By Kids For Kids, a company that helps young people deliver their inventions to market, kicked its operations into overdrive with the launch of a new Web site and four killer contests. Winners pocket $10,000. The contests began this month and will run each quarter - 16 a year.
DIGITAL ARTS CHALLENGE
Think comic strips, cartoons, digital stories, greeting cards, visual essays, photographic essays, wall art, billboards, posters and graphic novels. Winners also spend a day at Pearson, the publishing giant in New York City. BKFK will also publish the work of the winning teen.
THE SPORTS EVOLUTION CHALLENGE
Seeks innovative new ideas in the areas of sports apparel/ accessories, boards (snow/water/skate), cycling, fi tness/weights, water/aquatic, field and extreme sports. The lucky winner will have the opportunity to shadow an ESPN broadcaster for a day during a live sporting event.
THE SIGNATURE STYLE CHALLENGE
Future fashionistas will be invited to submit their original designs in the areas of apparel, accessories, footwear, hair/makeup, jewelry, handbags/totes, scarves/belts, among others. The winner will spend a day hanging with a Tommy Hilfiger designer in a Manhattan studio.
GOING GREEN ECO CHALLENGE
Green teens can create and invent methods to improve air quality, alternative energy, forest reclamation, irrigation, land preservation, recycling systems, water purity and more. The winner also will spend a day with one of the Web-site experts supporting "11th Hour," the new Leonardo DiCaprio feature film.
The Web site, www.bkfk.com, offers several levels of privacy, where teens can share with selected groups. "We cherish and really manage this process very, very strictly," says BKFK chief Norm Goldstein. "We're going to manage this (Web site) to the point where kids have an incredible education process in developing ideas." As for the contests, a Harvard professor on youth intellect and feedback from kids helped BKFK hit on the four awards. "We found that kids and teens express themselves in a variety of different ways," Goldstein says. "Some invent by creating art, song, literature, fashion. As we were going through four areas of intellects, we came up with these four categories. "We're going to kick it up a notch," he adds. "We want to inspire kids to think a little more than they do every day. In this country, cash is king. We thought $10,000 was a significant reward for kids."
