I am one of the organizers for the InternetBar.org competition designed to encourage ideas and interaction around the problem of creating a trusted online environment, which is one of the biggest issues in creating a useful online dispute resolution community. The contest is open to a wide range of students and recent graduates from a number of disciplines (this is NOT a law school-limited competition) and will run from now through July of this year. All of the particulars are included in the attached document.
The contest will run in three phases. The first is an online discussion open to all, wherein the contestants will engage in an online dialogue regarding trusted online communities. After the first round of discussions, the judges will select a smaller number of contestants to continue the discussion in a more focused manner, and then in early July the judges will pick up to 15 contestants to write a paper about the discussion and their notions of how to create a trusted online community.
From the submitted papers, the judges will pick one as the grand prize winner, and that person will become the recorder for the December meeting of the International Online Dispute Resolution Group Forum in Hong Kong. All expenses to the conference will be paid for the grand prize winner.
I urge you to check out the IBO web site (http://www.internetbarcontest.org/) and consider participating. And feel free to pass along this e-mail and/or the competition information around. Registration for the grand prize contestants closes on May 10, 2007.