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Deadline: 18 January 2011

The New York Times is inviting readers to submit entries to the fifth annual "Win a Trip with Nick" contest. Through this contest, Op Ed-columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas D. Kristof hopes to increase awareness and understanding about the many complex issues and opportunities for the developing world. This year, Mr. Kristof will choose two winners – one currently-enrolled college or graduate school student and one adult over the age of 60 – to accompany him on a reporting trip.

To be considered for the contest, applicants are invited to submit either a written essay or a video entry that articulates their desire to accompany Mr. Kristof on a reporting trip and explains why they are an ideal candidate for such an experience.

"Every year readers ask me to take older people along, not just students. So, this year I'll select a senior as well as a student," explained Mr. Kristof. "Adults have as much passion to change the world as 20-somethings, plus the experience and resources that young people may lack. By opening up the contest to another generation, I hope to get the message out to a new community of people."

Essay submissions are limited to 700 words and should be sent to WinATrip@nytimes.com. Video submissions must be under three minutes and should be posted on Mr. Kristof's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/nicholaskristof). Submissions must be received by January 18, 2011. Information about the competition is available at: kristof.blogs.nytimes.com. Students must be 18 or older to be eligible for the contest.

This year, the Center for Global Development is working with Mr. Kristof to review the applications. The winners of the contest will be announced in March 2011.

Mr. Kristof started the "Win a Trip with Nick" contest in 2006. Past contest winners have traveled across Africa, including Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company, a leading media company with 2009 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

An article set in one of these destinations will move you to the top of the list.

Countries: Angola, Benin, Gambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Maldives. Lebanon, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia.

GoNOMAD.com Writer's Guidelines

Write for GoNOMAD and be famous!

GoNOMAD prides itself on providing excellent, entertaining, informative and unique travel articles and research about destinations, activities and experiences. No glossy magazine fluff, no standard guidebook descriptions, no promotional hype; just honest, accurate, well-written and detailed articles and destination guides that speak to an educated, curious and well-traveled audience.

TIP! Read the stories we have up on the site, and format your story the same way. We like short paragraphs, subheads between every few paragraphs, and photos with detailed captions.

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FIND OUT WHAT WE'RE PUBLISHING, SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED and get all of our new articles on your desktop.

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Find out about our favorite stories, read our Top Ten List of 2009 and Top Ten List of 2010.

GoNOMAD is always looking for talented, dedicated travel writers, photographers and researchers to join our team.

We welcome queries and articles from professional travel writers and travelers with a strong writing style and something unique to share with our audience. We pay for articles that are high quality, informative and provide useful guidance for a future traveler.

TIP! If you have a website, add a link to GoNOMAD's writer's guidelines or to a story on GoNOMAD that you like. If you query us and show us a link you've put up, we'll move you to the top of the list.

Add GoNOMAD's writer's guidelines and your story link to Facebook and other social networks to help us pass the word. We love a good Twitter as much as the next guy! Help promote us as we publish your travel writing.

And the list is long, so bear with us if it takes a while to see your story published. Writers who contribute to GoNOMAD have also been published in the Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post and hundreds of other prestigious titles...but they love being on GoNOMAD because it's so accessible and easy to find on the web.

Max Hartshorne and Julia Dimon speaking at the Travel Writing Seminar in Feb. 2009. Max Hartshorne and Julia Dimon at the Travel Writing Seminar held at the NY Times Travel Show, Feb 2009 in New York City.

TIP! We are currently trying to fill in gaps in our story library. We want additional features about the following places the most. An article set in one of these destinations will move you to the top of the list.

Countries: Angola, Benin, Gambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Maldives. Lebanon, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia.

States Delaware, Indiana, Mississippi, No. Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas, DC, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Idaho.

We also encourage you to be creative: Send us a audio recording (mp3) and photos to go with it; send us a photo gallery and travelogue about an exciting trip; shoot a one-minute video that we can place next to your story, develop a new theme about our kind of travel.

We will also include your email in the story so that readers can contact you with their feedback, and are happy to include links to personal websites and mention any books or publications you've written for.

TIP! Subscribe to GoNOMAD's monthly newsletter (see link at left) to keep up with what we're publishing and so you'll know what we're all about.

Please read these Writers' Guidelines carefully before submitting. If you have any further questions, please e-mail the editor. PLEASE DO NOT CALL WITH QUESTIONS. Really.

GoNOMAD CURRENTLY ACCEPTS FREELANCE ARTICLES FOR OUR FEATURES DEPARTMENT

TIP! Make it easy for us...SEND EVERYTHING IN ONE EMAIL!! Don't make us try to find what we need in three different emails, instead give us an easy to use package: a link to your photos, your article and your headshot, bio, email and blog links.

FEATURE ARTICLES

Feature articles must cover a unique aspect of the cultural or natural environments of our featured destinations. We like up-to-date destination guides about fascinating places. But we've also published stories about a single New York neighborhood, or a place you can visit in New Orleans that takes you back in time. A short visit isn't going to give you enough knowledge to write a guidebook, so instead of trying to cover it all, pick a really interesting feature, or aspect, and run with that.

Start with where you live...if you can write a good guide to your neck of the woods, that is the perfect start. Read the site, pick up the style in which we present our ideas, and follow suit. DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT!

TIP! Specifics are very important. Don't generalize, give us the names, addresses, phone numbers, prices and websites. Give us the details we'll need if we want to go there.

Stories should be anywhere from 800 to 2,000 words long. but most of the stories we use are best at about 1400 words. Try to stay focused on the main theme, but don't hesitate to include interesting asides. The only limitation should be the reader's interest.

Specifically, we are accepting queries and articles that fit within the following departments:

* Journeys - A first-person account of a unique journey.

* Features about an aspect of a place or an experience that you can share which provides a special insight into a place, a community or a country.

* Destination guides to your favorite region/city.

TIP! Read this article with travel writing tips from three travel editors!

* Go Local

Know of a way to get really close to the local culture or environment of a destination? Tell us about learning, volunteer or other alternative travel opportunities that really engage you with local culture. With sidebar contact.

* Destinations

Tell us about a specific destination, including travel details sidebar (lodgings, getting there, tours or activities, restaurants, markets, arts, health and safety, etc.) Follow the format of some of the articles on the site. WE CURRENTLY ARE SEEKING MORE STORIES ABOUT WOMEN"S TRAVEL, FAMILY TRAVEL, and features about great travel experiences. We are not as interested in long descriptions of your trip, but of a highlighted event, place or lodging that would really make some else's trip better had they known about it.

Below is a description of what we regularly publish:

DESTINATION MINI-GUIDES

Destination Mini-Guides are shorter guides to a specific, singular destination. Essentially, extended bullet-lists, they include the following info with of course, many photos to show and tell what is worth knowing about for the place you are writing about:

o Destination
o Why Go?
o When to Go
o Getting there and around
o Best Attraction
o Best Unusual Attraction
o Best Activity or Tour
o Best Alternative
o Best Lodgings
o Best Eats
o Best Shopping (if appropriate)
o Note (anything else important)

· Sidebar Requirements

All sidebars must include names of businesses mentioned in the article along with contact information, prices, availability, and amenities. Please include as many relevant web sites as possible.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

For features, query first with a one-page email describing the proposed article, dates of trip, writer's background and/or writing experience, which department the article is for, date of delivery and whether or not the article has been published elsewhere. Don't send us a query that is too long.

Please send us the MSWord file, low res photos, detailed photo captions, a headshot of yourself and a one-sentence bio to accompany your story. Put the headshot in your photo gallery.

Tell us about your publications credits, and indicate availability and format of photographs. Queries are accepted by e-mail, fax or mail. NO PHONE CALLS. Query must include your name, address, phone/fax and e-mail and a SASE for return of materials. Response time for queries is 3-5 weeks.

Unsolicited Articles

GoNOMAD.com also accepts unsolicited feature article submissions, but read our guidelines carefully! Please submit documents as MSWord or text only attachments with your name, address, phone/fax/email and word count on the first page, and your name on each subsequent page.

Photographs

TIP! Use Google's Picasa program, or other similar site to create an online photo gallery and send the link to us. This enables you to write all of the captions and we can easily retrieve the photos to use with your article. Sending many different jpegs wastes a lot of time and we prefer this method.

Make sure that your gallery is viewable to the public.

Do not send jpegs. We receive hundreds and hundreds of stories and the weight of all those jpegs can cause our inbox to crash.

Photos are the biggest challenge we face, and writers who don't submit their photos this way are put on the bottom of our list.

It's best to post them to Picasa and send us a link.

BE SURE THAT YOU OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY PHOTOS YOU SUBMIT!

GoNOMAD will not be liable for any copyright issues regarding unauthorized use of photographs. It is up to you to make sure that we have permission to reprint any other person's photos.

It is best to shoot your own photos and submit only these, or obtain permission from tour operators and tourist boards so that any photos sent to us can be legally used on our site. Please indicate the name of the photographers so that we can put photo credits next to all images.

All photographs must be clearly marked with photographer's name, names of subjects (if possible or applicable), and descriptions of people and places and activities in the photo. In some cases, photographs of people must have subjects' permission for publication. Proof of permission may be required.

Please include a headshot in your image gallery and one-sentence bio of yourself with your submission.

Contact

Queries and submissions may be sent to us by email (editorial@gonomad.com) or mailed to:

Max Hartshorne, Editor
GoNOMAD
P.O. Box 4
8C Sugarloaf St.
South Deerfield, MA 01373

RIGHTS

GoNOMAD purchases First Worldwide Electronic Rights. GoNOMAD retains the right to archive and reprint all articles and guides for four years after initial publication. GoNOMAD has content sharing agreements with several major print-media publishing organizations, so we reserve the right to offer your articles for sale to these outlets. We will of course, pay you for any reuse per our standard reprint rates of between $30-50 per reprint.

We will occasionally purchase reprint rights for material that has not appeared previously in another publication or web site catering to our audience. Simultaneous submissions should be clearly noted.

PAYMENT

Payment is made upon publication. GoNOMAD can offer writers links to their personal or business websites and include writer's email addresses so that readers can provide feedback to you. GoNOMAD pays $25 for features that are sent to us with good photos, captions and the word file. Photos are important and should be included with your submission. We do not pay for book excerpts or reprints, but are happy to review them (1500 words maximum).

Authors who have had articles accepted must email a simple invoice to editor Max Hartshorne with your postal address, phone number and other contact information and a check will be sent to you by mail. If you are overseas, and cannot accept a check in US dollars, we are happy to pay you with Paypal.

Questions? email us editorial@gonomad.com

Deadline: 15 December 2010

After the success of blogging competition TH!NK’s second edition in the run up to the Copenhagen climate summit, TH!NK4 is switching the focus to climate again.

Journalists, students and bloggers are invited to use the competition’s online platform to share their thoughts, as COP16 Mexico approaches.

The competition will open 4 October, and end 15 December, 2010, at TH!NK platform

Prize: Reporting Trip to COP16 in Cancun
You need to register and submit blog posts to the platform by 1st November, 2010 to be eligible to win a reporting trip to COP16 in Cancun. (with support of the European Commission)

Prize: Macbook and FLIP HD
All posts submitted on 4 October - 15 December are eligible for the prizes, Macbook or FLIP HD.

NOTE: All blog entries to the competition need to be in English.

Sign up by registering and submitting one blog post. Registration will enable you to join the competition and your post will be submitted as your first entry. Once registered you will receive a login and full access to blog on COP16 and other climate change issues.

For more information, contact: info@thinkaboutit.eu

Deadline: 31 January 2011

ELIGIBILITY

All high school students, enrolled in 9th through 12th grades, attending public or private schools from the United States and abroad.

Essays must:

• Be written in English
• Be original, unpublished, and written entirely by student
• Contain student’s original opinions and recommendations based on research
• Be at least 1,500 words in length but no more than 2,000 (Citations and bibliography are not included in the word count)
• Be typed, double-spaced with margins: left: 1.5", right: 1", top: 1", bottom: 1", page-numbered
• Include a bibliography
• Comply with standards regarding citations and bibliography

All essays must be submitted online. You can submit your essay by clicking here.

ESSAY TOPIC

The use of military means as a solution to today’s international and national political issues: Diplomacy or war, democracy or military coup?

HOW TO ADDRESS THE TOPIC

Good governance relies upon responsible civic participation, equality, and rule of law. It involves political leadership, bureaucracy, civil society, community leaders and others who play a role in or influence decision-making and the implementation of laws and policies within society. For those who hope to prevent military interventions that lead to the deaths of civilians and the destruction of their country’s political and economic foundation, what are the possible ways to reduce the risk of military interventions, such as military coups, to provide new generations a safer and more democratic world?

• Choose a case-study topic from a country that has experienced a military intervention in its recent history.

• What forms of military interventions happened and why? How did military interventions affect the population and civil institutions in the country?

• Based on your research provide recommendations for national leaders that would prevent conflict and enhance the democratization process in their countries

Awards

1st place : 4,000 USD
2nd place : 2,500 USD
3rd place : 1,000 USD
4th - 20th place : 300 USD
21st - 30th place : Trip to Washington, D.C.

In addition to these awards, all winners who ranked from 1st place to 30th place, will be invited to Washington, D.C. for the award ceremony in March 2011. During their 4-day trip to D.C., students will have the opportunity to meet U.S. Congress members, and visit think tank organizations and tourist attractions including museums.

Winning students' airfare, accommodations, meals, and transportation will be sponsored.

All winners will receive a Certificate of Recognition.

Deadline: 6 February 2011

Amazon.com, along with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. The competition will once again award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.

The Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. If you're an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to learn more about the next Breakthrough Novel Award. Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 24, 2011 and run through February 6, 2011.

1. ELIGIBILITY. You are eligible to enter the Contest if you are at least 13 years old at time of entry and a legal resident of one of the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Québec), China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States (the 50 states and D.C.), or the United Kingdom. If you are considered a minor in your jurisdiction, you must have the permission of a parent (or both parents where required by law) or legal guardian to enter the Contest. If you are not of the legal majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside, your parent or legal guardian will be responsible for fulfilling all of the requirements set forth in these Official Rules. You are not eligible to enter the Contest if you are (a) our or Publishers Weekly’s employee or independent contractor; (b) a family member (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) of our or Publishers Weekly’s employee; (c) an individual living in the same household as our or Publishers Weekly’s employee or independent contractor; or (d) a judge involved in the Contest, including any reviewer who participates in selecting the Quarter-Finalists. To be eligible to become a Grand Prize winner ("Winner"), you must be available to travel to the location of the Grand Prize event ("Venue") for a three to five-night trip, which trip will take place between June 9, 2011 and June 15, 2011 (we will determine and announce the exact dates of the trip). We may waive the requirement for you to travel to the Venue if, in our sole discretion, extraordinary circumstances outside your control would prevent you from traveling.

2. HOW TO ENTER. We must receive your Contest entry between January 24, 2011 at 12:01 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and February 6, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time). The young adult fiction category and the general fiction category are each limited to 5,000 Entries, and we will stop accepting Entries for a category after we have received 5,000 Entries in that category. You must register at www.CreateSpace.com/abna to enter the Contest. Once you have registered, follow the instructions on the entry form and upload: (1) the complete version of your manuscript ("Manuscript"); (2) up to the first 5,000 words, but not less than 3,000 words, of your Manuscript, excluding any table of contents, foreword, and acknowledgments ("Excerpt"); (3) a pitch of your Manuscript consisting of up to 300 words ("Pitch"); and (4) the personal information required on the entry form. (1-4 collectively, an "Entry"). We will not accept or review any Entry that does not comply with these Official Rules.

3. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS. You must be the only author of your Manuscript, and your Manuscript must be a novel between 50,000 and 150,000 words. Any Manuscript submitted as an Entry written by two or more authors will not be eligible. Additionally, poems, short stories, and collections of works are not eligible. Your Manuscript, Excerpt, and Pitch must: (a) be your original creation; (b) be fictional; (c) be in the English language; (d) be of interior black and white text without images; (e) not currently or previously have been the subject of a publishing agreement with any publishing house (but you may submit your self-published novel if you retain all worldwide distribution rights in and to the novel); (f) not include your name anywhere in the Manuscript, Excerpt, or the Pitch; and (g) meet the content guidelines found at http://www.amazon.com/contentguidelines (which are incorporated in to these Official Rules by this reference). Additionally, you must submit your Manuscript digitally in Microsoft Word .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. Any entry that we determine, in our sole discretion, to meet these requirements will be considered a "Valid Entry.” You may be represented by an agent on the condition that you - not your agent - agree to comply with these Official Rules. Our servers and clock will be the official clock for all phases of the Contest, and your proof of submission is not proof that we received your Entry. You may only submit one Entry for only one category. If you submit more than one Entry, the first Entry that we receive will be the judged Entry, and any subsequent Entries you submit will be void and disregarded.

Last weekend the three of us went to Piura, Peru for a short trip. The main reason for the trip was to attempt to fix the immigration status of Christina and myself. In order to do that we both had to leave the country for a while and re-enter. Christina needed to do it to register herself as an Ecuadorian citizen (despite the fact that her birth certificate is legally registered here in Ecuador and she has an Ecuadorian passport - neither of which were easy to do - she still had to leave the country and come back in again so that they could put her name in the computer at the border). And I had to leave the country and re-enter again to renew my visa. Since both of us came in on tourist visas that had already expired (yes, we should have renewed them before they expired; and no, we didn't do it in time), we were required to pay a fine, to the tune of $200 each (ouch!).

Before we left we were aware of the issue with the fine so we tried to pull a few "palancas" to see if we could get out of it. Lucho's sister, Narcissa, knows some of the heavyweights at the police station so we went to see one of them to ask for his help. He took us to the office of the Migration Police in Loja and the woman there looked at our passports and told us that there was no way we could avoid paying the $200 fine for Christina but since my visa was a little different I didn't have to pay the fine. She told us to go down to Macará (a border town about 3.5 hours away), cross the border, hang out for a few hours and come back to renew our visas. She was going to personally call the staff at the border and let them know that we were coming. That was on Wednesday. We decided to leave on Saturday and spend the night in Piura, Peru because Lucho's friend had told us that food and lodging were cheap and there were lots of shopping opportunities.

So Saturday morning we drove down to Macará and hired someone to drive us to Piura (for various reasons Lucho did not want to drive in Peru). After a quick lunch we piled into our guide, Patricio's, air-conditioned SUV (a welcome change from our truck because it was hot and humid in Macará) and headed to the border (about a 5 minute drive away). The policeman who reviewed our passports looked to be one of those stereotypical arrogant bureaucrats; one of those guys who uses his limited power to drive home the fact that he is "in charge" for the moment. When we arrived he was chastizing a young guy for not renewing his visa in time. We asked him if someone from Loja had called him to inform him that we were coming. He answered, "No". I had a sinking feeling. As he was taking his sweet time reviewing our passports Christina started to get antsy, so I took her to the car (fortunately Patricio had left the car running with the air conditioning on) and kept her busy playing with her dolls. The next time I looked up I saw Mr. Arrogant waving my passport around and shouting something about the "multa" (fine). Then Lucho was making calls on his cell and Mr. Arrogant was making calls on his cell with my passport flying around in his hands. Finally Lucho and Patricio came back and said that the police weren't going to let me get by without paying the fine. To make matters worse, the fine had to be paid at the bank, and it was Saturday afternoon and the banks were closed. We could have waited in Macará until Monday, but Christina only had 24 hours to leave and come back to get her official stamp. We were stuck. Lucho and Patricio even tried to bribe Mr. Arrogant, but it didn't work. Then we were told that we could get some kind of temporary pass to go to Piura for the night, return to Ecuador on Sunday, and register Christina as a dual citizen when we crossed the border. Then we could stay the night in Macará, pay the fine at the bank Monday morning, cross the border, come back, and renew my visa. We really didn't have to go all the way to Piura on Saturday night, but we had already contracted with Patricio for the drive, and we were curious to see what the city was like. So we took the temporary passes and headed to Piura.

As soon as we crossed over the border we noticed that the all the cars and taxis in Peru were much older and worn-out than the ones in Ecuador. Peru, at least northern Peru, appears to be a lot poorer than Ecuador. As we drove along the mountains gave way and we found ourselves in a flat, hot, dusty valley. Patricio told us that there were very few local buses or trucks for hire in this part of Peru, and that in place of buses people moved around old, white Toyota Corolla hatchbacks. We passed lots of them, filled to the brim with people, and piled high on top with stuff, the spot in the back was called the "suitcase" spot and that person paid half price. Patricio said that he had seen people transport animals, even a cow (not sure if I believe that one) in these old vehicles.

In the cities most of the vehicles were moto-taxis (motorcycles attached to a small carriage-like seat) or small yellow taxis. The first relatively big city that we went through, Sullana, was full of moto-taxis. According to Patricio, 90% of the taxis were thieves and if you took one there was a better chance that he would rip you off rather than take you to your destination. This may or may not be true, but at any rate, we just drove through town in our SUV and took pictures of the taxis from the window. Shortly thereafter we arrived in Piura and found our hotel. Piura was also filled with moto-taxis and small yellow taxis. One of the benefits of this is that the pollution level on the streets was much less than what you would find in the average Ecuadorian city with its multitudes of smoke-spewing diesel buses. The noise level was a little less, but not much, because Peruvian taxi drivers honk their horns constantly. There was also a pervasive chemical-like smell, that I think was from the pesticides that were sprayed in the nearby fields.

Once we had checked into our hotel (which turned out to be about twice the price of what we had been told it would be) we decided to check out the town, looking for the famous low priced merchandise. There were lots of stores, and things like clothes and shoes were definitely cheaper than Ecuador, but the styles and quality weren't very good. After trying to squeeze into many extremely tight (supposedly size large) blouses, I decided to give up trying to find clothes that I like in this part of the world. Everything around here is just too tight, too low-cut, too ruffly, or too sparkly for my taste. Plus the material is about the thickness of tissue paper. That must be why the shirts only cost about $3 each.

The Friday before our trip Christina had come home from school with the desire to get her face painted. Apparently her teacher had painted a couple of her classmate's faces but had run out of time to paint hers. So on Saturday morning, as we were leaving Loja, she started saying "I want to paint my face!". We explained to her that face painting was usually done during special occasions, like birthday parties, but it was like talking to a brick wall. As the day wore on she became more insistent. "I WANT TO PAINT MY FACE", became her refrain. Fortunately for us, as we were walking around Piura on Saturday night, we ran across some women who were painting kid's faces for about $1 each. Christina got a butterfly on her face, with lots of glitter. When we got back to the hotel she made me take a ton of pictures of her with the face paint before we washed it off in the shower. But, I was happy because I thought she had been "cured" of the face painting bug.

The next morning we decided that clothes shopping in Piura was a waste of time so we asked Patricio to take us somewhere that where we could buy handicrafts. He said there was a place about 10 minutes to the south called Catacaos, where there were lots of items to buy. While we were eating breakfast, Christina started in with her refrain, "I WANT TO PAINT MY FACE!". Throughout the day she would repeat it over and over again. Later she would start getting mad because were weren't asking people were we could find someone to paint her face.

Catacaos turned out to be a nice little town with lots of cute, crafty things to buy. I bought some jewelry and Lucho purchased a set of vases with interesting geometric patterns. While we were checking out the crafts a young kid approached us and gave us a flyer about a place called Narihualla where there were ruins and a museum about the Tallan civilization. We had some time to kill so we decided to check it out. On the way there our guide filled us in on the Tallanes. Apparently they were a matriarchial society. According to our young guide, the men stayed home and took care of the children and the women went out to hunt and work in the fields. When we arrived at the museum we were approached by a group of kids, and one of them offered to be our guide. With the two kids as our guides we entered the museum. It was small but neat and organized. Our new guide showed us some of the artifacts, including some hammer-looking things that he said were used by the Tallans to sacrifice their children to the gods (ugh). Then we walked around the ruins, which looked to me like a big, dusty hole in the ground with a nice view of the countryside. There was also an old church on the site, long since abandoned. Once back at the museum we ran into a group of "Perros Viringos" or Peruvian Hairless Dogs. According to local legend these dogs will cure allergies, asthma and reumatism. All you have to do is sleep in the same bed with them. This appears to be the same species of dog that Peru offered to Barack Obama for his allergic daughter.

On the way back from Narihualla I was talking with our guide and I found out that his name was Cristian and he was 10 years old. He had 2 sisters, and the oldest one was a driver of one of those moto-taxis. Back in Catacaos, we ate an excellent lunch of traditional Peruvian food at a local restaurant, paid Cristian for his services, and headed back for Ecuador. It was about a 3 hour drive and along the way Christina remembered that she wanted to paint her face. She repeated her request over, and over, and over again (in English and Spanish) throughout the trip. Our attempts to explain to her that face painting is not a common activity on Pan-American Highway between Piura, Peru and Macará, Ecuador fell on deaf ears. She was convinced that we could find someone to paint her face, if we just looked hard enough. With that refrain in the background we arrived at the border between Peru and Ecuador. Crossing over was uneventful and they stamped Christina's passport with the necessary stamp and entered her into the computer as a dual citizen of Ecuador and the United States.

That night we stayed in Macará in a hotel that was a lot newer, cleaner, and cheaper than the one we had stayed at in Piura. The next morning Christina woke up with one thought in her head - she wanted to paint her face! (surprise, surprise). We told her to look out for kids with painted faces and to let us know if she saw one so that we could ask them were they painted their faces. That seemed to distract her (a bit). After breakfast Lucho went to the bank to pay the fine while I got our suitcases together. Then we called Patricio and asked to help us at the border. He took us down there and helped us bribe the Peruvian border guards so that they would give us an entrance and exit visa on the same day (to avoid spending another night). Luckily it was a different Ecuadorian guard this time and he was the "nice" one. He stamped my passport and gave me the coveted 3 month visa. Now I'm legal again in this country and next week Lucho is going to Quito to submit the paperwork (again) to request my resident visa. We're all crossing our fingers that it goes through this time!

On Tuesday Christina went back to school and came home with... a painted face!!! Apparently her teacher had the time to paint all the kids in her class that day. Since then she hasn't been asking to paint her face evey 5 minutes. Seems like the face-painting fever has passed. Whew!

Deadline: 30 March 2011

Emir Abd el-Kader, a 19th century world-renowned Arab hero, was admired by Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria, Pope Pius IX, Sir Richard Burton and countless Muslims for his moral courage, generosity, learning and selfrestraint.

Abd el-Kader was a philosopher and seeker of wisdom, man of peace, warrior, statesman, puritan, humanitarian, poet, scholar and was tolerant of all faiths. Upon his death in 1883, The New York Times hailed him as ”one of the few great men of the century.” In 1846, the founders of an Iowa community chose to honor him by naming their town Elkader.

Essay Objectives. Based on the inspiring life of Emir Abd el-Kader, the essay contest encourages learning about our global society and building bridges of respect, tolerance and cross-cultural understanding between the east and west. Students are asked to evaluate the significance of Abd el-Kader’s courageous life of struggle during peace, war, imprisonment, and exile as applied to current events in America and the world. The core resource for contest participants is Commander of the Faithful, a biography of Abd el-Kader, written in an accessible and dramatic manner, engaging the reader on many levels: historical, cultural, ethical and philosophical.

Essay Eligibility.

Iowa high school juniors and seniors. Each participant must designate a teacher/mentor at their school as their essay “coach” to guide them.

Iowa Scholarships:

1st Place student receives $2,000 plus Teacher/Mentor receives $500
2nd Place student receives $1,000
3rd Place student receives $ 500

*Elkader’s 1st place student receives $500 (if not in top 3 above) plus an educational Washington DC trip.

The student’s teacher/mentor also wins the DC trip. Airfare and two nights lodging are compliments of the Algerian Embassy. Elkader essay participants are also eligible for the overall Iowa scholarships listed above.

Essay Requirements.

1) Submit form (below) to receive more information about the contest before November 30, 2010.
2) Read Commander of the Faithful: The Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader 1808-1883 by John W. Kiser
For more information about the book and author, go to www.truejihad.com.
3) Write a 1500 - 2000 word essay addressing both of the following questions:
a) What stands out in Abd el-Kader’s life that is relevant to you in living your own life?
b) Why does his story and legacy deserve remembering today?
4) Final Essays (with artifacts/supporting documents, if desired) must be received by March 30, 2011.

Spring 2011 Workshop Seminar. Teacher/mentors coaching essay students will be invited to a free two-day seminar. Dates and venues to be determined. The seminars will be conducted by Barbara Petzen, Education Director of the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) in Washington DC. She has taught non-partisan workshops on how to teach about the Middle East and Islam to educators in 45 states and over 200 cities across the U.S.

Deadline: 11 May 2011

Winner will travel to the East African nation to document the Impact of microfinance on women; Contest entry period officially began on April 13 and runs through May 11.

In celebration of its “Banking on Women” campaign, Opportunity International, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing access to savings accounts, small business loans and financial services to people working their way out of poverty in the developing world, today launched its Tanzania Correspondent Contest.

The first-place winner of the Tanzania Correspondent Contest will travel to the United Republic of Tanzania with Opportunity International’s Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO). There, the contest winner will use his or her creative writing skills, photography know-how and/or video production expertise to help the non-profit tell the story of how women in the East African nation can become leaders and change agents within their communities, when given access to small business loans and other financial services.

For impoverished women, secure banking services have remained largely out of reach due to a lack of proper identification required to open a bank account. For many, an Opportunity International bank card is their first step toward establishing formal identification. To give women in the developing world safe, secure access to banking services, Opportunity deploys cutting-edge technologies such as smart cards and biometric fingerprint readers. With biometric fingerprint technology, Opportunity is able to ensure that no one else, not even her spouse or his relatives, can take money out of her account. To access her savings, a client simply inserts the card and presses her finger to the screen. Greater control over her family’s resources can lead to expanded economic opportunities and a stronger voice in family and community matters.

About the Tanzania Correspondent Contest

Opportunity International’s Tanzania Correspondent contest is open to all U.S. residents, aged 21 and older. The contest entry period is from Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 3:01 p.m. (CT) to Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. (CT). Contestants can enter by visiting http://www.facebook.com/opportunityintl and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the essay entry form.

Submitted entries will need to include a 100 words, or less, essay explaining what the contestant hopes to learn from Opportunity’s clients, if the contestant were to travel on the Opportunity International Insight Trip. The essay should also address how the contestant would use story-telling skills, such as photography, video production, and creative writing, to document the impact that Opportunity’s programs and services are making on the women of Tanzania.

Ten runners-up in the contest will be announced on May 13, 2011. Runners-up will be notified by e-mail within 24 hours of their selection. Between 12:01 a.m. CT on May 14, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. (CT) on May 25, 2011, the public will vote to determine the contest winner, online at http://www.opportunity.org/contest.

The three contest entries with the most votes will be announced as winners on the Opportunity International website within 24 hours of the contest’s conclusion. Winners will also be notified by e-mail within 24 hours of the voting deadline with corresponding details for first, second or third-place, respectively.

The first place winner will visit Opportunity International’s operations in Tanzania during the organization’s YAO Insight Trip that is scheduled for July 31, 2011 - August 6, 2011. The prize includes roundtrip coach airfare, hotel, ground transportation in Tanzania, all meals, translator services, emergency evacuation insurance, and partner and staff costs. The second place winner will receive two tickets and hotel for Opportunity International’s Microfinance Conference, scheduled for October 14-15, 2011 in San Francisco. The third-place winner will receive a $100 Opportunity International gift card, which they can then use to fund a small business loan for one of the organization’s clients, by visiting http://www.opportunity.org/contest.

Official contest rules are available at http://www.opportunity.org/contest.

Contact Information:

For inquiries: suzanne@id8marketing.com

For submissions: click here

Website: http://www.opportunity.org

Deadline: 29 October 2010

Young Reporters Against Poverty is a chance for European journalism students to receive hands-on training about development, the EU and how to report live from the European Development Days.

A handpicked group of 33 finalists will be selected to attend this year's European Development Days, to be held in Brussels in early December 2010. After receiving hands-on training to assist them in their live reporting of the event, the finalists then have one week to perfect their best article/broadcast, to be presented to a jury of professional journalists and media professionals.

Three overall winners will then be selected for the press trip of a lifetime – to Africa.

How to enter

Journalism students can enter the competition by submitting a written article (1000 words max.) OR radio broadcast (MP3 format, 3 minutes max.) in their native language (one of EU 23 official languages) on the subject of 'EU development assistance' between 20 September and 29 October 2010. The focus should be "aid" (excluding humanitarian or emergency assistance) to support the economic, social and political development of developing countries.

To avoid disappointment, please do not leave your application until the last minute. There could be server problems related to the amount of activity on these last days.

Deadline: 1 May 2011

In 1999, ADEA established an award to encourage African journalists to produce high-quality, relevant and accurate articles on education in Africa. The Akintola Fatoyinbo Africa Education Journalism Award recognizes those African journalists who have authored articles on subjects relating to education in Africa, written in English, French or Portuguese and published in the African press. The sixth award competition was launched on July 6, 2010. Articles will be accepted until May 1, 2011.

The award will be granted every two years to six prizewinners: two journalists for entries in French, two journalists for entries in English, and two journalists for entries in Portuguese.

Any article related to education in Africa written by an African journalist in English, French or Portuguese and published in a periodical distributed in Africa (daily, weekly, monthly, or other period) is eligible for the competition. A journalist may submit one, two or three published articles. Articles that have already been submitted once may not be resubmitted for future competitions.

To be eligible, articles must be recent. For the sixth competition, the article must have been published after January 1st, 2010.

Articles must be sent before May 1st 2011 to the ADEA Secretariat at the following address:

Africa Education Journalism Award, ADEA Secretariat
African Development Bank (AfDB), Temporary Relocation Agency (ATR)
13 avenue du Ghana - BP 323 - 1002 Tunis Belvédère - Tunisia
Tel.: +216 71 10 39 86
Fax: +216/ 71 25 26 69
E-mail: adeajournalismaward@afdb.org

The submission package must include:

* A photocopy of the newspaper in which the article appeared (in the original language of publication)
* The article in electronic format
* The application form (attached document). This document will include:
- The first name, surname and contact details of the journalist;
- The references of the newspaper in which the article appeared (title, address and place of publication);
- The first name, surname and contact details of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper in which the article was published.

The jury will be made up of Francophone, Anglophone and Lusophone education specialists and journalists who are well known as authorities in their respective fields and for their thorough knowledge of Africa. The jury will meet to select the six best articles according to the following criteria: relevance, objectivity, rigorous analysis, originality, quality of writing, and value for education.

The six winners, as well as the editors-in-chief of the periodicals in which the articles appeared, will be invited by ADEA to participate in a study trip aimed at furthering their professional development in the field of educational journalism.

There will be first and second place awards in each language category (English, French and Portuguese). First-prize winners will receive €4,000 and second-prize winners €2,000.
This monetary award and study visit compose a whole and are non-negotiable in any details.

Winners are expected to handle all administrative procedures involving the embassies concerned in order to obtain the visas they will need for their study trip.

ADEA disclaims all liability should the competition be postponed for reasons which are beyond its control.

Articles published between January 1st 2010 and May 1st 2011 will be accepted. Articles will be received until May 1, 2011.

The rules of the competition are lodged with SCP Daigremont-Chapuis, Huissiers de justice, 10, rue Pergolese, 75116 Paris.

What We Look For

You want to write a travel article for us, but you’re not really sure, what we look for? Below you find a short selection of topics we might be interested in:

* Travelogues from far-off-the-beaten-track countries, like Afghanistan, North Korea or Congo
* Articles about activities like sky diving, diving (apnoe & scuba) or paintball
* Travel advice and information about various countries
* Experimental travel (e.g. no bags, no accomodation)
* Trekking guides for various countries
* People images
* Traditional festivals from around the world
* Volunteering around the globe
* Pre-trip planning & post-trip depressions :)
* Full-time travel

You can always pitch your idea to us. We will let you know if we are interested!

We pay 10 EUR for each published user-submitted article and 3 EUR for an image post. Write more, travel longer.

Article Submission Guidelines

There really isn’t much to it. You should be able to write well and/or take great pictures. Basically there are two types of posts we are looking for.

Full Article

This is your normal blog post, mixed text and images. There are many travel blogs out there that bring a varied mix of articles. You can find anything from ‘The Top Ten Tips To Travel Light’ to ‘A Small Guide To Spirituality In India’. Obviously these kinds of posts do have their place in the blogosphere, but it’s not really what we’re looking for. We like to publish stuff that we’d like to read and experience ourselves. So something like ‘Crossing The Kyber Pass Into Afghanistan’ or ‘North Korean Travel Experiences’ would be right up our alley. Saying this, we won’t say no to a well written, funny or provoking article that falls into the above mentioned categories. You can always try and pitch us your idea as well. At the moment we pay 10 EUR via PayPal for any published article. The length should not exceed 1200 words.

Image Post

This is exactly what it says. One image and a short paragraph or two about it. The image should show something unique. So rather than an image of a beach, one showing a person would have better chances. The going rate for an image post is 3 EUR at the moment. The word count should be between 30 and 100.

Formating Guide (see here)

Payment

Now we come to the juicy details. We always pay on the 5th of the following month (10 EUR for an article and 3 EUR for an image post). Here the important date is the publishing date, not the submission date. Sometimes we will keep articles back, even though they have been approved already. This mainly happens when too many articles are in the works already.

At the moment we can only use PayPal, so you will need to have an account there to accept payment. We don’t do checks, cash or money transfers. Later we might accept other payment options, but for now it’s only PayPal.

Legalities

By submitting any type of content to Travel-Junkie you declare that you hold the copyright to all images and text. You also consent that you will not publish the submitted content any place else. Your copyright is in no way affected by this. Should we find you in violation of these rules, then we will suspend your account on Travel-Junkie. If you are in any way concerned about how you can use our content, then please contact us.

Submit your article here.

Deadline: 31 October 2010

This year, we've decided to offer you more creative freedom and yes, we have 2 fun and exciting themes to work with – go wild and let your thoughts and imaginations run free.

This is YOUR chance to explore South Africa’s National Parks...with words.

Themes

* "Unforgettable moments in the Wild"
* "Animal Encounters to Remember"

We have decided on 7 different categories

* Short Stories (real account) (1 000 - 2 500 words)

* Essays
o Adults (4 000 words)
o Children (2 000 words)

* Photo Essays

Please keep images to 300kb and under and allow your powerful images tell a story of your experience (but making sure it is aligned to our two themes.) Please include captions for the images as well as a brief essay.

o Adults (10-20 images)
o Children (5-10)

* Poetry (50– 150 words)

* Trip Reports (accounts of real trips to the Parks)

Material submitted in this category should comprise of an engagingly written account/report of a trip to a SANParks park over the last 12 months. Reports in this category should convey a strong sense of place.

* Stories (real account) by Children (ages 8 - 12)
* Stories (real account) by Children (ages 13 - 17)

Prizes

* Prizes to the total value of R30 000 will be distributed to the winners and will include accommodation and branded merchandise.

Competition Rules

* Your entry/entries must make reference to the competition theme.
* Your entry/entries must be original, in English, unpublished and not accepted by any other publisher or producer at the time of submission.
* This is an online initiative and as such only electronic copy will be accepted.
* Entrants should submit their writing via e-mail as attached word documents to melanieg@sanparks.org with the subject line of the e-mail clearly stating:
o Writing Competition and Category (e.g. 2010 Writing Competition: Poetry).
* Each word document should also be prefaced by the following information.

o Name: Joe Blob
o Postal Address: P.O. Box xyz
o Physical Address
o Nationality: South African
o Cellphone/mobile (if a minor - please send through guardian's number): 6843754733
o Land Line: 7632654p48
o E-mail: xyz@email.com
o Category: Poetry
o Word Count: 157

* You can enter more than one piece of writing. If you do however; each piece must have a category clearly indicated in the upper left-hand corner. This information will be entered into our database and confirmation of receipt will be sent to you.

Judging and Notification

* Entries accepted for display are determined at the discretion of the Web Content Editor.
* Every entry will be read by the Web Content Editor. The Web Content Editor reserves the right to re-categorise entries.
* The entries in each category deemed suitable for publication will be made available on the SANParks website, where they will be publicly judged in an electronic poll (on the Forums), hosted on the SANParks site. Voters will be required to fill a simple electronic voting form.
* You will receive notification of the receipt of your manuscript via e-mail.
* Entries must be received by 12 noon 31 October 2010.

Privacy

* SANParks retains the right to use your entries in future publications, print and online. Your manuscripts will not be made available to third parties.
* For more information visit www.sanparks.org or e-mail the competition co-ordinator at melanieg@sanparks.org.

Deadline: 20 March 2011

Journalists and their media organisations around the world are invited to submit entries for the Global Energy Prize's Energy of Word award at http://www.globalenergyprize.org/en/request/pen/new. The prize is open to writers who submit published work in any language which tells a captivating and illuminating story in the field of Energy.

The competition aims to reward those who contribute to public awareness of the energy challenges faced worldwide and scientific innovations which provide new energy efficiencies. Entries are evaluated for their depth, objectivity, style, and relevance to society. This includes articles, opinion pieces, interviews and photojournalism published in journals, magazines and newspapers (including those published online), as well as radio and television programmes and documentary films. Entries do not need to reference the Global Energy Prize or any of its sponsors, and may have been published at any time between 1 March 2010 and 1 March 2011.

Applications will be accepted until March 20th 2011 and winners will be announced in April 2011. Submitting work for consideration takes only a few minutes, candidates can enter here: http://www.globalenergyprize.org/en/request/pen/new. Winners receive a week-long all-expenses-paid trip to St Petersburg, Russia, in June 2011 and an exclusive interview with a Russian VIP, yet to be determined.

The Energy of Word award winner's trip to Russia will include the opportunity to attend events associated with the Global Energy Prize Laureates' Week (13-19 June) and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (16-18 June). This will include an invitation to attend the Global Energy Award Ceremony, which is presided over by the President of Russia.

The Energy of Word award was established by the organisers of the Global Energy Prize, one of the world's most respected awards in energy development, awarding US$1m annually for scientific breakthroughs and bringing international recognition to energy efficiency innovators. The degree to which a development contributes to the benefit of humanity is a key driver in deciding the recipient of the prize. Since its inception in 2002, the Global Energy Prize has been granted to 22 scientists from around the globe, including past laureates from Great Britain, Iceland, Canada, Russia, the US, France, Germany and Japan.

Media Contacts:

Glen Cameron or Laura Suisted
SweeneyVesty
glen@sweeneyvesty.co.uk
laura@sweeneyvesty.co.uk
+44(0)20-3178-5710

About the project

Energy of Word is an international media competition established in 2004 by the non-commercial partnership on development of the international researches and projects in the field of energetic "Global Energy". It is aimed to reward the mass media and individual journalists for the contribution to popularizing energy related problems. Since 2010 the Energy of Word Award is working under the aegis of the PRESSzvanie International Award of Business Journalism.

Entry terms

Works by the foreign, federal and regional mass media journalists covering energy related events of any country and published during the current year are eligible to enter.

The works are entitled to be nominated for the prize by:

* The authors;
* The mass media;
* The mass media creative teams;
* Journalist public organizations;
* Publishing houses both on the territory of Russia and abroad.

The authors of works with the most interesting and extent coverage of the energy related problems will become the nominees.

The entry deadline is March 20 2011.

The entries evaluation

The entries will be judged by the Expert council and the Jury formed after the Executive Board recommendations and approved by the Partners Assembly.

Authors’ and mass media names are concealed before the Executive Board members and the Jury get the access to the works.

Evaluation criteria:

* Energy related subject
* The subject’s relevance and social significance
* Competence in the subject
* Information analysis, the extent of theme elaboration
* Objectivity of the author’s approach
* Independence of the author’s position
* Literary skills

Awards

The award ceremony takes place in St. Petersburg during the Laureate`s Week of The Global Energy Prize.

The winner is awarded with the Global Energy Prize and is entitled to put his palmprint in the cement trophy.

The second and third best nominees are awarded with honorary diplomas.

No financial reward is provided.

Submit here.

Call for Stories - Love, InshAllah Anthology: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women 02/28/2011

Posta Kenya Letter Writing Competition for Young People 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Chief Editor for COMESA (nationals of Eastern and Southern Africa are invited to apply) 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Publisher/ Managing Editor for Fleet Street Publications (South Africa) 02/28/2011

Call for Submissions: AfrikaBilder im Wandel 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Editorial Assistant for Business Brief (South Africa) 02/28/2011

Call for Submissions: "Islam" Issue of 8 Magazine 02/28/2011

Call for Applications: Greenhouse Mediterranean Documentary Film Development Program (Algeria/ Egypt/ Morocco/ Tunisia) 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Assistant Editor for Beeld South Africa 02/28/2011

Freelance Journalist Wanted at Rimor Media Ltd (Nigeria) 02/28/2011

Northstar Poetry Contest: Allah’s Mercy to Mankind 02/28/2011

McGraw Hill's 2nd Annual Black History Month Essay Contest (USA) 02/28/2011

World Urban Youth Assembly International Essay Competition: Win a Netbook and Trip to Brazil 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Assistant Editor for Sondag (South Africa) 02/28/2011

African American Heritage Month Student Creative Writing Competition (Los Angeles) 02/28/2011

Job Opening: Sub-Editor for The Catholic Newspapers & Publishing (South Africa) 02/28/2011

The EUR10,000 Digital Heretics/ International Journalism Festival Journalism Award 2011 02/28/2011

Deadline: 1 March 2011

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: WOMEN & NEW MEDIA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION, ISIS CENTER FOR WOMEN & DEVELOPMENT

June 24, 25, 26, 2011 – Fez, Morocco – Palais des Congres

With the growing dominance of the Internet, blog, chat and mobile telephony, the great “big bang” of the new media has begun. Communication is rapidly changing and becoming mobile, interactive, personalized and multi-channel. This extraordinary revolution is affecting the basic structure of Mediterranean societies, especially those in the south, and is raising various discussions and debates that profoundly impact women: the rapid transformation of the boundaries between the public and the private spaces, the relationship between new technology, orality and women’s literature, changes in the relationship between written and oral languages, the increasing use of mother tongues (mainly oral) in the field of education, and the challenges of new transmissions of women’s knowledges.

These issues are the five main axes of the International Congress Forum on “Women and New Media in the Mediterranean Region”, to be held on June 24, 25 and 26, 2011 at the Palais des Congrès, Fez, Morocco :

1. The transformation of the relationship “gender and public space / private space” in the era of new media
2. New media, orality and literature Women
3.Femmes, written languages and mother tongues
4. The new media and education
5. The challenge of new transmissions of women’s knowledge

Papers may be in Arabic, French or English and will last 15-20 minutes.

The deadline for receiving abstracts is March 1, 2011.

The successful participants will be notified by March 31, 2011, and the completed papers need to be emailed send before June 1, 2011.

Participants are responsible for their trip and lodging expenses.

Deadline: 20 August 2011 for Long Beach, 11 March 2011 for Oxford

We are looking for the next generation of innovators who have demonstrated remarkable accomplishment and outstanding potential to positively affect the world.

Who should apply

We are looking for an eclectic, heterogeneous group of young thinkers and doers from the fields of technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, engineering, humanities, the arts, economics, business, journalism, entrepreneurship and NGOs.

At TED, we can take risks on unconventional innovators. We value achievement over credentials -- making and doing over merely talking.

We are targeting applicants of ages 21-40 from five target regions: Africa, Asia/Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East. However, anyone over the age 18 from around the world is welcome to apply.

How to apply

To apply to become a TED Fellow, please complete the application form in its entirety. (Before beginning the application, please review our applications tips and our terms and conditions.)

In addition to basic details and contact information, the application asks applicants to answer essay questions and provide three references. Applications must be received complete and on time to be considered.

The application cycles for TED and TEDGlobal are different. Applicants apply to one conference.

The selection process

TED Fellows are selected by the program staff.

Once a year, an international selection committee meets to select the TED Senior Fellows for the following year.

The selection committee is comprised of people who represent the breadth of interest and achievement that makes up the TED community. Committee members bring experiences from various fields and come from countries representing our target regions. Selections are made by the group as a whole, not by individuals.

The application process

Due to the volume of applications, incomplete and late applications cannot be considered.

Misrepresentation of information on the application will result in immediate disqualification.

Privacy note: All application content will remain strictly confidential and will be used for internal review and communication purposes only; we will never share your information with a third party. References are also submitted in complete confidence.

Non-discrimination policy

TED is committed to the principle of equal opportunity.

TED does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, veteran or refugee status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its fellowship opportunities.

During the fellowship

All Fellows must attend all pre-conference and conference events. Late arrival and early departure from the conference are grounds for dismissal.

Any behavior that could bring discredit to the TED Fellows program is grounds for immediate dismissal from the program at TED's sole discretion.

Conference attendance is non-transferable. If a Fellow or Senior Fellow is unable to attend a conference, no one may attend in the Fellow's place.

All pre-conference and conference related events are intended for Fellows and conference attendees only. We cannot accommodate spouses, children or friends.

Upon acceptance into the TED Senior Fellows Program, individuals will be asked to sign a contract outlining the conditions of the Fellowship. Various stipulations of the contract include: intent to fully participate in four pre-conferences and conferences (TED and TEDGlobal) over the subsequent two years. TED must be notified no later than 90 days prior to the conference if a Senior Fellow will be missing. Failure to attend one conference without notice will result in immediate removal from the program. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

TED pays for round-trip economy airfare, ground transportation to and from the conference location, and meals and shared accommodation on site. TED does not cover hotel incidental expenses.

In addition to the above terms and conditions, all Fellows and Senior Fellows must comply with all terms and conditions of TED registration, as well as TED.com terms of use.

Upcoming TED Fellows application dates

There are two admission cycles per year: one for TED in Long Beach and one for TEDGlobal in Oxford (with the exception of an additional cycle in 2009 with TEDIndia). We will accept 25 Fellows to each conference.

TED

TED2011 Conference timeline:
June 21, 2010 - TED2011 Fellows applications OPEN
August 20, 2010 - TED2011 Fellows applications CLOSE

TED in Oxford

2011 TEDGlobal Conference timeline:
January 17, 2011 - TEDGlobal 2011 applications OPEN
March 11, 2011 - TEDGlobal 2011 applications CLOSE

Application form

Application tips

Program FAQ

Deadline: 16 October 2010

The closing date for entries for the OR Tambo Edu-Tour Essay Writing Competition has been extended to Saturday, October 16. Ten winners will be chosen for a seven-day, all-expenses-paid educational trip to Mazimbu, Tanzania, where the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (Somafco), an ANC political school in the early 1970s, was based. The competition is organised by the Somafco Trust – an education, youth development and civil society organisation – and the Independent Development Trust, in partnership with SAfm. Entrants must be South African citizens and have a valid South African passport.

The four topics to choose from are:

» The education initiative I am involved in is a conduit for African renewal – expand and motivate.

» The initiative I am involved in is improving education in my community in an innovative manner and has produced tangible results – explain the innovation(s) and demonstrate the outcomes.

» How does my initiative uniquely combine education and cultural diversity to promote tolerance.

» What role can ordinary South Africans play in improving education in SA?

Entrants must be between 21 and 35, have been active in a registered entity/ initiative with at least 10 people, mostly youth, for the past 36 months. The competition is named after late ANC president OR Tambo, who was key in Somafco’s establishment. Essays must be sent in Microsoft Word format (Arial font, size 11 with double spacing) via e-mail to oredutours@idt.org.za

More information here/here.

Deadline: 30 April 2011

Background

The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) annual Awards aim to : 1) recognize outstanding contributions made by individuals/organizations to strategic HIV/AIDS communication, 2) encourage innovation and quality in strategic communication, 3) enhance appreciation of strategic communication as a necessary tool for effective health and development programs and 4) acknowledge programmes, tools and productions that advance strategic communication and can be adapted and applied elsewhere.
image

Eligibility

* Individuals and organizations implementing HIV and AIDS initiatives, campaigns, productions and tools that advance the field of strategic communication and can be evaluated, adapted and applied elsewhere
* The nominated initiative must have been implemented in Africa.
* At least one person involved in the initiatives development should be an African citizen or have worked in Africa for a period of more than two years.

Nomination guidelines

To nominate, the following procedure must be followed:

* Any person or organization can nominate an initiative by submitting a completed nomination form
* Nomination forms are available from the AfriComNet website or can be requested by email.
* The nominator must describe his or her association with the nominated initiative or production.
* A summary of what the initiative has accomplished, sample materials and any impact documented, should accompany the nomination. (e.g. Websites/URLs, Annual reports, midterm and other evaluation reports etc)
* Two referees (individual or organization) including their contact information shall be submitted for the nominated initiative. The references shall have worked or associated with the creative individual/team for at least two years.
* An initiative can be nominated in only one category.

Selection criteria

Entries will be judged based on their contribution to innovating, strengthening and popularizing strategic communication as a necessary tool for health and development. The jury will score nominations on the following criteria;

* Relevance to context
* Follows a strategic communication process
* Innovation
* Can the intervention easily be replicated?
* Sustainability of the intervention
* Impact of the intervention/ Evaluation results

Categories

Winners will be awarded in the following categories;

1. Best Mass media intervention, campaign or production.

This category recognizes initiatives using mass media as the main channel (50% plus of the initiative) for their strategic communications (includes film, television or radio productions advocating behavior change or raising awareness about HIV)

2. Best Multi-channel communication intervention or campaign.

Recognizing integrated strategic communication initiatives or interventions (using television/radio, print, interpersonal channels). Nominations should show that there is a balance in the use of the various channels.

3. Best Interpersonal/community initiative/intervention

Includes use of community radio, peer education, counseling, or community mobilization

4. Best Social marketing initiative, strategy or campaign

Entries in this category include product/service advertisement, branding or promotion

5. Best Popular/folk media initiative

This category includes the use of creative and performing arts advocating behavior change or raising awareness about HIV (e.g. theater, puppetry, visual arts and dance, drama or music concerts, etc).

6. Best HIV or AIDS related series

Entries for this category include newspaper/magazine column or series of articles, documentary films and TV/ radio broadcasts, or comic book series

7. Best social/new media initiative

This category includes the use of new/social media e.g. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, text messaging, blogging etc, to advocate for behavior change or raise awareness about HIV. Entries must show that social/new media is the main implementation platform for the initiative.

Rules of Entry

* The competition will be judged by an assigned judging team
* The judges' decision is final and no negotiation or correspondence will be entered into;
* One winner will be selected in each of the seven categories.
* Two finalists in each category will be contacted in advance to let them know that their initiative is being considered for an Award.
* Should the entries in a particular category fall below the minimum standard the judges reserve the right not to select a finalist
* The judges reserve the right to transfer entries for consideration in other categories at their discretion
* No responsibility is taken for entries lost, delayed, misdirected, and incomplete or any other cause outside AfriComNets control.
* AfriComNet reserves the right to disseminate, reproduce or publish any entry, without payment, for the purpose of sharing a particular innovative communication tool.
* AfriComNet reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the nominee/nominator has breached any of the terms and conditions.

The Prize

The two finalists in each Award category will receive a fully paid trip to the award venue, an opportunity to present their initiatives, recognition during a gala award ceremony, and media exposure. The winner will receive a plaque and the runner up a certificate recognizing the achievement. AfriComNet does not offer prize money for this award.
Deadline

The deadline for receiving entries is 30, April 2011

How to Submit

* Complete a soft copy of the nomination form and email it to AfriComNet at infodesk@africomnet.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
* Two printed copies of the completed nomination form and supporting materials should be sent to AfriComNet addressed to;

The Coordinator, AfriComNet
Plot 15, Binayomba Road, Bugolobi
P.O Box 3495, Kampala, Uganda
Tel: + 256 414 250183 / 237222
Email: infodesk@africomnet.org

Download nomination form >>

Deadline: 1 November 2010

Opportunity Info
Southern Rep is thrilled to introduce The Ruby Prize, a new play contest which will award $10,000 to a woman of color playwright.

DETAILS

The Ruby Prize is named in honor of civil rights advocate Ruby Bridges, representing perseverance in the face of formidable obstacles. As a first-grader at the William Frantz Elementary School in the fall of 1960, Ms Bridges became one of the first African Americans to attend an integrated public school in New Orleans. This November marks the 50th anniversary of her legendary walk up the school steps, memorialized in photos that depict a little girl surrounded by protesters, state officials, cameras and a sea of frightened faces. We were touched by the notion that there continue to be people, of all ages, braving a walk that is still harder than it should be.

In addition to an award of $10,000, the winner will receive: A week long development workshop with collaboration of full artistic team at the Southern Rep New Play Bacchanal, held in New Orleans, January 18 - 23, 2011 A sponsored trip to New York to continue development of the play and introduce the new work to a larger audience (All travel includes roundtrip air and accommodations.)

Two finalists will be selected to have their new works read at the Southern Rep New Play Bacchanal in January 2010. (Includes roundtrip air and accommodations. There is no cash award associated with the selection of finalists.)

GUIDELINES

The contest will be open to US citizens who self-identify as women of color, and may be either emerging or established playwrights.

Southern Rep’s in-house readers will review and evaluate scripts, selecting finalists that will be move into the next round of judging. The final panel consists of national and local theatre artists with Southern Rep’s Artistic Director, Aimée Hayes.

Plays may be of any genre: drama, comedy, musical, etcetera. We will not accept collaborative scripts, translations, one-acts, or any play previously submitted to Southern Rep. In the case of musical submissions, only the playwright will be eligible for the prize.

Plays that have had a professional production may not be submitted. Plays that have received a workshop, reading, or non-professional production are eligible. (“Professional production” shall be defined as a production with paid actors and an official press opening.)

Only one submission per playwright is allowed.

SUBMISSIONS

Each submission shall include a letter of introduction which should contain a brief play synopsis, a character breakdown, playwright bio, and brief history of the play’s development. The manuscript should have a title page containing the playwright’s name, address and contact information. This information may ONLY appear on the title page.

Submissions must be sent by email, as an attached document, in PDF (preferred) or Word doc format.

Submit all of the required elements in ONE email to TheRuby@SouthernRep.com Please no Phone or Email inquiries regarding submissions. If the play is a musical, CDs of original music may be sent to:

attn: The Ruby Prize
Southern Rep
333 Canal ST, Box 34
New Orleans, LA 70130

CDs will not be returned.

Due to anticipated number of submissions, we regret that feedback will not be available to submitting playwrights.

DEADLINES

Submissions are accepted between September 15 and November 1, 2010.

The winner will be announced on December 1, 2010.
This opportunity was posted on: 2010-09-22

Deadline: 7 March 2011

The Open Society Foundations are recruiting instructors of academic writing in English to teach at the Open Society Scholarship Programs 2011 Pre-Academic Summer Program in Istanbul.

There will be two summer school sessions held in 2011: the first from July 1–27, the second from July 28–August 24. Both will be identical in structure and instructors can apply to teach at one or both sessions. Instructors will be expected to attend three days of preparation as a part of each session: July 1–3 for the first session, and July 28 –30 for the second session.

The summer school program is designed to prepare scholarship finalists from Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Southeast Asia for graduate studies or faculty exchange programs primarily in the UK or the U.S. The curriculum is an integration of academic writing courses with intensive seminar-style social science courses. All courses will be taught in English.

Participants in the summer school take one academic writing course (2 hours a day, 4 days a week) and one social science course (1.5 hours a day, 4 days a week). Academic writing instructors will work closely with social science instructors during the pre-program preparation to coordinate their course approach and writing/research assignments. Each course is expected to have no more than 12 students. The expected total number of students attending each summer school session is approximately 100. Students attending the summer school will be entering graduate programs in a range of disciplines, including law, social work, public policy, political science, human rights, international economic theory, gender studies, sociology, and development studies.

Eligibility

The Open Society Foundations are calling for experienced teachers of academic writing in English to submit a letter of interest, CV, and sample syllabus for an intensive 3.5 week course in academic writing. Please note that final syllabi and assignments will be worked out during the three day preparation in cooperation with the social science instructors. Preference will be given to individuals with significant experience teaching in a western academic institution with experience living/teaching in the participants' home regions (Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and South East Asia). Due to budgetary considerations, preference will also be given to those who are able to travel inexpensively and conveniently to Istanbul.

In addition, the Open Society Foundations are seeking an academic writing instructor with specific experience teaching legal writing to LLM students for the July session.
Responsibilities

Academic writing instructors will teach one course lasting 3.5 weeks for each summer school session. The total number of classes will be 12 per session, with the three last days of the program set aside for instructors to grade projects and work closely with social science instructors on final student evaluations.

Teaching hours: Approximately 2 teaching hours per day for four-days a week, plus a required minimum of 2 hours a day for student consultations.

Additional responsibilities: Instructors will be called upon and are encouraged to assist with extra-curricular activities and special events during the course of each session. They will also be expected to conduct additional lectures or facilitate presentations that orient students to graduate studies in the UK and the US.
Compensation

Instructors will receive $4200 USD per summer school session, round-trip travel to Istanbul, and accommodation. Applicants should specify which session they are applying for, or whether they are applying to teach at both.

Deadline

The deadline for application is March 7, 2011.

To Apply

Applicants should submit a letter of interest, sample syllabus and CV via email to NSPSummerSchool@sorosny.org.