Let’s Get Snapping for M.E! 2014 Christmas Cards Competition Winners Announced!

The Let’s do it for ME team came up with the idea of the Let’s Get Snapping for M.E! Competition back in 2012 when we were discussing plans to sell Christmas cards for the very first time. We wanted to go that extra mile and do something a little bit special and more relevant to ME than simply buying in stock images. In the end, we decided that it would be a really good idea to run this competition whereby those, particularly within the ME community, could make a contribution by sending in photos or artwork and have winning entries printed on our cards. We realised that this would be a great opportunity for ME sufferers in particular, whose talent often remains behind closed doors, to have the chance to be acknowledged and celebrated. There couldn’t be a more powerful and positive way to increase ME awareness whilst raising vital funds towards biomedical research into the disease.

Now in its third year, the competition is still going strong and the response, as always, has been simply amazing, with 161 images entered and a staggering 3482 votes cast in our online poll, we couldn’t have asked or wished for more. The great success of the Let’s Get Snapping for M.E. simply wouldn’t have been possible without your support and we would like to say a very big thank to everyone who got involved.

The standard of entries was particularly high again this year and this made Invest in ME’s task of judging the final stage particularly difficult. In the end sixteen winning images were chosen. Yes, you’ve read that right - sixteen! We like to keep you on your toes. Fourteen of the images will be printed as cards and two have been selected to be printed as the back cover of the cards.

Each winner, to remind those that haven’t read our earlier posts, will have their images printed up on our 2014 Christmas cards and receive either a mixed pack or one solely of their own. The cards will be sold in aid of Invest in ME’s biomedical research fund. We aim to have these available to purchase by the end of this month through the charity’s website.

We hope our competition inspires you in the coming months to dust off your cameras and paint brushes ready for next year’s competition. And with the continuing success of this competition it will definitely be a regular feature in our calendar and hopefully yours too! Here’s to an even bigger and better Let’s Get Snapping for M.E! in 2015. Let’s do it for ME!

So without further ado, as this the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Let’s do it for ME can proudly announce the sixteen winning images of Let’s Snapping for M.E! 2014 Competition.

Congratulations and well done!

 

The two winning images below have been selected to be printed as the back cover of this year's cards.

Let’s Get Snapping for ME 2014 Competition Online Vote

There’s always a great sense of excitement in the air when our Online Vote goes live
because everyone is eager to see the entries. However, this year it’s even more so since not
only are everyone’s images going in for the first time but most of the Let’s do it for ME Team
haven’t even seen any of them. With over 150 images and the high standard of entries
everyone is certainly going to be spoilt for choice. We’re also really glad we expanded our
competition to accept artwork this year as there are obviously some very talented people
out there. But before we tell you how to vote, we’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone
who has entered and to all those taking part. We couldn’t do it without you!

To vote, simply go to our Voting Gallery and click ‘Vote’ on your favourite image(s). You can
vote for as many images as you like but you can only vote once per image per IP address.
Facebook users can vote on our Competition App Page and those not on Facebook can vote
via our Competition webpage. Since there are so many entries make sure you click on ‘View
More’ at the bottom of Gallery to see them all. Alternatively, you can click on the first
image and scroll between them using the arrows directly beneath the image. This option also allows
you to see the images in full as the Voting page only initially displays image thumbnails.
Remember the vote closes at midnight 7 September.

Invest in ME will then judge the final stage and choose the winners whose images will be
printed on this year’s Christmas cards. We aim to print ten cards and will announce the
winners on 19 September, both on our blog and Facebook Competition Event’s Page. We
hope to have the cards ready for sale by late September through Invest in ME’s website. All
the cards are sold in aid of Invest in ME’s Biomedical Research Fund so any purchases made
will not only help advance ME research but also raise much needed awareness of the
disease.

Have fun and good luck to all our entrants!

Let’s Get Snapping for M.E! 2014 Christmas Cards Photo Competition

It may be the height of summer, but we're already looking ahead to Christmas as we launch our very popular and successful 'Let's Get Snapping for M.E!' Competition. For those not familiar with the event, this is a fantastic opportunity to share your hidden talent and get your photo or artwork printed on this year's charity Christmas cards. In doing so, you'll also be helping a great cause since all cards are sold to raise money for Invest in ME's Biomedical Research Fund. But that's not all; winners will also receive a pack featuring their winning image, either as a mixed pack or one solely of their own. There's never been a better time to dust down those cameras, search out those paintbrushes and start getting creative for ME!

The competition has had something of a makeover for this year and undergone some improvements. Firstly, we’ve decided to accept artwork as well as photos. This means even more of you can take part. Hooray!! Secondly, to enter you now have to submit images by filling in an online Entry Form. Thirdly, we’ve dispensed with the ‘Let’s do it for ME’ Team vote. This means now all approved photos will go into the online vote so they’ll be lots more to choose from – exciting! And finally, there will now be a proper Voting Gallery. Not everything has changed though; Invest in ME will still judge the final stage, and we’ve still kept the image guidelines very open, in that you can send in images of anything you like but it just has to have a Christmassy feel. To give you some idea of what we mean, take a look at last year’s blog post featuring the shortlisted photos.

Now we’ve explained a little about the changes with our ‘new look’ competition, let’s get down to the important matter of how to enter. To enter, Facebook users should click here and non Facebook users can go to our Competition webpage. Just fill it in, upload your image and click Enter. Once you’ve clicked Enter you will then see a confirmation page with an entry ticket number, this can take a little while whilst the image uploads into our database.  We will also email you to confirm we've received your entry.  As in previous years, you can enter up to five images. Images need to be in a digital format and either a JPEG, PNG or GIF file. The maximum file size you can upload is 50MB. For artwork, simply scan the image and upload the file. The entry deadline is 31 August 2014. (Please note, the Entry Form only allows you to upload one image so you if you are entering more than one simply submit a form for each image.)

The online vote, where you get to vote for your favourites, runs from 1 – 7 September. The vote will
take place in our online Gallery and you’ll be able to access this through the same links as those for
entering. As in previous years, you can vote for as many images as you like but can only vote for an
image once. However, there are changes to the way in which you cast your votes. You will need to vote using the Vote button instead of Liking the image, and we will no longer be accepting email votes. Once the online vote is over, Invest in ME will judge the final stage with the winners being announced on 19 September. We aim to print ten images and have the cards available to purchase from late September onwards.

We have a Competition Webpage with a Help Section should you experience difficulties.  Although, the whole process is very simple so you’re unlikely to need it. You can also email us should you need further assistance.

With your help and our ‘new look’ competition, we aim to make this year even bigger and better.
Although last year’s will take some beating given our Christmas card, featuring winner Julie-Ann
Gylaitis’ photo, pipped No 1 slot in The Independent newspaper’s IndyBest 10 Best Charity Christmas Cards. You can read all about it in our special blog post. So let’s get snapping for ME, because who knows where this year will take us or you?

Good luck!

For competition rules click here. For tips on how to create your own home studio see last year’s Competition blog post and scroll down to the bottom of the article.