The heART of Houston video contest will help increase awareness of the awesome artists we have in the Houston area and give Houston art lovers a chance to share their favorite artists and performers with the community. Your fellow Houston art lovers will vote on their favorite video submissions throughout the contest with a chance for submitters and artists to win cool prizes. So here’s the contest in a nutshell:

1. Submit a video about your favorite Houston-based artist and performer.
2. Cool people vote on their favorite videos.
3. You get a chance to be famous and win awesome prizes.

We’ll be throwing some cool events and parties to connect you with Houston-based artists, giving you first-hand access to record those videos and meet the hottest artists in our steamy city.

We’ll also be blogging gallery events, performances, concerts and everything in between to keep you in-the-know on what’s happening in the Houston arts community.

You’ll wanna keep an eye out for our heART of Houston Art Cart – the mythical mini Art Car loaded with video equipment to help capture your heART of Houston thoughts – as it travels around to different events and venues in search of the heART of Houston.

Directions, How-Tos, and How-Do-Is for the heART of Houston video contest
Ready to play? Let’s get you started - here’s how:

1. Find a Houston-based artist that inspires you in one or all of the following categories (limit one submission per category). They can be famous, on their way up, yet to be discovered, young, old, purple – we want them all! As long as they are based in the Houston area, all are welcome in the following six categories:
   
   a. Theatre;
   b. Music;
   c. Dance;
   d. Visual Arts;
   e. Creative Writing; and
   f. Crafts.
   
   
2. Record a video of your reactions to that Houston-based artist
   
   
3. Post your video to the heART of Houston video site
   
   
4. Vote on your favorite video submissions
   
   
5. Promote your favorite artist’s submissions – Remember, the artist who gets promoted the most wins too! So be sure to talk up your favorites throughout the contest!

What does my heART of Houston video need to have? Ready to shoot that video? Here are some specifics to keep in mind to keep you in the running:

1. Your submission can be no longer than 60 seconds long.
2. You must state/include your name (as the submitter) and the artist’s name in the video (so we can identify both of you!). Are you an artist and wanting to record a video of your own work? Cool! Just don’t forget to let us know that
3. Include a personal reaction to the artist and/or piece of work you are discussing. These videos are really all about your personal experience with the Houston arts community.
4. At some point during your video, Conclude the video with the following close: “I validate [ artist type ], [artist name]. [artist name]’s ART is the HeART of Houston!” Ex.) “I validate visual artist, Joe Smith. Joe’s ART is the HeART of Houston!”

How you record your video submission is up to you - from your cell phone camera, handheld videocam or giant fancy camera? Your call! Votes will be on the quality of your MESSAGE, not necessarily the quality of your video. So be creative – this is your opportunity to show off how your creative mind intersects with your favorite Houston arts and artists.

Shoot on-site at a gallery opening or opening night at a great play. Contact your favorite dancer and ask her/him to record a rehearsal and chat afterwards on camera. Re-enact your favorite Star Wars sequence and describe how it relates to your favorite Houston rock group – the sky is the limit!

We can’t wait to see your videos! Thanks for participating! With your help, whether you submit videos or just watch and vote on them, we will discover the many heARTs of Houston!

Check back regularly for new submissions and be sure to read OUR BLOG for cool Houston arts news and chances to win Houston arts prizes. On FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, TWITTER or FLICKR? Connect with us there too. We want to hear what you’ve got to say!

And most of all, good luck following your heart to find the heART of Houston!

...coming

But what do I win?

At the end of the voting period, we'll be awarding 1 Flip Video© and 2 Grand Houston Artshound Package Prizes in each submission category (theatre, music, dance, visual art, and creative writing ) for:

1. Most Popular: The Video that Receives the Most Votes – We'll tally up all the votes and send off the killer Grand Prize to the SUBMITTER with the most votes on a single video per category.
2. Most Promoted: The Artist that Receives the Most Love – We'll tally up all the votes and send off the killer Grand Prize to the ARTIST with the most votes overall per category.

Your Artshound Prize Package will consist of tickets, year-long membership, and special access to events throughout 2009 in the visual arts, music, dance, and theater communities, for two.

That’s right! You get to bring a friend/pal/heartthrob/neighbor with you for a year-long pass to some of the hottest events in Houston – FOR FREE!

But that’s not enough! Just because we love you and we love prizes so much, we’ll be using our heART of Houston Blog to award even more prizes, run special promotions, and keep you posted on the hottest Houston arts events and giveaways around.

So visit our blog and add us as a friend on your favorite websites , as we give props to awesome video submissions, feature Houston-based artists and performers, share cool events and give away FREE STUFF. C’mon. You know you wanna.

Your participation in the Contest, including your submission of a video to Memelabs.com shall be deemed to be your complete acceptance of the terms and conditions set out below by Memelabs.com (hereinafter referred to as Organizer) and Houston Arts Alliance (hereinafter referred to as Sponsor).   
 
CHILDREN AND MINORS: Consistent with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without requesting parental consent. Additional information can be found on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission website. Any entrant who is a minor in his/her jurisdiction of legal residence will be required to obtain the permission of his/her parent or legal guardian to participate in this Contest. Entrant must also have obtained all necessary permissions from anyone else featured in his/her Submission, including permission from parents or legal guardians of minors included in such Submission (written proof of such permission must be made available to Sponsor upon request). 
 
ELIGIBILITY:  The Contest is open only to individual legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (the "Territory") who have internet access, are 18 years of age or older, and reside in the Territory at the time of entry.   The Contest will have two categories in which Entrants may participate:  the General Category and the Team Member Category.  Only the general public may participate in the General Category and only Team Members, members of a Team Member's immediate family (defined as parent, children, siblings, and spouses of a Team Member), or members of a Team Member's household, may participate in the Team Member Category.  Void where prohibited or restricted by law.  Employees, contingent staff persons, officers and directors, together with members of their immediate families (parents, children, siblings and spouses of each) and/or those
 living in the same households, of Invoke Media, Memelabs, and their respective parents, subsidiaries and affiliates are ineligible to participate in the Contest or win any Contest prize.  

1. Videos should be no more than one minute (60 seconds) long.
 
2.  All entries must be received by January 31, 2009.  
 
3.  Videos can be shot with camera phones, digital video cameras or any other digital moving image format. No still photo entries will be accepted. 
 
4.  There is no cost or purchase required to enter this Contest. 
 
5.  Entry to the Contest is only open to persons of at least 18 years of age.
 
6.  Employees and relatives of employees of Sponsor and Organizer and any entities affiliated or related to Sponsor and Organizer are not eligible to enter the Contest. For this purpose, the term "relative" shall mean spouse, partner, parent, child or sibling. 
 
7.  By submitting your contribution to the Organizer in relation to the Contest you agree to and thereby waive any and all moral rights that exist in your contribution to the Contest and any derive works made there from. 
 
8. By submitting your contribution to the Organizer in relation to the Contest you represent, warrant and undertake to Sponsor and Organizer that your contribution (i) is your own original work and that you have the sole right to submit it to the Contest (ii) does not violate in any way rights of third parties including copyright and other intellectual property rights and (iii) does not violate any applicable laws. 
 
9. In the event that you breach any of your representations, warranties or undertakings contained herein Sponsor and Organizer shall be entitled to and may seek indemnification from you for recovery of all legal fees, damages, claims and other expenses that may be incurred by Sponsor or its affiliated entities as a result of your aforementioned breach.  
 
10.   Your contribution to the Contest should not include any content whatsoever which would reasonably be understood to be defamatory, threatening, distasteful, racist, unlawful or otherwise objectionable. 

11.   Sponsor and Organizer reserve the right to alter or modify your contribution to the Contest without notification or consent from you. 
 
12.   Sponsor and Organizer reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time and at its sole discretion.  
 
13.  Entrants agree to grant to Sponsor and Organizer an everlasting, royalty-free, assignable, exclusive license to use, utilize, replicate, alter, adapt, modify, publish, broadcast, translate, produce derivative works from, distribute, present, play, sublicense and exercise all copyright and other intellectual property rights with respect to your contribution worldwide and/or to include your contribution in other works in any media now known or later created forever. Each entrant agrees and grants Sponsor and Organizer permission to make available and display/perform and otherwise distribute entrant's name and video submission in all media in perpetuity without compensation. Except where legally prohibited, submission of an entry into this Contest constitutes permission for Sponsor and Organizer to use the entrant's name, photograph, likeness, voice, address (city and province/state) and testimonials, in printed, broadcast media or new media, in perpetuity, in any manner they deem appropriate in connection with promoting the video submission itself or this Contest, without further compensation in connection with this  Contest or the prize awarded. 
 
14.  Each entrant agrees to indemnify Sponsor from any third party claims arising from or related to that entrant's participation in the Contest. By participating, entrants agree that Sponsor, Organizer involved in the development, production, implementation and distribution of this promotion and their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, service providers, and agencies, and their directors, officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any other person or entity associated with such entities and/or promotion shall not be liable for any and all claims, damages, losses or injuries, including any third party claims, arising from or relating to, in whole or in part, this Contest, including entry and participation in this Contest and acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prizes. All entrants further agree that in the event  of any third party claims, damages, losses or injuries, arising from or relating to this Contest, they will indemnify Organizer and Sponsor from any and all such claims, including the attorneys' fees related thereto. Organizer and Sponsor shall not be responsible for any technical malfunctions of the telephone network, computer online system, computer equipment, software, program malfunctions or other failures, delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human, mechanical or technical in nature, or any combination thereof, including any injury.  
 
15.   Entrants participating in this Contest are liable for any copyright infringements caused by their videos. 
 
16.   Entrant is responsible to secure permission from all talent included in the video. Sponsor and Organizer assume no responsibility for royalties or fees associated with talent performances in the entered videos. 
 
17.   Sponsor and Organizer assume no responsibility for lost or late entries or for incomplete computer transmissions or technical failures.  
 
18.   Sponsor and Organizer reserve the right not to accept entries that are considered inappropriate for the Contest.  
 
Notification 

• The winners will be contacted at the phone and/or e-mail provided during registration. 
• The winners and title of their entry will be announced on the Web site. 
• The winning videos will be featured on the contest website.  
• Prizes will be delivered shortly after the winning videos are announced.  

Video Creation Requirements  

• Acceptable source video includes sources that are not copyrighted. Contestant takes responsibility that all images and soundtracks are not copyrighted material. This means, do NOT use commercial copyrighted music or images.  
• Videos may not contain obscene language or content, including but not limited to: nudity, profanity, or graphic violence. 
• Video must between 30 seconds and 60 seconds in length.  
• Video can be in any format. A 1-minute project should be under 6MB. Files larger than 30MB will not be accepted. 
• Videos must be submitted via the web as instructed after registration. If you have problems uploading, please contact us at info@memelabs.com. If you are having problems uploading, you must contact us before the contest has expired.