Photo credit: Flickr user Milos Janata

We encouraged folks to apply early to the Knight News Challenge on Open Gov, offering a share of $5 million to winning projects. But human nature prevailed.

If you’re among the many challenge applicants waiting to the last minute to apply, here’s some info to get you thinking before the 5 p.m. ET March 18 deadline:

• A concrete look at what we mean by Open Gov – we’re looking for ideas that improve the way citizens and governments interact.
• What we’re looking for in an application: several tips to help make yours stand out.
• Answers to 7 of the most common News Challenge questions we’ve been asked since the challenge launched. You can also check out the full FAQ.
• Why we’re using the OpenIDEO platform for challenge. Hint: it allows more time for feedback for you to make your idea better, there’s still time to take advantage.
• Advice on what to look for from the challenge’s inspirations – find the wild, weird and like-minded.
• Thought-leaders share the biggest opportunities in the Open Gov movement: Tim O’Reilly, Susan Crawford, Anil Dash, Mark Meckler, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray.

If you’ll be at SXSW in Austin, Texas, we hope to see you there. Here’s a list of the places you can find us, including when we’ll have in-person office hours to talk about the challenge. We’ll also have one more opportunity for you to ask us questions during  virtual office hours at 1 p.m. ET Thursday, March 14. To participate, please follow this link. If you can’t join via video and are based in the U.S., you can call 888.240.2560 (if you’re outside the U.S. please call 408.740.7256). Note the meeting ID number is 731 675 489. As always, stay up-to-date on the latest News Challenge info by following @knightfdn and #newschallenge. By Elizabeth R. Miller, communications associate at Knight Foundation