The Philadelphia tech and creative communities wanted to help lead the global conversation about gigabit broadband after the end of Google’s fiber for communities contest.
So we created the Gigabit Genius Grants and raised over $10,000 from the local community.
We are giving out the following grants:
- $1,000 Popular Genius Grant for April – Awarded to the idea that earns the most votes on our contest website during the month of April.
- $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant – Awarded to the most promising gigabit project submitted before June 30, 2010 at midnight EST.
The contest was started in Philadelphia but anyone in the world can win.
How the $1,000 Popular Genius Grant works
- People like you submit project ideas on the contest website.
- Users vote for their favorite ideas on the contest website.
- The project with the most votes on April 30, 2010 at midnight Eastern Standard Time wins a $1,000 Popular Genius Grant.
For official contest rules, click here.
How the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant works
- People like you submit project ideas.
- Users choose the finalists by voting on their favorite projects. Winners of a Popular Genius Grant become finalists automatically.
- A panel of technology experts, civic leaders, entrepreneurs and investors evaluate the finalists for social impact, viability and community excitement.
- The winning project receives the $10,000+ Gigabit Genius Grant for use in bringing their project to life.
The deadline for project submissions is June 30, 2010.
For official contest rules, click here.
How to submit your ideas
We’re accepting submissions through a new service called Google Moderator. This service allows anyone to post, view and vote on ideas.
You will have 250 characters to summarize your idea on Google Moderator. We know that’s not enough space to share most ideas, so you will need to post the details of your submission elsewhere on the web and include a link to it in the summary you post on Google Moderator.
Here are some easy ways to publish your submission details on the web. Feel free to choose the one you’re most comfortable with:
- Write a blog post. If you don’t have a blog, you can setup one instantly using Posterous.
- Post text and images on runt.ly. You don’t need a blog or a website and it’s very easy to use.
- Create a PDF or a Microsoft Word document and upload it on Vuzit. Vuzit then gives you a link you can copy and paste into Google Moderator.
Submit your ideas early and often
You can submit as many ideas as you like, and we encourage you to submit them early and often. That way your ideas have more time to earn votes. So if you have an idea, now is the best time to get started.
