Hello, everyone! As you may have heard, I have decided to take my cookie art competition fully virtual this year. When the That Takes the Cake show was canceled in February due to the pandemic, I knew my show had to go on, and I’ve been making plans for it ever since.
First, a bit of background about my competition. It was the first juried cookie art competition in the United States, starting back in 2013 at the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show when Kerry Vincent, the show organizer, named her cookie division competition after me – and then asked me to run it! It has since grown into one of the most closely watched and inspiring cookie competitions in the country, drawing top-tier sugar artists, not just cookiers, from every corner of the US and also from overseas. It was even filmed for a Food Network documentary in 2019. More importantly, it has become one of the most rewarding things I do in cookie-space; it’s my way of giving back to the cookie community that I love so much.
My 2021 virtual competition is targeted to launch its call for entries in June, and for judging to take place in September or October. In the meantime, I am trying to gather sponsors to make it the biggest and best of my competitions yet. Last year, we awarded over $10,000 in cash and gift certificates, and, this year, we’re hoping to top that! After all, our cookiers need some real rewards after the very difficult past year. I sincerely hope you will consider supporting the competition in 2021, as it is valued sponsor contributions that ultimately motivate cookiers to stretch their skills and expand the boundaries of cookie art and our community. All great things!
Attached (at the end of this post) is the competition’s 2021 sponsor offering. The competition has two levels of sponsorship, with funds being deployed to support prizes for both 2-D and 3-D cookie categories and competition admin costs. We will be awarding first, second, and third prizes in each of these two categories. In an effort to streamline admin activities, we only accept cash and gift (product or service) certificates, no actual product donations. While we love the cookie community's products, the receiving, packing, re-bundling, and shipping of them has been a very time-consuming and expensive proposition.
If you are interested in sponsoring, please confirm your donation (and its value) with me (sweetlife@juliausher.com) NO LATER THAN JUNE 7, 2021, PREFERABLY EARLIER. Actual donations, artwork, and other company info must also be received by June 7, 2021. All specifics for submitting these materials are spelled out in the attached sponsor offering document.
Thank you in advance for considering support of my competition and its incredible competitors. If you have any questions at any time, please don’t hesitate to ask!
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