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Last year's contest ran like a well-oiled robot on a six foot extension cord, and you know what they say. If it ain't Baroque… Thanks again, garbagethrower and Toosie for laying such a good foundation last year and making our jobs so easy this year!
In keeping with the truth of that statement, this year's contest will be very similar to last year's. Each contest week, a topic will be posted. Contestants will have one week to submit a final entry for that prompt. Once that week's thread is closed, voting will commence. At the end of the eight week contest, votes will be tallied up and prizes awarded. See below for details.
Weekly Winners
Go Getter Award Winner
Voting Award Winner
Grand Prize Winners
For your ongoing reviewing pleasure: (Stats Updated: 8/5, 2:33 PM EST)
Contest Week #1 - 29 Contestants, 23 Voters - 19 Contestants Voted, 4 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #2 - 22 Contestants, 20 Voters - 16 Contestants Voted, 4 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #3 - 20 Contestants, 17 Voters - 14 Contestants Voted, 3 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #4 - 18 Contestants, 18 Voters - 13 Contestants Voted, 5 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #5 - 15 Contestants, 19 Voters - 13 Contestants Voted, 6 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #6 - 16 Contestants, 20 Voters - 13 Contestants Voted, 7 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #7 - 16 Contestants, 20 Voters - 13 Contestants Voted, 7 Voters ≠ Enter
Contest Week #8 - 16 contestants, 18 Voters - 12 Contestants Voted, 6 Voters ≠ Enter
Announcement of winners: Tuesday, August 5th
New contest prompts will be posted before 12:00 noon EST on Mondays.
For an easy to read calendar, see this link.
Each week, on Mondays, a new prompt will be posted in a new thread. This thread will be 'stickied' by one of our friendly neighborhood moderators for ease of use. This prompt will state the current contest topic, entry parameters like length of entry and forms allowed, and any additional judging criteria.
Only one entry per person per topic. An author who submits more than one entry is disqualified from that week's round. An author who creates multiple accounts to submit multiple entries will be completely disqualified from the contest.
Entries must stay within the defined contest parameter length. For instance, if it is a writing prompt, entries must be 250 words or less, unless otherwise specified. See Entry Categories and Parameters for details.
Entries may not be edited once they are posted in the entry thread. The entry must not have an 'edited' tag or it will be disqualified. No exceptions.
Entries may be titled, but a title is not required. Titles are not included in the word count.
Mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar are allowed, though definitely not suggested. Keep in mind that there are many spelling and grammar sticklers among the regulars here and they will have a voice through their voting.
So as not to offend, vulgarity must be kept at the level of the show or lower. The Contest Planning Committee reserves the right to remove your entry if it crosses the boundary between tasteful innuendo and not-so-tastefully in the end-o. If you want to post something that you are unsure of, email the CPC at dmpaperco@gmail.com and ask before you post it. We'll be happy to check it out in advance.
Weekly contest threads are for the initial writing prompt and responses only. Discussion of this contest (as well as any questions that may arise) should take place in this thread.
International entries are welcomed and encouraged. Please see the Prizes section for details on the coverage of shipping costs.
In previous years, this contest has been a writing contest, for obvious reasons. The NBC controlled game Dunder Mifflin Infinity, while overall a disappointment, allowed us to see that Northern Attackers have a lot more than just words up their sleeves. In that vein, here are the possible entry categories and the standard parameters for each category. Please keep in mind, that these are the standard parameters. Any individual contest prompt may contain slightly different rules and criteria for judging.
Word Count Clarification: The CPC has noted that word counts can vary quite a bit depending on which word count program that you use and sometimes even which version of which program you use. We have found that even our individual hand counts vary. For this reason, the CPC has set a 'margin of error' that we will use to determine official word count disqualifications. We will not disclose the margin so that entrants are not tempted to exploit it. As always, the CPC reserves the right to disqualify entrants at our discretion. And also, please, if you have a question or concern about a ruling, feel free to email us at dmpaperco@gmail.com.
Writing: This will be the most common entry format. These can include, but are not limited to, a scene with dialogue, a (very) short story, a haiku, a limerick, etc. If the contest prompt does not limit you to one of these forms, be creative! Last year we had a forwarded email and a newspaper article, to name a couple of outside-the-box entries.
Audio: This category might take the form of audio commentary, a song, or perhaps a sound bite compellation, etc. Please record your entries in m3p format. When you are satisfied with your entry, you can use the following site to host it on the internet for free.
Graphic Art: This category might take the form of a wanted poster, a logo or a photoshopped image, etc. When you are satisfied with your entry, you can host your image for free at the following website:
Video: This category might take the form of a video commentary, a fan video or a flash animation, etc. When you are satisfied with your entry, you can post your final video for free at the following website:
Please understand that these are the standard parameters for each of these categories. These parameters may be overridden by an individual contest prompt so make sure to pay particular attention to all contest prompt details.
Each week, contest entries will be accepted until Sunday. Starting on Monday, everyone then has one week to vote for their three favorite entries for the previous contest prompt. So, for example:
Contest Week #1: Closed for entries on Sunday, June 8th.
Contest Week #2: Opened for entries on Monday, June 9th
Contest Week #1 Voting: Open for voting Monday, June 9th through Sunday June 15th.
Members will email the names of the authors of their three favorite entries for that week to dmpaperco@gmail.com.
* In the subject line, put the contest week number that you are voting for.
* Include your Northern Attack screen name in the email with your votes.
Sample Voting Entry:
To: dmpaperco@gmail.com
From: me@myregisteredemailaddress.com
Subject: Voting for Week #1
My screen name is Blanque. My favorites for this week are:
DwightfromthePast
Brianna
Pink lemoñadé
You must be registered in the Northern Attack forum to vote.
You must vote from your registered email address. This is to keep the 'loss' of votes to a minimum.
Each registered forum voter may vote once for each contest week. No stuffing the ballot box with multiple emails or having friends vote who are not forum members. We will be verifying. You have been warned.
Voting for yourself is permitted. To make things fair for those who choose not to cast votes for their own entries, eight votes will automatically be added to each person's tally as votes for themselves. Any votes that they actually cast for themselves will then be subtracted from that eight. For example, if you vote for yourself one time, seven will be added to your final vote total. If you vote for yourself eight times, zero will be added to your total at the end of the competition.
Every registered voter will be allowed to vote regardless of whether or not they submitted an entry for that week's contest prompt. In fact, if you prefer to vote, but can't seem to work up the courage to participate, that is also welcome.
Announcements of any individual's standing in the contest will not be given during the course of the competition.
Votes will be counted and a running total of votes will be kept with a final tally and an announcement of the winners on Tuesday, August 5th.
Each entrant will have their 'low vote' thrown out. That is; in the 8 rounds, the week in which each entrant received their lowest amount of votes will not be counted. This way a contestant can miss a week or really screw the pooch one week and still be in the thick of things.
General discussion of your favorite contest entries will be restricted to after the voting period for that contest week has closed.
Dinner Party script, writer's first draft autographed by some of the writers - contributed by Gene Stupnitsky (ever heard of him?)
Anque Mystery CD - contributed by Anque
The Office S4 DVD - contributed by lemoñadé
Anque Mystery CD - contributed by Anque
Café-press t-shirt of the winners choosing - contributed by griefbone
2009 Office Calendar - contributed by MISSterious
Office-y Prize Pack - contributed by garbagethrower
$10 or less Item of your Choice from NBC.com - contributed by Single Tear
40 Year Old Virgin DVD - contributed by AlphaMale Jackhammer
Anque Mystery CD - contributed by Anque
$25 giftcard to the NBC Store - contributed by Madge
Schrute Farm Beets Shirt - contributed by Mr. Anque
Chair Model Call Sheet with Picture Autographed by Cool Guy Paul Faust - contributed by Cool Guy Paul Faust and Brian
40 Year Old Virgin DVD - contributed by JasonF
Anque Mystery CD - contributed by Anque
$25 nbc.com store giftcard - contributed by Brian
Dunder Mifflin Mesh Cap - contributed by Daoust
Chair Model Call Sheet with Picture Autographed by Cool Guy Paul Faust - contributed by Cool Guy Paul Faust and Brian
Malone’s Cones Tee - contributed and created by whatevs
Fun Run Cafe Press Tee - contributed by Vampiric Germ
Chair Model Call Sheet with Picture Autographed by Cool Guy Paul Faust - contributed by Cool Guy Paul Faust and Brian
One of the people, chosen at random, who submits an entry to all 8 of the prompts will get a prize.
For every week that you vote, your name will be put into a drawing at the end of the contest specifically for voters. The more you vote, the more times your name will be in the basket. You don’t have to participate in the contest prompt to vote so don’t forget to put in your votes!
In addition to the grand prizes, we will be giving away prizes to the winners of each contest week. This way, even if you miss too many weeks of the contest, you still have a chance to win something! The following are some of the weekly winner’s prizes:
World's Best Boss Mini Legal Pad (75 sheets)
Dwight Schrute Magnetic List Pad (60 Sheets)
That’s What She Said Bumper Sticker
Dwight Schrute Magnetic Memo Board with Marker
Dwight Schrute Magnets (4 in the pack)
Dwight Schrute Barrel Pens (2 in pack)
Office Stress Ball “Information is Power”
NA Created Bumper Sticker
All second and third place winners from each week will also get an NA Created Bumper Sticker
In order to share the wealth, we will only be awarding ONE of the Target Goodies per NA-winner. If you win two separate weeks, you will only get ONE prize.
All winners will be asked to pay any balance of shipping fees over $15. We do not have a budget for shipping costs. Most of the prizes, and subsequent shipping costs, are being contributed by fellow NAers and we would like to make their kind donations as painless as possible.
Questions about any aspect of this contest, including but not limited to technical questions, can be directed to the Contest Planning Committee here in this thread or via email at dmpaperco@gmail.com.
We thank you, in advance, for your participation.
Cordially,
The Contest Planning Committee
P.S. A special thanks goes out to a certain legal friend who drew up the hilarious disclaimer. I hope you never doubted it, because you're so clearly awesome.
Tell me more, tell me more, was it love at first sight?
Tell me more, tell me more, did she put up a fight?
Uh-huh.
I can't believe we're already talking about this. I mean, summer, not Grease.
Doo doo, bomp bomp, doo doo, bomp bomp, doo doo, bomp bomp, doo doo doooo doo doo
asd, I will now, in well, have that song stuck in my head all weekend.
Thanks.
Are you guys looking for prizes yet? Because I am more than willing to donate my home-made wares...for what that's worth.
Are you guys looking for prizes yet? Because I am more than willing to donate my home-made wares...for what that's worth.
Absolutely. I was going to post something about that tomorrow. Look for my post tomorrow for deets. (That stands for details. I'm just trying to be cool like Brian)
You totally deeked me with that abbrev. Go ask Tiger for a feelskie. And thanks for the contribution, whatevs. Any and all donated wares are welcome.
Hey guys! One of the things that made the last summer hiatus contest so great was that many of the talented and crafty NA-ers donated stuff for the prize packages. We were hoping to carry this over to this contest, as well. If you have anything you want to donate to the prize pool (whether it be something you create yourself or buy) please send me an email to dmpaperco@gmail.com . You can send an email even if you don’t know what that something is yet just so that we can have an idea of the quantity of prizes we’ll have. I would also like to mention that last year, each of the prize donators incurred the cost of shipping themselves, so we’re going to do that again this year because, as you all know, ‘gas ain’t free!’. If you are thinking of donating an Office t-shirt or something along those lines, you can wait until the contest winners have been decided, so you can get their sizes and if you are buying something for the contest from a website, you can have them deliver it straight to the winners, so you don’t pay double shipping.
Thanks in advance to all those who want to donate nifty gifties. Let's make this another great contest!
Whose email address is that? Just so I know who I'm talking to, since I am also interested in possibly donating something to the prize pool.
That is the email that the Contest Planning Committee is using for this contest. It's the same email that was used last summer. Brian, Anque and I will be checking that email. I'm in charge of the prizes, so I'm the one that will be responding to you in regards to prizes.
I know everyone's excited about this contest, but--Spoiler Alert!--I'm going to win.
gb, you're cool. Could you email me? I need a little help with a disclaimer. Do you know about that sort of thing?
lawdy, what kind of contest is this going to be? oh, and i wouldnt worry about this gb...
Spoiler Alert!--I'm going to win.
it's clearly baseless speculation.
NAdies and gents, the official 2008 Summer Haitus Rules and Regulations have now been posted. They are so awesome they took up two posts.
(Who knew there was actually a character limit on these posts? Did you, DftF? Come on, you can tell us.)
P.S. Thanks, lemoñadé!
My screen name is Blanque. My favorites for this week are:
DwightfromthePast
Brianna
Pink lemoñadé
Ha!
Where do we suggest contest prompts? Here or gmail? Or did I miss that?
I was really hoping for a no-holds-barred word wise week.
Very nice disclaimer, g-bone. Great job STAnque, Brianna, and Pink lemoñadé!
A special thanks goes out to a certain legal friend who drew up the hilarious disclaimer. I hope you never doubted it, because you're so clearly awesome.
Well, whoever that is must be very touched by those words, I bet, and appreciates them very much. I heard that Anque wrote it up, though, and that other person just jargoned it up.
Where do we suggest contest prompts? Here or gmail? Or did I miss that?
This is TBD for now. Phyllis?
I was really hoping for a no-holds-barred word wise week.
You mean one week where we can cuss?
A special thanks goes out to a certain legal friend who drew up the hilarious disclaimer. I hope you never doubted it, because you're so clearly awesome.
Well, whoever that is must be very touched by those words, I bet, and appreciates them very much. I heard that Anque wrote it up, though, and that other person just jargoned it up.
By the way, the other day when I told you that I heart you, it was because of the disclaimer. I just wanted you to know and not think I was some sort of stalker.
This is TBD for now.
I think you mean TDB.
P.S. Thanks, lemoñadé!
Also, Thank you not necessary and thus, not accepted....but you're welcome.
