Knight Foundation’s Media Innovation team recently visited the XOXO Festival in Portland, Ore., to promote the Knight News Challenge on Data. The festival, now in its fourth year, provides a stage to showcase the work of technologists, artists and other makers.

Attendees mixed and mingled over the four-day festival, shuffling between music acts, film previews, podcasts, video game demos, and more. Conference sessions of the festival featured speakers such as Alex Blumberg of Gimlet who discussed the challenges of fundraising and startup life. Writer and founder of MakerBase Anil Dash, spoke about the need to celebrate the work of the true makers on the internet. Feminist media critic and founder of the Feminist Frequency video series, Anita Sarkeesian, discussed the women as reward trope in gaming culture.

Knight Foundation sponsored the festival to support the innovative and multidisciplinary work of the maker community. Knight’s Media Innovation team hosted an event at Enso City Winery in Portland answer questions about the Knight News Challenge on Data, which is open for submissions through Sept. 30. More than 80 people came to discuss their ideas and the challenge’s focus on making data work for individuals and communities. Winners will share in $3 million. Click here to apply now.

Some of the common questions discussed included:

What sort of data projects are you looking to fund with this challenge?

The call for this challenge is intentionally broad: We’re looking for a wide range of ideas on how data can be used for the public good. We’re not targeting any focus areas or interest groups with this funding call. If you’re doing something innovative with data, we want to hear about it.

Which types of organizations do you fund?

All types. We fund for-profits, nonprofits, and individuals.

I don’t have an idea, but how can I help?

Thanks for being a wonderful human. You can help by sharing the application with your network (use #newschallenge on Twitter), and since all submissions are public-facing, you are invited to comment and vote on projects. An explanation of the OpenIdeo platform we’re using for the challenge is here.

How important is my team?

The makeup of your team is an essential component of your application.  We’re looking for strong teams, with the background and technical expertise necessary to deliver on the ideas submitted.

Still have questions? We have virtual office hours scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on today and Sept. 23 and 29. You can access the meetings online using ID 451 981 706 or participate via phone at 1-888-240-2560.

Follow #newschallenge on Twitter for updates, and check out Knight Blog for inspirations from our partners, academics, journalists and more. And don’t forget to apply by 5 p.m. ET Sept. 30 at newschallenge.org.

Eva Pereira is a media innovation associate at Knight Foundation. Follow her on Twitter @evanpereira and email her at [email protected].

Knight Foundation is collaborating on the Knight News Challenge on Data with Data & Society and Open Society Foundations. The challenge asks the question, How might we make data work for individuals and communities? Winners will share in $3 million. Apply at newschallenge.org.