Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ 3rd Virtual Edition
2024 Competition Schedule Release and Theme Preview
Hello, everyone! Many of you have been asking about my 2024 competition - when it will be ramping up, what format it will take, when entries will be due, and so on . . . I'm telling you, the excitement is palpable! And I'm completely overjoyed by your enthusiasm.
My judges are excited too, especially about this year's theme (more on that in a sec). Let me first address some of your more frequently asked questions.
Online or In-Person?
Good question - especially as the competition, "thanks" to COVID, has bounced back and forth between these formats over the last few years. It's understandable that many of you might be wondering where it will land in 2024. Long story short: The competition will be online again this year and likely ever after. Having it online means that anyone in the world can enter, and to me that is the biggest plus. There's nothing more magical than seeing how different cultural influences and perspectives flavor your entries, and, of course, I get to meet so many interesting cookiers from all over the world!
If you're not familiar with the online form of my competition, the key thing to know is that Cookie Connection will be its home base. Rules (aka the 2024 Competition Overview) will post under the "Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™" blog category when they go live (circa February 15). Entries will also get uploaded in video and photo form to secure Cookie Connection databases when entries are due (circa June 30). The competition was most recently conducted online, for the second time, in 2022. If you'd like to get more familiarized with the online format, I refer you to the 2022 Competition Overview as a guide. Please note, however, that the 2024 Competition Overview will NOT be the same. Theme, some judging practices, and a few other things will change.
What About the Prizes this Year?
Another thing to know about my competition is that the cash and other prizes have typically been off the charts, totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars each year. Sponsor outreach is just beginning, but I hope to bring similarly impressive prizes to the competition this year. (Psst! If you're a prospective sponsor who's interested in getting involved, the 2024 Sponsor Offering will be released in the next week or two. You can also email me at any time to discuss participation. I thank you in advance!)
What's Happening When?
So what's the competition schedule? It's pretty well mapped out at this point, though, mind you, it is subject to change. The team that organizes and administers the competition in the early days is very small (basically me with input from my judges), so I like to leave myself a little wiggle room if the unexpected should arise. 
But here's the current plan so you can start marking your calendars:
The next big milestone will be the release of the 2024 Competition Overview, which, again, will contain an elaboration of the theme (preview below), competition categories, skill level classifications, and all of the detailed rules. This overview will ultimately be your reference point for everything competition-related.
What's the Theme?
First, for those of you who have never entered my competition, entries must always be designed afresh (no recycled work is permitted!) and guided by the theme that the judges have selected for that year's competition. As I alluded to above, the judges are brimming with excitement about the 2024 theme . . .
. . . however, I really don't want to let that cat completely out of the bag until all of the competition rules are finalized. (My apologies if the blog header graphic was too much of a tease! ) For now, you'll see a nod or two to the theme in our competition graphics, and all I can say is that it will take a cue from the epic Taylor Swift Eras Tour. We expect this competition to have a similarly monumental impact on the cookie world!
As noted above, the Competition Overview will reveal the theme and associated rules in much greater detail. That being said, it's best not to get too ahead of yourself with entry-planning until all of this information is at your fingertips.
How Does One Get Competition Updates?
To be assured that you're always on top of competition news, the best thing to do is to join Cookie Connection and follow the "Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™" blog category on this site. You can join the site for free on the home page (upper right in laptop/landscape mode) and follow the blog by clicking on the pink link above. You'll also see the photo below on the far right of the site (again, in laptop/landscape mode). Whenever you click on it, it will shortcut you to the top of the competition blog category, where you'll see the latest competition blog post.
And that's a wrap for now! I'll be back with more news in a couple of weeks. If in the meantime you have any questions, please leave them in the comments under this post so that all entrants can benefit from my answers. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway . . . I am super excited to see what you create for this third online edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™!
. . . Ready for it (as Taylor would sing)?! 
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