Ruckus Nation: Overview of Competition Judging Process

Ruckus Nation is about finding great new ideas for products that will get kids moving. How will we know a great idea when we see it? We’ve identified a few simple but important criteria by which every entry is evaluated.

Here’s how Ruckus Nation judging works:

Judging occurs in four rounds
Judges have diverse expertise and backgrounds
Judges are individuals of all ages, from around the world

To see the types of folks we’ve recruited as judges, check out the bios for our Round 3 judges and Grand Prize judges.

For more details on how ideas submitted to Ruckus Nation are judged, keep reading.

Judging Rounds - Click Below to See Details

Round 1 - Making the First Cut

What Happens?
The primary purpose of Round 1 judging is to ensure entries meet the basic entry requirements and to identify the most promising entries received.

Who Judges?Round 1 judges include HopeLab staff and advisors.

How?All entries received by the entry deadline are reviewed in Round 1. Entries that do not meet the entry requirements are eliminated from the competition.

As part of Round 1, entries that meet the entry requirements are evaluated based on the following judging criteria:

Appeals to kids (kids 11 – 14 years old will like the product)
Gets kids moving (the product will get kids 11 – 14 years old to be more physically active)
Keeps kids moving (the product keeps kids 11 -14 years old physically active)
Originality (the idea is bold, fresh, and creative)
Gives kids control (the product allows kids 11 – 14 years old to be in control of its use)

Please see the scoring criteria for additional information.

What Next?Based on the judging criteria, Round 1 judges determine which entries move on to Round 2.

Round 2 – Semifinalists Determined

What Happens? The primary purpose of Round 2 is to identify Semifinalists in each competition category.

Who Judges? To do this, a diverse set of judges are selected to review and score each entry that successfully moved through Round 1. Read more about how Round 2 Judges were selected.

How? Each Round 2 judge will be given a small number of entries from the same competition category to compare and score. Scores will be based on the same criteria used in Round 1. However, in Round 2, these criteria will be weighted as follows:

Appeals to kids [25 percent weight]
Gets kids moving [20 percent weight]
Keeps kids moving [20 percent weight]
Originality [20 percent weight]
Gives kids control [15 percent weight]

The “weight” assigned to each criterion represents its relative importance – the higher the weight, the greater the impact that criterion has on the overall score.

The top 10 entries in each competition category based on judge scores will be selected as Semifinalists. In addition, HopeLab may identify additional Semifinalists in each category – if there are more than 10 exceptional ideas in a category.

What Next? Semifinalists move on to Round 3. Entrants selected as Semifinalists will be announced on March 10, 2008.

Round 3 – Category Winners Determined

What Happens? Now things are heating up! The primary purpose of Round 3 is to determine the potential winners in each competition category .

Who Judges? A diverse panel of judges was selected for each competition category. Check out the bios for our judges.

How? Each panel will evaluate the entries of all Semifinalists in a single competition category using the scorecard. The panel for each competition category will then rank the entries in the category, and the top two Semifinalists in each category will be selected as potential Category Winners.

If a panel is not able to agree on the top two entries in its category, HopeLab will make the final selection of potential Category Winners. HopeLab may also select additional potential Category Winners from among the Semifinalists.

What Next? The potential Category Winners will be contacted in February 2008. Prior to contacting potential Category Winners, HopeLab will review each entry carefully to ensure that each entry complies with all competition rules.

The Category Winners will be publicly announced at an awards event on March 17, 2008.

Round 4 – Behold! The Ruckus Nation Grand Prize Winner

What Happens? This is it – the purpose of Round 4 is to determine who will take home the Ruckus Nation Grand Prize!

Who Judges? A panel of judges will be selected to review and score the entries of all Category Winners.

The panel will convene at a Ruckus Nation awards event in March 2008 to hear presentations from each Category Winner competing for the Grand Prize.

In order to be considered for the Grand Prize, at least one member of the team is required to present the team’s entry to the panel, either in person or through teleconference, or other method as determined by HopeLab. Please note, if no team member is able to participate and present the entry to the panel, that Category Winner will not be eligible to win the Grand Prize.

The panel will review their scores and what they heard during the presentations from Category Winners and choose one Grand Prize Winner. In the event that the panel is unable to agree on a winner, HopeLab will make the final determination of the Grand Prize winner.

What Next? The Grand Prize winner will be announced at the conclusion of the awards event in March 2008. Will it be you?