NextLabbers,

Welcome back from Spring Break. This week we have Milestone 3; all details regarding what’s expected were posted in my 20 March blog entry. Please review it to make sure you are fully aware of the logistics for the week.

You can print your posters at Necsys, which is the technical support department of the Media Lab, located on the 4th floor of E15. Just come in, and say you are a NextLab student (MAS.967), and that you need to print a poster; the staff there should show you how. If printing becomes a problem, then bring in your laptops, and present your poster in the screen of your laptop, though it’s obviously not going to be as accessible as if it was on paper. Use this option only as a last resort.

On Tuesday, you are also welcome to bring in your prototype. On Thursday, don’t bring in your prototype, as discussion on that day should centered on your venture’s business model.

Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward an exciting week.

NextLabbers,

CiviRep and Zaca applied for UC Berkeley Human Rights Mobile Challlenge. As per competition rules, top 10 finalists will be selected from voting by NetSquared Community.

The voting has started, and will end this Friday, 03/27 3pm PDT (6pm EDT). PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR FELLOW NEXTLABBERS, BY VOTING FOR THEM BEFORE THE DEADLINE.

Following are the two links of submission:

CiviRep: http://www.netsquared.org/projects/civirep

Zaca: http://www.netsquared.org/projects/zaca-twitter-meets-bloomberg-meets-rural-farming-sms-connect-poor-farmers-one-another-market-and-suppliers

Thanks on behalf of all of us!

NextLabbers,

Not only did we make 40% of the semifinalists in the mobile category of the MIT $100K BPC, we now have 4 of our 6 mobile teams make it to the semifinals of the Dell Social Innovation Competition. You should know that there was a less that 1 in 5 chance of making it, as there were 527 entries for only 100 semifinal slots, and so we beat the odds by quite a bit. Congratulations teams CiviRep, Celedu, Dinube, and Moca!

The people have spoken and they have told us we’re onto something BIG. Now it’s your turn to get out and vote for your classmates. Do remember to spam all your network to get out and vote!

Moca: http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/apex/ideaView?id=087800000005H5zAAE

CiviRep: http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/apex/ideaView?id=087800000005GyAAAU

Celedu: http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/apex/ideaView?id=087800000005H3ZAAU

Dinube: http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/apex/ideaView?id=087800000005HHLAA2

NextLabbers,

I have just finished posting 9 items in the “Opportunities” section of this website. Please make sure all of you see these opportunities and that your Sustainability Officer is fully aware of their deadlines. In particular, I expect all teams to participate in the Seed Awards, whose deadline is on March 16th.

I have also just finished posting 9 items in the “Talks and Activities” section of this website, and 2 items in the Resources section. All of these sections can be accessed using the corresponding links under the “pages” title on the right side of this page.

I urge you to post all information of “Opportunities”, “Talks and Activities” and “Resources” you come across and that you feel may be relevant to your peers. The objective of these sections is to enable all of us to crowdsource.

Good luck!

Two NextLab teams made it with less than 3 weeks of preparation. A total of 261 teams entered the contest this year. We did great! ( And yes, this gives me renewed energy to continue pushing you even more )

Though the deadline to enter the MIT IDEAS Competition 2009 is midnight April 15, 2009, March 15 is the final opportunity to submit an initial proposal. Doing well in this competition is important, as it has Development Grants and Mentors readily available.
http://web.mit.edu/ideas/www/submit.htm

These are the important deadlines for the IDEAS competition:

March 15th – Last chance to submit initial proposals – We’re here to help! The initial proposal review process is an opportunity for teams to have their projects reviewed by IDEAS staff, who know what the judges will be looking for.

April 2nd – Letters of intent due – If teams plan to submit a project to the IDEAS Competition but don’t take part in the initial proposal review process, IDEAS staff needs to know about planned participation by midnight on April 2nd. Letters of intent must be e-mailed to ideas-admin@mit.edu and include a paragraph with the following information, at a minimum: Team name, team lead(s), and project scope.

April 15th – Final proposals due – Each team’s final proposals must be submitted by midnight on April 15th for consideration in this year’s competition.

April 27th – Poster session and Judging – The world wants to learn about all these great IDEAS, and this is when they’re exhibited!

May 4th – IDEAS awards ceremony – The judges’ choices will be revealed at this exciting event, and the winning teams will tell us all about them.

NextLabbers,

Based on your stated Expertise, please input your feedback to the other 5 teams that presented today in addition to yours. You can access the feedback form by going into each team’s project blog and clicking on “m-feedback” or directly, through the following links. This is due by Friday noon, in order to allow teams enough time to take in and analyze your feedback before the next milestone.

1.- Mobile Logistics Management (Hammock): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/hammock/m1/

2.- Mobile Diagnostics (Moca): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/moca/m1/

3.- Mobile Rural Market Prices (Zaca): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/zacatecas/m1/

4.- Mobile Banking (Dinube): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/mpayments/m1/

5.- Mobile Literacy (Celedu): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/celedu/m1/

6.- Mobile Citizen Reporting (CitiRep): http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/citirep/m1/

Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions or problems with it.

Teams,

It’s time to start blogging your project!!!
Please create your own project blog and personal account on the project blog website below.

mit nextlab • Spring 2009 – http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009

Instructions to create account and blog can be found under the Latest News on the same page.
Feel free to contact NextLab Staff if you have any questions.
Good luck!

Teams,

If you believe you may need technical help with your project this semester, you should be well on your way to hiring UROPs. Some teams have moved quickly on this, and some have not. If you will need UROPs, and have not found one yet, speak to Ted asap. He will help you with the process.

NextLabbers,

Some things to keep in mind for today’s class:

1.- The Megally Team and Ted will be running the 2009 Strategy Document presentations, as I am not in Boston. Please be on time, as we have a full schedule, and need to be out of the classroom by 3:59pm. (I will be back on Monday.)
2.- Nicole from the NextLab media team will make an announcement to the class about the role of the Media Liaison for each team. She will also bring some goodies with her to class.
3.- Make sure that your team’s logistics are ready to present within the 5 min period. And be receptive to the comments and suggestions from your classmates, as they are in impressive bunch. Anywhere else you’d pay thousands of dollars to get that kind of advice.
4.- When other teams are presenting, please make an effort to suggest something to them based on your skills and expertise during the 5 min Q&A session. That kind of interaction is key to enable NextLab to become real venture incubation process for all of you.
5.- Make sure your slides are uploaded no later than noon today, as we will be downloading them from our server at that time. You can find the link to upload your 2009 Strategy Document here: http://nextlab.mit.edu/spring2009/main/milestones/, below where it says “Assignment Upload”.
6.- If you see Paul looking tired and scruffy, don’t chide him. Get used to it, he’ll be looking like that for the rest of the semester, as he’s just had his first baby. I’ve had 3 of those, and believe me, during those sleepless months, all you need is a hug, and good wishes, regardless of how you look. Congrats Paul!