T.D. Smith: Virtual LEGO Competition Two (Fall 2020)

Welcome to the Virtual LEGO Building Competition! This is a competition for kids and adults focused on creative LEGO construction. These are the rules for the Fall 2020 competition.

Competition Overview

The competition will last four weeks. Each week on Sunday I will post two building themes, one for adults and one for kids. You have until the following Thursday at 4pm CST to submit a design. You can submit designs in two ways:

If you are my friend on Facebook, post a photo of the LEGO design and tag me.
Email your design to me at smith.d.tyler@gmail.com

Please include your design's name and the submitter's first name and age (age is only required for the kids division).

Results will be shared weekly (on Friday or Saturday) on the Bricks and Bikes YouTube channel.

Rules

One submission per participant per week.
Teams are allowed, but they will be judged based on the age of the oldest team member for teams.

Prizes

I will provide prizes in the form of gift cards (to small businesses) and/or LEGOs (via Amazon). I will fund the first week's competition, but ask that those who are able to pay the entrance fee please do so (see below).

Judging

I will be the primary judge and will bring in guest judges when possible. Judges cannot compete (but my children are competing, I will do my best to judge fairly).

Each submission will be given a score between 1 and 10 (1 is lowest) in three categories:

Originality
Aesthetic Appeal
Storytelling

The scores from each judge will be averaged. This means each submission can earn up to 30 points per day.

Remember, the goal is to have fun!

Awards

Every Friday I will calculate a winner in each age group. Depending on the number of participants, I reserve the right to re-organize age groups if needed.

Age Groups

A winner will be selected for each of the following age groups:

0-5
6-9
10-18
19+ (Adult)

Parents/Adults

Adult submissions will be judged by the same rules as child and youth submissions. However, all adults are bound by a two hour time limit per week.

Entrance Fee

I request, but do not require, an entrance fee of $10 per participant. 100% of the fee will go toward prizes. Please contact me by email or through Facebook messenger and I will provide information on how to pay.

Parental Help

I expect there will be some level of parental engagement in the building process, especially for younger kids. In general, parents should:

1. Avoid physically interacting with the design (helping with stuck pieces or helping fit tough pieces together is OK, positioning characters is not).

2. Avoid giving any direct guidance (ask questions instead).

Legal Stuff

By sending tagging me or sending me photos of you or your child's designs, you grant me the right to publish the photos on my Facebook page, web page, and YouTube channel.
I reserve the right to reject any submission for any reason.
The submission fee is non-refundable.
You are discouraged from submitting photos in which your children are visible. If you choose to submit such a photo including your children, by doing so you grant me permission to share it publicly.