#Blog4Dev: Enter our Spring Meetings blog contest

Do you blog about development issues such as food security, financial inclusion, global public health, and more?

Would you like to be published on the World Bank Group’s Voices blog?

If the answer to those questions is yes (and you meet the eligibility criteria below), we’re excited to invite you to enter our first Spring Meetings Voices Blog Contest.

The contest is an opportunity to share your perspective on pressing development issues discussed at the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings in Washington the week of April 13.  

We’re looking for original, well-written posts related to the Spring Meetings and the World Bank Group’s mission to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

We’ll choose up to five winners and link to all entered and accepted blog posts from the Voices blog.

If you are among the winners, we’ll publish your blog post on Voices in May and promote it on our social media channels. You’ll also have an opportunity to publish another blog post on Voices within the next six months.

One grand prize winner will also win an opportunity to interview a senior World Bank Group official during the next six months. That blog post also will be considered for publication on Voices.

1. You can blog about any of the World Bank Live webcasts from April 15 through 18, 2015. The webcasts cover a variety of topics including big data, water security, the future of food, oil prices and universal financial access.
2. Write a blog post that doesn’t just summarize the webcast but expands on its issues and themes. Each blog post must include a link to at least one event page on the World Bank Live site from April 15 through 18, 2015.
3. Keep your blog post to 700 words or fewer. Longer entries will be disqualified.
4. Blog entries should be published, and contest entries must be received, by 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, April 25 (midnight GMT). Send submissions by email to Blog4Dev@worldbank.org, including the URL and author’s full legal name, email address, and phone number. No anonymous or pseudonymous entries will be considered.
5. Entries will be accepted only in English, but winning posts will be translated by the World Bank Group into Arabic, French, Spanish, and possibly other languages.
6. If you promote your blog on Twitter, please use the hashtag #Blog4Dev.

1. Current World Bank Group staff members, consultants, or retirees are not eligible.
2. A blogger must have all rights to submit all of the content in his blog post.  Content from sources other than the blogger must be clearly marked throughout the submission and properly cited.
3. Bloggers are defined as people who published blog posts on a blog established by Jan. 1, 2014, and who posted at least 12 times in calendar year 2014.
4.  Bloggers must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission of their entry.
5. The World Bank Group reserves the right to research and verify the eligibility of any entrants, and the decision of the World Bank Group shall be final.

• A panel of expert judges from inside and outside the World Bank Group will select up to five winning posts to be published on the World Bank Group’s Voices blog during the month of May 2015 and promoted on World Bank corporate social media channels.
• Each of the winners will have the opportunity to submit another blog post to the World Bank on a subject of their choosing related to international development, for consideration for the Voices blog within the next six months. If accepted, the posts will be published on Voices.  The World Bank Group reserves the rights to edit any blog posts to comply with its editorial and other policies and guidelines.

• From the winning entries, the judges will choose one grand prize winner who, in addition to the prize described above, will also win an opportunity to interview a senior World Bank Group official during the next six months, and write a blog post based on that interview. That blog also will be considered for publication on Voices.  The World Bank Group reserves the rights to edit any blog posts to comply with its editorial and other policies and guidelines.

1. Each blogger may enter only once.
2. The World Bank Group reserves the right to reject an entry in its sole discretion if the content of the blog entry violates the policies, procedures, or guidelines of the World Bank Group.
3. By entering the contest, bloggers agree that they release the World Bank Group from any claims based on the contest, and grant the World Bank Group all rights to their entry, including, for example, granting permission to link to their entered blog post from its website, email newsletters, and social media channels, and to republish their entered blog post on its website, with a link back to the original post. The privileges and immunities of the World Bank Group and its member organizations shall be preserved, and shall not be waived, by these terms, or by conducting the contest.
4. Failure to comply with these rules may result in disqualification from the competition. Bloggers agree to comply with and be bound by the decisions of the World Bank Group, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this competition. The World Bank Group is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the competition or in the announcement of the prizes. The World Bank Group may update and/or modify these rules in its sole discretion, and bloggers agree to accept and be bound by any updates and/or modifications.