Hyland’s 2022 Hyrbid High School Innovation Showdown: Competition Details
The High School Innovation Showdown is a team competition that tasks students to use their creativity to come up with an innovative concept that could solve a real-world problem. Teams will conduct brainstorming sessions, come up with project plans and work together to showcase their ideas effectively.
Prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams, and each member of the 1st place team will also receive a $500 scholarship!
If you are competing, make sure to read through this entire document and complete everything listed in the instructions. The winning team will be chosen based on these guidelines!
TIMELINE OVERVIEW
Here are some important dates and times for the competition.
Event |
Date/Time |
Registration Due |
Monday, October 10 11:59pm ET |
Mandatory Kick-Off Virtual or In-Person |
Wednesday, October 12 4:30-6:00pm ET |
Round 1 |
October 13-26 |
Round 1 Submissions Due |
Thursday, October 27 11:59pm ET |
Final Round Announcement |
Monday, October 31 by 5:00pm ET |
Round 2 |
October 31-November 16 |
RSVP for Final Round Guests |
Friday, November 11 11:59pm ET |
Final Round Virtual or In-Person |
Wednesday, November 16 10:00am-2:00pm ET |
OVERVIEW
There are two rounds to this competition, ending with final presentations at Hyland’s Headquarters or via Zoom on Wednesday, November 16th. Please carefully read through the details provided below to fully understand the commitment for students, teachers and Hyland employees.
REGISTRATION
Teams submit registration forms by 11:59PM ET Monday, October 10th.
- Teams can be comprised of 2 (minimum) to 5 (maximum) students each
- Teams of students must be from the same school
- There can be more than 1 team from the same school in the competition
- Complete the registration form found at www.hyland.com/showdown
ESSAY QUESTIONS
The registration form includes two important essay questions:
- Why do you think innovation is important in today’s world?
- What does your team hope to gain from working alongside a Hyland Mentor?
Here are some things to keep in mind when answering the essay questions:
- We recommend your team works on the essay answers in a Word document before pasting them into the registration form
- Each answer should not exceed 250 words
- Each answer should demonstrate that time, effort and thought was put into it
- Teams who submit essay answers that do not meet minimum qualifications will not be accepted into the competition, and they will be notified after their submission is reviewed
TEACHER COMMITMENT
Each team is required to have the commitment of one High School teacher who will act as an advisor throughout the competition.
- This advisor does not replace the Hyland Mentor, but should be available to help the team with different stages of their project when the Hyland Mentor may not be available
- The advisor should actively encourage and motivate the team throughout the competition
- Hyland will communicate with the advisor throughout the competition, especially when we cannot reach the students
MANDATORY KICK-OFF MEETING
If you completed your registration and were accepted into the competition, your team will need to attend this meeting! It will be held on Wednesday, October 12 from 4:30-6:00pm ET at Hyland’s Headquarters in Westlake, Ohio or virtually via Zoom.
- All accepted teams are expected to attend
- The majority of your team must be present at this meeting
- If the majority of your team cannot attend this meeting, your team will be disqualified
- Critical information about the competition will be announced at this meeting
- Teams will get a chance to meet with their Hyland Mentor to brainstorm ideas and come up with project plans
1ST ROUND
After the kick-off meeting, the first round will officially begin! During this period, teams will work together with the guidance of their Mentor to create a 2-3 minute video pitch of their idea, which is due by 11:59PM ET Thursday, October 27.
The pitch should cover the following points:
- What is the real-world problem you are trying to solve?
- How do you plan to solve it?
- How is your solution innovative?
- If your concept is not new, prove how it is different than what already exists
- Who are the potential buyers/end users of your solution?
- Why is your solution valuable to that audience?
- How will they find out about your solution?
DIRECTIONS
Follow these directions during the first round:
- Meet with your mentor in-person or via Zoom at least once after the Kick-Off meeting
- Send the video to your Mentor for feedback before submitting it to Hyland
- Make sure you leave enough time to make any suggested changes before the due date
- E-mail the link for your video to techoutreach@hyland.com by 11:59PM Thursday, October 27
- The e-mail must be professionally written with an appropriate subject
- A 3-5 sentence description of your idea must be included in the e-mail
Teams who are moving on will receive notification by 5PM ET Monday, October 31.
2ND ROUND - FINAL SHOWDOWN
If you make it past the first round, you’ll be able to start preparing for the final showdown! Teams will work on creating a product demonstration of their innovative idea, which will be given to a panel of judges on Wednesday, November 16 from 10AM-2PM ET at Hyland’s Headquarters and via Zoom.
MENTOR MEETING
Once you receive notification that your team is moving to the Final Round, your team must reach out to your Mentor to schedule a meeting where you will come up with a plan for your final presentation.
- This meeting needs to happen by Monday, November 4
- The meeting can be in-person at your school, or via Zoom
- Teams must communicate with their Hyland Mentor and Team Advisor to schedule the meeting
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
The presentation should follow these guidelines:
- Keep it under 10 minutes; you’ll be cut off when time’s up
- Explain the real-world problem and elaborate on points made in your pitch from the 1st round
- Explain how your concept would actually get accomplished in a cost-effective way
- Identify challenges and how you would overcome them
- Spend time explaining how you would market the product
- Clearly display and explain the mock-up prototype of the solution
- Teams do not need to present an actual prototype
- Teams that present an actual prototype will not be given extra points
LOCATION
For in-person attendees, the second round will be held at this address:
Hyland Building 3
28105 Clemens Rd.
Westlake, OH
44145
Virtual attendees will join via Zoom; a meeting link will be sent prior to the day of the event.
AGENDA
The timing on the day is subject to change, but here is a general overview of important happenings:
- Teams will have from 10-11:30AM ET to meet with their Mentor to finalize their presentation and do a dry-run before going in front of the judges
- Lunch will be served from 11:30AM-12PM ET
- All Team Presentations will start at 12PM ET
- Prizes and Awards for the top 3 teams will be announced around 1:45PM ET
IN-PERSON RSVP
In-Person attendees must RSVP to techoutreach@hyland.com with how many people will be attending to support the team by November 10. Only 1 RSVP per team is required. This RSVP will help us with headcount for lunch.
NOTES ON JUDGING
During each phase of the competition, make note of these judging procedures:
- Meeting and communicating with Hyland Mentors on a consistent basis is a part of the judging process
- Teams who lack communication with their Hyland Mentor are less likely to move on in the competition
- The concept being submitted should be a new and innovative idea
- If your concept already exists, your team is required to provide enough information to prove why your version different
- Judges will be given descriptions of your idea prior to the judging process, and they will know if the idea is not original
- Scores for innovation will weigh more than other parts of the judging process
- Technology does not have to be a part of the innovation
- Teams that use technology will not be scored higher than teams that do not use technology
- Every step listed under directions for each round of the competition are required and will be taken into consideration during the judging process
If you have any questions about the competition, please send an email to techoutreach@hyland.com. Thanks!