The Flip Jump Contest will run for 2 months, ending on September 20, 2010. Follow these steps to enter the contest:

<1> Create a Flip Jump video up to 90 seconds long.

<2> Submit your video to the YouTube site.

<3> Register to become a FREE member of Chip Flip Jump at the top of the right column or click here.

<4> Go to the Members page, fill out and submit the Contest Entry Form.

To view the submitted entries and see the full contest rules, go to the Contest page.

The voting for the winners of the Flip Jump Contest will begin on September 21, 2010.

Entries for the first Flip Jump Contest will begin to be accepted on July 20, 2010. The contest will run for 2 months and close on September 20, 2010. Then the voting will begin to determine the winners.

You will need to be a member to enter the contest on the Members page. FREE memberships are available at the top of the right column or by clicking here.

You’ll create a 90 second video doing whatever Flip Jumps you want to do, with no video edits.

The total prize pool will be $300, with the cash payouts as follows:

1st Place = $150
2nd Place = $100
3rd Place = $50

For full details and contest rules, please see the updated Contest page.

Registered Members can also go to the new Members page to see the Contest Entry Form. It’s now disabled until the Flip Jump Contest officially starts.

Memberships are FREE, so Login or Register at the top of the right column.

Membership gives you access to the new Forum. There you can join the discussion of Flip Jumps in general, as well as the 1st Flip Jump Contest. As a member, you’ll soon be able to enter the contest. Even if you don’t want to enter, you can vote for the best contest entry in the first round.

My friends keep telling me the contest is too strict and the judging too complicated. After practicing some sample entries, I now tend to agree. So, I decided to make it simpler, and removed the mandatory Single and Combination Jump events. The contest will now be a single freestyle Flip Jump presentation. You’ll have 90 seconds to do whatever you want, with no video edits.

The total prize pool will remain $300, with the cash payouts as follows:

1st Place = $150
2nd Place = $100
3rd Place = $50

For full details and contest rules, please see the updated Contest page.

I have now switched to the Your Members plugin, for only $50. It works great in conjunction with the native WordPress code, and is not encrypted. I was able to modify a few of the Your Members and WordPress programs to do exactly what wanted. With a bit more fine tuning and testing, I should be able to install the member registration and login, as well as the Simple Press Forum, this coming week.

Several of you have previously used WordPress to register here at Chip Flip Jump. I’ll be deleting all the current users when I activate the Your Members plugin, in order to start fresh. I’ll also be sending an email to all you current users to let you know you can then register FREE again.

After a lot of testing I finally installed two of the new Membership pages a few days ago, only to find out that you’re not allowed to have an offline test site as well the live online site, using the $97 Wishlist Member plugin. Once you activate the live online site, you can no longer test offline. Very counter-productive!!! Therefore, I had to take down the new pages until I’ve tested ALL the levels of membership. Stay tuned, I’m also looking at other membership plugins.

After being urged by several people, I’ve decided to increase the total “Flip Jump Triathlon” contest prize pool to $300, up $100.

The cash prizes will now be awarded as follows:

1st Place = $100
2nd Place = $60
3rd Place = $40

Each of the five “Best Individual Event” winners will receive $20.

I hope to get this contest started soon. Setting up a members area with passwords, an entry form and database to hold the entry information, a forum for member discussion, an entry viewing area on the Contest page, and a poll for voting, is all taking a lot longer than I figured. I also need to shoot some video examples in the near future.

So, I hope you’ve all been practicing, and are almost ready for the fun to begin.

* Two rounds of judging will be done via an online poll.
* The payout will be done using PayPal.
* A maximum of 2 prizes will be awarded per entry.

I’m continuing to fine tune the rules, and will keep you posted here of any other new changes.

My broken video camera is in the shop now and should be back in about a week, then I can shoot an example contest entry video, as well as a few other contest related videos.

Contest entries will be submitted to an online video service such as YouTube. I’ve set up a group on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/flipjumptriathlon. There’s nothing there yet except an icon video, and the video upload feature is disabled until the official start of the contest. However, you won’t be required to use the YouTube group if you don’t want to, any online video service will do. Just submit the URL.

Each contest entrant will be allowed two entries, as long as the second entry uses the Single Jumps and Combinations not used in the first entry. For example, if your first entry included Fat Jumpers and Combinations with 9 or less chips, the second entry must include High Climbers and Combinations with 10 or more chips. You may use the same Freestyle video for both entries, or have a different one for each entry.

The new separate “Contest” page will be ready soon with all the official rules. So start practicing for the 1st Flip Jump Triathlon. More early contest information can be found here.