Before the Contest
Here are some things you can do to learn more about Google Code-in before the contest officially begins.
View List of Mentoring Organizations
All past and current Mentoring Organizations from 2010 on can be found in Melange. From the Melange homepage, click on the "Mentoring organization details" under the Mentoring Organizations box to see a list of the Mentoring Organizations from the most recent year of Google Code-in. When you click on an organization, you can see a list of that organization's Open Tasks and Completed tasks, a description of the organization, and Contact information.
To contact an organization before the contest starts, look on the right hand side of the organization page and use the various communication channels listed (IRC, email, Blogger, Google+, etc.).
The Mentoring Organizations for that year's contest will be announced a few weeks before the Contest begins.