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The last two years have seen a CPC run the contest 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, Toosie, Anque, lemonade, and CGB for laying such a good foundation 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.
Announcement of winners: Wednesday, August 12th
New contest prompts will be posted before 12:00 noon EST on Mondays.
These times may be adjusted before the actual start of contest. In other words, consider them TBD.
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 an R-rated level or lower. That includes language and content. 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. However, each week’s prompt may entail prose, poetry, finger-painting, or some combination thereof. 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.
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! In past years 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 7th.
Contest Week #2: Opened for entries on Monday, June 8th.
Contest Week #1 Voting: Open for voting Monday, June 8th through Sunday June 14th.
We will try to post reminders for all of these deadlines in this thread.
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
Alphagirl Jillhammer (a female person)
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, nine 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 nine. For example, if you vote for yourself one time, seven will be added to your final vote total. If you vote for yourself nine 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 Wednesday, August 12th. *
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.
This spot is reserved for the announcement of the prizes and how they are to be awarded. (This is yet to be determined, but be assured, we have secured some really awesome Office paraphanalia. )
So far, we were able to score some pretty rocking nifty gifties this year for the contest winners thanks to the wonderful members of this forum. We are in the process of deciding which winners get what, but here goes a small list of some of the prizes, in case you guys want a taste:
Scranton Company Picnic Tee - contributed by lemoñadé
Café-press t-shirt of the winner's choosing - contributed by Griefbone
Dwight Bobblehead - contributed by Griefbone
Michael Scott Paper Company Tee - contributed by MISSterious
Dunder Mifflin Tote - contributed by lemoñadé
Pineapple Express 2-disc Unrated DVD - contributed by Griefbone
Office Prize Pack - contributed by CGB
…and many more prizes contributed by Anque, Vampiric Germ, garbagethrower and Urkel...grue. A full list of prizes will be up as we get more info on what is being donated, so stay tuned.
DONATIONS: If you would like to donate a prize to the contest at any time, please send lemoñadé and email at dmpaperco@gmail.com with the subject "Prize Donations." We welcome any and all donations, even if you only only care about us a homemade oven mitt's worth. If you would like to contribute something, but don't have any ideas, let us know. We've always got a few on the burner.
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, THE CONTEST PLANNING COMMITTEE, DO HEREBY CONFER UPON OURSELVES THE DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY TO LEVY ANY TYPE OF EQUITABLE PUNISHMENT WE SEE FIT, HOWEVER. EXAMPLES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, BARRING THE USE OF EMOTICONS AND/OR THE USE OF “LOLS,” CREATING MULTIPLE USELESS THREADS AT ONCE, DELETING MULTIPLE THREADS AT ONCE THAT DO NOT INCLUDE THE OLD MULTIPLE USELESS THREADS, AND MAKING ALL PARTICIPANTS WATCH “PHYLLIS’ WEDDING’ ON A CONSTANT LOOP. ALSO, BOOBS MAY BE INVOLVED.
IN ADDITION, PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A BINDING CONTRACT ON ANY OF THE PARTIES, UNLESS WE SAY IT DOES. IF WE SAY IT DOES, IT WILL BE GOVERNED BY THE STATUTE OF FRAUDS, THE DOCTRINE OF CONSIDERATION, AND THE RULES OF JINX, WHICH ARE UNFLINCHINGLY RIGID. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFINE THE RULES ALONG THE WAY OR CANCEL THE CONTEST OUTRIGHT, OR GENERALLY DO WHATEVER WE PLEASE, WHENEVER WE PLEASE, FOR WHATEVER REASON WE PLEASE. BY BLINKING, AND/OR NOT BLINKING, AT ANY TIME DURING THE READING OF THIS ENTIRE POST, YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS HEREIN, HEREOUT, AND HEREINYOURBUTT. THAT IS ALL.
We thank you, in advance, for your participation.
Cordially,
The Contest Planning Committee
I will sell this spot for a reasonable amount (to me) if the PPC needs it at a later date.
eta: because I do favor curry, I will admit to gb that this thread name is fantastico. Nice job commissioning someone to write it.
LOL pregnancy Cravings Let me know when you start craving Pickles and Ice Cream.
Told you that was a good contest title.
The consolation prize will be Ann Curry.
Also, stickied.
Phew, I'm all modded out. I'm taking the rest of the night off. Feel free to swear, harass and double post.
Well, shit. I can't even successfully double post. At least I can still swear. Ass.