Judging a challenge as a juror

You've been invited onto a challenge jury — what the link in your inbox opens, how the ballot works, and what happens after you submit.

On a jury challenge the placed prizes are decided by a small jury the FOOH team invites. If that's you, everything happens through one email: when voting opens, you get a message with your personal ballot link. There is no account to create and no password — the link is your way in, and it's yours alone, so please don't forward it.

What the ballot asks of you

The ballot is a short screening, about twenty minutes:

  1. Watch every spec ad. The shortlist is laid out as a contact sheet; click any poster to watch it full-size, with sound, and step through with the arrow keys. An ad counts as watched once you've played it (almost) to the end — the page tells you how many you've seen. Ranking unlocks only when you've watched them all.
  2. Keep a pile. Add any ad you'd consider for a prize to your pile — on the card or in the player — as many as you like. You can take one out again at any time.
  3. Cut and rank. Drag exactly as many ads as there are placed prizes onto the ladder (1st, 2nd, …), in order. Drop on a taken place to swap. Whatever stays in the pile is cut. Hover a poster to watch the ad again while you decide; there are buttons for every drag if you're on a phone.
  4. Review and submit. Check the order once more, answer the one question about personal connections (below), and submit. Submitting locks your ballot.

The page shows the public voting deadline as the date to aim for. Nothing locks you out at that moment — but the ballots are frozen the moment the results are published, so submit before then. If your ballot is still open, we'll email you a reminder three days before that date and once more on the day, with your link in it; both stop the moment you submit. When the results are out, you'll get a thank-you from us either way.

Your draft saves itself on every change ("Draft saved" in the header), so you can close the tab and come back to the same link later. Opening the link again picks up where you left off.

Personal connections

If you know one of the creators you've ranked personally — a colleague, a client, a friend — say so on the review step (I know this creator). That ad leaves your ranking, you fill the open place with another from your pile, and the team reads the declaration alongside your ballot. It's a note about you, not a vote against the work, and you can undo it on the ranking step.

What you see, and what you don't

Your ballot is private: only the FOOH team reads it. You never see the public vote count, other jurors' ballots, or the running standings. The criteria the FOOH team suggests — concept, execution, hook, viral potential — sit on the ballot's first page; ultimately, go with your gut.

After you submit

Your ballot is in and locked. The FOOH team reads every ballot side by side and confirms the final ranking; the winners are announced with the public results. If you need to change something after submitting, reply to your invitation email — the team can reopen your ballot, and it counts again once you submit it.

  • "This link isn't valid" — it was probably re-issued; use the most recent email from FOOH, or reply to it and the team will send a fresh one.
  • "This link has been revoked" — the team switched it off; if that's a surprise, reply to your invitation email.
  • "The jury has closed" — the results are out and the ballots are frozen. Thank you for being part of the jury.