[AGA Contest] Organizational Letter

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Hello and welcome to this year's AGA Aquascaping Contest Planning Session.
Sorry for the lateness of everything; it's been an exceptionally busy year 
for me & without another contest director like James to remember the 
deadlines, I keep forgetting to send out the e-mails to people who want to 
help.  I think we've got a quorum now, so let me kind of outline what I 
think needs to happen, based on the past few years.  I would like to get 
volunteers for the ten or so jobs that aren't me if possible. :)

Please reply if you are interested in particular jobs, or for that matter 
if you aren't interested but would be willing to do them.  Thanks...

Oh yeah, possible timeline:  6/1 site goes live to accept entries, 9/15 
entries close, 11/15 winners announced simultaneously at convention and on 
web.

 1. Dust off website code and add tenant improvements for 2003: (Erik)
        a. Integrated PayPal link for fees
        b. Revert categories to 2001 states
        c. Initialize 2003 database

 2. Copy writers                                                (     )
        a. Announcement on website
        b. letter for clubs and personal e-mails
        c. letter or press release for magazines

 3. Design new banner logo for the year (the little thing at the top
    of the page); can use elements of last year's entries for the 
    graphics.  The first year my theme was to show how anything could be
    an aquascape, even rocks and cheesy blue space-alien molly setups.
    The second year it was a "diversity of entries" showcasing several
    of the tanks the previous years.  The third year I worked up something
    I called "elements" where I showed small pieces of different 
    aquascapes in the hopes of reminding folks to include those close-ups.
    I was thinking of doing a "design into action" logo where a stylized 
    planting plan fades into the completed aquascape left-to-right.  
    Anyway, if someone has another idea, feel free to try!      (Erik?)

 4. Create poster, PDF letter for clubs and ad for TAG          (     )
        Examples can be found in the "press" section of the
        current site.

--- at this point, we can take the site live.  Goal 6/1 ---

 5. Contact clubs and individuals, mail the letter              (     )
        Dave Vanderwall did this last year and is willing to
        help again, yes?  He has a list, but we could use
        an expansion.

 6. Contact bulletin boards, newsgroups, APD, etc               (     )

 7. Contact magazines and ask about an announcement or free     (     )
    ad.

 8. Contact vendors and ask for prize donations                 (     )
        - Need to be tenacious on this one
        - I have a spreadsheet from 2000 with all the vendors
          James contacted.  James was very good at this!
        - COULD be done in conjunction with the convention,
          but doesn't have to be!

-- The above four jobs come in right after 6/1 but need to be done quickly --

 9. Judge liaison                                               (    )
        - Determine list of potential judges to contact
        - Contact them, be sure they know the schedule
        - We should have 5 judges for things to run smoothly
          but have run with 3 in a pinch last year.
        - Arrange gift at the end of the event?

10. Prize coordinator/Ribbon Person                             (    )
        - Collection point for any received prizes
        - Order ribbons at contest close
        - Mail everything out at contest close

11. Contact for entries                                         (Erik)
        - Address to mail entries and checks
        - Essentially scan photos, retype entry forms and do the whole
          online entry on behalf of the people who enter via the mail
        - I don't anticipate requiring help because nearly everyone
          enters online now anyway

-- These last three jobs take place over the the remainder of the contest
   and more importantly, continue AFTER THE CONTEST CLOSES on 9/15 --

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com


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