13-17? Welcome to Local Motors Competitions.....

You have asked for it. We have delivered. I am really excited to announce a big change for the Local Motors Community.

The Local Motors Community is comprised of members from all walks of life, from all over the world, and from all age categories. We have an incredibly open policy and few restrictions on who can join and what members can do. However this past summer, a few community members began to ask the question about why members under 18 couldn't participate in design competitions, even if for just recognition and feedback.

There are several reasons why we restricted members under 18 from participating in Local Motors Design Competitions. The main reason is that by law, anyone under 18 cannot enter into a contractual agreement. Because Local Motors may consider potentially building a winning design, it is crucial that the winning designer be able to enter into a contractual agreement with Local Motors, and be willing to allow Local Motors to develop his or her design after the rights to the design have been purchased by Local Motors. In addition to that, when we pay cash prizes to winners, one of the conditions to receiving the prize is allowing Local Motors to use the designers work for promotional uses-- thus in essence Local Motors is paying the designer for the marketing use of the winning design. Again, this is a contractual agreement, and thus paying cash prizes to anyone under the age of 18 is not possible.

During the custom Car Skins competition, community member Justin Salmon a.k.a. Judgemental541 submitted a stunning proposal ( See above image) for a custom car skin for the Rally Fighter. The community rallied behind him and said "put this in the competition!" And we did.

When we did that, we created a new category stating that while underage contestants could enter, get feedback, and gain recognition, they could not actually win the competition, similar to the conditions for LM employees. Aurel and I both participated in the Custom Car Skins Competition for the fun of it, and we both received some great feedback. Judgmental received some some great feedback as well on his entry.

Next up was Alaska motors, which was by far one of the most fun and most successful design competitions Local Motors has ever held. We opened up the competition to everyone over 13, and because there was not a possibility of building the winning designs, and no cash prize, we simply stated that any winners between the ages of 13-17 would retain the rights to their designs.

I am extremely excited to announce that after such a successful showing of "underage" participants in our community who have shown so much dedication, commitment, and vast improvement in their skill sets to the Local Motors Community, Local Motors has decided to open up future competitions to all members 13 and over for participation. Several of you who are "under the age of ' " have given so much to the community that it is now our turn to give back.

Many of you have stated that simply being able to participate in competitions and receive feedback and recognition was what you wanted-- having the chance to compete with professionals, and older students to challenge your skills and help you improve was what you valued in this opportunity.

Well the waiting is over! Starting with the Pacific Northwest Motors competition, community members between 13 and 17 will be able to participate and submit their designs to future Local Motors Design Competitions with some limitations. While these members will be able to have their entries voted and commented on just like any other entry, and have the possibility of being featured on our blog, these members will not be eligible to win in some competitions and will retain the rights to their designs. Despite this limitation, this is a huge step forward for the Local Motors community, and I am very excited to see what the next generation of car designers will bring to the design boards here at Local Motors!

This is just the beginning! Good luck!

TinyChat Tuesdays

A Few weeks ago Local Motors held it's first TinyChat discussion to discuss the outcome or the Texas Motors Competition, and to ask the community how we could make the competitions and voting processes better. We had a very nice discussion and many good ideas were presented.

During that discussion I asked the community if they would be interested in having regular TinyChat meetings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, and everyone said they would like this very much. And so, without further ado, I would like to introduce TinyChat Tuesdays.

Starting Next Tuesday, March 23rd, I will start holding bi-weekly TinyChat discussions to listen respond to any questions any of you may have regarding competitoins, Local Motors, design, or whatever is on your mind.

So come join us, starting next tuesday. Here are the details:

Location: www.tinychat.com/localmotors
Time: 7:00PM Eastern Standard Time (UTC-4)
What: Talk about what is on your mind regarding LM.

See you there!

My Pacific Northwest: Where I grew up....

The Pacific Northwest competition is just about to get underway, and looks like it will be an exciting and fun competition that will yield some extremely interesting designs and concepts! I am really excited.

But Pacific Motors is a special competition for me. Many of you may not know this, but I grew up in this region. And I loved it! Sadly, for most of the time I lived in that region I did not realize how wonderful it was. I took it for granted, and thought that there were better places to live. It wasn't until the last few years I lived there that I realized how wonderful of a place the Pacific Northwest really was.

I lived in Spokane Washington for 12 years. For those of you who don't know much about Spokane, it is the biggest city between Minneapolis and Seattle in a strait line. It sits on the eastern border of Washington state, and has a population of about half a million residents. The Spokane River runs through the downtown, which is known for Riverfront Park. This park was created in 1974 for the Worlds Fair, and and has remained a centerpiece of the city ever since. In fact, Riverfront park is only one of nearly 80 parks and recreational facilities that spot the city. Being green and the love for the outdoors are very important in this city.

Growing up in Spokane was a great experience. As a kid I was outside almost all the time, no matter what the weather was. In the winter I would play in the snow as much as I could, and in the summer I would take advantage of the multitudes of mountain biking spots, lakes, and hiking areas. A group of neighborhood friends and I set up a small roller hockey league, and literally played street hockey almost every day for two summers (when I was 11 and 12). Prior to that I played soccer (football) almost every spring and fall-- Soccer was really popular here. It's hard for me to imagine a boy growing up in Spokane who did not play soccer. It was a family tradition-- every saturday you would see families our on the huge soccer fields behind schools or next to parks. Kid Transport was a must!



As I grew older I became more serious about outdoor sports. In the winter I began skiing as much as I could, (which was never enough). There were 5 resorts within a 3 hour driving circle: Mt. Spokane, Silver Mountain, 49 Degrees North, Schweitzer Mountain, and Lookout Pass. In the spring and summer I raced bikes. I raced cyclocross, road, and cross country, and when I was 15, I assembled a team of friends and entered into a 24hr relay race for the fun of it. Little did we know that by focusing on having a great time, and not on winning, that we would end up taking the yellow jersey anyways. When I road my bikes, both in training, and during races, I was always amazed by the stunning scenery that surrounded me-- the Ponderosa pine trees, the basalt rock formations, and then the rolling hills of farm land, and the small creeks that carved through them.



I think it is the serene beauty of this region that made me, and so many others fall in love with nature, and feel such a need to take care of our environment. The fact that we lived so close to nature, and that Spokane is anything but another concrete jungle, helped to encourage the residents of Spokane to guard the environment a bit more than in other areas of the country I have lived. The trash and recycling program of the city was extremely efficient and modern. In addition to that, I remember studying water, aquifers, and the effects of human beings on the environment in school for 4 years!! School District 81 had worked "green" into the curriculum, and boy did they do a good job!



When I was 7 years old, my mother drove my brother and I down the Oregon coast, and there I I got to be an official "tree hugger" when I tried to wrap my arms around some of the worlds largest fir trees. The wet conditions of the Pacific coast has created an almost rain-forest-like area that is thriving with multitudes of flora and fauna, fungous, and wildlife. The coast line is also extremely varied-- there are huge cliffs that the waves crash into as well as sandy beaches that are a sight to see in the summer, despite the frigid water of the Pacific ocean. When the tide goes out, the tide pools left behind are full of life, with star fish, muscles, oysters, crabs and multitudes of other sea creatures. And while it is no Caribbean experience, the beauty of this coast lies in the fact that it has not been over commercialized like so many other places in the country. What you see on this coast, in the Pacific Northwest, is what you get.



I grew up with only 3 primary cars in my life. A 1982 Honda Civic Wagon that my mother drove for 20 years, a 1987 Volkswagen Westfalia, and a 2000 Subaru Forester. The Forester proved to be an extremely capable and well designed vehicle for the region with its all wheel drive, factory roof rack, and sizable easy-access cargo room. Subarus are very popular in this region, and once you've owned one, you can understand why. Those were the primary means of transportation that I was used to until I moved to the east coast. Of the three, the Westfalia was by far the coolest! I remember when we went and picked up the van, and seeing the excitement in my moms eyes. Our whole family had always dreamed of having such a vehicle, and this one was THE dream van. Fully loaded with the kitchenette, pop-top, fold-away tables, Auxiliary power, and in almost new condition. The only problem with the van was that our dog wanted to ride in the front, and there was no way or keeping her back!

We camped a lot when I was growing up. Mostly tent camping until we got the Westfalia. But the first summer we had that van, we camped in it for weeks, all over the Pacific Northwest. It was the perfect vehicle for the area! To this day I miss it. And sadly, VW does not make vans like that anymore.....

Greg Macy (BentleyBoy) has stated that there is a higher concentration of Toyota Priuses in Portland Oregon than in any other part of the country. I could easily believe this. When Honda released the first generation Insight, I remember the honda dealer telling customers that he had a 7 month waiting list. Those little cars populated Spokane and the surrounding areas like fruit flies on a bad apple. Energy efficiency in transportation is huge in this region. Like Portland, Spokane is a major bicycling city, and has been working hard over the last decade to become more biker friendly.

It's been almost a decade since I lived in that region, and I miss it a lot. When we were designing this competition, I wanted to come up with a competition that would be fun and exciting for the designers as well as the residents of this region. I hope that you feel the same. I hope that this little excerpt of my experiences in this region will help you in your design process. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I am very excited to see the outcome of this competition, and I look forward to having a great time providing feedback and watching your designs evolve. Good luck! Go Local!