Competition Tools

Below you will find all the tools you need to successfully compete in the Spirit of Innovation Challenge.

Abstract Deadline: Oct. 24

How to Enter and Submit: This guide will show you how to register, use the online community and submit your team's abstract.
Download here

Spirit of Innovation Challenge Handbook: A guide to this year’s competition. Teams should always reference the website for new information.
Download here 

Alumni Share Best Practices: Conrad Alumni share top ten tips and techniques to help you succeed in the Spirit of Innovation Challenge. http://bit.ly/AlumniWebinar

How to Conduct an Innovative Brainstorm – Download the Brainstorm booklet and watch the pre-recorded Webinar hosted by Rickson Sun, Chief Technologist at IDEO to help your team conduct an innovative brainstorming session. Get your team to answer the question "how might we" solve a real world problem. Using a human-centered, design-based approach, IDEO helps organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. Here is your chance to learn from the best! 
Webinar: http://bit.ly/Brainstorm-session

What you need:
- Post-its
- Sharpies
- Wall space

Brainstorming: Below are some tips discussed in the Webinar. These techniques are used by many companies and design firms during brainstorming session for developing new product ideas or services.

Quantity vs. Quality – There are many ways to conduct a brainstorming session. By using Post-It notes and Sharpie markers you are encouraged to limit your thoughts to succinct ideas that can be demonstrated by a title or drawing. Each member of you team should write or draw as many ideas/solutions/improvements as possible. This idea-forming phase is an important step in the innovative design process and the quantity will transform into quality over time.

Narrow the Ideas: Quality – Display the small notes for the entire team to view. Begin by removing ideas you do not want to pursue then narrow down the team’s choices to the top 3-4 ideas by taking votes or by lifting the obvious choices from the pile. After talking through each choice the team should try to decide which idea(s) to pursue. Teams should keep their notes in case they encounter a problem and want to develop a new idea. Failure is an important part of the creative thinking process.

Spirit of Innovation Challenge – Presentation: You can use this presentation to introduce the program to your group. For guidance on giving this presentation you can watch the same slides presented in this Webinar: http://bit.ly/EnterSOIC
Download here