Spread the Word Video Contest

Spread the Word to End the Word is a campaign among schools across the country to end the use of the word retard in peoples everyday vocabulary. The campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people. Language affects attitudes and attitudes affect actions. Pledge today to use respectful, people-first language. Everybody has something to offer the world, so lets focus on what people can do instead of what they cannot. The campaign primarily is organized and run through schools, so what better way to spread the message of tolerance than starting a video contest to see just how schools are supporting the Spread the Word movement?

Rules:

Missouri junior high schools and high schools are eligible Only one submission is allowed per school -- not per school district, but per school. These videos can be about ANY aspect of Spread the Word (STW) o It can be interviews with SOMO athletes, teachers, students, etc. o It can be about why the R-word is hurtful to your friends o It can be about how your school supports STW and people with intellectual disabilities o It can be a skit with actual student actors o Basically anything that has to do with ending the use of the R-word. BE CREATIVE! Teachers or video professionals on the schools staff can be involved in the planning and directing process, but students must be the ones who shoot and edit all of the video, audio, graphics, etc. The videos can vary in length, but should be no longer than four minutes. Any video over the four-minute mark will not be judged. We will supply you with all of the proper SOMO and R-word logos for you to use if you so choose. Please only use the logos we give you for copyright reasons. If we see that any non-approved logos have been used the video will lead to disqualification. The same goes for music use in these videos. Do not use any copyrighted music for which you dont have written permission to use. Legally purchased music is for personal and home use only, not for video production. Only crediting the artist for the music use does you no good. So to be 100 percent safe, please only use royalty free music and be sure to check the licensing properly. If you are unsure of the music youve chosen, ask for a ruling BEFORE the judging process occurs. Failure to follow the strict copyright laws with music will lead to disqualification. All actors used in the actual final video must sign releases with at least one parent/guardians signature. We will provide these releases. They are due at the time of

the video submission. Not only does Special Olympics Missouri need to be aware of the videos that are being produced, but so does an advising teacher at your school. Once you have decided to take on this project (and were glad you have!), please obtain a teachers signature on the form we will provide. This form is due at the same time the video is due. At the beginning or end of the video, make sure there is some kind of information about the school from which this video is coming. It can be a graphic, text, etc. After the contest, Special Olympics Missouri reserves the right to use each and every video in whatever manner it deems necessary. The video should be exported as an MP4 file. Submission of videos should be through an online video service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Please make sure you include SOMO-R-word Video Contest and your school name in the title of the video. Links should then be emailed to Schatsiek@somo.org along with all of your other documentation by Feb. 14, 2014. Will announce the contest at the Oct. 4 MASC Northwest District meeting and then take on the road to every other district meeting after that. Any submissions that dont have the video link and all of the proper documentation wont count. Everything needs to be emailed together. All of the information in this packet, along with acceptable logos and forms are available for download at www.SOMO.org/Rword.

Judging:

Each video will be judged by a panel of five people from various companies and backgrounds. (Possible judges: Mark Musso, CEO/President of SOMO; sponsor; video or journalism professional from Mizzou; Missouri Association of Student Councils representative so long as the school theyre tied to doesnt have a submission; SOMO YAC member; SOMO Athlete; SOMO Coach; etc.) Scores will be based on a 1-5 scale (1 = didnt follow the guidelines at all, 5 = completely followed the guidelines and excelled in doing so) on the following criteria: o Creativity/Originality (25 percent of your final score) Is the video something we havent seen before? o Production Value (15 percent) Whats the overall quality of the production of the video (video shaky, audio popping, coloring off, etc.) o Memorable/Interesting (30 percent) How well does the video draw in the viewer and keep their attention? o Content Clarity (30 percent ) Does the video clearly identify the message of the Spread the Word campaign and share that with the audience? Once all of the videos have been scored, the Top 3 videos will move on and an open, online voting system will allow the winner to be selected. The three videos will be posted on SOMOs Facebook page for voting. They will remain there for 72 hours and at the end of that time period, whatever video has the most Likes on Facebook will win. Students are highly encouraged to Share the videos you want to be Liked, but the only tally that will count as final votes are the Likes. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Likes must be on the video on the original Facebook page of our Sponsor/SOMO. Any Likes on someones Share of the video will not count. You must direct anyone who wants to vote to the Sponsor/SOMO page to Like the video there for the vote to count. Otherwise, we could end up counting Likes multiple times, so while its a little confusing, be sure that everyone knows the Likes must be on the main SOMO Facebook Page video for them to count. The Top-3 finishers will be announced by March 1, 2014. The Top-3 schools will be contacted via the email from which they send the original video. Voting on the Top-3 videos will begin at 1 p.m. March 11. The winner will be finalized and announced at 1 p.m. March 14, 2014, at the MASC State Convention. Finalists do not need to be present at the conference. Once the announcement is made at the convention, it will also be made on the SOMO Facebook
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page. SOMO will write a press release for the winner and other Top-2 finishers to be distributed throughout the state by SOMO.

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Prizes:

Bragging Rights as the best school-produced STW video in the state of Missouri! Levels: o Gold (1st place): SOMO Summer Games Experience ($2,100 value) SOMO Summer Games Experience will allow 10 students and 2 chaperones to see what the biggest event of the summer in Missouri is all about! This package will bring a total of 12 people from your school to the State Summer Games May 29-June 1, 2014 in Columbia. SOMO will pay for your transportation, meals and housing as you get prime volunteering roles with our amazing athletes all weekend long 2 Missouri Association of Student Councils scholarships ($700 value) 2015 Spread the Word supersized kit (20 extra T-shirts at $200 value) o Silver (2nd place): 1 Missouri Association of Student Councils scholarships ($350 value) 2015 Spread the Word supersized kit (20 extra T-shirts at $200 value) o Bronze (3rd place): 1 Missouri Association of Student Councils scholarship ($350 value) 2015 Spread the Word supersized kit (10 extra T-shirts at $100 value) All prizes are brought to you by our very generous sponsor Midwest Advertising.
** Since this is the first year Special Olympics Missouri has offered this contest, we are aware that questions may come up that we didnt cover in this packet. Any questions, comments or concerns should be directed to Public Relations Coordinator Brandon Schatsiek at Schatsiek@somo.org or 573635-1660. **

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