The project proposal can be broken down into three broad categories of assessment:
- Concept
- Implementation
- Projections
Project Concept
Students are invited to outline, in detail, their project concept. Students should outline the answers to the following questions. Is the proposed concept feasible and is there a market/need for it? Consider who it targets and why it’s needed, what will it take to succeed? What is the potential impact (Financial/Cultural/Social)? Is it a sustainable project over the long-term?
Students will be rewarded for the creativity and feasibility of their approach.
Implementation
Students are invited to outline their proposals for promoting and developing their project. This will involved a description of what will be necessary to get the idea off the ground, and what sort of work will need to be undertaken to launch the product.
This should involve marketing research to assess the need for the project and assessing what sort of promotion will be necessary to publicise the project.
Distribution and access of the final product should also be considered.
There should also be a comprehensive mid to long-term financial forecast outlining capital investment, funding and operational cash requirements.
Required skills/knowledge – Students are encouraged to work with students from other academic backgrounds to bring together the best mix of skills and knowledge in formulating their project.
Students are also encouraged to identify the perceived weaknesses of their projects, and from what sort of expert mentoring they could derive the most benefit.
Proposed spend of the €500 Seed Capital
Each competition finalist will be allocated the sum of €500 to be invested into their project. How this is spent is left to the discretion of each individual entrant, and will largely depend upon the nature of the entry in question. Students will be assessed on how they judge the best allocation of these resources, and what effect they believe this allocation will have on their project.
Projections
Students should ask themselves the following questions:
What are your hopes for the future of your project?
What are your targets/expected outcomes?
What are the proposed achievements of your project? (This could be in the form of profits, of the social benefits derived from the project or the artistic merit of the project.)
How will it be evaluated?
How do you plan to see the project survive as a long term, sustainable initiative?
