Hi Teams,

We hope that your progress is going well on the apps for the $100,000 Big Ocean Button Challenge! Some teams have asked about the submission process, and the judges have decided to allow for some flexibility to the entry format. A reminder your app submissions are due 31 August. Four important updates:

1. You are now allowed to use TestFlight or HockeyApp, if your app is not fully ready for the Apple Store or Google Play.

2. We are adding an ability to upload a video file to your submission, so you can explain and demo your app to the judges and the public. Please keep these videos under 3 minutes, and aside from functionality please acknowlegde the judging criteria about your app's impact. 

3. For apps that have a location specific component that would require on site use, we will allow for simulated data that emulates the location by providing a sample GPX location file or otherwise. We will be verifying the accuracy of these apps before awarding winners. 

4. For public voting, which goes live in September, the landing page will look similar to this one except users will not be able to see the total amount of votes above each entry. Users will be able to click on each entry, view the submission and cast their vote. The actual "Vote" button will be located just below the area that displays their submission information/user name on each Entry landing page. When Voting opens in September, the Entries section will become the default tab when anyone visits https://herox.com/bigoceanbutton so you can share that page with your network when it is time to vote.

 

For motivation there was a nice article in the Washington Post this week about how the App Economy is About to Explode. We hope to see useful ocean apps ride this wave. Let us know if you have any questions about the competition, and we look forward to seeing your entries! 

 

Best,

Matt Mulrennan

Director, Ocean Initiative

XPRIZE