How do you judge contest credibility?

[BasharOfTheAges]

I was having a meta-discussion with a few people that both run and / or submit to lots of contests (over the course of a few years actually) about what makes a contest credible in the eyes of the community and figured i'd ask what people here thought.

Most people don't seem to go out and say it, but there are reasons you submit to one and not the other. What screams reputable? What's worth your time?

[Nya-chan Production]

Smooth processing, fast feedback (or replies to my questions) and delivering those shinies to my home. All of this applies for contests I have entered in the past.

For the first time contests... presence of some technical rules on one side, and the file formats on the other side. I fecking dislike 720x480 mpeg standard which is forced on some US cons, so if contest allows h264, its chances for my submission rise quite quickly.

[Castor Troy]

If I make the finals.

[Amo-Chan]

If a contest tells me they'll send an award of some sort, and then don't (or in a few cases, don't even bother responding to emails I've sent asking if something happened that prevented sending), then I don't usually bother entering anymore. Sure, that may sound selfish of me, but oh well.
Another biggie is the length of a convention. You tend to get people that seem to care a bit more when you enter conventions that have been around awhile.

[CodeZTM]

If a contest tells me they'll send an award of some sort, and then don't (or in a few cases, don't even bother responding to emails I've sent asking if something happened that prevented sending), then I don't usually bother entering anymore. Sure, that may sound selfish of me, but oh well.

x2

Moreover, the following things are IMMEDIATE detractors that make me withdraw or not even consider entering.

1) Paper forms to be mailed. [Really, just really? in this day in age with scanning software and e-mail or digital signatures?]
2) Ridiculous file formatting requirements.
3) Unclear rules or BS regarding submission deadlines, which turn out to be a lie.
4) When I send in an entry and then get an e-mail 4 weeks later saying "whoops. Sorry. We didn't wait to download your video until now, and the link has expired. Please to be resending in the next couple of days or you're DQ'd."

I know that contests get a lot of entries, but if they honestly knew what they were doing, I feel like they should be able to handle #2 easily and allow all the typical formats. #1 has to do with legal issues, but I'm sure that if the fecking IRS lets us send client information through fax/email with proper authorization, that we can enter a fecking contest with an online signature or a scanned entry form. #4 should be self-explanatory, as is #3.

[BasharOfTheAges]

I'll throw mine in since I started the thread:

1) Submission process:
Handle your own. If you're accepting youtube links, nobody is taking you seriously. If you're requiring upload to a 3rd party hosting site, you're on thin ice. FTP or a self-rolled upload solution on your website - please.
2) Adherence to your own rules:
If it's on the form, you enforce it. If the rules need to be changed because of oversight, you change them, but otherwise enforce what's there AS WRITTEN. Rules are a two way street that specifies a level playing field for everyone - the coordinator is as bound by them as the creators are. Smaller contests that get absolutely no entries can be cut a little slack for playing one or two videos that may have been DQ'd because of the rules if they don't have anything to show otherwise, but if you have rules against watermarks and subtitles and a pre-screening process and there are still videos with subs or watermarks in the contest itself, you're going to lose major credibility.

[kiarrens]

I usually only submit to conventions I've actually been to... If I go to a con, and like what I see as far as quality of videos and organization, I'll at least consider submitting.

This said, contest coordinator communication is a big factor for me. If the coordinator isn't communicating with the editors, there's a big problem.

[HalOfBorg]

Main gripes I have are contests with very specific rules about filetypes/settings/leaders/trailer type stuff.
It's very annoying to have to upload a file for THIS contest to megaupload, then have to add a couple seconds of black and upload it again, or worse have to rename it and upload it again.

If the community at large could develop one standard for contest submission - so wonderful!

And contests that never post results. I have several on my list where I have never found out what happened, get no replies.

[TritioAFB]

What about contests that requires your physical presence during the con to claim your prize? Man, for the foreign, non-living editors in USA that's a pain in the neck

[Cyanna]

I usually just submit to the cons I attend unless they're before the Otakon deadline (juuuuuuust in case I get myself disqualified). I usually make only one video a year and everything pretty much revolves around Otakon.

Though I admit I send stuff to Nan Desu Kan because of their unique trophy. I'm a pretty big Eva fan and...it's a little statue of Asuka.

If I have a horrible experience then I don't enter the following year. But I really haven't had that experience. I like clear rules and a coordinator that gives a care. If I'm ineligible then that's that. Very little bothers me...