How does impACT³ proceed and what do I do during the competition?
impACT³ has three stages: the Summer School, the team competition and an evaluation phase, during which the general public and the jury determine the winners.
During the summer school, which will take place from 22 - 28 August 2009 at Jacobs University in Bremen, it is your task and responsibility to get answers to all your questions from the available experts on the theory and practice of social entrepreneurship. In addition, you should find out who you want to work with and on which specific project. Your team should use available time to design a strategy and jointly develop an implementation plan. Clear-cut role definitions and a distribution of tasks will help you manage your time well, maximize your effort and stay within manageable limits.
During the implementation phase (7 September - 25 October 2009), the focus should be on implementing the team’s strategy while continuously adapting the plans to real world conditions. Active contribution to team success and goal achievement is required. This may require in-depth needs assessment, the identification of sponsors, customers or co-operation partners, marketing, event or product planning, assignment handling, among others.
During this stage, the web platform for the competition www.act-for-impact.net will give you and your team a public face, which may be helpful: you can present your project itself online, publish your press releases on this website and attract interest in your initiative. You can also stay in touch with other participants of the Summer School via the platform and exchange your experience.
At the end of the competition stage, the platform assumes another important function: The photos, blogs and other information you and your team have published on the website and the final report will be the basis for the nomination and determination of the award winners. All visitors can vote for their favorite projects on www.act-for-impact.net between 26 October and 18 November 2009. Taking the top 10 projects determined by public polling as a base, the independent jury will later determine the three most impressive projects. Thus, secrecy until the last minute of the competition stage may be a strategy – but then you’ll need votes in order to safeguard your chance to win a prize.