Unstaged unleashed

Hi all, Joe here again.

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about Unstaged - an exciting project we've been working on with Channel Four Television, the National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Screen.

The finer details have now been agreed, so I'm delighted to let you know that the first competition opens on Wednesday 25 November (a week tomorrow) and runs through to 12 February. The dedicated Unstaged website is already open for business, where you'll find much more info on the whole event:

http://www.blipfoto.com/unstaged

The theme for the first competition is 'Scotland at play', which sits under our overall theme of 'exposing the extraordinary in the ordinary' - something blippers already do every day. While each submission must consist of five images taken in Scotland, you don't have to be Scottish to take part - if you're planning to be here at some point over the next couple of months, you're welcome to enter and free to interpret the theme in any way you like. (The next two competitions are open to everyone, everywhere.)

And what about prizes? Well I'm wishing we hadn't put that bit in the rules about excluding employees of Blipfoto... first prize for the grown ups is a Canon 500D and £500 cash (not to mention a lifetime Blipfoto membership and a day shooting behind the scenes with the National Theatre of Scotland). The juniors are well looked after too... how does a Canon 1000D and £250 sound?

Blippers will be kept updated with developments here on the Blipblog. If you're a tweeter you can follow the dedicated Unstaged Twitter feed, while Facebookers can follow things over there.

Thanks to all those who got in touch after the last announcement and agreed to help spread the word - a goodie bag will be working its way to you very soon! If you're not one of those and would like a pack of lovely flyers (pictured) for your office / school / college / mantlepiece, please get in touch!

Thanks for reading and I hope you're able to take part in this or one of the later competitions - we're all really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. If you have any questions, drop them below.