This thread is meant to address any questions, concerns, or miscellaneous comments about April's Picture Contest, HOTM. HOTM, or "Herp of the Month" is a re-awakening of the old GOTM contest that includes all herps. I will include a copy of the draft for the actual contest rules and information here in the following post. This thread is where I would like anyone to turn if they have a question to prevent comments from accumulating in the actual contest topic... I would like posts in the actual contest thread to be reserved strictly for picture submission and votes to keep things clean as possible. April's HOTM will not be themed, simply submit a favorite herp picture in the thread once the contest starts. One picture per member, and the pictures must belong to you (nothing stolen from the internet). The winner will earn a unique HOTM Title if they please, and will choose a theme for the next month's HOTM if they would like. My next post will include the rules and overview in more detail. The official HOTM topic will be posted on Sunday, April 1st in the Photography Forum. Official HOTM Contest thread for April, 2012 can be found here: http://www.reptileboards.com/threads/hotm-contest-april-2012.65097/
Draft.... for the official contest that begins on April 1st. This is strictly for fun! No one is required to participate and this is meant to be a friendly game. HOTM 2012 [ Herp of the Month ] Information: HOTM 2012 is a friendly, forum-run contest, where members of the site can enter a picture of their reptile or amphibian, which will be voted on by members of the site on a knock-out style competition. Pictures will be entered into the HOTM threads, and votes will be made in the thread, or can be sent to myself, if you wish these to stay confidential. Below is the expected structure / time frame of the competition. 1st-10th ~ Entry thread opens. 11th-18th ~ Members vote based either in the thread by making a post, or by PMing myself. 19th-21st ~Top three photos from the previous thread are entered into a new thread with a poll. 22nd-28th ~ Members have only a few days in which to vote via a poll on the top three photos from the previous thread. 29th-30th ~ Thread will be closed. Votes will be counted and the HOTM winner will be announced and prize given. The winner will then be announced in that thread, and also in a winners thread within the Archived Forum. The winner will receive the "HOTM Winner" User Title rank for a period of three months. The winner will also choose the theme for the next month's contest. Contests will run on a monthly basis, and the dates above are subject to change. If the winner does not decide on a theme for the following month, users will be free to post any picture of their herp that they like. Theme ideas may include (but are not limited to): best feeding picture, best vivaria, best sleeping picture, etc etc. Rules: If a member wins two months in a row, they will no be allowed to participate in the following month's event. Members may vote ONCE. Any members found to be creating accounts to vote, will be warned, and their votes voided, and their privilege to enter the competition will be removed. Remember, this competition is meant to bring fun to the forum, don't spoil it. Members are encouraged to post pictures of a reasonable quality. If pictures of bad quality are posted, members are reminded that the likelihood that these will get far in the competition is very low. Minor photo editing (cropping, adjusting brightness, etc) is acceptable; but to be as fair as possible to all members we would like to allow the photos to remain as original as possible. Please refrain from excessive editing of entries. One photo entry per member only. Members may not enter more than one photo. Please make sure that the photo size rules in place on this site are adhered to - a maximum of 640 pixels on the longest edge e.g. 640x480 pixels(or 480x640 portrait). Any help needed with this, PM a mod. Disclaimer: Please note that the moderators will have final say in the content that is uploaded to the site and to the contest, please remember to be respectful and upload photos in good taste and nothing that ellicits unsavory activities; please remember, we have members under 18 and some under 14 in this community. Other than that, have fun, and good luck! = ) PLEASE NOTE, ALL ENTRIES ARE TO BE POSTED INTO THIS THREAD. PLEASE KEEP COMMENTS TO A MINIMUM. If you have any questions, please PM a mod or ask in THIS thread. I would like to thank 00Luke00 for the draft of this contest post and dogking for re-kindling the idea of this contest.
To make things fair to everyone, I think it would best if the photos remain in their original state. Your photos only, and no photoshopping/editing. EDIT: I have edited the rules to reflect this idea.
Yep, just a favorite picture this time around = ) The winner of this month (April) will receive an 'HOTM Winner' user title and will decide on the theme for the month of May if they choose. Someone can win two months in a row, but they will be asked to sit out for the third month if this occurs. The official HOTM Contest Thread has been opened in the Photography forum and can be found here: http://www.reptileboards.com/threads/hotm-contest-april-2012.65097/
This is kind of a weird question, but can the photo be of a reptile we had in the past, or does it have to be one we currently own? Because I'd like to post a picture of a CWD I had that passed away, because I got lucky and got a really beautiful shot of her, but if you want I have beautiful pictures of my current beardies, too, and I can pick one of those. : D
That would be perfectly fine Heather = ) As long as the photo was taken by you, and you owned the herp in the photograph you may enter it!
YAAAAAY thank you! I'm SO EXCITED! Thank you! I did take the photo, and Simon was ours! Our maybe we were hers. XD
