I was listening to Q102‘s new syndicated (out of NYC) morning show, Elvis Duran, on my way into work yesterday morning when I heard about a new contest being run by Google. I was intrigued, so I decided to research the idea further. Project 10 to the 100th is Google’s “call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.” Google is asking for people to submit their ideas on how to help the world and as many inhabitants as possible. Google will then choose up to five ideas and use $10 million to help implement the projects. The contest is in celebration of Google’s 10th anniversary. The ideas must fall into one of eight categories: Community, Opportunity, Energy, Environment, Health, Education, Shelter and Everything Else. In addition, you must define how your idea will meet the following criteria: Reach – how many people in the world will your idea help? Depth – how deep will the impact be and how urgent is the need? Attainability – can this idea be implemented within the next one to two years? Efficiency – is the idea simple and cost effective? Longevity – how long will this idea help people? I found this to be an extremely interesting contest because not only does it force people to be creative, but it forces people to seriously think about the world. You often hear that people don’t vote or offer their opinions because they don’t feel like their voice matters, but here, Google is giving the individual a chance to be heard and make what could potentially be a HUGE difference. And I also think that the way the prize is allocated is a great idea – Google is not giving you money, Google is implementing your idea. This way the company ensures the idea is turned into action. I also think it will help weed out the entry pool – greedy people just interested in making money won’t bother applying, only people generally interested in helping out will enter. So, if you have a good idea and want to help the world, submit your plan by October 20, 2008. Voting begins on January 27, 2009. I will be interested to see the winning ideas and see how they are implemented. -Kimberly Krol, circulation and PR executive and eFlyer editor