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NBC Innovation Challenge

Apply to attend a workshop to develop and launch a global Crowdsourcing Project for NBC. Open to all full-time NBC Entertainment employees.

This challenge is closed

stage:
Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop
prize:
Ticket to Innovation Workshop

This challenge is closed

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Crowdsourcing
Summary

Overview

WANT TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIG? YOUR MOMENT HAS ARRIVED.

Through the NBC Innovation Challenge, we are selecting and building a team that will lay the groundwork for creating a new era for our business – and maybe our entire industry – through crowdsourcing innovation!

Open to all full-time NBC Entertainment employees.

 

SHARE YOUR BRILLIANCE, CREATE OUR FUTURE

Step up for a chance to be a part of a brand-new NBC workshop that will develop and launch an exciting, new global crowdsourcing project that will set out to expand, reimagine, and maybe even reinvent the way NBC does business.

Think you have big ideas? We know you do. That’s why we want to hear from each and every one of you, no matter your department or level of experience.

Apply for the workshop, and unleash your most aggressively progressive, independent thinking. Share your capacity to break the rules, blaze a new trail, and imagine the impossible – and take our business to a far bigger, better, more cutting-edge place than anyone dreamed possible.

As many as 15 of the most creative, passionate, forward-thinking applicants will be chosen to attend our first-ever hands-on NBC Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop. Led by HeroX, participants will craft an exciting and cutting-edge crowdsourcing project to take NBC and the industry into the next millennium.

Sound fun? Sound exciting? If so, we want to hear from you!

 

WHOs, HOWs & WHENs

Who: We want to hear from all interested NBC Entertainment full-time employees. That means every department and all levels of experience. All you need is an open mind and an innovative spirit.

How: Submit your application by Thursday, June 28th, 2017 @ 5 pm ET, and make sure to highlight why you are the perfect candidate. From storytellers and forward-thinkers to big-dreamers and visionary agents of change, tell us who you are.

What If You’re Chosen: If you are selected, you will attend a full day of interactive, engaging, and transformational brainstorming at NBC’s first-ever Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop on Tuesday, August 1st, 2017 in Los Angeles.

It’s that simple.

Have five minutes? Get started now.

 

TO APPLY:

  • Click ACCEPT CHALLENGE above to register on HeroX and begin your application.

  • Leave a comment in the FORUM to join the conversation, ask questions or connect with other applicants.

 

WHAT IS CROWDSOURCING?

Essentially, crowdsourcing innovation is about translating a seemingly impossible, daunting problem into a competition where people want to compete to solve it. In short, it’s about asking the right question of others. Framed in a powerful way, the question becomes the key motivating factor for innovators (competitors) to want to solve your problem and create a breakthrough. Learn more about crowdsourcing.

 

WHAT IS HEROX?

HeroX is the premier company in the practice of crowdsourcing innovation. Founded in 2013, HeroX exists at the intersection of crowdsourcing, competition, and collaboration. The HeroX crowdsourcing platform brings together global communities of problem solvers to deliver breakthrough solutions to social, economic, and strategic challenges.


Guidelines

THE PRIZE

We will select up to 15 eligible candidates to participate in an exclusive full-day Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop, Wednesday, September 6th, 2017 in Los Angeles, led by HeroX, the premier experts in crowdsourcing innovation. Participants will brainstorm how to use crowdsourcing to tackle and overcome our industry’s biggest challenges.

All travel, transportation, and food costs will be covered by NBC.

 

What is a Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop

Essentially, crowdsourcing innovation is about translating a seemingly impossible, daunting problem into a competition where people want to compete to solve it. In short, it’s about asking the right question of others. Framed in a powerful way, the question becomes the key motivating factor for innovators (competitors) to want to solve your problem and create a breakthrough. Learn more about crowdsourcing.

NBC’s Crowdsourcing Innovation Workshop is a powerful way to see this in action. The session is spent using hands-on techniques and exercises to enable your problems to become initial Crowdsourcing Competition Concepts that can then be developed further into launched competitions. What may start out as an impossible problem will become a launching pad of possibility and excitement about the solutions that may result from a live challenge.

 

Workshop Goals: 

  1. Introduce Participants to HeroX and Crowdsourcing:
    1. Using Crowdsourcing Competitions to identify new products, services, and solutions (product solutions)
    2. Using Crowdsourcing Competitions as a business tool for crowdsourcing solutions to internal challenges (business solutions)
  2. Determine the 3-5 relevant Crowdsourcing Competition Concepts that can generate a solution to benefit the NBC community (internal and external)
  3. Allow NBC to circulate Crowdsourcing Competition Concepts and to determine which to pursue further for NBC crowdsourcing initiatives(s)

 

Tentative Agenda

Section

                                    Description

Part 1

Introduction, Establish Workshop Goals and Introduce Participants to Crowdsourcing Competitions and HeroX.

Part 2

Explore your Problem Areas + Solo Crowdsourcing Design

Explore opportunities to employ Crowdsourcing Competitions to address external needs

Part 3

Voting

Part 4

Explore your Problem Areas + Solo Crowdsourcing Design

Explore opportunities to employ Crowdsourcing Competitions to address internal business and/or operational needs

Part 5

Voting

Part 6

Summary, Closing Remarks, and Next Steps

 

HOW DO I GET SELECTED?

We are seeking big thinkers, social advocates, tinkerers, innovators and empathetic leaders who are excited to get their hands dirty, diving into a problem, participate in deep research, talk to experts and inventors, and then talk to them again. You are eager to debate, learn, analyze, create, and work closely with other team members. You understand how to set audacious goals and you see your way through an impossible problem.

You have the drive to change the world. You’re audacious – some might call you obsessed – and forever in pursuit of the most cutting-edge information and technology to help bring about innovation.

Now, imagine being equipped with a team and sponsorship to give your vision a voice.

Want to know how we’ll be reviewing candidates? Take a look at the scorecard below.

 

Section

Description

NBC Pillar Alignment

Does the candidate represent the brand of NBC? Do the goals and missions of NBC resonate with the candidate and make them proud?

Industry Passion

Does the candidate exhibit a clear passion for the entertainment industry, with unique insight or opinions about the industry’s long-term position?

Compelling Storyteller

Do the candidates’ written responses or video submission exude positive energy, thoughtful remarks, and thorough analysis? Does their story capture something or someone exceptional, memorable, or unique? Will this candidate be a positive contribution to a workshop environment?

Forward-Thinker

Are the thoughts and ideas of the candidate novel, worthy of exploring, or generating deeper conversation? Is the candidate a boundary-pusher?

Diversity

Does the candidate have a quality (department, title, educational background, cultural background, ideas) that contributes to a diverse participant pool at the workshop?

Availability

Is the candidate available to attend the workshop on Wednesday, September 6th, 2017?

Applicants must be available to attend an innovation workshop in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 6th, 2017.

 

TIMELINE

Open to Submissions        Monday, July 10th, 2017 @ 9 am ET

Submission Deadline         Friday, July 28th, 2017 @ 11:59 pm ET

Judging                              Monday, July 31st to Friday, August 11th, 2017

Winners Announced          Wednesday, August 16th, 2017

Workshop                          Wednesday, September 6th, 2017

 

RULES

Participation Eligibility:

All submissions must be made by NBC Entertainment full-time staff employees.

To be eligible to compete, you must comply with all the terms of the challenge as defined in the Challenge-Specific Agreement.

 

Registration and Submissions:

Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before Friday, July  28th at 11:59 pm ET. No late submissions will be accepted.

 

Selection of Winners:

Based on the winning criteria, prizes will be awarded per the Judging Criteria section above. In the case of a tie, the winner(s) will be selected based on the highest votes from the Judges.

 

Judging Panel:

The determination of the winners will be made by NBC Entertainment

 

Additional Information

  • By participating in the challenge, each competitor agrees to submit only their original idea. Any indication of "copying" amongst competitors is grounds for disqualification.
  • All applications will go through a process of due diligence; any application found to be misrepresentative, plagiarized, or sharing an idea that is not their own will be automatically disqualified.
  • All ineligible applicants will be automatically removed from the competition with no recourse or reimbursement.
  • No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the competition.
  • Void wherever restricted or prohibited by law.

 

The Fine Print:

  • Winning ideas may not be executed as presented—we reserve the right to alter ideas and implement at our discretion and over a long-term time frame.
  • Any and all of the submitted ideas may be used at the discretion of NBC Entertainment (if, for example, an idea does not win, we still reserve the right to use it).
  • You must still be a current full-time employee of NBC Entertainment at the time of the September 6th Innovation Workshop.
  • You acknowledge that other participants may enter the same idea or a similar idea – we reserve the right to use either, both, or none.
Timeline
Updates7

Challenge Updates

Crowdsourcing in the Entertainment Industry

Sept. 28, 2017, 11:40 a.m. PDT by Kyla Jeffrey

At HeroX, we know that breakthroughs come from the misfit thinkers, the rebels, and the changemakers.

If you could harness the power of creative minds across the globe, what would you ask them to solve?

Twenty-two of NBC Entertainment’s most audacious thinkers gathered to answer just that. How can we usher NBC Entertainment and the industry into the next millennium?

Curious to know what emerged as the biggest questions identified by this group of NBC employees?

  • What does the advertising of the future look like? How can we make interacting with advertisements a pleasurable and sought-after experience?
  • What could a new era of personalized content look like? With more shows than time, how can we ensure that people are watching what they want when they want?

In the afternoon, participants looked outside of NBC and the entertainment industry to identify opportunities in the community that they wanted to see solved in the world. Here are some of the biggest issues identified:

  • Women made up only 20% of board seats of the Fortune 500 in 2016
  • The high school dropout rate in the United States is 27%
  • The Digital Divide is no longer about access to digital infrastructure but a divide in digital literacy.

How can crowdsourcing create a breakthrough for NBC and the world? We came up with more ideas than you can count and now it’s time to make them real.

Want to be involved in the next steps for launching a crowdsourcing project to tackle one of these issues? If you attended the workshop, don't forget to fill out this form to let us know!

 

 


NBC Innovation Challenge - Final Results!

Aug. 16, 2017, 1 p.m. PDT by Maureen Murtha

Greetings NBC Community!

The last month has gone by incredibly fast, and we're very excited to announce that the NBC Innovation Challenge wrapped up as a huge success. 95 of you took part in the competition, and whether your role was in following it, sharing it with your co-workers, or actually submitting an entry -- we owe you a ton of gratitude. Crowdsourcing just isn't possible without the effort and interest of each and every one of you. Thanks so much for being a part of this exciting endeavor! 

And as for the actual results of the competition, NBC is proud to announce that it will be awarding 22 tickets to the Innovation Workshop taking place in September.  Congratulations to each and every one of the following winners: 


 Emily Bates: Casting Coordinator

 Jonathan Boden: Jr. Writer/Producer

 Kevin Cook: Administrative Assistant, Alternative

 Derek Edgar: Sr. Writer/Producer

 Seth Entin: Sr. Manager, Research

 Montse Garriga: Director, Brand & Digital Marketing

 Merrill Hendrickson: Manager, Alternative Programming

 Melanie Lantin: Sr. Director, UX/UI Experience

 Steve Ledoux: Associate Producer

 Melissa Lintinger: VP, Television Production Finance

  Derek Metoyer: Director, Custom Content

 Lauren Michal: Director, Program Planning & Scheduling

 Grace Moss: Director, Diversity Programs

 Marissa Perez: Production Coordinator

 Kris Petersen: Sr. Writer/Producer

 Kelly Sciora: Research Department Coordinator

 Erica Silverman: Entertainment Coordinator

 Christopher Smith: VP Syndication Sales, Western Region

  Thankam Thomas: Sr. Manager, Media

 Katie Trainor: Director, Social Media

 Corey Warren: Manager, Marketing

 Steven Yang: Coordinator, Marketing Strategy & Digital

If your name is on the list - fantastic work, you earned it! Just remember, this is only the beginning. There's a lot of work ahead of us, but the rewards will be great. All of you will be taking part in a truly historic moment for our brand -- so soak it up!  


[ACTION REQUIRED] NBC Innovation Workshop applications due TODAY

July 28, 2017, 2:31 p.m. PDT by Maureen Murtha

FINAL APPLICATION DEADLINE

IS IN 6 HOURS

The cutoff for submissions is TONIGHT at 8:59 pm PDT. 
 

Yes, you read correctly. You only have six hours left to complete a super quick and simple application to be considered as an attendant to an exclusive NBC Innovation workshop this September.

Want to help develop and launch a global project for NBC? This is the first step! 


Don't pass up this opportunity!

For the small amount of effort needed to complete your submission, the odds are in your favor for being selected as one of at least 15 attendees. 

You've got this! 
Any questions can go directly on this update as comments, and we'll get right back to you. 

Good luck!


[URGENT] Is your calendar marked?? Only TWO Days Left to Submit!

July 26, 2017, 2:30 a.m. PDT by Maureen Murtha

 


Hello NBC Community! 

This is your friendly two-day warning.

Wanted to give you all a quick reminder that submissions must be in no later than 11:59 pm EDT this Friday, July 28th. Haven't started yet? No sweat. The submission form should take you less than 20 minutes to complete (that's generous, even)! No homework, prep work, or research required - just tell us why YOU belong on the front lines of innovation at NBC. There's a big chance for return on investment there, considering at least 15 applicants will be selected to attend the Innovation Workshop in Los Angeles this September! 
 

So come on now, don't wait any longer! Get those submissions in for the chance to make a big splash in your field! 

 


How to (Painlessly) Complete the Submission Process

July 20, 2017, 2:09 p.m. PDT by Maureen Murtha

Hello There! 

The week is almost over, but have you spent any time on your submission form for the NBC Innovation Challenge
If you said no, you might want to get on that. The deadline to enter is July 28 - that's just over a week from today! 

To begin your application, first follow this link

Step 1 - Your Intro
The first part of the form is simple enough - just tell us about yourself! One thing to keep in mind is that you'll need to upload a photo - ideally one of yourself.  Higher quality/resolution is better (within reason), but ensure your image is at least 650 pixels wide by366 pixels tall for the sake of clarity.

Step 2 - Your Essays
There are four "essay" questions - the first one of which is simply asking for your personal story - but don't let that intimidate you. These don't need to be novels, just thoughtful, inspired answers from the heart. 

Step 3  - Your Selfie Video
Now for the fun part. Pull out your smart phone, start talking (on-prompt!) and just let it rip for a few minutes. Will there be several takes? Maybe -- it's all up to you! But when you're done, be sure to upload that quality piece of content to either YouTube or Vimeo. It's completely free to do so on either platform! Once it's live, make sure you get the correct link to your video, and paste that right in the box requesting that on the submission form. 

Step 4 - a little more info
Almost there! Just a few questions about your role(s) at NBC Entertainment, a question about your availability (should you win) and that's it: you're home free.

That wasn't so bad, was it? 

No need to put this off. For those of you haven't submitted yet -- get started NOW. You never know, you could be selected to join the Innovation workshop in Las Vegas and make a lasting, resounding impact on the entertainment industry with your insights. Totally worth it. 

Good luck! 
 


Forum2
Community95
FAQ
Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is The Future of Business

In the past, business has followed a very linear route: the success of the company rests solely on its inner circle, or employees as most people call them. This model has sufficed for decades, but the problem is just that. It only suffices. It doesn’t allow the business to thrive.

Albert Einstein once said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used to create them.”

Companies have been trying to solve the problems that plague their industries using the same thinking that created them. How could that possibly work? Well, studies have shown that it doesn’t. And that’s where crowdsourcing comes in.
 

What is Crowdsourcing?

Crowdsourcing is defined as “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” The basic idea is that two heads are better than one, and that has been the theory since the emergence of crowdsourcing. But, what if 1,000 heads were better than two?

Replacing the old business model with an integrative crowdsourcing platform allows companies and brands to reach innovations like never before.

“Crowdsourcing is a new wave of outsourcing that has become a new society paradigm that might change the outsourcing landscape in the future.”

- Norjansalika Janom, Noor Habiba, Zazaleena Zakariah.

 

Since its inception and coining of the term less than a decade ago, crowdsourcing has changed the way business is done. Take one of the earliest examples, Amazon, for instance. Amazon relies on its crowd (of users) to sell, comment on, and endorse items. Items which the crowd approves of and that receive high ratings on the platform are more likely to be purchased through no extra effort of the seller. This was just the beginning. Through its use of the crowd, Amazon has become the premiere commerce destination with over 300 million users. How? By becoming social.
 

Look at Crowdsourcing as a Social Network

“The world is too fast, too complex, too networked for companies to have the answers inside.”

-Yochai Benkler, Professor at Harvard Law Business School, Author of Wealth of Networks

 

Imagine a crowdsourcing environment resembling a social network that an organization can build, rather than a transactional marketplace into which you put your project. By implementing crowdsourcing, businesses don’t lose anything. They get to keep their boardroom status quo that has sustained them for all these years, in addition to thousands of minds around the world.  Crowdsourcing is additive in much the same way that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks are.

 

“If you share your problems, as a business, with a willingness to pay for solutions, the world will solve them for you.”

-Christian Cotichini, CEO of HeroX

 

Crowdsourcing opens companies up to collaborations, known as a sort of co-production. This refers to the “involvement of consumers in the various value-creating activities through which products and services are made.”

The customer’s who are loyal to a brand, who return again and again, may be the very ones who hold the key to some of that company’s biggest blockers. Consumers intrinsically want to help brands that they have grown loyal to.

“The co-production decision is not purely economic. A major motivation is psychological, covering a host of diverse drives and motivations. A major motivation is the desire to be involved in meaningful activities. Modern lifestyles separate many people from creative and emotionally and physically rewarding activities. Many are engaged in mundane and highly repetitive work which has no direct relationship to daily consumer routines, creating alienation of many workers from their daily activities.”

 

The Crowd is Better Than You

Crowdsourcing is becoming more social, open, and collaborative. In theory, crowdsourcing can be a way to source valuable insight when you use ideas from your customers. In practice, it’s more about building the right kind of crowd. At it’s finest, crowdsourcing harnesses a collective intelligence. It has attracted people from all walks of life and solved blockers for companies from NASA to Coca-Cola.

Previous narratives believed the best way to solve a problem was to pay one top dollar expert. On the contrary, data suggests that the biggest innovations come from the most unsuspecting places.

Several studies have shown that it is actually people outside of their realm of expertise who will initiate breakthroughs.

 

A study of the top 50 game-changing innovations over 100 years found nearly 80% were sparked by someone whose primary expertise was outside the field in which the breakthrough took place.”

 

Further to that point, in 2016 the Association for Psychological Science produced a study testing whether a high-level of subject knowledge mattered in reaching a breakthrough. What they discovered sent ripples through the science community. Results showed that search efforts and creativity were actually the key factors in determining the best candidates to solve innovative problems, NOT subject-matter experts.

And finally, in The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem, Harvard experts discovered that problem solvers who related their problems as being completely outside their expertise were 10% more likely to find a solution.

Still doubt the crowd?

 

The Third Form of Labor

In-house workers make up the first and most predominant form of labor. These are the people on the payroll who clock in and clock out. They may be invested in the company and understand it intimately, but for those very reasons (among others)  they cannot create any real breakthroughs.

Freelancers fill in the second form of labor. The digital marketplace is filled with contract workers. Freelance staffing and project websites like Scripted or Upwork allow companies to hire professionals as needed. While these websites serve a similar purpose, the individuals don’t feel a part of the company’s culture. Instead, they feel like an outsider who has to report to the higher-ups; they feel isolated as an independent contractor who is easily disposable. Often these individuals go on to create their own agencies before ever bringing any real innovation onboard.

Crowdsourcing transcends the barriers of the previous two forms of labor. By utilizing the collective genius of virtually the entire world, crowdsourcing allows companies to get the best of both worlds: innovative labor while not having to hire a full-time team.

 

Who is Crowdsourcing?

So, if the idea of crowdsourcing is so amazing, why isn’t everyone doing it?

An impressive roster of modern organizations has embraced the incentive challenge model for crowdsourcing, including XPRIZE, Google, NASA, DARPA, Cisco, Virgin, and SpaceX. However, adapting the incentive challenges to smaller companies has traditionally been met with difficulties. It can be labor-intensive and can be difficult for smaller companies to afford, let alone execute properly.

Often, more than 100 percent of prize money is spent to run an incentive challenge, leaving smaller companies unable to tap into the innovation that crowdsourcing could bring. Platforms like HeroX and Innocentive have worked to overcome this barrier by creating cost-effective routes to connect companies with innovators.

 

Crowdsourcing Today

While the term may be relatively young, the idea of crowdsourcing is nothing new. Toyota invited the crowd to create its new logo in 1936. But, the current marketplace has facilitated crowdsourcing on a whole new level. 85% of the 2014 Best Global Brands have used crowdsourcing in the last ten years. Wikipedia, by definition, is the ultimate modern example of a crowdsourcing and Starbucks has asked customers for ideas on new products and coffee flavors for years. And the trend keeps growing and growing.

Nearly 75% of management teams see crowdsourcing as a priority for the future. According to Gartner Inc., “By 2020, nearly 60% of HR leaders will use a unified talent management strategy for employees, contractors, and freelancers.”

So, how does the future look for crowdsourcing, you ask? Very, very bright.

 

Sources

Acar Ali, Oguz and Van de Ende, Jan,”Knowledge Distance, Cognitive-Search Processes, and Creativity: The Making of Winning Solutions in Science Contests,” Psychological Science OnlineFirst, March 25, 2016.

Alsever, Jennifer, “What is Crowdsourcing?” CBS MoneyWatch, March 7, 2007. Accessed: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-crowdsourcing/

Angeles, Sara, "Why Hiring Freelancers Makes Sense for Small Businesses," Business News Daily, July 16, 2014. Accessed: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6805-freelance-hiring.html

Bradley, Anthony, “How to Use a New Talent Management Strategy to Win the Escalating Hiring Wars,” Capterra, April 28, 2016. Accessed: http://blog.capterra.com/how-to-use-a-new-talent-management-strategy-to-win-the-escalating-hiring-wars/

Gartner Inc. www.gartner.com

Merriam Webster Dictionary www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crowdsourcing

E-Marketer: On Millennials https://www.emarketer.com/Article/How-Digital-Behavior-Differs-Among-Millennials-Gen-Xers-Boomers/1009748#sthash.RmEsbN41.dpuf

Roth, Yannig, ” The State of Crowdsourcing in 2015,” eYeka. Accessed www.eyeka.com