Hi, cookie competitors and sponsors! As you may have already heard, the That Takes the Cake (TTTC) Show in Austin, where my competition was slated to be hosted on February 26-27, canceled yesterday amidst growing concerns about the Omicron variant, people's safety, and diminished attendance at the physical show. (You can read the show's official cancellation notice here.) While this announcement is extremely disappointing to me and so many others in the sugar arts community, I completely understand and support their decision, and, moreover, hope that everyone takes precautions to stay safe in the coming months.
That being said, there IS some good news! Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ proved resilient in 2021 and rebounded from the first TTTC cancellation with its first-ever virtual edition - and 2022 is going to be no different! I will be re-launching this year's competition in a virtual format on Cookie Connection this coming June, with the same Broadway & Musicals theme and the same categories and skills classifications that were already announced on the TTTC site.
So, what exactly does this mean for you? For cookie competitors who have already registered on the TTTC site, keep on working on your competition pieces (or take a breather until June). Your registration fee will be refunded by TTTC, and I'll be asking you to re-register (and pay a new $15 fee) on my Eventbrite platform in June if you want to join the virtual edition. Final entries will need to be uploaded in photo- and video-formats to Cookie Connection, in a very similar way as was done in 2021. (See the past 2021 Competition Overview as a reference.) That upload due date will be in September, according to the schedule outlined below, Again, upload details (i.e., number of photos and other submission materials required) will come in June. For competitors who haven't yet registered but are thinking of joining the new virtual format, you can read about the theme and categories here. All of this material is basically the same as what I previously posted to the TTTC site, barring some small changes due to the now-virtual nature of the competition. You can start on your entries now if you'd like, or wait until registration time in June. For sponsors who have already contributed, I have tweaked the 2022 Sponsorship Offering to reflect the benefits that I am now able to provide without having the physical show as a platform any longer. You can download that offering here or at the end of this post. I will also email it to you and reach out (later today or tomorrow) to discuss how you'd like to proceed. I hope you'll stick with the competition, of course, as it will still provide great, albeit slightly different benefits. 
For prospective sponsors, please download the 2022 Sponsorship Offering, give it a look, and consider participating. My competition had a banner first-ever virtual edition last year, with superlative entries and participation from all over the globe, and I suspect this year will be no different.
Again, please read on for the new competition timetable and for links to the 2022 competition theme/rules and the 2022 Sponsorship Offering. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below or to email me at sweetlife@juliausher.com. Thank you for your understanding during these crazy and unpredictable times. The "show must go on" as TTTC and I said in 2021, and I remain committed to seeing creativity and passion for cookie art prevail!
2022 REVISED COOKIE COMPETITION TIMETABLE
- May 30 (or sooner): Sponsor commitments and artwork are due.
- June 15 (5 pm CDT): Competitor registration opens on Eventbrite (non-refundable $15 USD entry fee per entry, to cover competition admin costs).
- June 15 (or sooner) - September 15: Competitors prepare entries.
- September 15 (5 pm CDT): Registration closes and all entry forms and submission materials must be uploaded to Cookie Connection. (Links to online entry forms will automatically be emailed to registrants, via Eventbrite, as soon as Eventbrite has processed your registration form/payment. Contents of entry forms and all required submission materials will be shared in June when registration on Eventbrite goes live.)
- September 15: Judging begins.
- October 15 (subject to change, depending on number of entries): Finalists announced!
- October 30 (subject to change, depending on number of entries): Winners announced!
KEY COOKIE COMPETITION LINKS
- 2022 Sponsorship Offering (Revised 1-14-2022 and again on 4-4-2022)
- 2022 Competition Overview (This post includes the theme, rules, and requirements originally posted for That Takes the Cake Show, with minor modifications due to the now-online nature of the competition. Again, submission requirements, such as the number and types of photos to be uploaded, will be posted in June but will be similar to those in 2021.)
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