"Rules" for entering contests

[billy_wires]

Not really rules, per se, just quick "rules of thumb" questions.

1. If I want to enter a contest, should I withhold my video from the public (not upload it on the .org), or can I go ahead and upload it? If I did, is it looked down upon?
2. Would it be un-kosher to enter multiple videos, and would a person be hated if they won more than one entry?

Just wondering, because if I feel a video is contest worthy, I'll want everyone to see it as soon as I can get it out (not saying I have one now). That and it was plaguing me all night last night.

[The Wired Knight]

1. Up to you really, I think most videos do best upon their first viewing (there are exceptions though) so I neglect from putting mine up until their first con so the con gets teh first reaction to the video. This works best with comedy videos which are funniest their first time through.

2. No, a lot of people enter multiple videos; look at the expo for AWA O_o and I've never heard of anybody being hated for winning multiple awards.

[Scintilla]

1. If I want to enter a contest, should I withhold my video from the public (not upload it on the .org), or can I go ahead and upload it? If I did, is it looked down upon?

This partially depends upon the contest. AWA Masters, for example, requires that your submission not have premiered anywhere else prior, including online. AWA Professional doesn't <I>require</i> it, but it's preferred (since the judging's supposed to be almost blind and it's fun to guess who made what video). I think the majority of contests don't care if you premiere it online first.

2. Would it be un-kosher to enter multiple videos, and would a person be hated if they won more than one entry?

This depends almost entirely upon the contest, methinks. As Wired said, you can submit up to something like two hours' worth of videos to AWA Expo, but depending on how much time they have they may only show one, and in general no one creator ever wins more than one award. Nan Desu Kan allows you to submit up to three, and you can't take home more than one Asuka (I'm told it's done on more of a body of work basis rather than based on individual videos). Otakon will only let you submit one. I believe Anime Expo also allows up to three videos per creator, but there doesn't seem to be a limit to how many awards you can win there.

[AquaSky]

About number one, honestly, it only really applies in one of two scenarios. The first would be if the rules of the contest state specifically that the video must not have been released yet. The second would be if making the video available would mean a large number of people at the convention would watch it beforehand. That only really comes into play with the most well-known editors anyhow, so it's not something to be concerned with. Basically, unless the rules state otherwise, it really doesn't matter one way or the other.
As for the second question, it all depends on the contest. They all have different limits on the number of entries one person can submit. And about winning multiple categories, that doesn't happen too often (from what I've seen), and most con judges that I've heard speak on the matter have stated that they usually like to spread out the awards rather than lumping them on one person. Some contests even have rules to that effect.
So, in short, it all depends on the particular contest. There really aren't any guidelines that will be the same across the board.