Congratulations Super Inventor,
It is my great honor to invite you to represent Ohio at the 2017 National Invention Convention & Entrepreneurship Expo. Out of over 7,500 students who
participated in their local invention convention programs throughout our state this year you have been selected as one of the 75 to represent Ohio at the
National Invention Convention & Entrepreneurship Expo June 1-3rd in Washington D.C.
This is an invitation-only event, hosted by the STEMIE Coalition. The STEMIE Coalition is a non-profit organization that has affiliate Invention Convention
education programs in states all across the country to further inventing & entrepreneurship education in K-12 students. Each STEMIE Coalition Affiliate, in
Ohio this is the Invention League, is allocated a certain number of invitations to extend to the best members of their respective programs. Due to the size of
the Invention League we have the largest delegation of Inventors to invite. Inventors are carefully selected based upon criteria set by their state or affiliate
programs. Original inventions that show promise in helping to create a sustainable future will be given consideration, along with other criteria.
We invite you, and one adult chaperone, to join us for a life changing trip that will not only celebrate your inventing process and your invention but also allow
you to experience some of Washington D.C. meet inventors from over 18 other states & compete amongst the top inventors in the country. Only 300
inventors are invited from all over the United States!

Step 1). – Email [email protected] to accept your invitation by May 10th, 2017
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(please also let us know if you will not be accepting your invitation).

Step 2). – Register for the event (called NICEE):

Step 3). – Purchase your 2017 Invention League Competition T-Shirt for travel days

Step 3). – Share your congratulatory letter with teacher, principal and school district administration

Step 4). – Update & Share your Ed Backer Fundraising account (this will come in a separate email on May 10th) with family & friends.

Step 5). – Pay for accommodations

Step 6). – Arrive, celebrate & compete in D.C. with 300 other inventors from across the United States!
In 2016, our team accompanied 73 students to Washington D.C for a memorable and meaningful celebration of their innovation and challenging work. I have
been thrilled to see those students grow as inventors and come back through the Invention Convention this year; it is a trip I can promise you will never
forget and one that will make an impact on your student forever.
We look forward to meeting you in D.C. and we’re honored to have you represent Ohio!
Warmest,
Veronica Lynagh
Executive Director, Invention League
STEMIE Steering Committee Member & Midwest Regional Director
[email protected]; 614.565.5731
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Included in this packet are the following instructions:
1.
How to register to NICEE- Pages 3-5
2.
NICEE Competition Rules – Pages 5-9
3.
Invention League T-Shirt Information - Page 10
4.
Event Day Schedule – Pages 11 & 12
5.
Cost of the Trip/Competition for a student & 1 chaperone – Page 13
a.
Registration
b.
Hotel
c.
Bus & Additional Food
i. We have 56 spaces on the travel bus which will pick up students in Cleveland & Columbus; these are on a first come
first serve basis. If we have more parents/students that want to travel by bus together with our staff we will purchase
another bus.
6.
FAQ – Pages 14 & 15
7.
Fundraising Tools – Additional Packet on May 10th, 2017 – Page 16
a.
Press Release for your local community media outlets
b.
Letter to share with teacher, principal and administration in your school district
c.
Ed Backer Tool to your inventors direct fundraising page
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How to Register to NICEE:
Remember the system you used to register your inventor for the Invention League? Good news…Nationals has as similar system! Follow the steps below
to register both you & your inventor. Note: Please Do Not Pay any registration fees; this may mean you have a milestone that is incomplete. Invention
League will be paying for Ohio registrations all at one time.

Complete Registration Steps 1 & 2
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Parent Registration: - https://nicee2017ohioparents.eventbrite.com

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Note: Do Not Pay a Registration Fee
Student Registration: - https://nicee3-12.pitchwizard.net/

Note: Do Not Pay a Registration Fee

Your student ID/Username is your students lastnameZIPCODE

Your students password is nicee2017

Upload your video; you may revise or improve your pitch video

Completing the Files Milestone and upload your participation waiver for all teammates

Photos of Student Inventor, prototype & display board

Log books – Bring with you to the USPTO w/ Invention on Friday June 2nd in the evening; they do not need to be uploaded.
Important: All projects will be reviewed for acceptance to NICEE 2017 to make sure they meet minimum eligibility requirements (see Competition
Rules). Upon acceptance to the event, you will be deemed a Finalist!
Student Registration & Fees

There are two categories for registration. K-2 will compete online and Grade 3-12 will compete in person in D.C.
Grades K-2 Registration
(Online Competition Only) – $50

Registration includes a T-Shirt, commemorative program and a National Finalist certificate. Note: Registration fees are not tax deductible.
Grades 3-12 Registration
(In Person Competition) – $175

Registration includes a T-Shirt, commemorative program, a National Finalist certificate, access to all NICEE events, all NICEE meals, an
IMAX movie ticket, and one round trip Metro ticket to get to the Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Any other
local transportation or transportation to Washington D.C is the responsibility of the delegation. Note: Registration fees are not tax
deductible.
Parent and Chaperon Registration
(In Person Competition) – $175
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
Registration includes access to all NICEE events, all NICEE meals, an IMAX movie ticket, and one round trip Metro ticket to get to the
Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Any other local transportation or transportation to Washington D.C is the
responsibility of the delegation. Note: Registration fees are not tax deductible.

One parent may register per student. Additional family members can request being added to the wait list. Open spots will be filled on a first
come first serve basis.
Registration Deadlines and Process for Invention League Participants:

Registration Opens: Today May 5th, 2017

Informational Webinar about NICEE w/ Ohio Director Veronica Lynagh:
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Topic: National Invention Convention (NICEE) Information Webinar
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Time: May 8, 2017 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) & May 8th, 2017 at 8:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/262705268
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Or Telephone:
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Dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) or +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll)
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Meeting ID: 262 705 268

Accept Invitation: Email [email protected] by May 10th, 2017

Last day of NICEE Registration: Saturday, May 13th, 2017

Confirm need for Hotel w/ Invention League Team: Monday, May 15th, 2017

Payment to Invention League: Monday May 15th, 2017 & Wednesday, May 17th, 2017

Ed Backer Fundraising campaign closes: Tuesday, May 30th, 2017
Information Needed to Register
Important information about the video pitch portion of the competition - these are the same as the Ohio submission rules.
Video pitch rules:

Maximum length = 4-minutes

There should be NO editing or production

The video should run continuously, no stopping and starting the recording device

Parents of students may prompt them with questions on the video (often needed for younger competitors)
A key skill set we are hoping to incent teachers to train their kids in is the art of the pitch. In this competition, the pitch is an essential element of
being able to condense all of your thoughts about your project into a concise four minutes. If you think about having to give a pitch at the front of
class, you don’t have the opportunity to pause your speech while you gather thoughts or to go to different rooms to have different atmospheres to
pitch in; all you have is your four minutes and any props you have handy, including your poster and your prototype. So including the pitch video as
part of our process is meant to instruct about the invention and the process of inventing. We are not judging kids on who can create the best video
production — we care about the content of the video. We’re aiming for continuously running unedited videos to make sure the playing field is as level
as possible.
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We might at a future date include another element of the competition for produced advertisement-like videos which would indeed be a fun element to
include. Some regional competitions haven’t even happened yet, so many will be working on significantly compressed timelines. Additionally, some
won’t have access to editing and we don’t want to arbitrarily disadvantage them. We believe that a continuously running video emulates what the
environment would be like in the actual judging circle where a student has four minutes to make their pitch in front of the judging circle, and is
therefore the easiest and more applicable to make.
Students should refer to the judging rubric on the Competition Rules page, as well as to the blog posting about Creating Your NICEE 2017 Pitch
Video. For parents of younger kids, see the blog for prompt questions you might ask of your child in the video to help them through their
presentation — an in-person judge would do the same with younger children.
IMPORTANT: Do not set videos as “private” on YouTube or Vimeo. This will leave them inaccessible to the judges. Set videos to either “public” or
“unlisted”.
Step Three — Release Forms
All registrants will have to sign a release form acknowledging that photographs and video will be taken throughout the event. Also, registrants will
acknowledge a waiver of liability for the conference organizers.
Cancellation/Refund Policy
Cancellations and refunds can be made until registration closes on May 2, 2017. After that all registrations are committed and not refundable
because we have to place non-refundable deposits based on your commitments. Registrations are transferable until May 26, 2017. Contact
[email protected] to request a registration transfer.
Eligibility & Competition Rules:
Inventors and entrepreneurs who have entered affiliate member competitions and won an invitation from your affiliate member are eligible to take
part in this competition.
Students in Grades K-2 will compete online. In order to be eligible to attend the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo, students
must be in Grades 3-12 and be nominated by a state affiliate member program. All projects must have an inventor’s log (log book or journal), a
poster board, a prototype (which may be non-working), and a four-minute unedited and continuous video of the pitch. Projects must also
be of sufficient accomplishment and design to be at a national competition level, as determined solely by the judges. All accepted inventors will be
deemed “Finalists” upon acceptance to the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo.
This competition is open to both individual and team competitors. Teams may compete against individuals, and vice versa, for select award
categories. There is a limit of four (4) team members who may be on a team. All team members in attendance must take part in the team “pitch”
for the video and on competition day.
Logbooks or journals must be brought to the competition when invention displays are set up on Friday night, June 2. They will be judged during the
dinner that night. Teams only need to submit one logbook for their project. Log books do not need to be uploaded to the Pitch Wizard registration
site.
There are no age restrictions.
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Each student can enter only one entry into the National Invention Convention and Entrepreneurship Expo. No student can participate in both Team
and Individual competition.
Project Restrictions
This is a U.S. Government venue and proper expectations about behavior and projects should be considered. The following items are not allowed
on your person or in your project:

Electric stun guns, martial arts weapons or devices

Guns, replica guns, ammunition, and fireworks

Knives of any size

Mace and pepper spray

Razors and box cutters
Also, no balloons, glitter, or confetti are allowed in any form.
Award Categories
Place Awards (18): First, Second, and Third Place awards will be given for the following grade groupings:

Grades K-2 (Online)

Grades 3-4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grades 7-8

Grades 9-12
Industry Focus Awards (12): One winner overall will be selected for the following:
These categories are:

Agriculture and Earth Sciences – Sponsored by American Geosciences Institute

Home Technology, Smart Homes, Appliances

Home Organization

Household Tools

Consumer Goods and Fashion

Education (Technology, Systems, Tools, Hardware)

Energy (Efficiency, Environmental, Clean Technology, Generation)

Government/Public Safety – Sponsored by Washington Homeland Security Roundtable

Health and Medical Technology – Sponsored by Becton Dickinson

Transportation/Financial Infrastructure

Sports, Games, Entertainment, and Toys – Sponsored by Chicago Toy and Game Week

Technology/Wearables
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Specialty Awards (2): One winner overall will be selected for the following:

Art / Creativity Award – Sponsored by Adobe

Electronics – Sponsored by Arrow Electronics
Patentability Awards (3): All three patentability awards sponsored by Central Coast Patent Agency (CCPA). Three award-winners will be chosen in
K-12.
Invention Process Awards (4): One winner overall will be selected for the following:

Best Pitch – Sponsored by Test My Pitch

Best Logbook

Best Poster

Best Prototype
Global Change Awards (4): One winner overall will be selected for the following:

Accessibility – Sponsored by Microsoft

Community/Societal Benefit – Sponsored by Lemelson Foundation

Green/Environmental – Sponsored by United Technologies

Jules Verne (Forward thinking inventiveness) – Sponsored by Paul G. Allen Foundation
Best-of-Show Awards (4): One winner overall will be selected for the following:

Most Innovative – Sponsored by Stanley Black and Decker

Most Patentable – Sponsored by Cantor Colburn

Best Design and Engineering

Staff’s Choice – Sponsored by The STEMIE Coalition
Teams will take part in the same judging processes as individuals. Rules for teams will mirror those of the individuals. Students will classify their
inventions upon registration and will be judged in that category unless changed by the judges. The NICEE Staff and judges reserve the right to
combine and/or reconfigure awards categories.
Awards provided to students, including any plaques and monetary awards, are the property of the awarded students and not the school or
organization they are representing. Schools/organizations may purchase duplicate awards by contacting STEMIE staffers. Where a team wins an
award, The STEMIE Coalition will provide additional plaques for the additional team members after the event is concluded.
Judging Process
Students will be judged at multiple times for different awards. In some instances, the student will be present during the judging, and other times
not. There are three judging periods:
1.
Before the event. All students will upload an Invention Profile as part of the registration process. This will, among other things, contain a
description of your invention, a picture of your poster, one or more pictures of your invention, and a 4-min (max) unedited and continuous
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pitch video about your invention. All student inventions will be judged according to this Invention Profile information by a set of pre-event
judges. During this judging period, each invention will be given a score, and feedback on their invention — both to be provided to the
student at the conclusion of judging. Dozens of judges will review these inventions and score them, and we expect each invention will be
scored by multiple judges. Some awards, such as sponsored awards by sponsors without a physical presence at the event, may be judged
wholly on this preliminary judging period. Some awards will use this score in combination with the on-site score to come up with a final
score for each student. In short, the Invention Profile is important and should not be just done in a few minutes off the cuff
2.
During the morning of the event. All students will take part in “judging circles” — an estimated 10 inventor large peer review judging
environments where each student will pitch to the other students while the judges watch and ask questions of all the kids in the
circle. Each student or student team will have four minutes to pitch their invention, and five minutes to answer questions. For teams, all
team members attending for a team project must share a part making the pitch. Judges will take a moment at the end of each
student’s/team’s presentation to make any notes or comments they have on their electronic scoring device, before moving on to the next
student/team. When the judging circles are done, designated award judges may visit the student exhibits and have a follow up
conversation with some students before determining the final scoring for their respective award.
3.
During the public viewing period. Students are not asked to remain at their invention during the public review period — in fact, they are
encouraged to go around and view other students’ inventions on the exhibition floor.
For the main Place awards, a combination of the pre-event judging and judging circle judging scores will determine placement. For the Staff’s
Choice award, the pre-event judging will solely be used to determine a winner. For the rest of the awards, any or all of the event judging periods
may be used to direct judging, at the discretion of the judges. In most instances, these are sponsored awards who will determine the best process
for their organizations to select winners.
All K-2 will be judged online before the event using the student invention profiles only.
All students — online and in person — will only find out how they did in the competition at the Closing Awards Ceremony Saturday afternoon. This
awards ceremony will be streamed live over the Internet for parents and siblings at home to watch.
We want this process to be one of instilling enthusiasm and excitement in students, and not one focused solely on the competition. More than 45
awards are likely to be given out to Individual contestants at the event, plus awards to Teams taking part, but all the students attending are winners
for just having gotten to D.C. We will be making a lot of effort to make this clear. Still some kids will excel, and we will be working hard to showcase
these kids to the nation too! We hope to see lots of kids here year after year — serial kid inventors are our favorites!
Judging Criteria
All projects must have the following information in one consolidated place on the poster:

Student(s) Name(s)

Project Name

Student(s) Grade(s)

Student(s) School

School City, State

Preferred Industry Focused Award Category (e.g. Telecommunications)
The following criteria will be used for judging the Place category.
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Process

Problem identification: To what extent do you feel the problem is well identified and real? To what extent do you feel the is problem
clearly defined? Has the inventor(s) demonstrated that they know who has the problem?

Process to create solution: To what extent was the appropriate research and testing performed? To what extent did they get feedback
and iteratively improve their invention? To what extent did the inventor appropriately and thoroughly research his/her invention? To what
extent did the inventor seek outside expert opinion?

Reasoning: To what extent were critical thinking and critical thinking skills used to understand the problem and develop a solution?

Current Solutions/ Market: To what extent did the inventor research at least 3 sources to assure that he/she was creating something
unique? To what extent do they know the competitors? To what extent do they know if similar patents exist?
Solution

Justification: For what reasons is this solution the best way to solve the problem? To what extent does the inventor appropriately justify
the path he/she took?

Prototype: How well does the prototype work? To what extent is it a functional and well thought through design? To what extent does the
child use the invention?

Protectable: How protectable is the solution from an IP perspective? To what extent is the solution original and novel
Impact

Market size: How large and/or viable is the potential market? To what extent was the market appropriately scoped?

Society: What are the potential benefits to people and society of this invention?

Environment: If applicable, in what ways the invention considers the environment? To what extent does it improve environmental
conditions or have minimal adverse impact?
Presentation

Verbal: How appropriate and compelling is the inventor’s body language, charisma, enthusiasm, inflection, pace, volume, and clarity? To
what extent is it clear the invention was genuinely born of the youth’s idea; and clearly not work of parent/coach.

Visuals: How well does the prototype, poster, logbook, and any other visuals support the need for and function of the invention?

Questions: To what extent does the inventor answer the judge’s questions clearly and succinctly?

Teams (if appropriate): To what extent did every member of the team speak, contribute, and participate?
When presenting your pitch and making your poster, you will optimize your competitiveness if you pay attention to the above criteria.
About the four-minute videos for pre-judging, we’re aiming for continuously running unedited videos to make sure the playing field is as level as
possible. This is not a video competition, so we don’t want to confuse the purpose. Some regional competitions haven’t even happened yet, so many
will be working on significantly compressed timelines. Additionally, some won’t have access to editing and we don’t want to arbitrarily disadvantage
them.
For information how to pitch and how to make your video, check out our blog posting here. Also see a more extensive discussion of the video pitch
uploads on the Student Registration page.
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Invention League T-Shirts
We will be wearing these shirts on our travel day & Thursday evening at the Ice Cream Social
We are asking you to please order these ahead of time so we can ensure they are sent to you and received with enough time for travel.
With fundraising the cost of t-shirts can also be reimbursed to you with other travel costs.
Click here to purchase:
http://www.inventionleague.org/product-category/merchandise/
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Schedule of Events:
Thursday, June 1, 2017: Travel Day to D.C. via bus
Time
Activity:
8:00 am
Leave Baron’s Bus Station at 12800 Brookpark Rd,
Cleveland, OH 44130
10:00 am
Pick Up remaining students @ Ohio Soybean Council
Foundation North Parking Lot - 918 Proprietors Rd Ste A,
Worthington
6:00pm – 8:30pm
Check-In at USPTO; ice cream social and exhibits
8:30pm
End of evening. Travel back to your hotel
Friday, June 2, 2017: Inspiration Day in D.C.
Time
Activity
8:00am – 9:00am
Breakfast at your hotel
9:00am
Depart for Smithsonian Museums
10:00am – 3:00pm
Tour museums, IMAX Movie, and lunch at the Air &
Space museum
4:30pm – 5:30pm
Student Inventors bring their inventions to the USPTO for
setup on the upper level
5:00pm – 6:30pm
Participant dinner in the lower level atrium (must have
credentials for entry)
6:15pm – 8:30pm
Welcome! Competition orientation and introduction of
special guests
8:30pm
End of evening. Travel back to your hotel (walk or pick up
Baron’s Bus outside USPTO office)
Saturday, June 3, 2017: Competition Day at USPTO
Time
Activity
7:45am – 8:45am
Breakfast at your hotel
8:00am – 9:00am
Judge check-in at USPTO upper level (Judges only)
8:45am – 9:15am
Participants assemble in auditorium (must have
credentials for entry)
9:15am – 10:00am
Good Morning! NICEE kick-off and introduction of
special guests and judges
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10:00am – 10:15am
Student Inventors and Judges move to their designated
Judging Circles
10:15am – 11:45am
Student Inventors Pitch and Q&A in Judging Circles
Concurrent workshop for Teachers, Parents, and
Chaperons
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Family viewing of inventions and the opportunity to visit
the National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum
12:00pm – 1:15pm
Participant lunch (must have credentials for entry)
1:15pm – 1:30pm
Participants reconvene in auditorium (must have
credentials for entry)
1:30pm – 3:00pm
Awards Ceremony!
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Student Inventors take down their invention displays
3:30pm
Goodbye! Thanks for making NICEE 2017 a great event
Sunday, June 4, 2017: Travel Day
Time
Activity
6:00am -7:00am
Eat Breakfast prior to leaving hotel & load up bus
7:30am
Bus leaves hotel towards Columbus, Ohio
11am -12:00pm
Lunch stop on route
2:30pm-3:00pm
Estimated time of arrival in Columbus, Ohio
4:30pm – 5:00pm
Estimated Arrival in Cleveland, Ohio
For more event details- http://www.stemie.org/nicee-2017-home-page/
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Cost of the Trip:
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All prices are for inclusive of 1 student Inventor and 1 adult chaperone
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All prices assume travel from Thursday, June 1st – Sunday, June 4th
The total cost of the trip for an Inventor & 1 adult chaperone is $1350

All meals Thursday – Sunday lunch

Both NICEE registrations

Bus Transportation to and around Washington D.C.

Hotel reservations within walking distance of the USPTO office for Thursday, Friday & Saturday evening; two queen beds.

T-shirts & D.C. tickets are all included
For those traveling to Washington D.C. on your own:

$1,000

Meals for Thursday & Sunday are not included in this price

Parking at the hotel is not included in this price

T-shirts & D.C. tickets are all included
For those traveling to Washington D.C. on their own and securing their own hotel reservations elsewhere

$350

T-shirts & D.C. tickets are all included

Meals for Thursday & Sunday are not included in this price

Breakfast for Friday & Saturday is not included in this price

No travel accommodations or on site travel are included in this price
Hotel Information:

Residence Inn Alexandria Old Town/Duke Street
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1456 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
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Pool access & two queen beds
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Breakfast Friday, Saturday & Sunday are included
Payment:

You will make all payments to Invention League by calling Juli Shively at 614.348.1763 on May 15th & 17th;

Any funds that are paid and then fundraised through your EdBacker Fundraising link will be refunded to you via check on June 1st, 2017 at
NICEE Check In by the Invention League team.
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FAQ:
NICEE – General
Q: What does the national event cost?
A: The fee is $175 for all participants. Registration includes all event meals, an IMAX movie ticket for the Air & Space Museum, and one round trip
Metro ticket per registered person for travel to the Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall. It does not include any travel or transportation
expenses to and from Washington D. C. Note: Registration fees are not tax deductible.
Q: Is there someone picking them up from the airport?
A: No, the venue is located two subway stops down from Reagan airport, and it’s just as easy to hop the subway to the King Street metro
station. The main conference hotels are all right there.
NICEE – Students
Q: Will the national event be just like my home state event?
A: Maybe. It depends on your home event. Read the rules page for details about how the event will take place and be judged. Many states do not
require students to “pitch” their product — you do at Nationals. Log books are important too at Nationals. What’s likely to be different is that the
Nationals will use “judging circles” which are different than one-on-one judge interviews that you might be used to. In judging circles, you will speak
to and be asked questions by your peers — other student inventors. Be prepared to be inquisitive and curious about your fellow inventors’
inventions. Students are not judged on participation, however.
Q: What is a logbook?
A: While most state Invention Conventions require a logbook, they are not part of the teaching curriculum in a few states. To students in these
states, this will be new.
Logbooks or journals must be brought to the competition when invention displays are set up on Friday night, June 2. They will be judged
during the dinner that night. Teams only need to submit one logbook for their project. Log books do not need to be uploaded into the Pitch
Wizard registration site.
A logbook is a journal that the student keeps from the very beginning that helps the student structure their invention thinking/process, and also helps
to document their path to invention (important for patent filings). In programs that use the logbooks, students will start their very earliest conceptual
thinking in a logbook, and chronicle this as it iterates to a completed project.
For guidance, if your state does not have a logbook program element, check out this link from the Connecticut Invention Convention.
Q: Can we do teams?
A: Yes. Teams of up to 4 students can participate and they are judged against other teams or individuals. All members of a team do not need to
attend or travel to the event, but all team members at NICEE must present the project in the judging circles.
Q: How much space do I/we have to display our invention.
A: Each invention will have only 2 feet x 2 feet of display space. Your Prototype must fit within this space. No over-sized displays will be allowed in
the judging circle. Please refer to the Competition Rules Page for additional size information.
Q: What if my prototype exceeds the display space:
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A: Over-sized prototypes can be represented in picture portfolios or videos shown to judges. National does not provide laptops or other means for
presenting electronic media. You will need to provide your own battery operated equipment.
Q: Can I use a script to talk?
A: The bulk of the judging relative to your invention is based around what it is, why you made it, how it works, and so one. A small portion is on the
superficial quality of your pitch. If you feel more comfortable reading from a script, then by all means do so. You won’t win Best Pitch likely, but only
one student in all the presentations gets that. It’s more important to succinctly get your point across. If you feel comfortable speaking from index
cards in the in-person competition, that’s OK too. Over time, we hope you’ll get more comfortable speaking without these prompts, but we all started
there and understand!
Q: What should I wear to NICEE?
A: Neat school dress attire is encouraged – if they won’t let you wear it to school, you should not wear it to NICEE. Students will all be issued a Tshirt to wear on Friday and Saturday. Students should order a larger size to accommodate wearing it over their clothes. Students are expected to
wear the shirts at all times on Friday and Saturday to help ease identification and movement of our large groups.
Q: Are student inventor T-shirts youth or adult sized?
A: Student Inventor T-shirts will be available in youth and some select adult sizes. The full list will be in the registration form.
Q: Can K-2 kids come to D.C.?
A: K-2 students will compete exclusively via the online portal with judging performed in advance of the event. Winners will be announced at the
awards ceremony in Washington D.C. and plaques will be mailed to the students following the event.
NICEE – Parents
Q: Can we attend the event with our child?
A: Yes. One parent may register per student. During parent registration, additional family members can request being added to a wait list. Wait list
registration is on a first come first served basis.
Q: What activities can non-registered family members participate in?
A: Student inventions will be on display Saturday, June 3 from Noon until 1:30 p.m. and open to the General Public and non-registered family
members. Additionally, non-registered family members can visit the National Inventors Hall of Fame – on the Upper Atrium free of charge.
Q: Our flight is getting in really late on Thursday, will there be registration on Friday? If not, how do we get our registration package.
A: Anyone not checking in on Thursday PM will have a package waiting for them at our information booth in each hotel during breakfast hours or at
their hotel front desk on Friday morning.
Q: If we drive, can we park at the USPTO?
A: You may park in the USPTO West Garage located at 550 Elizabeth Lane, Alexandria, VA. Parking is free of charge on Saturday, June 2,
however, there will be a charge for parking on Thursday and Friday.
NICEE – Teachers/Chaperons
Q: Will directors of programs be required to register since we are not personally entering a project as the students will be?
A: Yes. Everyone who is planning to participate in NICEE activities needs to register including chaperons and parents.
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Q: What is your non-profit number so we can get a tax benefit?
A: 47-5426484
Fundraising & Sharing the News!

Fundraising is not a requirement to attend NICEE; however it our goal at the Invention League to help any families that may want to raise
money or need to raise money to send their inventor.

You will receive a full fundraising packet on May 10th included in it’s contents:
o Press Release to share locally
o Letter for potential sponsors & school districts seeking support
o A link to a customized EdBacker account for your student inventor
 EdBacker is a Go Fund Me type program which has been successful for Educational Fundraising and approved by
school districts.
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