Rules for Judges

• Each judge will judge each team. However, if a judge has a conflict of interest with a specific team (family member or other individual(s) where they cannot be partial, their ranking of that team will not be used.)
• Judges cannot see each other’s scores until all judges have finished scoring.

The Judging Process

• Each judge is given the judging criteria (see below) a spreadsheet to track scores, and access to the submitted items. Each judge scores the items/teams on their own.
• Once all judges have completed scoring, the scores will be averaged and a total point value assigned to each team.
  • The top team will be decided by the point average from all the judges
  • The Altruist prize will be selected based on point value average from all judges on items marked Altruist on the list
• Once the teams have been selected for Overall Prize and Altruist Prize, the item specific prize (042) will be decided upon by judge discussion / vote.
• Lastly, the judge’s prize will be awarded based on discussion / vote.

Prize Eligibility

• A team or individual cannot win more than one prize in a given year.
• The same individual or team is not eligible to win the same prize for the same event twice in a row.
• Teams composed of Starfish Scholars that qualify for unpaid registrations may only be eligible for alternate non-monetary prizes at the discretion of the Starfish Foundation. 

Assigning Points

• If a submission completes the task as written, regardless of quality, it receives full points.
  • However, if submission quality is so poor as to make viewing / judging the task impossible, the item may be given 0 or partial points at the discretion of each individual judge.
• If a submission is in the wrong file format (ie – a video when we asked for an image or a PDF when we asked for a video), that item can earn up to 50% of the allotted point value.
• If a submission completes the task as written and has exceptional quality, it may receive up to 2x point value (Hint: make us laugh, make us cry, make our jaws hit the floor).
• If a submission does NOT complete the task as written, the item generally does not receive any points. However, up to full point value may be earned for a submission that is exceptionally creative or otherwise noteworthy. Items that do not meet the written description cannot earn bonus points.
• Submissions that partially complete the task as written may be given 0 or partial points at the discretion of each individual judge.
• Submissions named with the wrong item number can earn up to 50% of the item’s point value.
• Submissions uploaded after the end of the hunt will be given 0 points. (Yes, we can see the date and time stamp.) Multiple items uploaded after the end of the hunt may lead to disqualification.
• Items that have bonus points built into the description (ie: the highest tower) will be given a set point value for completing the extra/bonus challenge of the task. Submissions for this item can still earn additional bonus points for being exceptionally done whether or not they complete the “bonus task”.

Video Length

• There is no minimum video length for a task.
• Points may be deducted for videos that exceed the allotted time by 5 or more seconds at the judge’s discretion.
• Videos that add more than 10 seconds to the allotted length cannot receive bonus points.

Faked Items

• Items that are faked to look as if they are completed are given an immediate 0. Multiple faked items can lead to disqualification.
• Images taken from the internet and uploaded as a submission are given an immediate 0. Multiple stolen images can lead to disqualification.
• If someone draws an item that was intended to be completed otherwise, it is worth 0 points (but does not lead to disqualification).

Bonus Points for Altruist / Donation Items

• Item 112 (fundraising item) will be awarded bonus points based on total number of donations.
• Other bonus points may be awarded for effort and/or impact, but not for monetary value / amount raised.

Other

• Each team must complete the task for themselves. Unless otherwise specified, there should be no collaboration between teams.
• AI art will generally not be awarded points. This would fall under Rule 2 and the expectation that your team complete the tasks and not outsource them to another person (or bot). It may also fall under faking an item or passing off work from the internet as your own.