US Competitor Overview Randy Guthrie – Microsoft Academic Developer Evanglist

Agenda What is the Imagine Cup? Why should I compete? What is the commitment? What if I don’t know a required technology? Mentors and sponsors Competition schedule Best practices

What is the Imagine Cup?

Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 International Computer technology competition – Five competitions & six special awards Students enrolled in accredited academic institutions Teams from 1 – 4 students + mentor + sponsor – Mentor get travel paid to US/World finals Theme: “Imagine a World where Technology helps Solves the Worlds Toughest Problems – Heath, education, environment, hunger, equality, etc.

Software Design Game Design XNA Windows/XBOX Mobile Zune/WP7 Interop Next Gen Web WP7 IE 9 Embedded IT Challenge Media Web (Silverlight) Envisioning 2020 Competitions Challenges (tbd) WW

Why Should You Compete?

Reasons to compete Substitute for live client in Senior Capstone course – External feedback Contest participation big resume differentiator Competition provides broad learning opportunity – Presentation skills, business partnership, entrepreneurship Finalists get huge career boost – PR, exposure to recruiters, start-up funding Prizes – $$, travel, more PR, professional connections Save the world

Highlights Imagine Cup 2010 PR Results Topline “Play to Learn – Microsoft hopes to change how kids use computers” Placement volume by region Central/Eastern Europe306 Asia/Pacific295 U.S.253 Western Europe196 Latin America110 Middle East/Africa87 India74 Total Volume1321 Media CoverageUS Total Volume488 Key Messages96% Prime placements24 Prime137 Tone in Prime3.8 Total “viewers”2,500,000 Tweets3,357 Tweet reach3,700,000+ BillGatesBillGates: Imagine Cup, one of my favorite student programming events - regional finals today on way to world finals in Poland - BillGatesBillGates: Imagine Cup, one of my favorite student programming events - regional finals today on way to world finals in Poland - Media CoverageWW Total Volume1321+ Key Messages83% Prime136+ Tone in Prime3.7 Total “viewers”26,895,592+ Tweets12,500 Tweet reach10,100,00+ WW Finals Results US Finals Results

What is the commitment? Business plan Software / hardware invention development Presentation video Travel time to US/World finals (paid by Microsoft)

How do I learn Microsoft’s tech?

Free Microsoft Resources Free software from MSDNAA (via your school) Free software via Learning links on Free online training IT Academy Suite (via MSDNAA) Imagine Cup laboratory.com/Studenthttp:// laboratory.com/Student Live on-campus workshops by Microsoft

Mentor & Sponsors

Mentors and Sponsors Mentor – Typically a faculty member – Provides guidance and support to the student team Can contribute in any way that could result in a valid IP claim on the team’s project Leverages campus resources to help the team Sponsor – Typically someone from local industry – Provides domain expertise Technical expertise Knowledge of the problem space – May provide other resources Hardware, funding, – Cannot contribute to the project in a way that could create a claim against the project IP

Key Dates

IC Key Dates

Finalist Ideas from the past couple years Touch smart board app that is easy for teachers to create learning content System the collect air samples and reports quality on a map Facebook app that enables people to give microcredit loans Mobile phone eye exam app & hardware mod Crime reporting app using GPS and map software

Finalist Ideas from the past couple years Spelling game that teaches words in other languages Vaccination info database and id device Automobile text message disabling device Tablet PC app & camera to help partially-sighted students Software system to help autistic children enjoy road trips Blog & Web news agent that can monitor changes in sentiment on a given subjecct

Best Practices?

Best Practices Multi-Disciplinary Teams Art/ User Interface Design / Video Production Business Plan / Marketing / Spokesperson Technical Register & submit drafts early Video should be very-high quality (its how project get judged) External review of content Mentor, sponsor, mock judging panel

Resources Imagine Cup US Competition Imagine Cup World Wide Competition Windows Phone 7 Developer Resources Windows Azure Developer Resources