This contest was setup to get new Mac Guild designs for the official Mac Guild banner. After 5 designs were submitted, 3 were selected as finalists. The designs were implemented into graphic images, and voted on by the Mac Guild membership. The winning design is now prominently displayed on the Mac Guild home page.

Contestants:

See below for three "Finalist" banners that went to a final vote.

What is it?

The Banner Contest shows which Mac Guild member has the creative and technical prowess to create the ultimate Mac Guild banner for the ultimate Apple User Group for corporate America. All Silver, Gold and Platinum members may participate.

How did it work?

There will be three phases to the contest.

1. The first phase is the initial submission of your banner theme. All submissions will be screened by myself to ensure that each entry fits into the theme of the Mac Guild. The screening process will also determine if the size and resolution of graphics needs to be adjusted, and will give the entrants the opportunity to make those adjustments.
   
   
2. The second phase is facing the judges. The entrants will face critique from the Mac Guild's panel of Tom, KC, and Bill. Based upon the judges, the final candidates will make final adjustments to their banner.
   
   
3. The last phase of the contest is membership voting.

What's the incentive?

First of all, all entries receive 6 Mac Guild point (even if they don't pass the initial screening). Entries that pass initial screening and face the judges receive an additional 6 Mac Guild points plus a Mac t-shirt.

In the membership vote, the number 2 and 3 entries are awarded 12 more points (which will bring you to Gold membership status), plus a Mac sweatshirt! The winning entry will be awarded 24 more points, giving you a full year of Platinum membership status. In addition to that, you will get to pick multiple items from a prize pool that contains Mac t-shirts, Apple sweatshirts, Apple banners, Mac books, and Mac software!

What are the icon requirements?

The banner must contain a theme representing the Mac Guild. It can be any mixture of graphics and text. The banner size should be a horizontal banner graphic to appear at the top of the Mac Guild web site, but there are no specific dimension requirements. The winning entry will be used to supplant the previous Mac Guild banner. The only specific requirement is that somewhere in your entry, either in your graphics or in text, you must have a heading of "The Macintosh Guild", and you should have a short phrase that describes the Mac Guild (it can be "The Ultimate Apple User Group for Corporate America", or anything else you might consider appropriate).

Deadline for entries: 4/15/03

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Voting

Each member who emails a proper vote (placing all three banners in order of preference) is awarded 2 guild points.

Each member who also adds in feedback regarding the banners (what you like, don't like, would like to see changed, ideas for improvements, etc.), will earn an additional 3 guild points.

1. Most Popular - this is based upon how many people voted the banner as their #1 selection.
2. Most Liked - this is based upon being selected as #1 or #2, with twice as much weight being given to #1 votes.
3. Most Votes - this is calculated similar to Most Liked, except that all votes are multiplied as follows: Lurkers 1x, Silver 2x, Gold 3x, Platinum 4x.

The winner of the contest is the banner with the Most Votes (with the goal being that those who participate the most have the most say).

Most Popular: Banner 2 (runner-up Banner 1)
Most Liked : Banner 2 (runner-up Banner 3)
Most Votes : Banner 2 (runner-up Banner 3)

Congratulations to Tom Leahey for creating the winning entry. Based upon membership critiques, a revised version of the banner is now proudly displayed on the Mac Guild home page.

A big Thank You goes out to all of the contestants for putting the time and effort into creating a banner for the Mac Guild, and many thanks to all of you who voted for and provided critiques of the banner finalists.