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The Festival of Urgent Reinventions is a 2-day event to question and reimagine how we can use our skills to build a more accessible, equitable future. The Festival of Urgent Reinventions is a 2-day event to question and reimagine how we can use our skills to build a more accessible, equitable future. The Festival of Urgent Reinventions is a 2-day event to question and reimagine how we can use our skills to build a more accessible, equitable future.

Submissions & Judging

Any capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Official Rules for the Festival of Urgent Reinventions, beginning on February 4, 2021.

Application Process

The application requirements for your Entry should be submitted via this form, the details of which are listed below. You must provide the following information, but we strongly recommend any additional details, images, videos, prototypes, decks, descriptions, etc. be submitted as well. Notwithstanding the foregoing, please do not submit any proprietary information (such as computer code) that you would not desire to be posted in the public domain (which shall be posted to the public domain through the Sponsor’s website for the Competition). The form allows for additional files to be uploaded.

A) Email (one for main contact)
B) Name(s) (If you are part of a team, please choose one person as your main point of contact but list all team members here)

C) Which of the four briefs are you solving?
D) Describe your idea.
E) How does this idea come to life? (i.e., cost, materials, distribution, location, etc.)
F) What are the main use cases of your idea? (i.e., who will engage with or use it? What community will be most impacted?)
G) What is the potential impact of your idea? (i.e., can it grow or scale?)
H) Explain how your idea can be shared. How will it be easy to adopt and modify? (i.e., how can your idea could be open source for others?).
I) What are the potential risks/hurdles with respect to your idea? (i.e., cost, feasibility, tech requirements, etc.)

J) Are you affiliated with one particular community, school, or company organization that is a registered public charity in the United States (i.e., a 501(c)(3) organization)? Please briefly describe how you are affiliated with such organization, and explain why such organization is important to you.

K) How did you hear about this event?

  • 1. Social Media
  • 2. Referral
  • 3. Company / Organization → Allow to fill in if selected
  • 4. Email
  • 5. Word of Mouth
  • 6. Other

L) Any other attachments to support your Entry

Once submitted, your Entry will first be reviewed by a panel of multiple judges from the hosts of the event (Instrument and The Great Foundation) who will use the judging rubric included below to thoroughly evaluate your Entry.

Based on the scores given in such first round, 10 Entries from each of the four problem brief categories will move on to the next round of judging. Judges for such second round are specific to each category. Their names and bios can be found here (website link as soon as we know their names, etc.).

Judges will then also use the below judging rubric to thoroughly evaluate anyEntry which has made it to the second round. Once final scores are calculated, winners will be notified on or about February 12th, 2021. In the case of a tie, winners will be determined based on the Judges’ discretion.

Employees of the hosts of the event (Instrument and The Great Foundation) may reach out to you for clarification on parts of your Entry, but they are not required to do so.

Judging Rubric

Each Entry will be judged based on the criteria listed here.

EFFECTIVENESS – 30%
To what extent will the solution presented directly impact the problem stated in the brief? Entrants should specifically address the community served in their solution and indicate how success will be measured. The proposal should illustrate a deep understanding of the needs of the community, as well as the best ways to approach and serve them. The creativity and thoroughness of the idea will be of great worth as well.

FEASIBILITY – 20%
To what degree can this solution be implemented immediately? What is the development timeline for the product or platform? For example, is there testing that would need to be completed before this solution can be widely distributed? Once completed, how long would results be apparent? The proposal should demonstrate consideration of these obstacles and potential solutions to overcome them for immediate implementation.

ORIGINALITY – 20%
How unique is this idea? Is it an offshoot of an existing solution, or is it completely original? If there are similar products already on the market or in use, why is this solution new or exciting? The Entry should show due diligence in regard to researching existing solutions.

FUNDABILITY – 20%
Considerations should be given for marketing, training, personnel, logistics, cost, and cultural reception of the idea. Entries should be wise, effective, but also innovative in order to be fundable.

SHAREABILITY – 10%
To what degree is this idea a shareable concept that can be easily sourced and modified by various communities and groups? Is the idea prohibitively expensive, logistically difficult, or does it require a high level of technological know-how to operate? Entries should consider accessibility, cultural sensitivity, location, etc.