SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS VIA THE WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL
EMAIL SUBMISSION
- Email your ideas to SUBMISSIONS@IDEASFORLAGOS.ORG
- Kindly submit your idea by typing it out in the main body of your email.
- Please provide the following information using the EXACT format below at the top of the main body of your email:
- Name:
- Email address:
- Idea Name (What is your idea called?):
- Idea Category (What category does your idea fall under?):
- Phone number:
- Local government area and/or “Area” of residence. E.g. Eti-Osa LGA, or Lekki
SUBMISSIONS POLICY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - SUBMISSIONS
What is the Ideas Competition?
To appreciate your selfless efforts, Ideas for Lagos runs a monthly and annual Ideas Competition.
The winners are the ideas adjudged to be the most relevant, innovative, and thought provoking. Cash prizes are available to the winners.
Please see our Submissions Policy notes above and the Submission FAQs below to get a general idea of our entry requirements.
What is the judging criteria? (VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ)
All Ideas submitted are judged strictly on content. However in the event of a tie, the best presented idea will get the nod.
Content: this is the main body of the idea. How much research has gone into it? How well thought out is it?
Do not limit yourself to immediately practical ideas. What is impractical today may be very feasible tomorrow. Practicality should be defined against long term benefits and not obtuse financial or legislative restrictions: the law can change and money can be made available IF an idea is perceived to be good enough.
Think big; think outside the box.
Keep your write up short and concise – rambling and long winded technical jargons don’t help your cause. Technical information should remain outside the main body of your write up and be included / appended as additional attachments.
WE LOVE ILLUSTRATIONS! Send pictures, sketches, doodles, cartoons, cut-outs… whatever. We don’t care if your illustrations leave a lot to be desired, send them! A picture says a thousand words.
Presentation: for the purposes of your submissions, presentation refers to your prose and the way you’ve structured your submission. Although all submissions will be proof read, we won’t capture all your errors, so try and avoid grammatical errors. Moreover, error laden reports can be a pain to read.
How can I be sure you have received my entry?
Do you have to be a Nigerian or based in Lagos to participate?
Does the entry need to be in English?
Unacceptable Material
Can I withdraw my entry?
Can I submit multiple entries?
What are the various competitions and how often do they run?
As the name implies, the Idea Of The Month competition runs all year round and a winner is announced each month.
The competition winning entry from one month will be announced at the end of the proceeding month. I.e. The winning entry for all ideas submitted in January will be announced at the end of February. Entries are accepted all year round.
All winning ideas from each month are automatically entered into the annual Idea Of The Year competition. The winner of which will be announced by the end of the proceeding February.
Is it possible to receive the judges rating and comments for my submission?
How are ideas judged and winners chosen?
The competition winners are selected by our panel of judges from the best ideas entered through the perpetually running competition. Evaluated strictly on the content (but gazed over with an eye sympathetic towards good presentation) the work undergoes a rigorous process to win the coveted monthly and annual Ideas Competitions.
ROUND 1 JUDGING
How ideas are judged
From the numerous entries submitted, Associate Judges independently inspect each idea and rate them accordingly. Each idea is evaluated by multiple (at least 3) Associate Judges. The entries that fare best through this process are included on shortlists and further evaluated by Executive Judges
Description of Associate Judges
Associate Judges are former winners, stand-out shortlisted candidates, and other experts in various industries. As such, they have demonstrable expertise in the categories in which they review.
In order to be accepted as an Associate Judge, interested candidates must first submit their CVs along with all additional information (which may bolster their applications) to admin@ideasforlagos.org After applications are reviewed and accepted, Associate Judges are given different entries for review irrespective of their field of expertise. They are barred from judging any entry with which they have a conflict of interest, or any personal or professional affiliation. We regularly inspect the work of each Associate Judge for fairness and accuracy.
TIER II: ESTABLISH WINNERS – FINAL JUDGING
Shortlist and Winners are Chosen
Executive Judges further evaluate the shortlisted ideas, and eventually cast ballots to determine Winners. In the event of a tie, the nominated monthly Chair Executive Judge casts the tie-breaking vote. Executive Judges may not vote in any category in which they have a conflict of interest.
Description of Executive Judges
All Executive Judges are knowledgeable, respectable, unbiased individuals with a very broad general knowledge base. They all have firsthand experience of what it is to live in a cosmopolitan city.
We scout the globe and approach individuals whose knowledge, passion and ethics match what we expect from our Executive Judges and invite them onto our panel. We also promote Associate Judges who we reckon match all the criteria below and have served as Associate Judges for what we see as a reasonable amount of time.
Executive Judges are individuals who:
- Must have spent at least 15years living in a city (or cities) with a population of over 1,000,000 inhabitants;
- Possess educational qualification to at least a masters degree or equivalent;
- Are registered fee paying members of a national or international professional body.