Entries should be submitted to an Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance office (or the Indianapolis judging site by appointment) during regular business hours between December 8 and December 12, 2008. To find an Indiana Farm Bureau office and their hours, click here.

2-D and 3-D art entries will be returned to the same office you delivered your entry no later than March 31, 2009. They may arrive earlier. You must pick your entry up from the office by June 2, 2009. Entries not retrieved by June 2, 2009 may be discarded.

Note that Music, Performance, Video and Writing entries will NOT be returned. Please make copies of these before submitting them.

All entries into the eXceL Awards must be the original creation of the student artist(s). Therefore, you may not sing an existing song, perform a dance that is in the public domain, or recreate an existing artwork. You will sign a statement on your entry form attesting to the fact that your entry is your original creation.

Because the information is available to all Indiana students in August of 2008, allowing over five months to create the entry, there will be no exceptions (other than extreme weather, addressed below) to the entry deadline. All entries must be in an Indiana Farm Bureau office by the close of business on Friday, December 12, 2008.

In the event of a widespread extreme weather event that generates emergency snow or storm orders and closes schools, the eXceL Awards may, at its discretion, extend the entry deadline by a short period of time equal to the length of the snow/storm emergency. If this is the case, the extension and updated deadline will be posted under the “updates and bulletins” tab.

No other exceptions will be allowed.

Music, Performance, Video and Writing entries have time and length limits. You will find those in the individual category rules here. 2-D and 3-D art entries do not have specific limits, but must fit through a standard single-panel doorframe, and should not exceed 50 pounds. If your entry requires assembly, you will need to bring it to the judging site and assemble it yourself; please make an appointment by calling 800/723-3276, extension 7748.

Music, Performance, Video and Writing entries should be submitted in an envelope, and can be delivered to your local Indiana Farm Bureau office (to locate an office click here) or mailed to eXceL Awards, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, PO Box 1250, Indianapolis, IN 46206 in the case of individual entries. All entries must be submitted or postmarked by Friday, December 12, 2008.

Please note: the mailing address is for envelopes only. Boxes or packages should be delivered directly to an Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance office.

2-D and 3-D entries should be carefully packed as noted in the Packing Your Entry section of the website and can be delivered to your local Indiana Farm Bureau office (to locate an office click here) by December 12, 2008. If your entry is very large, fragile, or requires assembly, it is best to deliver the entry to the eXceL Awards judging site. This can be done by making a delivery appointment by calling 800/723-3276, extension 7748.

Click here for a complete listing of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance offices with addresses, hours and phone numbers.

You may use any kind of sheet music that is comfortable for you: standard notation, chords, or tabulatures are all acceptable.

The entry form must always be easily detachable.

• 2-D art	–	attach it to the back of your entry using tape along one side of the entry form only.
• 3-D art	–	you may either attach with string or again, by using tape along one side of the entry form only.
• Music	–	enclose it with your sheet music, exposition, and CD/cassette in a large (preferably 10” x 13”) envelope.
• Performance	–	either tape it to the outside of the CD, DVD or VHS case, or fold it and enclose it inside the CD, DVD or VHS case.
• Video	–	either tape it to the outside of the CD, DVD, or VHS case, or fold it and enclose it inside the CD, DVD or VHS case.
• Writing	–	staple it directly to your writing entry. Please use one staple only.

Expositions, while not required (with the exception of some music entries), and should not be used for a writing entry, often enhance the judges’ understanding of your entry. If you choose to include an exposition, follow the same guidelines as for attaching an entry form. DO NOT WRITE YOUR EXPOSITION ON YOUR ENTRY FORM! The judges do not see entry forms.