Logo Contest: 2023 U.S.-Romania Co-Chairship of the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN)

Contest Sponsors[1] 

The U.S.-Romania 2023 Co-Chairship of the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN) Logo Contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of National Defense of Romania (the “Contest Sponsors”).

Description of Contest Objectives

Graphic artists from across the globe are invited to submit design entries to be considered for the honor of being selected as the official logo of the 2023 U.S.-Romania Co-Chairship of the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN).  We look forward to choosing a logo that reflects the United States’ and Romania’s priorities [87 KB] for advancing the global Women, Peace, and Security agenda during our 2023 Co-Chairship, as outlined in the Co-Chair letter.

All qualifying entries will be publicly displayed online on the WPS-FPN website . The winning entry will constitute the official logo of the 2023 U.S.-Romania Co-Chairship of the WPS-FPN2023 and will be used on all print and digital marketing and promotion for events and held throughout the year.

See examples of past Co-chair logos .

How to Enter

The Contest will commence at 8:00 am on February 15, 2023, in the Eastern Standard Time (ET) zone. The Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues social media accounts (Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn  will share a link to a Google Forms-based form (the “Form”) through which contestants will upload their logo entries.  The Form will be made available on February 15, 2023, at 8:00 am ET and close on March 1, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET. During this period, you may submit up to two logos using the upload option in the Form. (To upload your entry through the Form, you must have a Google account and be logged into that account.).  Additionally, you must, in the Form, indicate your agreement to the Statement of Eligibility and Release contained therein.  If technical issues prevent you from being able to upload your entry through the Form, you may submit your entry via e-mail between 8:00 am ET on February 15, 2023, and 11:59 pm ET on March 1, 2023.   However, you must still access the Form to indicate your agreement to the Statement of Eligibility and Release contained therein. To submit an entry by e-mail, send your entry to StateGWI@state.gov with the subject: “Focal Points Network – Logo Submission — [ENTER FIRST NAME & LAST NAME]”. Be sure to include your first and last name in the subject line and attach up to two logos to the e-mail as either .jpeg or .png attachments.

All entries must include the following:

• Logo (up to two)
• A short description to accompany each logo (500 characters maximum), describing the logo and how it relates to the United States’ and Romania’s WPS-FPN partnership and priorities for 2023
• Contestant Name
• E-mail
• Country of Residence

Again, every contestant must access the Form on the Contest Site to indicate their agreement to the Statement of Eligibility and Release. Once a logo is submitted, it is considered final and may not be modified, edited, replaced, or augmented by the contestant. There is no fee for submitting an entry. You may direct any questions to StateGWI@state.gov.

Participation in this contest is deemed as acceptance of these Official Contest Rules.

Judging of entries will begin on March 2, 2023 and end on March 8, 2023. Entries will be judged by a panel comprising staff members from the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State and from the Gender Management Office at the Ministry of National Defense of Romania.

Platforms

While Contest activities and developments may be highlighted and promoted on social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, official Contest entry and administration will be handled through the Form submission process and email communication. The Contest winner may be announced on social media platforms; these platforms are not, however, partners or sponsors of the Contest.  Contestants are reminded that Google’s Terms of Service and any agreement with Google contained therein apply to contestant use of Google Forms.

Content Requirements

Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or commercial promotion. Submissions must conform to local law and must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to any of the Contest Sponsors, or to any groups, individuals or institutions.  Submissions must adhere both in appearance and in fact to the norms of civil discourse.  In other words, the content of all submissions must be suitable for a global, public audience.

Submissions must be original content created by the contestant and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights (except as expressly permitted below in (d)). Contest Sponsors recognize no allowance for “fair use” of copyrighted material, nor do Contest Sponsors recognize allowance for use of licensed materials created or owned by a third party.

Contest Sponsors reserve the right to disqualify, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria and to the intent and substance of these Official Contest Rules.

In the event of any question or difference of views regarding compliance with, interpretation, or application of these content requirements or other provisions of these Official Contest Rules, Contest Sponsors reserve the exclusive right to resolve such questions or differences of views in their sole discretion.  

• Technical Format Requirements:   
• Logos must not contain text
• Submissions may utilize any background color in their submission but should consider representation on both a white and color background.
• Logos must be submitted using digital media but may include any artistic style or technique.
• Logos should reflect the themes and priorities of the 2023 United States’ and Romania’s Co-Chairship of the Focal Points Network and/or represent the partnership of the United States and Romania as Co-Chairs.
• Maximum 10MB file size
• Minimum resolution of 300dpi or 1600×1200 pixels
• JPEG or PNG file format
• Color or black and white submissions acceptable
• No visible watermarks, signatures, or personally identifiable information
• Additional information and adjustments may be requested

Eligibility

1. Contestants must be at least 18 years old on the date of entry into this Contest.  Each eligible individual submitting an entry will be considered a contestant. Organizations are not eligible to participate. Contestants must provide complete and accurate information as may be requested pursuant to these Contest Rules for their entries to be considered.  The following individuals are not eligible to participate in this Contest: Employees, interns, directors, and officers of the Contest Sponsors, or the U.S. Government; or any employees, interns, directors, or officers of any agencies, companies, or entities involved in the administration, advertising, judging, creation, development, execution, and/or fulfillment of this contest, and the immediate family members (defined as spouse, recognized partner, parent, child, sibling, and spouse or “step” of each) and those living in the same household of each such individual. Employees and officers of the national/central or federal governments of Romania are also ineligible to participate.
2. Once a submission/entry has been accepted, the contestant’s name (or user ID, if the contestant wishes to remain anonymous) and country may be publicly identified at the sole discretion of the contestant.
3. All logos are subject to pre-screening by Contest Sponsors to ensure compliance with these Official Contest Rules.  Any logos out of compliance will not be posted.   Contest Sponsors reserve the right in their sole and absolute discretion to verify in the final analysis whether a potential finalist or potential winning logo submission has fully complied with these Official Contest Rules before posting to the contest site,  recognizing a winner, etc.

Judging Criteria

Judging of entries will begin on March 2, 2023 and end on March 8, 2023. Entries will be judged by a panel comprising staff members from the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State and from the Gender Management Office at the Ministry of National Defense of Romania.

The winning logo will be selected based upon criteria to include:

• Fulfillment of the prompt and design requirements explained above
• Originality and creativity
• Clarity in conveying the artist’s intention for the logo
• Cohesiveness of color scheme utilized
• Professionalism, neatness, and composition of the design
• Ability to be reproduced and printed in various formats and on various background colors.

Winner and Finalists

The winner and/or finalists will be required to provide a short bio.  The winner and/or finalists may choose to use an alias instead of their real name and may request other identifying information be kept private.

The winner and/or finalists will be contacted via e-mail at the e-mail address they provided for registration.  The inability of Contest Sponsors to contact a potential winner or finalist may result in disqualification and/or selection of an alternate from among all remaining eligible submissions.

Liability and Rights

1. Contest Sponsors do not endorse any submissions or messages expressed therein, and Contest Sponsors expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with the submitted entries including disputes between collaborators related to a submission.
2. The contest and its sponsors do not permit copyright infringing activities or infringement of any other intellectual property rights, and Contest Sponsors reserve the right to remove and disqualify any submission they deem to be in violation of another party’s copyright or other intellectual property rights.
3. All submissions become the sole property of Contest Sponsors and may be used for any purposes, including, but not limited to, display on websites, business cards, letterhead, posters, and other materials. By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees that any and all intellectual property rights in the logo design are deemed assigned to the Contest Sponsors.
4. Contestant assumes sole responsibility for the contest submission and the material contained in it, and for any consequences of submitting or posting it.
5. Contest Sponsors reserve the right at any time to verify the validity of entries and of contestants and to disqualify any contestant or entry deemed not in compliance with these Official Contest Rules.  Contest Sponsors also reserve the right to request further documentation, at their sole and absolute discretion, to verify eligibility and compliance with these Official Contest Rules.
6. Contest Sponsors reserve the right, at any time and in their sole discretion, to disqualify and/or deem ineligible any individual who they reasonably believe (i) has violated the Official Contest Rules; (ii) has violated the terms of use of platform, or (iii) is acting in a bad faith, or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
7. Contest Sponsors reserve the right to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the contest at their discretion for any reason.
8. Contestant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Contest Sponsors, their parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, officers, directors, employees, interns, and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debts, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from (i) violation of these Official Contest Rules; (ii) violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other proprietary right in connection with the contest; or (iii) any claim that a contest submission caused any harm, including financial, to any third party.  These indemnification and hold harmless obligations will survive indefinitely beyond the conclusion of the contest.
9. The conduct, judging, and selection of finalists and a winner will be carried out in full compliance with applicable U.S. law and applicable host country law, if any.  In the event of a conflict between U.S. law and host country law, U.S. law shall apply.
10. Contest Sponsors and the U.S. Government will take reasonable measures to protect privacy data, personally identifiable information, and other sensitive data of contestants.  Contact information provided by contestants may be stored by the U.S. Department of State and may be used to contact contestants for other purposes in the future.  This information may be shared with the co-sponsor of the contest and/or made available to third parties to the extent permitted by law.
11. Contest Sponsors assume no liability or responsibility for any loss or harm resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the contest or ability or inability to upload, download, or otherwise access any information in connection with participating in the contest.  Contest Sponsors assume no responsibility or liability for technical problems, or technical malfunctions arising in connection with the operation of the contest, including: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity, or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any email transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted email transmissions; inaccessibility of the contest site in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the contest site; unauthorized human or non-human intervention in the operation of the contest, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the contest, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the contest.
12. Use of contest site is at user’s own risk.  Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any personal injury, property damage, or losses of any kind which may be sustained to computer equipment resulting from participation in the contest, use of the contest site or the downloading of information from the contest site.  By participating in the contest, the contestant releases Contest Sponsors from any and all claims arising from or relating to such contestant’s participation in the contest, whether directly or indirectly.
13. Contest Sponsors are not liable in the event that any portion of the contest is cancelled or delayed due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other reason.

 Privacy Act Statement

1. AUTHORITIES: This information is sought pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 301 (Management of Executive Agencies), 22 U.S.C. 2697 Se(Acceptance of Gifts on behalf of the United States), and (); 22 U.S.C. 2651a (Organization of the Department of State).
2. PURPOSE: The information submitted to this website will be provided to the U.S. Department of State and will be used to evaluate and process submissions to the 2023 U.S.-Romania Co-Chairship of the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN) Contest and determine the eligibility of contestants.
3. ROUTINE USES: The winning contestant’s information may be made available to the public. More information on the Routine Uses for the system can be found in the System of Records Notice STATE-79, Digital Outreach and Communications.
4. DISCLOSURE: Providing this information is voluntary. Failure to provide the information requested may result in ineligibility for the 2023 U.S.-Romania Co-Chairship of the Women, Peace, and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN) Logo Contest.

Original source can be found here