MASSACHUSETTS

2007 NESEA/IMAGINING TOMORROW Contest Guidelines and Rules                    PDF

CATAGORIES FOR 2007:

WRITING

• Near-Future Fiction

VIDEO (three categories)

• Public Service Announcement (PSA) (30-60 seconds)
• Shorts (4-6 minutes)
• Feature Length (20-30) minutes. 

Finalists

• Twenty-five finalists will be chosen across the state, fifteen from the creative writing and ten from the video categories.  Two finalists will be chosen from each video category, and four more "at-large" finalists will be chosen from all of the entries.
• All entries, which will be reviewed by three judges, will be judged equally on the quality of the piece as well as on the thought and educational experience that is evidenced in the work.
• Finalists will be announced on April 22, 2007, with the awards reception tentatively scheduled for May 11, 2007 – finalists, their parents, and teachers will all be invited to attend.

Rules

1. Entry content must be related to energy.  Energy use, changes in energy use, changes in energy policy, changes in the energy industry, or changes in the environment as a result of energy choices, must be an underlying premise in the work.
   
   
2. Entry content must be realistic about energy and look forward no more than twenty-five years.  Any technology that is not already known and being used must be already known to be technically possible to achieve within this time frame; the entry or afterword should include some discussion of the cost and timeline to develop and deploy this technology.  No magic solutions, gift-giving aliens, dilithium crystals or ZPMs are allowed!  Other technologies that are included must be realistic and justified in terms of net energy use.  (Time travel is permitted as poetic license in alternate histories.)
   
   
3. Near Future Fiction written entries must be 1,500 to 7,500 words.  Video PSA’s must be 30 to 60 seconds long. Video Shorts must be 4 to 6 minutes long. Video Feature Length entries must be 20 to 30 minutes long.
   
   
4. Each entry must be accompanied by a short afterword (200 to 500 words) that summarizes what you have learned in your reading and research about energy or the environment and include a particular aspect that was the starting point for you.  Include any references, graphs, or other data, as appropriate. 
    
5. All written entries must be sent as a Microsoft® Word electronic file to itomorrow@theforesightproject.org. Video entries must send a DVD of the video to Imagining Tomorrow, Box 341, Harvard, MA  01451.
    
6. An entry form must accompany each entry; entry forms can be downloaded below.  It is a Microsoft® Word form, and should be filled out, saved, and then resent as a Word document with the entry.                Writing Form              Video Form     
    
7. All email entries must be received by midnight March 18, 2007, EDT.  DVDs must be post-marked no later than March 15, 2007 with an entry form sent in by email no later than March 18, 2007, EDT.
   
   
8. Entries in any category, written or video, may be collaborative efforts.  An entry may be part of any school or youth organization project, or from individuals not associated with any group or organization.  All authors’ names must be included on the entry form with a contact person designated for the group.
   
   
9. The upper limit for entries is from students who are working at a grade 12 level, including home-schooled students.
   
   
10. All entries will be judged at a high-school age level; there is no separate category for middle-school students.
     
11. In any question regarding the rules, the decisions of the program managers are final. 

Guidelines for Each Category

Creative Near-Future Fiction Story (written or video):  Stories can be about anything; they can range from apocalyptic to pessimistic to optimistic to utopian. They can take place anywhere in the world, any time from tomorrow to twenty-five years from now.  They can be alternate history stories, based on some change in our recent past that creates an alternative present or future world.  They can cut a broad swath dealing with economics, politics or the environment on a global scale, or they can be intensely personal, about one person in one day or one moment.  Energy must, at a minimum, provide a context or backdrop for the story but need not be the theme of the story—although it could be.

Video Documentaries:  This could be a great opportunity (and a lot of fun) to learn about one of the many sustainable energy projects that exist in Massachusetts, to get to know a clean energy business and understand their potential and limits of growth, or even to document another renewable energy project that your colleagues are involved with, such as for the Evirothon or Science Fair.

For example, you could interview people who have adopted clean energy techniques; you could interview people in a town that permitted a wind tower or wind-farm, and find out what they thought of the project during the permitting process and how they feel now; tour a green school or green building; talk to a recycling center—there are endless possibilities. For a listing of clean energy sites with hosts willing to be interviewed by Massachusetts youth, click on Destination Sites at www.nesea.org/education/ycleanenergy.

When your video project is complete, try contacting your local cable access channel to see if they will air it locally.

Video Public Service Announcements: Use your imagination. 

Any questions should be addressed to itomorrow@theforesightproject.org. 

Have fun and Good Luck!