anneke wrote:I have nothing new that I can submit. I have a great comedy video but due to content...yeah...can't... and after last year's situation with the tech and handling of everything so badly, and the continuing to allow people to troll their videos I'm glad to not be entering. There is a difference from resubmitting a video that has won an award or two, and submitting a video that has won major awards at all the surrounding conventions.
My own two cents, as a casual observer

We've had videos at past contests that constituted "questionable" content. We try to keep the contest PG-friendly, since the whole con is geared that way, but stuff has gotten through without much of a fuss. The only things that aren't allowed are overt sexual material (near hentai level), and excessive violence, usually stuff that wouldn't be allowed on broadcast television anyway. If you're not sure if your video would qualify, you're always free to submit it and ask.
Regarding last year's situation, I covered this a bit in the discussion thread I made back in the summer. Basically, everything on the tech side was amazing. We had guys running around practically making diamonds out of sand and two sticks of gum. Where we (or really, I) failed was internal communication and not getting all the prerequisite work done ahead of time. There was too much work to get done and not enough time to do it. Rendering is a B$#^%!!! But those problems aren't going to happen again this year. We've got new machines, new software, and a planned schedule. Wasn't cheap, but worth it

. (On a serious note, I took what happened last year very personally. I can't change what happened, but I can make damn sure it doesn't happen twice. I owe it to the creators.)
You've brought up your concern about what you consider "trolling." This is an interesting one, because I think it all depends on what side of the coin you're looking at. On the one hand, its tough for someone who's submitting their first video to a contest only to get bumped out by someone who has already won at other conventions. On the other hand, should a video that was praised highly due to the time and effort that went into it be disqualified because its "too good" for this contest? Not to mention it would take a lot of time and effort to research every entry that comes in just to make sure it hadn't competed elsewhere before. We have enough of a challenge with our own contest to worry about someone else's.
We take steps to ensure that the entries we show aren't considered 'troll.' For example, we require every creator to actually attend the convention. This means that someone back east who goes through forums like these can't simply send in their video and forget about it until the results come in. When you make the effort to come, we really respect and appreciate it. The contest is nothing without the creators who participate, after all, and isn't it more fun when you're all gathered together to hang out and shoot the breeze?
We're not the academy awards, nor do we hold ourselves above or below anything else. We're just fans, like you, who are organizing a silly little show for other fans alike. The creators are the stars of the show - we only give them the audience.
And sorry for the long post. Just wanted to get some of my own thoughts down, that's all. We're sorry you feel this way about us, and that we won't see you guys this year, but we're listening and will take any feedback anyone wants to give us. That's the only way we'll get better at this.