FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is there an age limit for participation?

Participants can join MiLaS from the age of 14. For us the safety of children is very important. Therefore we encourage parents to instruct their children about the safe use of the internet. For this reason parents of children and youth below the age of 18 have to show their written consent.

2. How many people can participate in one entry in the competition?

There is no limit concerning the number of participants in a video – it does not matter if they are the performers or the whole team who developed the idea or wrote the script.

3. I do not have a Facebook-account – can I still participate?

Every person who wants to participate in the competition needs a Facebook-account. At Facebook persons can register an account from the age of 13. More information you can find at www.facebook.com.

About the terms and conditions of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terms.php

4. What will be the procedure for participation?

The “MiLaS”-competition can be accessed from the Facebook-site of language diversity at the following link: milas.language-diversity.eu. In order to register you have to click the “like”-button. From there it is possible to continue with your participation in the competition. The next steps are to click the “participate”-button, to complete the registration form and to upload your video. The easiest and fastest way is to upload your video from your computer.

After a successful registration your video will be validated, uploaded to the language diversity YouTube-channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/languagediversity) and shown in the gallery of the competition-app.

5. Within which period can I upload my video?

The videos can be uploaded between 1 April and 30 April. This is also the period in which people can vote for the videos.

6. Is it possible to submit more than one video?

Yes, every participant has the opportunity to upload a number of videos. The participant will have to register separately for every single video.

7. What should be the length of my video?

The videos can have a length of up to 3 minutes; ideally they should be approximately 1:30 minutes.

8. Which and how many languages can I use?

With the competition we want to raise awareness for language diversity and especially we want to focus on the regional and minority languages, many of which are critically endangered. The number of languages used is up to the participants. There are no limits, but you should take into account that the number of languages should not impair the comprehensibility of the content. You have to submit an English or German translation of your entry.

9. What type of songs / texts can I use?

We expect to receive self-made texts, songs, sketches, etcetera. You can use any literary forms and genres: lyrics, short stories, rap or comedy. The participants are liable for their content. It is not allowed to use songs and texts from third parties illegally. In the event of non-compliance the video contribution will be rejected.

10. Which type of camera can I use?

All devices that can be used to make video recordings are allowed, such as smartphones, photo cameras with recording function, video cameras, tablets, etcetera.

11. My video was rejected.

All the videos that are uploaded will be validated before publishing by language diversity. Entries have to comply with the guidelines, terms and conditions. If a video does not comply with the terms and conditions, either in terms of content or legally, it will not be published. If this is the case, the participants will be informed by email.

There may be different reasons for rejecting a video: technical malfunctioning of hardware or software, disruption of the internet-connection, wrong video-formats (accepted formats: MOV, MPEG4, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM), illegal content, which is not accepted by YouTube (e.g. the use of copyright-protected music). Please check all these potential causes.

12. How can I share my video?

After registration is completed a confirmation will be sent to the email-address submitted by the participant. This email includes a link to the video contribution, which you can send to your friends.

13. How often can I like a video?

One person can like a video only once.

14. What are the prizes?

The 10 videos with most votes, or likes, will be forwarded to a professional jury. The jury – consisting of 5 persons from different professional backgrounds and regions – selects the best five entries. The authors of these videos are invited to the award ceremony on Europe Day, 9 May 2014, in Sønderborg/Sonderburg (Denmark). At the award ceremony there will be a poetry slam vote where the audience will decide which will be the three best videos.

15. I cannot participate in the awarding ceremony.

The information about the prizes and the award ceremony will be sent to the email-address that was entered in the registration form. Every participant is responsible for checking on his own email-account and for responding to a possible notification of winning or for other notifications in relation to the competition. If a potential prize-winner cannot be contacted within a period of 7 days, the prize shall be forfeited.

In the situation that the prize-winner cannot participate in the award ceremony, he still is entitled to the prize. The prize-winner only will lose the prize in case the organisers will not be able to contact the prize-winner within a period of 7 days after the decision is made about who will win the prize.