Instructions and Tips
There are two ways to jumpstart this process: You can nominate someone for Inc.com's Entrepreneur of the Year Contest or you can submit your own entry as to why you should become Entrepreneur of the Year.
To Nominate or Submit an Entry
Sharing your nomination or submitting is easy.
To nominate someone, simply go to our nominate page and tell us why your nominee deserves to be Entrepreneur of the Year.
To submit your own entry, go to the submit page and let us know why you deserve to be entrepreneur of the year.
All nominees/entrants must be leaders of private U.S. companies. And we are looking for an entrepreneur with extraordinary creativity, drive, acumen, vision, socially responsible practices or other talents that add up to remarkable success.
Creating a submission shouldn't take more than 10 minutes -- if you already have in mind what you'd like to say. Before you submit an entry, we recommend that you write your story in another program, save it, and cut and paste it into our entry form.
DEADLINE: ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY OCTOBER 19, 2005, AT 11:59 PM EST.
PLEASE NOTE: Inc. magazine will be conducting independent outreach off line to find suitable candidates. E-mail submissions via Inc.com's 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year Contest will be considered as well as those candidates selected via Inc. magazine's independent research.
Step 1 - Share your story.
(1) Create your headline. Declare why your nominee or you should be Entrepreneur of the Year. Be brief. Be bold. Tell us what he, she, or you did. For example, "He led us through a challenging time" or "I've an extraordinary commitment to my employees." (And don't worry about sounding boastful -- we're asking you to brag!) Also, remember, this is where you grab our attention. (Keep it short -- we have to limit this to 65 characters.)
(2) Tell us what you or your nominee specifically did -- or does -- to deserve this award. This is where you sell us. Let us know about amazing accomplishments, extraordinary creativity, unflappible vision, and other talents that add up to remarkable success. (We suggest 200 words.)
All information submitted on an entry form must be original to the entrants and contain truthful and accurate information. We reserve the right to edit the nominations. Any entry that fails to meet these criteria will be disqualified.
Tips for writing an unforgettable entry...
- Enter early. Don't wait for the deadline. This will allow more time for readers to submit supportive comments and to get our attention.
- Get your colleagues to help. Making the nomination or entry a team effort could help highlight more extraordinary qualities and accomplishments.
- Don't worry about the writing. We're just looking for rich details and the seeds of a great story. Typos are forgiven.
- Stick within suggested word counts. We'll read whatever you submit, but keep in mind, we have limited space and highly value a compelling story that can be told succinctly.
- Feel uncomfortable with writing about yourself? Try writing it in the third-person, or writing on behalf of your team.
- Forget submitting a PR release. Just have fun and tell us your story.
- Don't worry about the numerical ratings. They help us flag dynamic entries, but are just meant to be fun. They won't influence the judges.
Step 3 - Fill in the contact information.
The next step is providing your contact information so we can get in touch with you. Once you submit your entry, you'll be taken to a page that confirms your submission. You will also immediately receive an e-mail confirming that we have received your entry.
Advancing to the next round
The Inc.com and Inc. magazine editorial teams will review your entry (typically, within a few days of submission) and will determine whether it advances to the next round of judging. If your entry advances, we will notify you by e-mail. If you've agreed to have your submission shared on Inc.com, we will publish your entry before OCTOBER 19, 2005. The entries will continue to be featured on the website throughout the 2006 calendar year.
Ratings and Comments
All Web users will be able to read, rate, and comment on these entries by using the Sound Off feature on Inc.com. Comments received through the Sound Off feature before OCTOBER 19, 2005, AT 11:59 PM EST may have partial but not primary influence on the judges' final decisions. Inc.com reserves the right to remove any comments that it deems to be inappropriate or irrelevant.
Judging
The Inc.com and Inc. magazine staff will choose the Entrepreneur of the Year and honorable mention winners from each industry. Winners will be notified by e-mail by DECEMBER 31, 2005.
Entries will be judged based on the following criteria: the degree to which the entries are entertaining, instructional, relevant, and thought provoking for the Inc. audience; the display of character demonstrated in the entries; and to a lesser extent, the comments submitted by website users.
The Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced in the JANUARY 2006 issue of Inc. magazine. The winners' names also will be posted on the website on or about JANUARY 1, 2006.
Eligibility
Anyone over the age of 18 as of October 14, 2002, is eligible to participate in the Entrepreneur of the Year process.
Inc.com reserves the right to disqualify, at any time, any and all nominations and entries that do not comply with these instructions. All entries and comments are subject to the editorial discretion of the Inc.com and Inc. magazine staff members and will be subject to verification.
The overall winner must be willing to be a subject of a feature article in Inc. magazine, to be available for interviews, and to provide requested information in connection to verification of entries and both Web-only and magazine features. Any nominee who fails to comply with the foregoing will be disqualified.
The Fine Print
Neither Mansueto Ventures LLC, its parent, subsidiary, or affiliate companies, nor its promotional agencies shall have any obligation or responsibility with regard to (i) entries that contain inaccurate information or that do not comply with these instructions; (ii) entries, prize claims, or notifications that are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, damaged, or otherwise not received by the intended recipient, in whole or in part, due to computer or technical error of any kind; (iii) telephone, electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties; or (iv) any damages or losses of any kind caused by any award or resulting from the acceptance of any award. Mansueto Ventures LLC, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process or the operation of the website or otherwise disregarding these instructions. Mansueto Ventures LLC further reserves the right to cancel, terminate, or modify the Entrepreneur of the Year if it cannot be completed as planned because of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort.
All materials submitted in connection with the nominations and entries to Inc.com's Entrepreneur of the Year Contest become the property of Mansueto Ventures LLC, publisher of Inc. magazine and Inc.com, upon receipt and cannot be returned. Your submission of nominations and entries constitutes permission for Mansueto Ventures LLC to use your e-mail address and other submitted information for purposes of marketing and promotion.
