The deadline for entries in the Monetate Open Source Prize competition has been extended to June 1. And if you live or work within 60 miles of Philadelphia you may hear the virtual sigh of relief from our region’s many open source developers!

deadline-quote-douglas-adamsWhen we announced the competition on April 21 we thought that giving people until today, May 11, was long enough, but we were wrong. Although we have received some great entries so far, what we had not anticipated was all of the questions we got from people interested in competing (let’s be honest, this is first time we’ve done this and it’s been a learning experience).

So, the competition schedule has been extended and the new dates are posted here.

One question we needed to clarify was that not all of the people working on the project need to meet the location requirement of “within 60 miles of Philadelphia.” Even if you are the only person working on a project who meets the location requirement, you can enter that project for the prize.

And speaking of the prize, that’s another question we had: Can I have cash instead of computers, beverages, pizza, and gift cards? Answer = Yes!

Perhaps the trickiest question to answer has been: How advanced does my project need to be? People have asked this in terms of both scale and complexity. The simple answer is that no project is too small or too simple to enter. Remember, entries will be judged on the usefulness and novelty of the project and the impact that the prize award will have on project status.

So check the rules and take your best shot, just be sure to get it entered by June 1.

Good luck!