Win one of 8 indie Tarot Decks including an Kickstarter Ed. of the Light Seer's Tarot -- Community Event: Your Tarot Self-Portrait Challenge

[Ammers]

 

 

I am delighted to announce the Tarot Self Portrait-Challenge! Initially this challenge was meant to be an event just for a Tarot Discord server I administrate, but because the prize support for it grew into an all-star list of prize pledges from quality deck makers, I wanted to make it available to other Tarot communities too so these indie deck makers can hopefully get the exposure they deserve and more tarot readers can have a chance at winning one! Please review the full Rules, Details, and Prizes document prior to participation. Here's the short version of the info: 

 

Compose and share Your Tarot Self-Portrait in this community challenge that encourages introspection, creativity, and self reflection! What Tarot cards best represent you and why? What parts of your life support these card choices?

 

Challenge:

Choose 3-6 cards that you identify most with or feel best represent you. Snap a photo of the cards (either all together or one at a time) in a meaningful location or surrounded by your favorite things, artwork, pets, people, etc. You must include a brief caption explaining why these are your cards. Be creative with your photos because each deck prize is associated with special categories, such as "Creature Feature" for best use of pets, or "Tarry Naturally" for best us of natural elements such as scenic nature overlooks, etc. (Details below)

 

Here is an example entry sans the text portion to give you an idea of what these can look like:

 

 

 

Where:

Tarotholics Discord Server and/or Instagram

 

When:

Accepting Submissions Feb. 24th - March 28th.

Community nominations will be open from March 29th - April 5th.

Winners will be announced on April 6th!

 

How to Submit your Entry:

(ONE Per Participant)

 

Option 1 - Instagram:

1- Tag @Ammers10 and @4isel.jp

2- Include #Tarotholics and "Challenge Entry" in your caption.

3- Follow each of the prize supporter accounts listed in the Instagram challenge info post.

 

Option 2 - Discord:

Post your entry in the Tarot Self-Portrait submission channel within the Tarotholics Discord server

 

Entries that earn the most community nominations in each special category will be awarded one of 8 spectacular indie Tarot decks respectively: 

 

- Light Seer's Tarot (Kickstarter Edition) -- provided by Chris Anne

Award Category: Passion Project

Nomination Criteria: Entries with the coolest or most skillful inclusion one or more of your hobbies, from arts and crafts, to deck modding and model kit building, even horseback riding or hang gliding. Show us what you’ve got!
 

- Tarot in Space -- provided by Laura Douglass Loup

Award Category: Humor Me

Nomination Criteria: Got a good sense of humor? Let it show! If your entry incites a sensible chuckle in the photos or write-up in any way, it could be nominated for this award!

 

- Divine Canine Tarot -- provided by Zack Loup

Award Category: Creature Feature

Nomination Criteria: Pets, familiars, farm animals, the birds and squirrels on our back deck, any living animal counts! Tuck a card in your dog’s collar for a photo, or convince your cat to hold a card in it’s mouth, toss some bird seed on a card and wait for the birds to come for a photo-- the possibilities are endless.
 

- WilderWoven Tarot (releasing next month from kickstarter) -- provided by Greg White

Award Category: Tarry Naturally

Nomination Criteria: Best inclusion of natural scenes, elements, aesthetic, etc. Take your tarot deck with you on a hike to a scenic overlook or the beach.

 

- Forager's Daughter Tarot -- provided by Jessica Lei Howard

Award Category: Color Coded

Nomination Criteria: Find your inner feng shui and color coordinate all segments of your submission with a specific color theme of your choice. 
 

- 5-cent Tarot (plus bag, cloth, and pin)  -- provided by Madam Clara
Award Category: Way with Words

Nomination Criteria: Do you fancy yourself a wordsmith? Make the written portion of your entry stand out by composing it as a short story, a poem, a ballad, or even a series of haikus, etc.
 

- Tarot Sirene or Marshmallow Marseille (winner's choice) -- provided by Wandering Oracle

Award Category: Fancy Photos

Nomination Criteria: Photographers and photo hobbyists, this is your time to shine! Demonstrate your photography skills and wow us with the best and most creative photo composition you can manage.
 

- The Wildly Tarot Podcast Tarot Deck -- Provided by the Wildly Tarot Podcast

Award Category: Novice Knack

Nomination Criteria: If you are a tarot newbie, you’ll have a chance of winning Wildly Tarot’s fantastic learning deck in a random drawing. Just note your newbie status in your entry text to qualify. 

(Note: Tarotholics mods are also largely aware of who the newbies are, such as anyone in our mentee program who listed themselves as new.)
 

- Tarot deck wrap of choice -- provided by TheGeminiGypsyParlor

Award Category: Fan Favorite

Criteria: Earn the most total nominations across all award categories. This is the only prize that can be won if you have already won something else.

 

- Set of Tarot Ace Wooden Pins (x2) -- Provided by Vivifx

Award Category: Participation random giveaway

Criteria: Submit your entry to automatically enter a randomly drawn giveaway for a set of these adorable pins! Two sets are available. 
 

- Tarot Wood Burning Illustration -- Provided by Toadcraft

Award Category: Beautifully Burnt

Criteria: Submit your entry to automatically enter a randomly drawn giveaway for one of Toadcraft’s lovely burnings. Work with him to decide the subject and design! Only available by random drawing to those submitting within the Tarotholics Discord server.

 

Check out the full rules and details: Rules, Details, and Prizes document

 

Here are pics of all of the prize items in order from the above list:

 

  

 

 

We hope you enjoy this challenge! I can also answer any questions that may come up!

 

 

Edited February 25 by Ammers

[gregory]

So unless we subscribe to one of those sites we're out of contention ? Because I don't, and I am not going to just for a contest. (The same goes for FB, if they were to consider "kindly" adding that.)

[Ammers]

1 hour ago, gregory said:

So unless we subscribe to one of those sites we're out of contention ? Because I don't, and I am not going to just for a contest. (The same goes for FB, if they were to consider "kindly" adding that.)

Hi Greg! That is correct, we are tracking entries via Instagram and Discord specifically. It would be crazy to try to track and count them all on every platform this challenge has been shared with. You are of course more than welcome to do the activity anyway just because it's fun! It was designed to be thoughtful and enjoyable whether or not one wins something from it.

Facebook is not included because it's not a very popular platform anymore for marketing unless you had a large existing following when facebook was still the biggest and best, and only a handful of the participating prize supporters have pages there. Instagram was chosen because there is a massive tarot community on Instagram and all of the content creators involved in the prize support each have an account on it which can be tagged in the event posts. Discord is involved because I initially organized this project as a community event specifically for the Tarot Discord I admin, Tarotholics.

If you want a chance at winning one of the decks (indie Light Seer's is worth over $500 these days), you would need to make an account on one or the other and submit according to the instructions. Doing so is just as fast, easy and free as is setting up an account on a forum. If not, no worries. We just thought it would be nice to open this event to the general tarot community at large because it's cool and became bigger than expected.

Edited February 25 by Ammers

[gregory]

Oh I didn't mean you should run with FB - just that the last time this happened on Instagram the person involved "kindly" allowed entries via facebook. Which for a known non-FBer wasn't that helpful !

 

Nothing would induce me to set up an account on either one. And I won't be the only one. (Not that what a deck is "worth" would tempt me, but the way !) Forums are closed. Those sites aren't.

[Delta]

Hi! Sounds like a fun challenge altogether! The wooden pins are adorable!
Just to clarify, do we need to be in the photos or not? Thanks.

Edited March 1 by Delta

[geoxena]

It all sounds like a lot of work!

[FindYourSovereignty]

1 hour ago, geoxena said:

It all sounds like a lot of work!

My thoughts exactly!

 

On 2/25/2020 at 4:58 PM, gregory said:

Because I don't, and I am not going to just for a contest.

 

Ditto ^^^
 

I made the mistake of doing this once for a contest and afterwards, I didn’t win, but realized that I basically sold my soul breaking my social media values of privacy, for the mere possibility of winning something valued less than $75. What was I thinking? Spamming my friends daily and opening my private account to public for the publicity - ugh! Never again.... although I am going to share a link on Instagram to Erik's @InfernalTarot's Kickstarter deck for the two extra cards, but those extra cards will be delivered with my deck so I am good with that.

Edited March 2 by FindYourSovereignty

[Delta]

3 hours ago, FindYourSovereignty said:

I made the mistake of doing this once for a contest and afterwards, I didn’t win, but realized that I basically sold my soul breaking my social media values of privacy, for the mere possibility of winning something valued less than $75. What was I thinking? Spamming my friends daily and opening my private account to public for the publicity - ugh! Never again...

I generally don't get the competitions nowadays which are based on you spamming the heck out of your friends to vote for you, basically. So there's no real value in your art or whatever was required, it comes down to marketing yourself and having a lot of friends. I'm with you on this one. The Discord version doesn't sounds so bad though?

Edited March 2 by Delta

[geoxena]

35 minutes ago, Delta said:

I generally don't get the competitions nowadays which are based on you spamming the heck out of your friends to vote for you, basically. So there's no real value in your art or whatever was required, it comes down to marketing yourself and having a lot of friends. I'm with you on this one. The Discord version doesn't sounds so bad though?

Plus there are groups on Fakebook for people who enter contests - when someone announces they want to win one, then all the members vote for each other.  I worked at a store where the owner had a contest on FB and the winner was part of that group.  It was a competition and his entry was very mediocre at best, but he won because the group voted for him.  He wasn't even a customer, but came in to claim his prize, which was worth a few hundred dollars.  And all our regular customers with their beautiful entries got squat.  I told her she should've had judges, but she wanted customers to vote, which was dumb.

Edited March 2 by geoxena

[FindYourSovereignty]

1 hour ago, Delta said:

I generally don't get the competitions nowadays which are based on you spamming the heck out of your friends to vote for you, basically. So there's no real value in your art or whatever was required, it comes down to marketing yourself and having a lot of friends. I'm with you on this one. The Discord version doesn't sounds so bad though?

Yes, true. No, the Discord option is a doable one especially if you are already in the community. 

[Ammers]

@Delta No, you do not have to be but you certainly can be if you are comfortable with it.

 

@geoxena @FindYourSovereignty

There is no spamming and you don’t need to tag friends. Though please note that following prize supporter accounts is common and essentially standard operating procedure for IG Tarot events and giveaway entries.
 

To explain, part of the benefit of participating in community events is exposure to potential customers. Without that, few deck makers would give away decks without some sort of benefit on their end. I hope that is understandable. Followers help them track the success of their participation in an event or giveaway. 
 

The Discord option requires no following and no tags. 
 

Regarding the “It sounds like a lot of work”  Well, sure, it’s meant to be a thoughtful, involved tarot activity that should be enjoyable and worth saving regarding of whether or not you win something.  If you regularly post photos and text on this forum, it’s a similar level of effort to just a handful of such posts. My helpers and I also put a lot of work into designing the event. 

 

For the winner nominations, the mod team will be watching to make sure 1st places actually have entries of merit based on the category they are being nominated for. If it appears someone is being nominated out of popularity rather than artistic or creative merit, and their entry does not fit the criteria, the nomination will be thrown out.

 

I hope this is helpful! If the document was confusing or needs clarified in places, please let me know. 

[FindYourSovereignty]

43 minutes ago, geoxena said:

Plus there are groups on Fakebook for people who enter contests - when someone announces they want to win one, then all the members vote for each other.  I worked at a store where the owner had a contest on FB and the winner was part of that group.  It was a competition and his entry was very mediocre at best, but he won because the group voted for him.  He wasn't even a customer, but came in to claim his prize, which was worth a few hundred dollars.  And all our regular customers with their beautiful entries got squat.  I told her she should've had judges, but she wanted customers to vote, which was dumb.

Yes, this just feels like a lot of work gets out into the submissions and then someone recruits groups of people to vote. Not worth my time, but glad for others that want to.

[FindYourSovereignty]

2 hours ago, Ammers said:

@Delta No, you do not have to be but you certainly can be if you are comfortable with it.

 

@geoxena @FindYourSovereignty

There is no spamming and you don’t need to tag friends. Though please note that following prize supporter accounts is common and essentially standard operating procedure for IG Tarot events and giveaway entries.
 

To explain, part of the benefit of participating in community events is exposure to potential customers. Without that, few deck makers would give away decks without some sort of benefit on their end. I hope that is understandable. Followers help them track the success of their participation in an event or giveaway. 
 

The Discord option requires no following and no tags. 
 

Regarding the “It sounds like a lot of work”  Well, sure, it’s meant to be a thoughtful, involved tarot activity that should be enjoyable and worth saving regarding of whether or not you win something.  If you regularly post photos and text on this forum, it’s a similar level of effort to just a handful of such posts. My helpers and I also put a lot of work into designing the event. 

 

For the winner nominations, the mod team will be watching to make sure 1st places actually have entries of merit based on the category they are being nominated for. If it appears someone is being nominated out of popularity rather than artistic or creative merit, and their entry does not fit the criteria, the nomination will be thrown out.

 

I hope this is helpful! If the document was confusing or needs clarified in places, please let me know. 

Hi Ammers, it does appear that you have put a lot of effort into this activity and there are many that will enjoy it. People love to win prizes and of course the deck creators donating their decks deserve to receive promotion. I was sharing my personal frustration with myself not recognizing my boundaries. It is all good for the many, many people that love contests and social media. Fun for them! And for the organizers of the contest. It is just not my thing and that is all okay. 

[gregory]

Did anyone here win anything ? Just curious !

[Delta]

I never applied because there was too much craziness in the past 6 weeks...

[Ammers]

On 4/14/2020 at 5:23 AM, gregory said:

Did anyone here win anything ? Just curious !

I don’t believe more than a handful of entries were from people who joined from TTM. All the winners were posted on the discord. We had around 70 entries total. It was a lovely event!

[gregory]

I'm very glad it worked out. I still think it's a shame when advertised competitions require one to sign up for a site one would rather not sign up to - best advertise them exclusively on the sites where the competition is, I'd think. It's the same principle as all those companies who advertise competitions on cereal boxes where you can only enter through facebook. It only serves to irritate ! (And no, this isn't sour grapes; I do actually own all the decks from that group that I might otherwise have wanted !)

[Ammers]

46 minutes ago, gregory said:

I'm very glad it worked out. I still think it's a shame when advertised competitions require one to sign up for a site one would rather not sign up to - best advertise them exclusively on the sites where the competition is, I'd think. It's the same principle as all those companies who advertise competitions on cereal boxes where you can only enter through facebook. It only serves to irritate ! (And no, this isn't sour grapes; I do actually own all the decks from that group that I might otherwise have wanted !)

Those cereal box things are run large companies with a small chance to win anything. I’m one person making no money off the time spent on this, doing it all for the benefit of the community. It’s a free event with free entry, for a pretty good chance to get free things. I’m one single person running it and don’t have the bandwidth to run it on multiple platforms at once. All I can do is let people know it exists and how to join. Many times folks already have account on the two platforms mentioned. Some did in fact make accounts. You can’t know that every single person would prefer not to make account on other platforms like yourself. At the same time those people who already had relevant accounts might have been upset to learn about it after the fact and miss out on a chance to participate. I’m sorry if the event “irritated” you but no one was trying to force you to do anything, and it seems like a choosy beggar complaint. If you have nothing nice to say, might be best to say nothing. It’s a bit of the slap in the face after all the hard work I put into this project, to be candid. 

[Raggydoll]

Well done on pulling this project off, it must have taken a whole lot of work and planning! 

[gregory]

I did say I was glad it worked out. I just thought it was more work for you, advertising on other platforms. And I said it was cereal companies etc who irritate.