The Great Valley Technology Alliance in conjunction with the Greater Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Hazleton chambers of commerce announces the

9th Annual Great Valley Computer Contest

Objective:

Introduce and expose the area's high school youth to information technology in a competitive environment.

Objective |
Important Dates |
Submission Information |
Prizes |
Assumptions |
Expected Results |
Minimum Criteria |
Contest Mechanics |
Grading Criteria |
Questions

Important Dates:

December 21, 2007 - Deadline for schools to register for contest
January 11, 2008 - Schools must submit name of business, community, or non-profit partner
February 22, 2008 - Projects submitted to committee for judging
March 12, 2008 - Computer contest to be held at Penn State Worthington Scranton
Snow Date: Thursday, March 13, 2008

Submission Information:

Deadline for submitting an entry is Friday, February 22, 2008 at 4:00 PM. Entries must be submitted in two formats:

Hard copy (presentation, written report, and web site home page.)
CD-ROM (presentation, written report, and web site.)

Submit entries via U.S. mail to:

The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce
C/O Scott J. Weiland, Communications Director
222 Mulberry Street
P.O. Box 431
Scranton, PA 18501-0431

Prizes:

1st Place: $1,000/school, $100/teacher, $100/students
2nd Place: $500/school, $50/teacher, $50/students
3rd Place: $250/school, $25/teacher, $25/students

Prizes and amounts are subject to change.

Assumptions:

Each team has access to a personal computer and a printer.
Each team has access to the Internet.
Each team has access to project management tools.
Each team's computer has video editing software.
Each team's computer has presentation software.

Expected Result:

Students are to create a business (actual or fictional) and research, design, and develop a web site for their business. The students can create a business and web site for one team member or can create a business and web site for the team. The web site may be informational or transactional in nature. Teams are also encouraged to publish their entries to the Internet.

Minimum Criteria:

Each project must consist of the following:

Web site with the following elements:
1. Home page
2. Common navigational element on subsequent pages
3. Links (must be active day of contest)
4. Great Valley Technology Alliance, Hazleton, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre chamber logos (teams must contact Scott J. Weiland at sweiland@scrantonchamber.com to obtain the logos)
5. Graphics and images (proper permission must be obtained to use images).
6. A thirty second commercial advertisement with video and audio. Web surfers must be able to download this advertisement.
Goals & Objectives - A list of the goals and objectives of the web site in relation to the needs of the business/community partner.
Project Management - Teams may use any project management tool. The design, development, programming, and testing of the web site should be included in this component. The relationship between the team and the business, community, or non-profit partner should be noted for each stage.
PowerPoint presentation - A Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (five minutes) summarizing the process involved in creating the entry, management of entry, and relationship of business/community partner with team.

Contest Mechanics:

The contest is a one-day event where all participating schools have an opportunity to present their contest entries.

Each team will display entries for all to review (PC's will be provided by host of event).
All teams will give informal presentations to the judges in an exhibit hall format.
The top five teams will give a formal presentation to the audience.
The judging committee will select the winners.

Teams that are selected to present to the audience will be limited to a five minute presentation. Presentations that are longer than five minutes will be penalized.

Grading Criteria:

Each contest entry will be evaluated and scored in terms of the following criteria:

Goals & objectives of web site - Were they supplied (as outlined in "minimum criteria")?
Project management - Was this element supplied (as outlined in "minimum criteria")?
PowerPoint presentation - Was a presentation supplied (as outlined in "minimum criteria")?
Web site (were the elements of the web site as highlighted in the minimum criteria section successfully completed in relation to the goals and objectives of the business/community partner?)
1. Technical quality - Was the technical quality of the site aligned with the goals and objectives of the business/community partner? For example, if a database solution is required to fulfill a need of the business/community partner, was this need fulfilled? Did the business/community partner require "brochure-ware" or something more sophisticated?
2. Creativity - Was the web site unique, contemporary, and/or reminiscent of the business/community partner's brand image?
3. Use of technology - Is the technology level of the web site's capabilities aligned with the goals and objectives of the business/community partner? For example, if a business/community partner will be using the web site to sell a product, did the web site include an e-commerce solution?
4. Usability by the business/community organization - Does the web site developed fulfill the goals and objectives of the business/community organization?
5. Web site elements:
  1. Home page - Is there a home page?
  2. Common navigation - Was a common navigation used throughout the web site?
  3. Live Links - Were all links live the day of the contest?
  4. Logos and links - Were the logos to the chambers of commerce available and linked to their web sites?
  5. Thirty second commercial - Was this available?
  6. Graphics and images - Were appropriate graphics and images used?
  7. Spelling - Was the text on the web site (as well as the PowerPoint presentation and collateral materials) spelled correctly?
  8. Virus free - Was the disc on which the entry was submitted free of viruses, trojan horses, and other malicious code? Teams that supply discs with viruses will be disqualified from the competition.
Presentation timeframe - Did the team presenting as a finalist adhere to the five minute timeframe for the presentation?

Questions:

Contact Mr. Weiland at sweiland@scrantonchamber.com or 570.342.7711

Great Valley Techology Alliance