Here's an update on the 2011 Family Travel Forum Teen Travel Writing Scholarship contest.
Since May 1, 2011, our 5th annual scholarship has attracted more than 5,500 applicants. Each blog was read by interns from the English and Journalism departments at New York University, Elon College, Hofstra University and the University of Illinois, a team of readers from the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), as well as Family Travel Forum editors to select the best of the best.
The judges have almost completed selecting their quarter finalists, whose status is being posted online.
What happens next in the Scholarship Judging?
From this Quarter Finalist work, a group of semi-finalists is also being chosen and published to the site. This process of scoring and publishing work will continue through mid-October. To see how you've done so far, log in and visit your My Info page under the "MyTravels" tab.
After that, the last round of finalists will be sent to the senior judging team at SATW, Travel's Most Trusted Voices. SATW promotes responsible journalism and encourages the conservation and preservation of travel resources worldwide. Their team of professional writers, editors and photographers will select the winners of the 2011 FTF Teen Travel Writing Contest in the Best Travel Blog, Best Photography and Best Video categories.
How did we make our picks?
Because we had so many great stories, the judging was simply a process of elimination. First, we disqualified a surprising number of fine blogs from advancing because they didn't have the required photo, video or artwork. We didn't look for perfect grammar or perfect spelling, and we rarely found it. 🙂
Instead, we listened to your stories and what your travels meant to you. The very best travel blogs gave us a strong sense of place, practical details, of why this particular period in your life was special, and what it might mean to other young travelers.
If your travel tale is selected as a quarter or semi finalist, congratulations! Your work will be in approximately the top 15% of all the travel blogs submitted. We encourage you to share your blogs with friends and families, so they can enjoy and comment on it.
Do you need to do anything?
If your work advances to the Finals, you will be contacted in a separate email to request the paperwork required for your blog to be sent to the last judges. On or about October 18, 2011, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place blogs, those chosen for Honorable Mention, and the best work in photography and video will be announced and will be posted on the site.
Again, thanks for sharing your stories with us and good luck to all of you!
The Family Travel Forum Judges
P.S. If you have any questions, please use the Contact Us page or Facebook to get in touch.
Dear Reader: This page may contain affiliate links which may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Our independent journalism is not influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative unless it is clearly marked as sponsored content. As travel products change, please be sure to reconfirm all details and stay up to date with current events to ensure a safe and successful trip.
If there are no comments on our blog, does this mean that our blog has been rejected, or that it has not been reviewed yet? thanks!
As noted, thanks to your enthusiasm, there are several thousand posts to read, so the judges will be done by mid October. Check back after that to see your status!
I tried following the steps above for finding out about the scholarship judging, but I'm still lost. Does it show up at the bottom of your blog? Or is it just off to the side when you have the option of clicking on your blog? Like, is it next to the name of your blog, the date it was published and then the word scholarship with either a yes or no? Thanks!
Crystal – you get an email