Do you have video of an Illinois Vacation you've taken this summer (any time after April 16, 2007), or are you planning on taking a vacation to the "Prairie State" by August 31st of this year? If so, show your stuff with a video of your time in the state. The video must feature an Illinois attraction, whilst demonstrating your video prowess.

The Illinois Bureau of Tourism is sponsoring a skill contest until August 31, 2007 offering four Grand Prizes of a $2,500 Shell Gas Card, each one representing a year's worth of free gas (they actually used a specific formula from a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to come up with that amount... though it was done two years ago, so these figures may no longer quite apply). This contest is void in AK, AZ, CT, HI, MD, ND, NJ, VA, VT, and where prohibited by law. This is an amateur contest and is not open to those who have been paid for their artwork, videos, or written work in the past year. There is a limit of one entry per person, per household.

Contestants must supply proof of a two-night stay at any Illinois motel or hotel along with their entry, as well as a video release form and model release forms for any recognizable individuals that are in the video.

Videos must be original work with the contestant holding all rights, and must not have been previously published or entered in any other competitions. Entrants must submit full name and address with the video. Required length is at a minimum of thirty seconds, with a maximum of three minutes. Formats allowed are MPEG, AVI, and MOV, with a maximum file size of 20 MB.

Entries can be fully themed ("Family Fun", "Sports", "Road Trip", etc.), in documentary form, or in the creative venue of the entrant's choice, as long as it complies with the contest rules (no profanity, etc.) Some things that one might also choose to feature in the video could include:

State Flower: Native violet

State Tree: White oak

State Bird: Cardinal

State Mineral: Fluorite

State Animal: White-tailed deer

State Insect: Monarch butterfly

State Fish: Bluegill

State Motto: "State sovereignty, national union"

State Song: "Illinois"

Videos will be judged on the following criteria:

Creativity - 25%

Originality -25%

Ability to Inspire and Inform Others about Illinois as a travel destination -25%

Depicting the Magnificence of Illinois - 25%

The four highest scoring videos will win the contest. In the event of a tie, the entry with the highest score in "Depicting the Magnificence of Illinois" will win.

Enter by mail, or online HERE