THE ALPKIT INNOVATION AWARD

Alpkit is responsible for launching and realizing the Alpkit Innovation Award, related information, the prize exhibition (coLAB 08) and its additional programme at The Outdoors Show 2008. The Alpkit Innovation Award is open to everyone interested in the outdoors, we want everyone to be creative and enter their good idea.

Prizes

In addition to exhibiting their entry at coLAB 08 the winners will receive:
First Prize: £250 Alpkit products
Second Prize: £100 Alpkit products
Third Prize: £50 Alpkit products

EVALUATION CRITERIA

A prize-winning entry shall demonstrate design innovation for an idea related to getting out and about in the great outdoors. Entrants will need to think about what is happening in the industry and society in general and take into account such factors as functionality and environmental friendliness. An Expert Panel (to be announced later on in the year) will shortlist 9 entries chosen from candidates submitting their idea via the coLAB 08 website. The nine finalists will have the opportunity to show their entries at coLAB 08 during The Outdoors Show and will be given 4 free tickets by the show organizers for friends and family to come along. Although you don’t have to, it is recommend that you attend the event in order to present your idea to the visiting public. Announcements at each stage of the competition will be made via the coLAB website and popular outdoor forums. The final winner will be announced at The Outdoor Show on 16th of March as a result of a public vote.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

• By 'entry' we mean a specific idea/invention/innovation/ product or knowledge.
  Your idea doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, it may be an improvement to a current outdoor product, a new pocket design, zip design, maybe a safety feature that could be incorporated into a current product on the market.
• All entries must be original and the entrants own work.
• By entering the competition the entrant confirms that he/she is the legal owner of the entry.
  Basically this means you came up with the idea and haven't just looked around the internet and copied someone else's idea.
• It is the responsibility of the entrant to secure Intellectual Property rights for their entry.
  Information and advice on copyright, patent, trademark and design protection can be found at the UK Intellectual Property Office.
• The entrant acknowledges that once submitted a specific entry will enter public knowledge and cannot then be protected by patent.
  If you think you are going to make your millions with this entry protect it before entering this award.
• Where an entrant has protected his/her entry through design registration or patent this information should be included with their entry.
  If you have a patent or design registration on a product you must always display it otherwise you risk having the idea copied and may lose some of the protection a patent awards you.
• Entries are received in good faith and in accordance with the rules however we cannot check the integrity of each and every entry. In the event of an IP dispute between third parties Alpkit shall not be responsible for contesting or upholding the entrants intellectual property rights relating to entries.
  If someone challenges your design saying they did it first, it will be up to you to prove you did it first. It may be the case you developed your idea at the same time without any knowledge of the other persons designs. We recommend you always have some sort of timeline with your designs. This may be conversations with friends in the pub, dated drawings you sent yourself in the post, time stamped emails to friends.
• Entrants may submit more than one entry, however each entry must be submitted seperately.
• Initial entries should be submitted before the 1 December, an expert panel will then shortlist 18 and the entrants will have the chance to further develop their entry.
  Your first entry can be a simple sketch with some descriptive text, it is you that has to convince the panel your idea is worthy of progressing in the competition. Do not leave anything to the judges imagination or interpretation. Further emails to us explaining your ideas will not be seen by the judges, put as much information in your initial entry as you can. You don't have to have a working model or even a basic prototype at this stage, just a concept.
• 18 will become 9 during a second review on the 15 January, these finalists will then have the opportunity to work up their entry ready for the Outdoors Show. Depending on the nature of the entry we may or may not be able to help with the presentation or creation of a working prototype.
  It is in our interest as much as yours to put on a good show at the Outdoors Show and where possible we'll try and help you produce a working prototype. This doesn't mean we'll pay to have 3D modelling done on your behalf, but we may know where it can be done cheaply. We are only a small company with one sewing machine out back, we'll give as much help as possible but just be realistic in your expectations of us.
• Nine finalists will exhibit their entries at the 2008 Outdoors Show. Depending on the specific entry this can include 3-D models, high quality artwork, powerpoint slideshow or sketchbooks. Although not strickly necessary finalists are encouraged to court the visiting public on their stand during the show.
  All the entries will be judged by the public visiting the show, obviously if you are there to give more substance to your design you'll be more likely to attract votes.
• Alpkit reserves the right to change these deadlines.
  If for example the competition is a flop and we do not even get 18 entries there would be no point in judging the entries until a later date.
• All entries will be returned to the owner once any publicity and promotional activity surrounding the award and future awards has finished.
• The overall winner will be chosen by the visiting public and announced on the final day of the Outdoors Show (16 March 2008).
• Entrants accept the judges decisions as final and binding.

COMPETITION BRIEF, REGISTRATION AND COSTS

Participation shall be carried out according to the instructions of the organizers. You will be required to present any promotion material, prototypes or equipment either to ALPKIT HQ on Friday the 7th or personally at the NEC on the 13th March 2008. The organizers of the competition shall be responsible for exhibits and insurance costs during the exhibition, and will pay for samples to be returned.

There is no payment due for registration. However entrants should be aware that there may be costs in getting involved. To get the best out of it we are recommending that you attend the show, this will require living locally or finding accommodation our advice is to book early. Getting bulky samples shipped around may cost a bit so keep friendly with anyone with a Volvo. Time and materials can also soon add up.

PERSONAL DATA

Alpkit will not publish any personal contact information on the publicly accessed website or pass this information on to any third party. Please review the example entry to see what will be published. All applicants will receive updates via email on camp winners, special prizes and updates to the rules. They will not be updated to the main Alpkit database. Feel free to register though.

CONFIRMATION OF AWARENESS OF THE AWARD RULES

By entering the award entrants confirm acceptance of the rules and rights to the submitted product.

Many thanks to Nadia Danhash from InnovationRCA for her advice on the difficult matter of T&C's

Alpkit.com National Innovation Award in association with:

coLAB 08 | Brief | Rules | News

coLAB08 will be a showcase event at The Outdoors Show 2008 where you will get the chance to show your vision of outdoor products.