Crowdsourcing Innovation with Prizes

I recently spoke with Alberto Ibarguen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, who will announce the winners of the Knight News Challenge on May 23. This contest, open to anyone, is offering up to $25 million for innovators to implement ideas that build community through digital media in a defined geographic community. Alberto said that the Foundation received 1,600 entries and that he expected the winners to “radically transform” news media. We will keep you posted.

I was excited to hear about the Knight Challenge which ‘crowdsources’ ideas for social change but I didn’t realize, until I read “Laud and Clear” in the May, 2007 issue of Worth Magazine, that prizes are a $2 billion industry globally with 30,000 awarded each year. If it’s still an idea that appeals to you, you don’t have to start from scratch. There’s a certification program for administrators of award programs offered by the International Congress for Distinguished Awards that is bound to help you avoid common pitfalls.

Susan Herr