Competition Host Timeline
This list is an example of the kinds of things your competition team may want to consider as you plan an entrepreneurship competition. It should be adapted as desired to fit your needs and timeline.
16+ weeks before
- Determine if you want to host a competition, review information, set budget and determine how to fund the competition
- Decide who will be involved in the planning process and identify community partners
- If working with a school, meet with superintendent and/or teachers, and others
- Determine location, timeframe, format, eligibility, and begin discussing logistics
- Decide if/how education will be a part of the process for participants
12-16 weeks before
- Resource partner(s) and/or local entrepreneur(s) speak at school or business class
- School assembly to announce
- Contact previous year’s winners for progress report, assess interest
- Contact appropriate teachers and/or school administrators
- Create sponsorship letter
8-12 weeks before
- Create promotional fliers
- Distribute fliers and applications to school / teachers / office / etc.
- Identify a keynote speaker for event, if desired
- Mail or e-mail invitations to businesses, resource partners, community members
- Approach potential sponsors
4-8 weeks before
- Find judges for event(s)
- Create or update judge instructions
- Create press release and send to local media
0-4 weeks before
- Submit advertisement and/or article to newspaper
- Follow-up on invitations / attendance
- Executive Summaries or other submissions due
- Organize and plan schedule for the day
- Send follow-up information to speaker with itinerary
- Mail copies of executive summary or other submissions to judges in advance, if desired
- Provide instructions to judges in advance, if desired
- Create and print any necessary paper items for the competition – table tents, signs, etc.
- Print certificates
- Post fliers around community
- Contact venue about itinerary
- Order speaker’s and judges’ thank you gifts, if desired
- Arrange refreshments
0-2 weeks’ after
- Feedback to participants
- Process checks for winners, if desired
- Article for newsletters, newspaper, etc.
- Hand-written thank you cards to judges, speaker, school board, mentors, etc.