2012 Pet Pics Photo Contest: Official Rules

Entry rules

All types of pets (i.e.: cats, dogs, birds, lizards, hamsters, etc.) may enter the contest. You may enter as many pets as you like with a $10 entry fee each per pet in the photo. There is no limit on the number of entries accepted; deadline for all entries is Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m.

Entry forms may be e-mailed to petpics@wacotrib.com, mailed to P.O. Box 2588, Waco TX, 76702, or brought to the Tribune-Herald lobby, located at 900 Franklin Ave., and must be received with entry fee payment to enter the contest. Mailed entries postmarked after Jan. 25 will not be accepted. All entry fee donations go to benefit our Newspapers in Education program and are non-refundable. Waco Tribune-Herald employees and their families are not eligible to win prizes.

Photo guidelines

Mailed photos must be no smaller than 3”x 5” and no larger than 5”x 7”. All photos become property of the Waco Tribune-Herald and will not be returned. Photos submitted must have the pet’s name and breed, or type of pet, with the owners’ name, printed on paper and taped to the back of the photo. Online entries must be no less than 500 pixels wide.

Voting rules

All photos will be featured in print on Sunday, Jan. 29. Photos will be available to view online and voting will begin at this time as well. The contest will consist of 3 voting rounds; however, no pet will ever be eliminated until the final 3 winners are announced. Each voting round will last for one week, with the deadline being each Wednesday at 4 p.m. The final voting deadline will be Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m.

Voting ballots will be available daily in the Tribune-Herald, in our lobby, or online at www.wacotrib.com.

Each vote will cost $0.10 each; the minimum credit card transaction accepted is $10.00 (100 votes). All voting donations will benefit our Newspapers in Education program and are non-refundable.

If not voting online, you may mail, or hand deliver, your voting ballot with payment in the form of check, credit card or cash (no coins please). Votes may also be purchased by credit card, or check by phone, by calling (254) 757-6910. Voting ballots may be photocopied and/or picked up in our lobby during normal business hours (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.).

All online vote purchases will be updated immediately; mailed in, called in, and walked in votes will be updated as soon as they can be processed. Vote counts will be printed in the Waco Tribune-Herald daily throughout the duration of the contest.

Photos that receive the highest number of vote counts, by each Wednesday 4 p.m. deadline, will be featured in print each Sunday during the voting rounds. After the first voting round, the top 20 vote-getters will be featured in the Waco Tribune-Herald on Feb. 5. After the second round, the top 10 vote-getters will be featured in the Waco Tribune-Herald on Feb. 12.

Photos not featured in print are not eliminated from the contest and will still be available to view online; those photos not featured in print may still receive votes until the final deadline for all votes on Feb. 14.

Participation

By participating, entrants agree to have their photos printed in the Tribune-Herald as well as posted on the contest website. The primary objective for the contest is to raise funds for the Newspapers in Education program; therefore all donations, both entry fees and voting fees, are nonrefundable.

Winning guidelines

Three winners will be announced in the Waco Tribune-Herald on Feb. 19. Winners are solely determined by vote count. At the conclusion of the final voting deadline the photos with the absolute highest vote count will be declared the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Each winner will receive a prize bundle from local merchants, including products and gift cards from local and national merchants, a photo shoot for you and your pet, and more.

All entry and voting donations go to benefit the Newspapers in Education (NIE) program which works on the co-operative efforts of local businesses, the community and the Waco Tribune-Herald to provide educational resources to area educators and students, absolutely free of charge. The use of newspapers in classrooms has been recognized and proven as an effective way to encourage literacy; students who have the opportunity to utilize the NIE program earn 10% higher scores on standardized tests than those with no access. NIE also helps to broaden students’ community and global perspectives and teach them how to be citizens who are involved with their communities.

For more information about the contest or NIE please contact Christina Taylor at (254) 757-6910 or by e-mail at marketingcoordinator@wacotrib.com.