I get sick to my stomach each time I see a contest like this. All risk is born by the participants, and no matter the outcome, the only result for the contest runner is a demonstrably larger bottom line.<p>I believe that to have paid professionals perform a similar level of work, the price point would be well over the main prize of 25,000.
Assuming that the people managing this challenge are the same ones as those that did the previous Hearst Challenge, I'll stay far away from it. They don't think through the rules, and change them on the fly. Last time, at one stage, the leader in the challenge gave up and quit.