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Project14: Monthly Project Competitions About You!

Project14 is a semi-regular/regular project competition from element14 Community. There are no applications to fill out so the competition is open to all community members who want to participate! You won't be given any required kits to use so you must choose what components work best for your project and demonstrate your project using video proof.

 

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What is Project14

  • A design competition where community members decide themes to do projects around.
  • Open to all community members who want to participate.
  • Every competition there is a new project theme poll where you get a chance to also submit ideas and images for future project competitions.
  • Video is used to inspire creativity and encourage learning.

 

Who Is It for?

  • Project14 is inclusive to all community members
    • Project competitions are a way for novices, experts, and everyone in between to learn from one another and share the journey of taking ideas and turning them into projects
    • Themes are general so you can choose to do a project however you want regardless of skill set.
    • If you are less experienced but looking to try your hand in projects this is a great way to get your feet wet.
      • You have the support of a community willing to help and peers to mentor you along your journey.
    • Those with more experienced will perhaps have less of a learning curve and offer more complete projects
      • You can use your expertise to demonstrate what's possible for others.
      • If you see someone struggling with their project you are in a position to use your expertise to help others.

Your Ideas

Themes are broad in scope so that everyone can participate regardless of skill set.

 

What are Themes?

  • A new theme will be posted on Project14.
  • Submit your ideas (proposals) for your projects to get feedback from the rest of the community.
  • Submit a project entry in the Theme group / location once you start working on it.

 

What are Theme Polls?

  • Semi regularly there is a project theme poll.
  • Vote on which project competition you want to see for the following upcoming theme.
    • The themes voted on during the previous poll decided the upcoming theme.
    • If you submit an idea for a theme that is not used then it can still be used in a future poll.
  • Themes comments and ideas from :  Theme Suggestions  

 

How do you get your theme voted on in a Project Theme Poll?

  • Submit images and ideas for design projects in the comments section of the poll.
  •  Theme Suggestions are also accepted and should be voted on   

 

Your Projects

 

By opening this competition to as broad an audience as possible, this can be a place that brings together novices, experts, and everyone in between to learn from and share the journey of taking ideas and turning them into projects. Rewards are given for top projects and ideas so you'll experience the fun of competition while keeping things light hearted.

 

How do you submit a Project entry for a Project Theme?

  • Visit the Project14  homepage or the Project Themes to see which project competitions are currently active.
  • Step 1:Login or register on element14, it's easy and it's free
  • Step 2: View the theme document under "theme" and discuss ideas in the comments below.
    • Videos, pictures, and text are welcomed forms for discussing your ideas.
  • Step 3: Click on Share an Entry in the theme space to share a blog entry of your progress and engage with other Community members!
    • You can update your entry as you go along and ask for help in the comments section of your post.
    • You are allowed to submit as many entries as you want but it's simpler to update your post as you go along.

 

How do you fill out a Project Entry?

 

Project submissions are loosely structured.

 

You are only required to submit one project entry that meets the following criteria:

 

  • Come up with a Clever Name
    • A clever name can make your project memorable.
    • The right name can distinguish your project from others and help create buzz around your project.
    • This project is your baby! Part of the fun of bringing something new into the world is coming up with a name.
  • Stick to the Theme
    • If you have an idea for a project that doesn't fit the current theme then submit your idea in the comments section of the poll or Theme Suggestions  
  • Be Original
    • Providing the steps you took to complete your project (text, video, or images) and providing video proof should be sufficient in most cases.
    • If your project introduces something new or something that is not commercially available or affordable then that counts!
  • Submit Video Proof
    • If it doesn't work that's fine, this program is more about the journey than the end product.
    • A short video is all that is required but you can shoot as much video as you like.
    • You are encouraged to be creative and have as much fun as possible!

 

Sharing the Journey

Sometimes community members can volunteer to help judge project submissions.

 

How do you volunteer to judge?

 

You're under no obligation to vote for the best project, the guidelines are loosely structured but are designed to encourage complete project submissions (with steps and video proof), and we want this program to be something that everyone in the community can participate to post smaller projects that fit within a theme (a theme the members pick in a poll) .

 

If you're interested in picking the 3 First Place Winners then let us know in the comments or in the forum of the project competition.

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Electronics & Design Projects

Enter Your Electronics & Design Project win a prize!

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  • what are the blogging requirements for these projects?

    It sounds like you need a "proposal" blog and obviously you need a completion blog - are more blogs desirable or necessary?

    When must the entry blog be submitted? If you are not sure you can complete a project, can you wait until the "month" is almost over and you are sure of completion?

  • in reply to dougw

    I read it as being a single blog, but I could be wrong. I think the idea is that you just launch straight in and develop the project in the one blog space - no need of proposals or anything. If you wait right until the end, there's no time for people to like it and comment on it and it won't necessarily make it to the judging.

     

    Shouldn't you know the answer to this - didn't you TMs help design the whole thing?

  • in reply to jc2048

    Shouldn't you know the answer to this - didn't you TMs help design the whole thing?

    Not that I recall.

    It was a concept that Spanner was pitching, but whether he was the architect or not I can't say.

     

    We simply were a bit of a sounding board, and the final incarnation was with element14.

     

    It sounds like you need a "proposal" blog

    I read that as if you want to suggest a theme for the next month

     

    When must the entry blog be submitted?

    The way I read it is, you blog about your project and if enough of the community likes it, then it goes into he pool for judging.

    You can do one or many more blogs over the 4 weeks.

     

     

    Mark

  • in reply to jc2048

    I read it as being a single blog, but I could be wrong. I think the idea is that you just launch straight in and develop the project in the one blog space - no need of proposals or anything. If you wait right until the end, there's no time for people to like it and comment on it and it won't necessarily make it to the judging.

     

    Shouldn't you know the answer to this - didn't you TMs help design the whole thing?

    Hey ,

     

    You bring up a really good point here.  If people wait till the end to submit their final project then there won't be enough time for people to like it and comment on it.

     

    The thinking is that likes and comments would be enough to raise your entry to final consideration but the rules around this aren't so rigid.

     

    Obviously if someone waits till the last minute to submit a mind blowing project they would not only qualify as a finalist but could win the whole thing.

     

    This needs to be clarified better and we'll adjust the doc so that people know this.

     

    Perhaps, weight should be added to other activities such as throwing out your idea in the theme blog and considering any "liking", "commenting", or "marking things helpful" should be added as a consideration to propel a project as a finalist?

     

    As far as the concept that was initially pitched to the Top Members its evolved quite a bit and its still a very fluid process as far as how this thing is evolving.

     

    With this the idea was to just get this to the point where we could have something to present to all the members so we could hear what everyone thought and make adjustments based on all the community members and not just the top members.

  • in reply to mcb1

    The way I read it is, you blog about your project and if enough of the community likes it, then it goes into he pool for judging.

    You can do one or many more blogs over the 4 weeks.

    Hey ,

     

    You read that correctly.

     

    If enough of the community likes it then that's enough to bring it into the pool of judging.

     

    You can do many more blogs over the 4 weeks.

  • in reply to jc2048

    Hi , There were lots of ideas being discussed and I added my 2 cents worth, but decisions on implementation are always the domain of element14 staff. As for the TM thing, I don't pay much attention to which group the discussion falls in - I don't even get why there should be a distinction. I think you would have enjoyed the discussion and the ideas.

    From my perspective there is a price to pay for being allowed to participate - just like the main forum - you have to become a member to participate. In the case of the TM group, this can be a high price, especially when you are not keen on the title.

  • in reply to dougw

    I'm quite comfortable with all of you TMs 'representing' the rest of us with this kind of thing - you're all sensible and constructive. In theory I'm for openness, but in practice discussions easily get distracted and go off at tangents, and it's probably more practical to keep it to a smaller, better-focused group. As you say, the final decisions have to be by e14, though hopefully they listen and take note of what you all say.

     

    One major concern I would have had (if I had of been involved in the discussions about this) would be the fast pace of it - an event every month is a lot of activity. Nice for e14 if they can attract enough people in to sustain it, but it's going to be heavy going for you TMs since you'll probably end up with the bulk of the judging and a fair bit of the support, at least initially for the first few months.

Comment
  • in reply to dougw

    I'm quite comfortable with all of you TMs 'representing' the rest of us with this kind of thing - you're all sensible and constructive. In theory I'm for openness, but in practice discussions easily get distracted and go off at tangents, and it's probably more practical to keep it to a smaller, better-focused group. As you say, the final decisions have to be by e14, though hopefully they listen and take note of what you all say.

     

    One major concern I would have had (if I had of been involved in the discussions about this) would be the fast pace of it - an event every month is a lot of activity. Nice for e14 if they can attract enough people in to sustain it, but it's going to be heavy going for you TMs since you'll probably end up with the bulk of the judging and a fair bit of the support, at least initially for the first few months.

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