It's 2009, and the NSF is now accepting entries to their annual visualization challenge.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis/index.jsp?id=challenge
Entries are due in September.
Here are the winners from the 2008 challenge:
http://flowingdata.com/2008/09/25/winners-of-nsf-visualization-challenge-2008-announced/