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Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

The Official Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Site

Call for Entries: 2014 MIPA Contests

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Because of snow days at hundreds of schools across the state, we will accept contest entries postmarked/submitted Feb. 19. Work must have been published by Feb. 18. Please consider upgrading your shipping: Entries not received to the MIPA office by Feb. 28 – even if they make the postmark deadline – will not be included in the contest.

January 2014
To: MIPA Publication Advisers
Subject:  2014 MIPA Contests
From: Jeremy Steele, MIPA director

  • NEW FOR 2014! Some of our contest categories will be moving to a new web-based digital submission system, and we expect to move more categories to this system for 2015. All video, news photography, comic, newspaper design and digital media (formerly new media) categories MUST BE submitted electronically. Paper submissions in these categories will not be accepted for any reason. Please pay special attention to the directions in each category you enter.
  • Please go to the MIPA website to get all contest information. You can find all contest information by clicking on the Contests & Awards menu at the top of the page.
  • All awards will be presented at the MIPA Spring Awards & On-Site Contests event on April 22, 2014, at the Lansing Center. If you are unable to attend, you may pay an added postage fee to have awards mailed to you.
  • It’s important to carefully read category descriptions and contest rules. Failure to follow contest directions may result in your entries being disqualified.
  • IF YOU HAVE NOT JOINED MIPA BY THE CONTEST DEADLINE, YOUR STUDENT MEDIA OUTLET WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO ENTER THE CONTESTS. Membership information, including a member list that is updated weekly, is available at www.mipamsu.org/membership.
  • All entries must be submitted by the deadline to be eligible for awards. Entries submitted by mail must be postmarked by the deadline. Entries submitted electronically must be uploaded to MIPA using the contest submission system by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline day. Payment is due by the same deadline.
  • Please keep in mind that our Judging Day is Saturday, March 1.  Individual Category Contest entries MUST REACH US BY FEB. 28 OR THEY WILL NOT GET INTO THE INDIVIDUAL CONTEST, regardless of postmark!
  • DO NOT RELY ON YOUR CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE TO MAIL YOUR CONTEST ENTRY PACKET! It’s best to go to the post office yourself and mail the package! It is too important to you and to your students to risk letting it go through school mail. And to be even more sure (especially if you are mailing it on the deadline day), ask to see the postmark on the package and then get a receipt. We also recommend you get a tracking number.
  • Please keep a copy of each of the forms that you send for your records. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact the MIPA office if you have questions at 517-353-6761 or mipa@msu.edu.
  • A Cut Above, MIPA’s annual publication of newspaper and yearbook contest winners, is available at our website. This publication features a selection of first-place winners from every yearbook and newspaper category in the 2013 contest to help you get an idea of what judges are looking for.

Please note: All fees must accompany contest entries, or entries will not be included in the judging.
*It is possible to send in Newspaper, Web or Video Spartan contest entries up to one month late (postmarked by March 14, 2014) for an additional $40 fee. Note that results may not be available from late entries for the Spring Awards & On-Site Contests event. Spartan submissions postmarked after the late deadline may receive a critique, but will not be eligible to receive an award ranking. Late entries will not be accepted for the Individual Category Contests.

Find these materials at mipamsu.org

These are the items you will find at the MIPA website on the contest page. Look for the Contests & Awards menu at the top of the page:

Spartan Evaluation

Individual Category Contests

Special Honors