# bit.ly API contest - Building Block Showcase

**Author:** kinlane  
**Canonical:** https://apievangelist.com/2010/10/23/bitly-api-contestbuilding-block-showcase/

Holding an API contest is a great way to spur innovation around your API and its community.

[bit.ly](http://bit.ly) is a popular URL shortening service that offers an API as part of its core software-as-a-service.

In January 2009 it held a successful API contest and is looking to do it again with a new [bit.ly API contest](http://blog.bit.ly/post/1307062006/its-a-bit-ly-api-contest).

The prizes offered::

*   1st prize - Makerbot Thing-O-Matic 3D Printer
*   2nd prize - 1TB USB hard drive enclosed in a vintage nintendo game (Zelda, Metroid, etc)
*   3rd prize - Set of BuckyBalls magnetic building spheres

[bit.ly](http://bit.ly) encourages developer to be creative and come up with unexpected uses, but it also plants a few ideas that the company woul'd like to see developers work on.

There are a lot of developers that may know about your API, but not actively involved. Your developers may need a little bit of motivation to get them working.

An API contest is a great way to light the fire under your development community, stimulate innovative uses of your API, and generate some buzz around your API community.