on the challenge website the name, description, video, image(s), and website URL (if entered) included with your submission. All other fields included in your submission will be viewable only by NYCEDC, ChallengePost, and the judges. NYCEDC and ChallengePost will also be allowed to publicize your name on the challenge website and elsewhere in connection with the challenge, once winners are announced and for two years after its conclusion. For more information on publicity rights, please see the Official Rules.
What are the key competition dates?
The submission deadline is February 20, 2013, at 5 p.m. EST. Judging and Public Voting will begin on March 8, 2013, and will end March 27, 2013. Finalists will be announced on or around April 1, 2013.
The Studio Phase will run from April 2, 2013 through August 30, 2013. The final judging and announcement of the Grand Prize winner will take place in mid-September of 2013.
How to Enter
- Create an account on or log in with an existing ChallengePost account.
- On NextTopMakers.com click the "Accept this challenge" button to register your interest in participating. This step ensures that you will receive important challenge updates.
- Complete all of the required fields on the submission form, and submit your product design by including the following information:
- a submission name;
- a video describing the product’s design, functionality and use scenarios;
- one or more images depicting the product, product design, or a physical prototype;
- a brief text description of the product’s functionality and use (for public display);
- an uploaded PDF file, no longer than 5 pages, which addresses the required questions listed on the “Required Submission Questions” page;
- the submitter type (individual, team, organization);
- the product category (consumer products, equipment, furniture and lighting, soft goods, packaging, interaction, transportation, DIY (kits), Other);
- phone number;
- Acknowledgement that 1-3 team members will be able to participate in the 5-month Studio Phase;
- Agreement to the Official Rules;
- And all other required fields
How do I follow the New York’s Next Top Makers Challenge and get updates?
When you accept the challenge, you’ll automatically receive updates regarding the Challenge. But anyone can receive email updates by clicking the “Follow” button on the challenge homepage. Follow us on Twitter at @challengepost or join the conversation with #NextTopMakers.
How does public voting work?
Visitors to the site can vote for as many submissions as they like, but no more than once for a single submission. At the end of the public voting period, the votes will be tallied and verified to determine the Popular Choice Finalist Award winner. For more information please see the Official Rules.
Do I need a ChallengePost account to vote?
Yes. Before you can vote for a submission, please sign up or log in to your ChallengePost account.
How do I vote?
Log in to your confirmed ChallengePost account, go to the submission you’d like to vote for, then click on the VOTE button to vote during the public voting period.
Do tweets and Facebook likes count as votes?
No, they do not.
Can I create more than one account to vote?
No, the use of multiple email addresses or any form of automated vote processes will subject all votes from the person to disqualification.
Can I pay people to vote for me?
Submitters may not pay or otherwise compensate anyone or provide any other type of consideration in exchange for votes.
Are votes checked for eligibility before the Popular Choice Finalist Award winner is determined?
We take the integrity of the competition extremely seriously, and verify all votes via a wide variety of criteria before a Popular Choice Finalist Award winner is determined.
What do I do if I think someone is cheating to get more votes?
Send us an email at Support@ChallengePost.com and include a link to the submission in question.