1.0.1 Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for a quick list of Q & A? There's also a growing list of frequently asked questions and answers to supplement this Contest Kit.

1) What are the Key Dates?

The ICE calendar is shifting this year. ICE is expanding to be a year round competition! Kicking Off in November and Finals for this year's competition the following November 2009.

Competitor and Volunteers must prepare for an entirely new ICE age, this fifth year. ICE is shifting the timeline to be year round; allowing roughly five months for our Semi-Finalist teams to work with their mentors and cultivate a business plan that could be implemented into today's market whether the team wins ICE or not. ICE is not only a business plan competition, but an educational platform in which entrepreneurs can learn and improve over the course of the Competition.

September
Call for Event Volunteers and Organisers

November
Kickoff! Networking, Planning and Organizing
Form Teams to compete!

March:
Team Registration
In order to be registered for the ICE competition teams (2 or more people) must register on the website. Registration includese team name, team mates, contact information, executive summary and 10-slide powerpoint presentation.

late March
Semi-Finalist teams will be announced and contacted

April
Bootcamp
A manatory I2V/ICE Bootcamp will be held for Semi-Finals and open to any other ICE participants that may have been eliminated. The Bootcamp will go over the different parts of the business plan, how to set up a start-up business and will be the first place to meet mentors for the Semi-Finalists.

month to be determined
Semi-Finalist Teams will give a presentation to the judges

after Semi Finals
Finalist teams will be announced
Continue work with mentors

week before Finals
Complete Business Plan must be submitted

November 2009
Finals event
Finalist present to judges for last time
Open to the Public

2) ICE GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE?
historically, ICE started as a local Massachusetts competition, then over subsequent years, it's grown to regional, inclusive of most of the Eastern seaboard in the US. in 2008 and beyond, ICE plans to expand beyond the U.S., into Europe as well."

ICE is not able to cover any travel expenses for teams coming from a distance.

3) Is it Confidential?

Contestants may desire to keep their executive summaries confidential. All judges and organizers will be under an obligation to protect and safeguard those documents labeled CONFIDENTIAL by contestants.

The first round of judging will be done privately, with the judges under a verbal non-disclosure agreement.

The final presentations on will be open to the public; therefore, contestants are advised not to disclose any proprietary information in the judging rounds.

The policy for protecting confidential information will be posted on the MITEF Ignite Clean Energy website and emailed to all registered contestants before the Kick-off event.

The confidentiality provisions will extend six-months after the public announcement of the winners on.

The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, the sponsors, judges, and organizers will not take further responsibility to protect CONFIDENTIAL information or the intellectual property rights of the contestants.

4) Should I also enter another competition? Should I enter more than one competition?

Absolutely!

Most competitions will require at minimum a three to five page executive summary and a ten-minute investor pitch. Use the ICE experience to refine your pitch and improve your chances in any competition, whether hosted like this one or in the real world of investment. Our events are free and our training is excellent, so you have nothing to lose and much to gain by entering ICE in addition to other competitions.
With the new ICE calendar shift, no events or deadlines should conflict with other competitions and ICE.

5) Why Become a Contestant

Why not?!

The primary benefits you can expect from the ICE Competition are: to
improve your ability to pitch your business to investors and others; to
benefit from being mentored by experienced and successful entrepreneurs
and others; to network with industry pros; to get visibility and
publicity for your company and yourself; and to win one of the prizes.

6) Does ICE "stop" after the finals are over?
Short answer... no. However, one of the reasons we've changed the ICE calendar and moved the Finals to Fall period of each year is to allow for a better balanced full year-round curriculum.

Mentors and Teams are open to continue working together and in 2008 ICE offered teams who were not Semi Finalists an option to have a mentor, that we matched to them.