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Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

The Official Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Site

Call for entries: 2019-20 MIPA Student Media Contests

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To: MIPA Student Media Advisers
From: Jeremy Steele, MIPA director
Subject:  2019-20 MIPA Contests
Deadline: Feb. 14, 2020

  • Please go https://mipamsu.org/contest-central to get all contest information. You can also find all contest information by clicking on the Contests & Awards menu at MIPA’s website.
  • All awards will be presented at the MIPA Spring Awards in April 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.
  • YOU MUST BE A MIPA MEMBER TO ENTER CONTESTS. Membership information, including a member list that is updated weekly, is available at https://mipamsu.org/membership. Membership in MIPA runs the academic year.
  • 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 using MIPA’s contest submission system by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline day. Payment is due by the same deadline.
  • We’ve launched a new contest system — ACES — to replace Submittable for the Individual Category Contest. You will register to create a new account for ACES, and you will need a special code to register for an account. That code has been emailed to all active members as of Tuesday, Dec. 12. If you have not yet renewed your membership, you may do so at any time to get the code.
  • Entries for the Individual Category Contest should be uploaded to the ACES contest submission system via the adviser’s account. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR STUDENTS TO CREATE THEIR OWN ACCOUNTS TO UPLOAD INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY CONTEST ENTRIES! It’s OK with us if you allow them to use your account.
  • DO NOT RELY ON YOUR CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE TO MAIL YOUR CONTEST MATERIALS! 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 showcase of first-place contest winners, is available online at http://acutabove.mipamsu.org. This website features first-place winners in each division of previous contests to help you get an idea of what judges are looking for.

*It is possible to send in Newspaper, Web or Video Spartan contest entries up to one month late (see deadlines above) for an additional $40 fee. Note that results may not be available from late entries for the Spring Awards 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.

Solve our most common problems by carefully reading category descriptions!

  • Nearly all problems we ran across in last year’s contest were because entry instructions were not followed.
  • Carefully check over any entries uploaded into the contest system by students. See the contest how-to guide for information on how to view and edit entries.
  • We strongly recommend that you submit original photos AND the final designed pages for photography categories. It helps judges more accurately determine the quality of an image.
  • Double-check to make sure entries are submitted into the correct category. Entries submitted into the wrong category will be disqualified. You must delete and then resubmit any materials submitted into the wrong category.
  • Please plan ahead so your contest entry fees are processed by the contest deadline.
  • If an entry is one of several similar items on a page, make sure it is very clear which item should be judged! Last year, judges had a hard time with many entries figuring out which headlines, captions, photos and stories should be judged.

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 Critique

Your newspaper, new website or video program will be evaluated against MIPA’s standard. You’ll receive written comments and an award based on your score.

Individual Category Contests

Students’ work will compete head-to-head in one of our 102 categories!

Special Honors

What’s New for 2019-20?

Every year, we try to improve MIPA’s contests to keep up with changing technologies and the world of media. We also are constantly working to make the contests easier to enter and manage. Here are some changes for this year’s contests:

NEW CONTEST SUBMISSION SYSTEM

  • We’ve rolled out a new submission system for the individual category contest. We are using the ACES platform – Advanced Contest Entry System – designed by our friends at the Illinois Press Association.
  • Each MIPA member should get an email about how to register for the new system. This email includes a code you must have to create a user account in ACES.
  • View video tutorials on how to use the new system in our “how to” guide
  • All categories in our contest use the same fields. Some categories use fields differently, so it’s important to read the instructions for each category.
  • If you can’t find your media program in the pre-programmed list, please contact the MIPA office before you begin uploading.
  • Enrollment data for your school is pulled from the most recent numbers available from the Michigan Department of Education, or in a few cases from other publicly available databases (like MHSAA). For yearbooks, the enrollment number actually is the number of pages in your 2018 yearbook. Both figures will be updated before judging; these numbers are how we decide which programs compete in each of our contest divisions (with the largest books competing against each other and the smallest books competing against each other, etc.).
    • Yearbooks: Please help us update information about your yearbook to make division assignments in this contest. Complete this form
  • If you run into any problems, please contact the MIPA office.

GENERAL RULES REVISIONS

  • No major rule revisions this year.

CATEGORY REVISIONS

  • For Y-28. Cover, entrants are asked to complete an online form. The Cover entry material should still be sent to MIPA via mail.
  • Category descriptions, judging criteria and entry forms include minor changes.