For a while, I have been dodging the potential of NFT because (1) I am not an artist and cannot make an amazing art like the people here in this community, and (2) I was too dumb to understand what really is an NFT. By the way guys, I am a newbie in this community, I am 
I actually know a thing or two about how difficult it is to mint your artworks on most known markets because either it is too diluted or you lack the popularity like others have. Sometimes, the criteria for having an artwork be bought by someone else does not lie in the very design. This is what my crypto friends have told me when I first tried to understand why they are a bunch of talented kids/adults who are helluvah rich now. As a photography hobbyist, I have always wanted to try NFT but I really am not an artist, just curious. Lol. So when I stumbled upon Yahoo Finance news the other day, I was thrilled. "Maybe my crypto friends will win this!" I am so excited that I started to read more about the mechanics of the contest and the voting criteria of the said NFT contest. I thought that many talented artists must know this because this could be the first big step towards even bigger opportunities. So yeah, I will summarize below the things you need to know in order to join.
Who is qualified to join?
ANYONE who wants to start an NFT project using his/her skills in digital arts. You can be an experienced artist who has tried to mint or an amateur who will venture into NFT for the first time, you are very much welcome!
What do you need to prepare in order to join?
- Your entry can either be a PNG file with a specific canvas size or a 3D art in MP4 format.
- You must have a scheme that shows the layers in a DOC file.
- A short video as to why you are joining the said contest, a little background about your NFT project, and a short description of what you are going to do with the money you will hopefully win - 25,000 TLOS as a prize for being one of the five chosen winners.
- Five (5) to ten (10) ideas or rough mock-ups of what your NFT project will look like.
- If you have already minted your project, you may still join and just go through the verification process on Byt with 10 samples of your NFT project.
- Lastly, an email to Thebiggooey@telosfoundation.io for the submission of your entry.
A detailed process for entry submission is listed here and a complete walkthrough of submitting an NFT project here.
According to Telos themselves,
Once these have been fulfilled and accepted, we will confirm with you that your project is verified for entry. Your entry is NOT accepted until you receive a VERIFICATION EMAIL from us. Please note that Telos reserves the right to disqualify any entry on the basis of bad taste or inappropriate content. Sorry, our decisions are final and we will not enter into debate. As well, if it is discovered during the duration of the contest that your submission is a forgery or direct copy of an existing project, you will be immediately disqualified from the contest. If your entry is not verified for any reason, please contact Thebiggooey@telosfoundation.io for support on your submission.
How will the winners be chosen?
There are two rounds of voting that will determine the winners of this contest - public voting and the judging round.
Public Voting Round - in the first stage we will invite the public to vote and select twenty finalists. Each voter will be given an allocation of tokens to allot to the projects you’d like to see advance to the next round. We will have 5 weeks of public voting where you can allocate tokens, where the 20 contestants will advance to the semi-finals.
Judging Round - in the final stage our handpicked judges will pick five winners. After the top twenty projects have advanced, we will hold a judges panel to decide who the final 5 winners will be, along with naming the judge’s pick to award that will go to the most outstanding NFT project.
For the Public Voting Criteria, three qualities will be considered. These are (1) artistic merit, (2) utility, and (3) community. For artistic merit, it just has to look the best and most appealing. The judges (the Telos team), wanted to consider utility as one of the criteria because they wanted the artists to explain what their NFT project can do for its owners from the artistic standpoint of the artist. And lastly, the community - how big your supporters be will determine your chances of winning.
So, after the public voting, the judges will assess which entry has the most deserving to be an official NFT collection that can help the Telos ecosystem grow and will help strengthen the community of Telos. Are you familiar with The Big Gooey? He is an NFT curator that has come to Telos and yes he will be participating in this NFT mission! He will have a top choice which whom he will work with him/her plus a prize of 50,000 TLOS for being Big Gooey's chosen winner as the most exceptional NFT entry!
If this does not excite you, then I don't know what will. I actually want to see more real artists out there in the NFT world and I know Hive is the home of amazing and talented people so I hope I came to the right place to share this announcement. I also understand that not everyone that will read this (especially my non-crypto friends whom I will be sharing this blog when published) will not be so optimistic about it but who knows if you'll win the prize? So unleash that artist in you and join now! And be reminded of the following contest details:
Contest's registration: Opens on Monday May 9th, 12:00 pm EST
Submission of entries: From Monday, May 9th, 12:00 pm EST. to Thursday, June 30th, 12:00 pm EST
Public Voting: between Monday May 23rd, 12:00 pm EST to Thursday, June 30th, at 12:00 pm EST.
Announcement of twenty (20) Finalists: on Friday July 1st, 12:00 pm EST
Announcement of the top five winners: on Tuesday July 5th at 11:00 am EST.
Check or verify contest timeline here. Since this contest is hosted by Telos EVM, a platform built on Telos, Takai Platform will hold the contest proper, and the voting. So make sure you visit this link, as this is the official contest announcement posted on Takai. Thank you for taking your time in reading my blog and I hope to see your entries. I will try to participate too (but more likely just a cheerer than an actual contestant though lol hehe).
Nikka Mededa, the author
I am an engineer, a mother, an aspiring photographer, and a blogger. I am a workaholic mom who found comfort through brewing coffee and making home-cooked meals. I write and read a lot, but I think I collect books even more. And there is nothing more fulfilling than finally ticking off the books on my reading list. Hopefully, one day!
I love to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming an author, and so here I am, in my little corner in the blockchain. I hope you had a good read and check out more here --->