3 Big Announcements, and It's Only Monday

Tomorrow, Sept. 30th at 10am est (-4GMT), we will announce the next round of Local Motors Competition Champions. I am excited to go through the competition wrap-up process. I get to send out the participant certificates, a memento for all who participate. And, possibly my favorite part, I get to interview the competition winners.

We have several "pots on to boil" right now. We are working on the next competition, a challenge to design a vehicle for HAWAII. Feel free to gather your inspiration now, and use this as an excuse to peruse photos of beaches, sunsets and bikinis but don't forget to research the islands a few miles inland. You will find cities, mountains, wildlife and adventures. Expect to see the competition brief next week.

Also, Jay, Ben and I talked today about a different kind of challenge. Lately the comments and feedback on the site, particularly on the competition entries, have been awesomely specific and valuable. We want to reward and incent this kind of contribution. To do so, we are coming up with a plan to give away a few really exciting things (possibly Wacom Tablets!) to the most outstanding contributors. Local Motors is one of the ONLY places where designers of any skill level can gain feedback from a diverse community of designers, enthusiasts and engineers. This feedback is invaluable. Insightful comments, glossary entries, or uploading tutorials in the glossary will now be rewarded.

By the end of the week we will have the rewards sussed out, and possibly a few early winners to announce by early next week. If you have any suggestions, software or tools you would like to own, feel free to drop me a line here! As always, we are open to your ideas.