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How to DIY an Information Security Awareness Video & Poster Contest

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1. Develop your contest concept

1. What do you hope to accomplish with the contest?

2. How does it meet your information security awareness programmatic goals?

3. What topics will your contest cover? (The more guidance you can provide, the better the contest entries!)

4. Who is supporting the contest? (It could be one campus department, a cross-campus effort with multiple departments, or a regional effort supported by multiple institutions.)

5. Who will be the primary point of contact?

2. Be able to answer core questions about your proposed contest

1. What is the schedule for the event?  

2. When will it be announced?

3. What are the entries (videos? posters? something else?)

4. How will submissions be accepted?

1. What tool(s) will be used to accept videos and/or posters?

2. What contact information is needed from the participants and how is it capture/stored?  

5. When are entries due? (and how are they submitted?)

1. Be sure to give contest entrants plenty of time to create their content.  

2. Consider how you might leverage the school year calendar to encourage content creation.

6. When will winners be announced?

7. Will there be prizes?

8. What are the prizes?

3. Secure management support for the contest

1. Consider running contest rules and guidelines by campus legal counsel

2. Reach out to faculty in relevant areas (marketing, teaching, media arts) to secure participation and support

4. Consider sponsorship for prizes

1. Contest entrants like prizes, especially where “bragging rights” or recognition may not be sufficient to motivate entries

2. Can you secure sponsorship for cash prizes?

1. Establish reasonable amounts for the top 1-3 cash prizes.

2. Consider offering smaller prizes for 5-10 honorable mention winners (e.g., gift cards).

3. Consult with the campus financial office to confirm whether W-9 Forms will be required for award recipients. Also determine if additional guidance about reporting cash prizes to the IRS should be provided to all contest participants.

3. If you can’t offer cash prizes, what are the non-monetary prizes you can award?

5. Understand staffing resources needed. Staff resources will be needed for the following activities:

1. Planning (likely the information security awareness team, but could also include a program committee of interested others)

2. Marketing (needed to market the event to students)

3. Support during content creation/submission (will students need media help to finish their contest entries? If so, can you make any specialized expertise available? Will students need help submitting their contest entries via specialized software/tools/apps?)

4. Judges (who will judge the contest entries?)

6. Create rules and guidelines

1. Who can participate? Are there age limits?

2. How many items can one person or team submit?

3. How long are the entries?

4. What file formats must be used?

5. What topics must be covered in the entries? (Content requirements)

1. Required content: Branding for the institution’s IT/security program; licensing information

2. Will you create or share a sample entry to show what is an appropriate entry for the contest?

6. Any copyright/fair use items that you need to educate contestants about?

1. Make sure that the contest entries allow the campus information security program to use the contest entries after the event. Consider asking students to agree to an appropriate Creative Commons license (e.g., BY-NC-SA 4.0).

7. Who will preview submissions before judging begins?

8. How will judging take place?

9. Prizes

7. Create documentation

1. Contest entry form

2. Website announcing contest and containing additional information, FAQs

3. Sample advertising text

4. Sample contest entry (if needed)

5. Method of tracking submissions

6. Method of tracking judging responses

7. Sample text to announce winners

8. Website to showcase entrants

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 Judging 

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1. Pre-launch advertising

1. Approach faculty in relevant areas for support, let them know that you are running this project. Consider including their expertise on the project team.

2. Consider creating a promo packet if you plan to enlist other departments or the local community in your advertising efforts. Promos might include:

1. A step-by-step “How-To” guide describing how to promote the contest to students and faculty with sample messages

2. Memos or sample e-mails announcing the contest and asking for support (one for faculty and one that’s more general)

3. General announcements for newsletters or social media posts

4. Flyer (one page) for printing and posting in suitable areas

5. Contest logo, graphics, and memes for websites and social media

6. Short (30-seconds or less) promo video about the contest

2. Advertising at launch of contest and during content creation

1. Advertise in venues that get to students

2. Social media, campus web bulletin boards, LMS announcements

3. Announcement and ongoing promotion

1. Similar to marketing, announcement of winners needs to be made in student-visited venues

2. How will you use the content entrants in an ongoing manner? Will you promote them throughout the year?

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Proposed Timeline

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If selected, your video will be shared on the institution's website and/or YouTube channel. (Winning videos and posters will also be shared on other social media sites (e.g., Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr). 

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Prizes (Sample Text)

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PLEASE NOTE: Winners will be required to complete and return tax identification forms in order to receive a W-9 Form. Contest participants are advised that any cash prize over $600 must be reported as earnings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and any taxes due are the sole responsibility of the award recipient.

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Judging Criteria/Rubric (Sample Text)

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• Was there one key message, clearly stated?

• How positive and persuasive was the message?

• Did the entry include positive steps and actions people can take to protect themselves?

• For videos: Is the viewer compelled to keep watching?

• For posters: Is the entry impactful and attention-grabbing?

5) Comments [open field]

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Questions or comments? Contact us.

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