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Balloon Contest Rules and Submission Procedures

Basic rules:

• Balloon HQ staff and the staff of those sponsor organizations contributing prizes are not permitted to enter.
• Contestant will submit photos only. Video clips or actual sculpture samples will not be accepted. A maximum of three photos are permited for each entry to allow for multiple viewing angles.
• The photo should not contain the contestant, another person that can be associated with contestant (such as a spouse, child, or close friend that others viewing the picture can identify), or other identifying marks (logos, signatures). If you'd like to submit a photo with identifying marks, please state this when submitting the image. The contest coordinator will blur those marks/faces, etc for the duration of the voting period.
• Submissions are accepted via the web, email or postal mail as hard copy or in digital form. Digital images are accepted in most common internet formats including JPEG, GIF, and TIFF (our preference is high quality JPEG). In addition, images can be supplied in Adobe Photoshop format. Hard copy and digital media will not be returned unless postage and envelope are included for the return. Regardless of email/postal problems, if the photo cannot be in by the deadline, it will not be entered. (A postmark is not sufficient.) If submitting digital images, please supply them as high resolution images suitable for printing. BHQ staff and volunteers will ensure they are an appropriate size/resolution to appear on a web page.
• All balloon sculptures are to be created primarily with balloons. This is, after all, a balloon contest. Other materials may be used to supplement the balloons as necessary. Submissions containing too much extraneous material are unlikely to win.
• Team efforts are allowed, however only one prize will be offered to the winning team. A team leader must be identified when the photos are submitted.
• Only one entry per person, team, or business may be entered. A person may not submit something as an individual and as a team member in the same contest.
• Contestant names will not be made public until the voting portion of that contest is complete. If a contestant deliberately identifies him/herself, the submission will be disqualified.
• Size is not an issue, unless stated in the required sculpure description. A creation with a single balloon is just as valid as one with thousands. Creativity is the key.
• Anyone can enter (except BHQ staff and sponsors), no matter the skill level, age, race, religion, etc. If you are subscribed to the BHQ mailing lists or not, enter your sculpture, or have someone who is submit for you, or mail your entry in. Just get it in and you have a chance.
• A minimum of 3 different contestants must enter the contest. If the minimum number of entries is not reached, the contest submission period may be extended or the contest cancelled at the discretion of the Balloon HQ staff.
• All artwork submitted remains the intellectual property of the contestant. By submitting a photo you grant permission to Balloon HQ, LLC to use the photo, with credit being given to the owner. Uses of the photo may include posting on the web, emailed, included in a CD-ROM (or other medium) compilation, or printed in any print publication that Balloon HQ creates or partners with in the future. In addition, the contest prize sponsors for the contest that a photo is submitted to may use those photos for promotional purposes. In the event the photo is used by BHQ, partners of BHQ, or a contest sponsor, credit will be given to the artist. Images for which you are not capable of granting these priveleges may not be submitted. Images that cannot be submitted include, but are not limited to, art that includes copyrighted material and images produced by other artists for which you have not obtained written permission for reproduction by BHQ.

Voting

• The contestants will be listed by a code number and placed up on the site at the start of the voting period. No previews of submitted photos will be permitted.
• At the start of the voting period, an online form will be made available. Anyone may vote once using this form, regardless of their knowledge of balloons and the balloon industry.
• More than one ballot from a particular person will result in forfeiture of all votes from that individual. If we suspect the votes have been "loaded" or other unfair practices are used to win a contest, such as identifying your own work to numerous people just for the sake of getting votes from friends, we may disqualify contestants at our own discretion.
• At the end of the contest, winners will be posted, and names of all participating artists will be posted with their photos.
• There will be first place, second place and third place winners.
• All winners are determined by public votes. BHQ staff members have no impact on the results of the contest except in the case of rule violations. BHQ reserves the right to disqualify any contestant, or invalidate any votes for any reason we deem necessary to keep the contest fair and honest.

Submission procedure:

Photos may be submitted digitally (high quality JPEG format preferred) through a convenient web form or by e-mail to contest@balloonhq.com. Digital images sent by postal (snail) mail must be on 1.44 MB floppy disk, CD-ROM, or Zip. If you chose to send something on some other media type, we may not be able to process your entry. (Feel free to write to the contest address above if you have questions about other media.)

Photo prints and digital media (CD, floppy) may be mailed to:

  BalloonHQ contest
  PO Box 23523
  Rochester, NY 14692-3523

Mailed entries must be received (not postmarked) by the contest deadline.

You will receive a notice within a few days of receipt of your entry that it has been entered in the contest. If you do not receive notification, it is your responsibility to follow up to ensure that it has arrived. Just because you sent it doesn't mean we received it. If you have questions about an entry, send your questions to contest@balloonhq.com.