Gift Guide
Help us put together the ultimate holiday gift guide!
Prizes
- First place:
- $5,000
- Second place:
- $2,500
- Third place:
- $1,000
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 01, 2020
Submissions closed
Dec 31, 2020 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Jan 05, 2021
Prizes
- First place:
- $5,000
- Second place:
- $2,500
- Third place:
- $1,000
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 01, 2020
Submissions closed
Dec 31, 2020 5:59 AM CUT
Results
Jan 05, 2021
About this challenge
Holiday gift shopping just got a whole lot easier. With the uninhibited access that online shopping provides us to a plethora of brands, we can shop any time, from anywhere, for anything. The holidays are usually a cause of stress because many of us don't know where to begin when it comes to shopping. But, those days are over...
For this Challenge, we're calling on our creators to help us put together the ultimate holiday gift guide! Are you the person all your friends go-to for shopping advice? Or, are you always in the loop with small businesses, ethical brands, and hot deals? We want you to create the perfect gift guide for this holiday season, but think outside the box! We're all too familiar with Amazon, so for this Challenge, we want you to curate a list of your local favorite shops, unique Etsy picks, Black-owned businesses we should all support, and everything in between.
Whether you want to curate this guide for a specific person you have in mind (such as a skincare enthusiast in your friend group or the family chef) or have a roundup of good gifts for anyone, we can't wait to read your lists. Enter the Gift Guide Challenge and share some of your retail wisdom! Be sure to include links or social media profiles of these businesses in your story, so we can get our shopping started!
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until December 30, 2020, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Gift Guide Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 39 countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
Out of Season Challenge Winners
We’re trying something new with our challenge awards structure. Starting with Out of Season , each challenge will recognize one grand prize , four winners , and ten honorable mentions . That’s 15 stories to celebrate, with a little extra love for the top pick. For this challenge, the strongest stories made the timing matter. Something showing up early or returning when it shouldn’t changed what people did, what they assumed, or how they saw each other. There was humor in trying to carry on as usual, and sadness in realizing why the usual schedule no longer worked. Sometimes the wrong time of year turned out to be just when someone needed it.
By Vocal Curation Team2 days ago in Resources
Already Here Challenge Winners
Useful tools can change your life before you think to question them. That’s really what made these Already Here entries interesting. Writers looked past the initial “how is this possible?” and paid attention to how quickly something remarkable becomes part of the routine. The strongest pieces didn’t ask us to choose between being impressed and being uneasy. They understood why people welcome these changes, then noticed what else shifts once we get used to them.
By Vocal Curation Team16 days ago in Resources
Last Call Challenge Winners
There were plenty of ringing phones and closing bars in Last Call , but the prompt took us to some unexpected places too. A fading birdsong, a goodbye that doesn't quite get finished, and people who don't suddenly become better versions of themselves just because time is running out. Some held on, some let go, and some missed their chance entirely. That's what made these stories stick.
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