The Press Club of Cleveland’s

2012 Ohio Excellence in Journalism

(For first-time BetterBNC users) This year, entries to the Ohio Excellence in Journalism will be submitted using a web-based program at www.betterbnc.com.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries. If you have questions, please contact Lee Moran at 440-951-0000 or lmoran@news-herald.com.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure to use a recent version of Mozilla Firefox (3.0 or higher) or Internet Explorer, and that you have an updated Adobe Flash Player for the browser you will use to create entries.

The deadline for all entries is Feb. 17, 2012.

1.    Login:

1. Go to www.betterbnc.com.
2. Under “Are you a contestant?” click Login Here.
3. Select the appropriate Contest.
4. Select the appropriate News Organization.
5. Enter your temporary password: bnc (lower case), and click Login. When you first login, the system will prompt you to create a secure password (one per news organization). If you set the new password for your organization, please make sure to share it with others who may be making entries.
6. If you do not see your organization listed, please call the Press Club office at 440.899-1222 and request you or your organization be added to the list.
   

2.    Submit Entries:

1. On the Manage Entries page, click Submit Entry (left side).
2. Select the appropriate Division (a larger grouping of categories).
3. Select the appropriate Category.
4. (If applicable) Read the corresponding Category Note (directly below the Category selection box), describing what is expected for the category’s entry content.
5. Complete the Headline/Title field.
6. Based on the type of entry, add content:

                                               i.     To upload digital file attachments (other than audio/video), click Browse, navigate to the desired file, select Open, and click Upload. Allowed file types are PDF, DOC, TXT, JPG, GIF, and PNG. If more than one attachment is desired for this entry, repeat these steps. If you reach a point where you cannot add any more attachments to an entry, you may have reached the attachments limit, set by your contest administrator. Please try to keep file sizes to 5 mb or less, to aid judges in accessing entry content. For larger files (between 5-50 mb), you may upload your file(s) to www.issuu.com, and copy and paste the URL into the Web URL field.

                                             ii.     To add web/audio/video content, copy and paste the content’s web address into the provided Web URL field. To host your content online, either upload it to a free streaming content website (e.g. YouTube) or talk to your IT person about adding it to your station’s website. Make sure the content will be accessible online throughout the contest and awards process. Here are some examples of free streaming content websites where you can upload audio and video content:

               Audio: www.kiwi6.com, www.tindeck.com

               Video: www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com

IMPORTANT: Please ensure that items are not behind a paywall or a password-protected area. If they are, you must provide username/password info in the Comments section of your entry. Judges may disqualify your entry if work samples are inaccessible.

                                            iii.     To create an entry for a mail-in, hardcopy-only category (e.g. tearsheets), DO NOT UPLOAD A FILE OR ADD WEBSITE URL CONTENT. Simply complete all other content fields.

7. Click Next.
8. Add Credits for those responsible for the entry content.
9. Add Comments (if available), but keep them brief (e.g. 100 words).
10. Click Submit.
11. For hardcopy/mail-in entry categories, print and attach the entry label (which automatically appears after each entry is submitted) to each hardcopy item and follow contest shipping instructions (contact the contest administrator for more info).

3. Payment for Entries can be paid at this site with a credit card through PayPal, or you

may call the Press Club office (440.899-1222) to pay with a credit card.  PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ENTRY PAYMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE WE SEND OUT TO JUDGES.