Strands $100,000 Call for Recommender Startups

The Strands $100,000 Call for Recommender Startups seeks to identify the best early stage project in the area of recommendation technologies, considering the technology, business opportunity and team behind the project (without limitations as to which field the technology is applied). The Winner will be offered an investment of $100,000 from Strands.

Candidates should submit a one-slide presentation in quad-chart format example, (more examples) by September 15th, 2008, to recommender-startups@strands.com, together with the team bios (in addition to this, an optional 2-minute video uploaded to YouTube describing the start-up enterprise would be highly appreciated).

Eligibility: The Call is open to individuals or sole proprietors and privately held businesses, throughout the world.

Five Finalists will be invited to present their projects during the ACM Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys08) next October 23rd to 25th, 2008 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Finalists will be announced on October 6th.

All Proposals will be judged using the following judging criteria:

• Implementation and integration of recommendation technologies
• Originality and creativity
• Likelihood of long-term success and scalability
• Effectiveness in addressing a need in the marketplace
• Team bios.

Five grants. Each Finalist will obtain a $1,500 travel grant to attend RecSys08; Strands will also cover the registration fees for the Conference, for one person per Finalist.

The final selection process will include on-site presentations of each project during RecSys08 next October 23rd to 25th, 2008 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Finalists will make three presentations of 5 minutes each (focused on technology, business and the team respectively) in front of the Jury and the attendees of the Conference.

The Jury will be composed of renowned experts in the academic, industry and venture capital communities.

The Winner will be announced on October 25th 2008 during the Gala Dinner at RecSys08. The Winner will receive a commemorative plaque and an offer of a $100,000 investment in the form of a convertible loan.

Proposal submission period begins on March 12th, 2008 and ends on September 15th, 2008.

Further information: Contact the Strands $100,000 Call for Recommender startups organizers at recommender-startups@strands.com . Updates will be regularly provided at this website or Strands blog

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The Strands $100,000 Call for Recommender startups seeks to identify the best early stage project in the area of recommendation technologies, considering the technology, business opportunity and team behind the project (without limitations as to which field the technology is applied).

The Winner. An investment of $100,000 will be offered to the winning start-up, if any.

Candidates should submit a one-slide presentation in quad-chart format example, (more examples) by September 15th, 2008, to recommender-startups@strands.com , together with the team bios (in addition to this, an optional 2-minute video uploaded to YouTube describing the start-up enterprise would be highly appreciated) ("Proposal"). Submissions must be received by Strands no later than 11:59 P.M. (PT) on September 15th, 2008. Strands will determine timeliness of Proposal submissions. The Proposal must describe a project in the area of the recommender systems industry, and should convey the technology, business opportunity and team behind the project. See below regarding ownership of idea submissions. Candidates may submit up to five Proposals, but no more than one Proposal per start-up team can be a Finalist. Each Proposal submitted must be the original creation of the candidate. Proposals must be submitted in English. The optional 2-minute YouTube video must be set as private and allow user Strands100kCall recommender-startups@strands.com to view the video. All Proposals must designate a single individual, by name, to accept on behalf of the team. Proposals that do not meet one or more of these requirements may be disqualified in Strands' sole discretion. You are responsible for all costs associated with preparing and submitting your Proposal, including applications, and building and testing prototypes.

Eligibility: The Call is open to individuals or sole proprietors and privately held businesses, throughout the world. If you win and are not a company, you will be required to incorporate as a condition of acceptance of the investment offer. Companies whose officers or directors include employees of Strands, its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries, and participating advertising and promotion agencies (and members of their immediate family and/or those living in their household) are not eligible.

Five Finalists with the best Proposals as determined by the Jury will be announced on October 6th on the Strands website and will be notified using the contact information provided with the Proposal. The Finalists will be invited to present their projects during the ACM Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys08) next October 23rd to 25th, 2008 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Finalists must contact Strands within five business days of the announcement of finalists to preserve eligibility, and to sign forms (e.g. publicity and privacy rights release, attestation of representative authority, attestation of ownership of original work, etc.), to be provided at time of announcement. If a Proposal is selected as a Finalist, but the Finalist fails or refuses to sign the required release forms within five business days of notification, or to comply with any term or condition set forth in these rules, the Finalist may be disqualified and the Jury may select an alternate Finalist. If a Finalist cannot be contacted by reasonable efforts within five business days of selection, or if at any time the Proposal is determined to be ineligible under these rules, the nominee may be disqualified and the judges may select an alternate Finalist.

All Proposals will be judged using the following judging criteria:

• Implementation and integration of recommendation technologies
• Originality and creativity
• Likelihood of long-term success and scalability
• Effectiveness in addressing a need in the marketplace
• Team bios.

You are responsible for updating the contact information or checking the website. The Jury's decisions are final on all matters relating to the evaluation of Proposals.

One person per Finalist will obtain a $1,500 travel grant to attend RecSys08 ; Strands will also cover the registration fees for the Conference, for one person per Finalist.

The selection process will include on-site presentations of each project during RecSys08 next October 23rd to 25th, 2008 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Finalists will make three presentations of 5-minutes each (focused on technology, business and the team respectively) in front of the Jury and the attendees of the Conference. The Panel may ask at least three questions during the Q & A session following each presentation.

The Finalists' Proposals will be judged based on the following judging criteria:

• Implementation and integration of recommendation technologies
• Originality and creativity
• Likelihood of long-term success and scalability
• Effectiveness in addressing a need in the marketplace
• Team bios and the Finalist's presentation of their Proposal

Finalists must be present in person at RecSys08 to present their Proposals to the Jury and Strands (one person per Finalist is eligible for a $1,500 travel grant as described above).

The Jury will be composed of renowned experts in the academic, industry and venture capital communities.

The Winner will be announced on October 25th 2008 during the Gala Dinner at RecSys08. The Winner will receive a commemorative plaque and an offer of a $100,000 investment in the form of a convertible loan. The Winner must be present at the Gala Dinner to accept.

Proposal submission period begins on March 12th, 2008 and ends on September 15th, 2008.

Ownership and Disclosure of Proposals: You grant Strands a license to reproduce, publish, display, distribute and use your Proposal for purposes of promoting and administering the Proposal submission and judging process. You do not grant any ownership rights to Strands or its affiliates in the Proposal except for the license. Strands or its affiliates may currently or in the future be developing information internally, or receiving information from other parties, that is similar to a Proposal. Nothing in these rules is a representation or agreement that Strands or its affiliates will not develop or have developed products, concepts, systems or techniques that are similar to or compete with the products, concepts, systems or techniques contemplated by or embodied in any Proposal. Proposals are not confidential and may be made public, in whole or in part, including through presentations of the Proposal.

More legal stuff: Strands is not obligated to make an investment offer if the Jury and Strands determine in their sole discretion that no submitted Proposal meets the judging criteria. Strands is not obligated to select only one Winner if the Jury and Strands determine in their sole discretion that more than one of the Finalists are deserving of an investment offer. The Winner, if any, will receive a commemorative plaque and an offer of a $100,000 investment in the form of a convertible loan. The loan terms will be as determined by Strands in its sole discretion. This Call for Recommender Startups is sponsored by Strands, Inc., a Delaware corporation with offices at 760 SW Madison Avenue, Suite 106, Corvallis, OR 97333. By choosing to participate in the Call for Recommender startups, you agree to be bound by these rules. No purchase is necessary to participate, and a purchase does not increase your chances of winning. Void where prohibited. Cash value of the travel grant is $1,500 per finalist, plus the value of the conference registration fee. Total cash value of the travel grants and registration fees will be determined by the number awarded. Cash value of the convertible loan investment will be determined by the terms of the investment and the number of investments made. Candidates from a jurisdiction where this Call for Recommender Startups would be prohibited or subject to formal registration or licensing requirements are not eligible. All taxes are the sole responsibility of Finalists or Winners. Strands and its agents are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind; lost or unavailable network connections, Web site, Internet, or ISP availability; unauthorized human intervention; traffic congestion; incomplete or inaccurate capture of Proposal information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one's ability to enter, including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participating in this contest or downloading or submitting any materials. Strands will not be liable for typographical errors in these Rules or other promotional materials relating to the Call for Recommender Startups.

Further information: Please visit http://recommender-startups.strands.com for further information or contact the Strands $100,000 Call for Recommender startups organizers at recommender-startups@strands.com.