Today we’re excited to announce the launch of OpenSkild, a cost-effective, self-service version of our contest creation platform, designed to further democratize the power of online challenges which inspire creativity and promote social good through crowdsourcing. You can read about this launch on VentureBeat here and PandoDaily here, and this blog post will hopefully answer any remaining questions you have about what OpenSkild means for startups and organizations of all sizes. If you have other questions that aren’t covered here, please feel free to post them in comments, or contact us directly via e-mail: info at skild dot com
What kind of competitions is OpenSkild for?
Pretty much any competition which can be deployed online. The standard Skild platform has been used for contest involving real-world problem solving, employee innovation, customer co-creation, seed funding, awards programs, scientific research, and recruiting/talent searchers, among many other varieties. The platform supports multimedia and interactive contests, multiple competition rounds, and a lot more, so we expect to see organizations running similar programs on OpenSkild -- and create a lot of others we didn’t expect at all.
What’s the difference between OpenSkild and the Skild platform?
The Skild platform is intended for our traditional customers -- large organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, universities, and governments, who are running contests which require a high degree of customization and management. OpenSkild is a low-budget, self-service version of the same platform, created for small organizations like small businesses and startups.
How difficult is it to create and run an OpenSkild contest?
If you can create a simple web-based survey, you can create and run a contest powered by OpenSkild. They’re designed to be managed by one or two people, and are fully modular, customizable, and re-usable.
Does OpenSkild work on mobile?
Yes, it’s compatible most smartphones and tablets. Also, we’re developing a mobile contest app which allows users to send competition submissions via mobile and tablet -- we expect to release this in early 2014, and then release a mobile-based judging app in second half of the year.
