The contest guidelines for the 2010 AltWeekly Awards have been released. The contest website will open Tue., Dec. 15, 2009 and will close on the contest deadline, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010 at 11 pm (EST).
Important Changes
This year’s Wild Card category is Health Care. In addition, there are some significant changes to the web-related categories. Instead of a general blog category, entrants will now compete in three separate blog categories: Group/Staff Blog, Individual Blog, and Music Blog. There is also a new award for the best use of Multimedia. For full details on category requirements, download the complete contest rules here.
Eligibility
The contest is open to member papers of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and to cartoonists whose work appears in those papers. All entries must have been published in the period from Jan. 1, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2009 with the exception of entries in the Investigative Reporting and Public Service categories (see rules for details). Each entry must have been published originally in the member paper or its website and should not be a reprint.
Entries must be submitted by the editor, publisher or another designated representative of the member paper. Individual cartoonists may enter their own work, but will need a letter from an AAN paper in which their work appears
Entry Fees
The competition in each category is separated into two divisions based on circulation figures. For larger papers (circulation of 50,000 and over), the fee is $35 per entry, and for smaller papers (circulation under 50,000), the entry fee is $25 per entry. The entry fee for cartoons is $25.
Entry Forms
All entrants must register at AAN’s contest website. Each member paper or cartoonist will be assigned a single username and password. Returning entrants must initially log on with last year’s username and password to update their information. Returning entrants that have misplaced their username and/or password should contact contests (at) aan (dot) org to have their password reset.
Judging and Awards Presentation
All entries will be judged by independent judges who are accomplished in the field they are evaluating and are not currently employed by any AAN paper. The winners will be announced at the 33rd Annual AAN Convention taking place July 15 – 17, 2010 in Toronto.
For more info
Further questions can be addressed to Jason Zaragoza at contests (at) aan (dot) org or (202) 289-8484.
