This call for participation is open to all who are in the process of developing new, innovative, and implementable ideas to improve their academic libraries or related organizations. The intent of the competition is to showcase innovation in information management and to award the most deserving examples of innovation.

Awards: There will be two awards of $2,500 each for winning proposals from U.S.-based tax exempt non-profit organization.

To encourage international participation, there will also a third award of a travel stipend to attend the 2018 Conference and present your winning idea to the audience. The international award winner will be selected during the second stage of the competition and will be presented to the winner at the conference during the Neapolitan session.

Timing: Fast Pitch first stage – June 18 to July 20, 2018.

Open Nominations from the information industry and the Charleston Conference Community. Do you know of a project in a library or publishing entity that deserves attention? Perhaps that could be adapted/expanded by others to generate influence in the wider community? We are particularly interested in the scholarly communication and publishing as well as academic and research library initiatives but we are not limited exclusively to those areas. These nominations should be brief “thinking” pieces. This will be shared with your Fast Pitch colleagues. The FP Community (Past Fast Pitch winners and honorable mention colleagues) will react and help you expand on the implications of your nomination. You can nominate yourself or a colleague. Nominations and proposals should be sent using the form at https://www.charlestonlibraryconference.com/fastpitch/ and will be distributed to the FP community anonymously.

Sponsors: The Charleston Conference would like to sincerely thank our sponsors for the 2018 Charleston Fast Pitch Competition! Support for the two $2,500 awards for US-based non-profit organizations comes from the Goodall Family Charitable Foundation, an independent foundation focusing on making grants to support educational endeavors. The international award winner will receive a travel stipend through the generous support of Business Expert Press (https://www.businessexpertpress.com/). 

Contact Leah Hinds at leah@charlestonlibraryconference.com if you're interested in becoming involved with the project.