IT'S INTERACT VIDEO TIME

We're doing it again.

We are seeking your entries for our third annual Interact video contest, focusing on the theme "International Action." So grab a camera, produce a short video, and enter our contest before 16 December. (click below to read more)

The video that won last year's grand prize. Enter Rotary International's 2011 Interact Video Contest.

This year's theme recalls the origins of the Interact program name -- a combination of the words international and action . For the 2011 contest, we want you to create a video that shows how your Interact club takes international action through fundraising, service projects, building friendships across cultures, and more.

"It's hard to put into words what this project meant to our club," says Lindsey Murphy, past president of the Interact Club of Syosset High School, New York, USA, who produced the video that won last year's grand prize.

Over the past seven years, members of the Syosset club have raised more than $100,000 for Gift of Life International, a nonprofit that provides free lifesaving heart surgeries and cardiac care for young children whose families cannot afford treatment. Their video showed the club's efforts during 2009-10, when the Interactors raised $42,000 for the organization, covering the cost of four surgeries for children in El Salvador.

"Through the Interact video contest, our club was able to convey our passion for making a difference and inspire other Interactors," Murphy says. "The most important message of Interact is that age plays no role in the impact you can have on the world. The Interact video contest allowed that message to come through on computer screens throughout the world."

How to enter

To enter the 2011 video contest, create an account on YouTube and upload your video. Then submit the contest entry form by email, fax, or post by 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on 16 December.

All Interact club and sponsor Rotary club members are eligible to enter. Entrants under 18 years of age will need to indicate parental consent on the entry form.

The grand-prize winner's video will be featured on the RI website. The grand-prize winner and two finalists will receive a personalized certificate signed by RI President Kalyan Banerjee.

To ensure that your video is not disqualified, check out the short list of do's and don'ts below.

Do

• Be creative and have fun.
• Incorporate the theme "International Action"
• Keep your video between 30 seconds and three minutes.
• Submit your video in English or with English subtitles.
• Use royalty-free music.