No, you’ll actually need more than a platform to run your challenge . . .

It makes sense to launch into this post via that statement, seeing as “now that I have a platform, I can start collecting submissions and awarding prizes!” is such a common belief held by novice challenge administrators. Which is why it’s so important to highlight all of the critical components that go into running a successful challenge that lie outside the scope of a software platform. For instance . . .

• What does your challenge website look like?

• Have you optimized the design structure of your challenge?

• How long do you want your challenge to run?

• Are you managing your challenge alone, or do you have a project manager?

• How are you letting people — the right people — know that your challenge exists?

• What resources are you providing to help your participants with their submissions?

• What information are you collecting in those submissions?

• How are you evaluating those submissions?

• Are you sharing any submissions publicly?

• What are you awarding to participants?

• How are you delivering those awards to participants?

• How are you measuring success?

• How are you preparing to do it all again?

If you’re having a hard time answering the questions above, it’s OK — you’re not alone. This is precisely why Skild is here. We’ve built an ecosystem to cover every aspect of a successful innovation challenge. Want to learn more? Read our white paper here.