We have a winner!  Congratulations to Elliot Harmon, who will travel to Hyderabad, India, to cover the Tech 4 Society Conference as AshokaTECH's official blogger this February 11-13.

We received over twenty entries from budding and established bloggers, all with a passion for technology and invention for social impact.  While we could only choose one, we'd like to thank all who submitted entries and encourage you all to keep up the great work spreading knowledge and advancing social innovation in all forms.

Six preliminary finalists--whose names and entries can be found here--were announced in January, and our esteemed panel of judges determined the winner.

Thank you all for entering, and congratulations to Elliot!  You will be hearing from him with frequent posts and tweets throughout the three-day conference Feb 11-13, so mark your calendars and tune in to the AshokaTECH blog and @AshokaTech on Twitter for coverage of what's sure to be a very cool event!

Best,

The AshokaTECH Team

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About the competition:

Ashoka and the Lemelson Foundation invite bloggers covering the intersection of technology, invention and social change to be the official blogger at the upcoming Tech 4 Society conference in Hyderabad, India where 100 Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows will be attending, in addition to other changemakers, to share ideas and projects that are changing the world through technology and invention.

The winning blogger, as chosen by Ashoka staff and prominent social entrepreneurs, writers and bloggers, will be sent all-expenses-paid to the event, where they will be the official blogger – maintaining a live blog and twitter feed throughout the event, meeting and interviewing inspiring social and business entrepreneurs and generally capturing the fantastic presentations and conversations taking place.

The Ideal Competition Winner will be someone who:

• Is passionate about social change, social entrepreneurship and technology
• Can articulate the importance of invention, technology, and entrepreneurship in creating social change
• Is clever and thoughtful in their writing, providing potential solutions to any big questions they pose in the piece; no sarcasm please
• Is comfortable writing both analytical stories and news stories
• Writes posts that give non-conference attendees an insider feel for the atmosphere and experience of the event
• Has a plan for providing optimal coverage of the multi-track event
• Feels comfortable asking for and conducting interviews with busy and/or distracted people
• Is willing to work hard, stay up late and rise early to report on the action of the event
• Can produce concise and interesting blog posts even up to 3-5 per day
• Can use Twitter effectively to provide hour by hour coverage of the event for those who aren’t present

In Hyderabad the winning blogger will cover the event from pre-event media day to the wrap up on the day after the event, producing 3-5 posts per day and at least 5-10 Tweets per days. The pace will likely be demanding and the winner should expect to work long hours.   It is not required for all of the blogger’s output to be posted online immediately, but it is important for Ashoka’s records of the event and later data-analysis on the event for the blogger to keep good notes and share any unpublished posts that might be useful in these knowledge capture endeavors.  All posts and tweets produced by the blogger will be broadcast from http://tech.ashoka.org and @AshokaTweets/@AshokaTech.  The blogger is also welcome to cross-post the content on their personal site as long as they provide links to the Ashoka Tech blog in their posts from Hyderabad.

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To enter, simply publish an article on your personal blog during the month of November which explores the interconnection between technology, invention and social change. The post must be no more than 600 words and must include this text at the bottom of the article (not included in the 600 words):

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public are hosting Tech 4 Society, a conference exploring technology, invention and social change, in Hyderabad, India, in February 2010. Find out more about the conference here. This blog post is an entry in their competition to find the official blogger to travel to and cover the event.

Once your post is published get the competition entry form and email it to tech4society@ashoka.org by November 30, 2009.

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The Prize: The winner of the Blog your way to Hyderabad competition will receive a free economy-class ticket to and from Hyderabad as well as accommodations and meals February 9-14, 2010 and will be the official blogger of the Ashoka-Lemelson Technology for Society Event which takes place during that period of time.  Should the winner wish to stay in India beyond the event, all ongoing travel and accommodations are the bloggers responsibility.

Click hear to learn about the Selection Process

Click here for the Rules and Conditions