People's Choice Award!

Greetings citizens. Have you entered our Best SmallWorlds Advertisement film competition yet? We launched it just two weeks ago and it's  been ever so much fun checking in each day to see the new entries that have been submitted. I'm enjoying them tremendously.

Catching up together one morning over a cup of coffee, Dan, Honesty and I were talking about the competition and had some ideas about making a few 'tweaks' to it to make it more fun.

One of our ideas was to offer a People's Choice award to give you the chance to win one more Golden Dan... gosh someone could even end up winning two!  Anyway, I am sure you're going to like our ideas - read on and find out!

We've Relaxed the Rules a Little

It was a rule of the competition that entries had to be shot completely 'on location' in SmallWorlds.  However, many citizens have been asking whether that means their entry cannot use titles, Photoshopped images, or other external content.  Citizens, we don't wish to restrict your creativity!  Therefore we have decided to relax this rule.  As long as most of your film is shot within SmallWorlds, please feel free to go wild with the rest.  You could even include a real person in your film if you would like to!

Another Golden Dan to win! The People's Choice Award

We're adding in one more prize category - the People's Choice Award, giving you one more chance to win a coveted Golden Dan statue!

To win the Peoples Choice Award, your entry needs to be the one with the most "Likes" on YouTube.  (Note that your entry must have been posted up onto YouTube after the competition start date of July 12th).

How to do this? One of the easiest ways is to post your YouTube URL onto Facebook and encourage all  your friends to vote for your entry.

Important: You'll need to ask them to "Like" it on Youtube (not on Facebook) in order for them to help you win as it is the YouTube "likes" that we will be counting. They'll need to click the Like button at the bottom of the YouTube display screen once they have followed your link to YouTube (as pictured above). 

And don't forget to add a link to your entry in the Competition Forum Thread.

Deadline Extended & Prize Reminder!

We've decided to extend the deadline to the 31st of August to give you a little more time.

The top three placegetters will all receive a coveted Golden Dan statue (currently the most rare item available on SmallWorlds), and an amount of SmallWorlds Gold:

1st  - 10,000 Gold + 1 Golden Dan Award

2nd - 7,000 Gold + 1 Golden Dan Award

3rd - 4,000 Gold + 1 Golden Dan Award

Peoples Choice - 1 Golden Dan Award

The judging team will be looking for entries that have that magic combination of:

• Creativity and originality

• Great technical execution

• Wonderful entertainment value

• An excellent showcasing of SmallWorlds

• The People's Choice award will be given to the entry with the most YouTube "Likes" at the close of the competition.
  

Competition Guidelines

I'll summarize the main changes we've made, as well as reiterating the original guidelines:

• We've relaxed the rules so you can include some external content (shot outside of SmallWorlds) if you choose. If you use a real person in your film you must ensure that no personal identifying information is given; anonymity of all participants must be a paramount consideration.
• One entry per Smallworlds account.
• You must load your SmallWorlds Advertisement onto YouTube. If you're not sure how to do this, watch this video.
  
• Supply the YouTube URL with your competition entry on to the official competition forum thread.
• If you'd like to be in with a chance to win the People's Choice award, post your YouTube URL onto your Facebook page and ask your friends to "Like" it on YouTube. Don't forget to also include it in the Competition Forum Thread.
  
• The express function or theme of your entry is to promote SmallWorlds so please keep this in mind when creating it.
  
• Your entry must be a minimum of 1 minute and a maximum of 3 minutes long
• You are free to use all features of your movie editing software to full creative effect. Use music, sound effects, whatever you like to make your SmallWorlds Advertisement the most creative you can!
• Competition closes midnight SWT, 31st August 2010.

One more chance to win A Golden Dan award!

Well citizens, I'm awfully glad we'll be able to give away one more Golden Dan statue... especially one where I don't need to make the decision as it's always so very difficult!

You've all got more time, and you've got more you can work with and  once again, I'd like to wish you all very good luck!

~ Kent Kronkite

The Legal Stuff

• The Best SmallWorlds Advertisement Competition is open to SmallWorlds standard and VIP Club members 13 years of age or older. Employees of Outsmart 2005 Limited and its helpers, moderators, officers, directors, parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, advertising agencies, promotional suppliers, or production agencies, and their respective dependents, immediate family members (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) and individuals residing in the same household, are not eligible to participate. Void where prohibited by law.

• The shortlisted entries and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be selected based upon the sole and exclusive discretion of the SmallWorlds Competition Judges. 1st place-getter will receive a Golden Dan statue and 10,000 Gold. 2nd place-getter will receive a Golden Dan statue and 7,000 Gold and 3rd place-getter will receive a Golden Dan statue and 4,000 Gold. A People's Choice award of One Golden Dan statue will also be awarded to the entry with the most "Likes" on YouTube as at midnight (SWT) 31st August 2010. All submissions are carefully reviewed before determining the prize winners. The judge's decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into. 

• By entering into the competition you hereby assign to SmallWorlds all rights in such entries such that SmallWorlds (and third parties authorized by SmallWorlds) may use, display, publish, transmit, copy, make derivative works or podcasts from, edit, alter, store, re-format, sell and sub-license and otherwise exploit your submissions for any purposes (for the full period of any rights).
  

• Competition closes midnight (SWT), August 31st, 2010. The winners will be chosen and notified on or about September 7th, 2010