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SALT LAKE CITY — Developers and entrepreneurs interested in impacting the family history industry are invited to compete in the 2016 Innovator Showdown.
A "global innovation competition," the showdown "seeks to support, foster and inspire innovation within the family history marketplace," according to RootsTech organizers.
Participants create a software app to compete for $100,000 in rewards, pushing it to be a top innovator contest in the country. According to the website, submissions are required to include features that either directly or indirectly relate to family history.
The Innovator Showdown began at the 2015 RootsTech conference, where 70 people competed for $25,000 in rewards. The success of that competition has created a lot of industry support and increased the awards, RootsTech organizers reported.
Innovator Showdown competitors can now submit their entries, which will be accepted until Dec. 1. The finalists will be chosen to compete in the contest's final round on Feb. 5 at the RootsTech conference.
"I am really pleased to see the evolution of what this challenge has become today," said David Pugmire, director of the RootsTech Innovator Showdown, in a written statement. "We find 'tech' in the very name of RootsTech, and the RootsTech Innovator Showdown is the biggest realization of the union between tech and family history, bringing the technologists and their cutting edge creations in front of worldwide attendees in a meaningful and exciting way."
Six finalists will pitch their idea to a large audience of family history consumers and five industry judges, who are genealogy, technology and business gurus. The first-, second- and third-place winners will receive Judges Choice cash prizes of $20,000, $14,000 and $6,000 respectively.
Related:
5 innovative products showcased at RootsTech
This weekend, thousands of locals and visitors came together for RootsTech, the largest genealogy conference in the world.The audience will be able to vote online and on their phones for the $10,000 People's Choice Award. An additional $50,000 of "in-kind" prizes will allso be given out.
During the 2015 contest, the San Francisco-based story recording service StoryWorth took home the first-place prize. The Germany-based handwriting recognition technology ArgusSearch came in second, and the Utah-based GenMarketplace, which makes obtaining professional help affordable, came in third.
Those interested in submitting entries can do so by visiting the Innovator Showdown website. Entries must include a video and are required to have either a social or a collaborative component. The competition welcomes any platform. For more information regarding requirements, visit the website.
