The aim of this new contest is to encourage collaboration between content creators on Steemit.
The prize will be 1000 SP delegated for 4 weeks, to be shared between the two winning collaborators.
The theme for this first Binary Stars Collaborative Contest is EQUINOX.
Funding for this Binary Stars Contest has been generously provided by 
There will be 3 rounds to the contest - one round per week. So plan ahead to the final and think about creating three articles that highlight different aspects of your collaborative work.
Rules are necessary, but don't let them be a distraction from creating some truly inspirational new posts.
Let's get on with the rules...
1 The "Binary Stars: Collaborative Contest" is only open to Members of the Minnows Accelerator Project (MAP).
1.1 To become a MAP Member requires signing up at the current Signup page and then being invited to participate in a MAP "Six of the Best" contest. As these contests can take place every day, there is time for interested Steemians to become MAP Members and then also participate in this Binary Stars Contest. This Pre-launch is designed to give all interested people time to sign up. Future editions of the Binary Stars Contest will not have a pre-launch week.
1.2 The "Binary Stars: Collaborative Contest" is open to pairs of users who are working in different creative fields. The resulting works must be the outcomes of the collaboration rather than merely joining together two pre-existing works.
2 There will be 3 rounds in total.
2.1 The first round will be open to all MAP Members. There will be a "Round 1 Call for Content"; this will last 7 days. All links to collaborative posts are to be added to the comments section of the article. This will be followed by "Round 1 Voting"; this too will last 7 days.
2.1.1 In this first contest, the Pre-launch will last 7 days followed immediately by "Round 1 Call for Content". Future Contests will not have a Pre-launch week, so please follow 
2.2 We expect that the best 6 collaborative projects as voted on in Round 1 will progress to Round 2. We may be flexible here, but there will be between 5 and 7 pairs that progress. There will be a "Round 2 Call for Content" published. This will last a maximum of 7 days but may be shorter if all articles have been submitted. This is followed by "Round 2 Voting".
2.3 The 3rd and Final Round will see the 3 best pairs competing for the prize. This too will have a "Round 3 Final Call for Content". As before, this will last a maximum of 7 days but may be shorter if all articles have been submitted. The very last post will be the "Round 3 Final Voting".
3 Voting will take place within comment upvotes and within the MAP chatroom. Votes will only be counted during the "Voting Rounds". Each round will have a "People's Choice" purely from the comment upvotes: that pair will each receive a bonus prize of 100 SP delegated for 7 days.
3.1 No bot voting will be allowed. Anybody using bot votes for their comments will be given a score of zero. Anybody whose comments are sabotaged by other people using bots on them shall end up with an average of all the totals. As this is essentially a MAP Members contest, we reserve the right to ignore comment upvotes and winners shall be decided by the internal voting procedures. The "comment upvotes" process is there to stimulate discussion and the discovery of new content; it is not there to encourage abuse.
3.2 The final vote count will take place within the MAP community and will be published at the end of each "Voting Round".
The Shard Transformed by 
So how do participants add their posts to the Contest?
4 During this Pre-launch, please add a link to your collaborative post in the comment section. This process shall be repeated in the "Round 1 Call for Content". You may, if you prefer, merely post a comment of your intention to collaborate and your partner's username, saving the actual post for Round 1. This very first Contest has a Pre-launch to enable new MAP Members to join before Round 1.
4.1 During "Round 1 Call for Content", the same process applies as in the Pre-launch. Please sublit your collaborative post links within the comments. When "Round 1 Voting" is published, all eligible posts will be included within the article. But, to solicit upvotes, one of the two collaborators must post a comment within which people can upvote.
4.2 Those pairs that are going through to Round 2 will be announced in the "Round 2 Call for Content". Again, you have 7 days to add a link to your post within the comments section. If all submissions have been added before the 7-day period, then "Round 2 Voting" may start. The "Voting Round" shall last 7 days.
4.3 The Final Round 3 shall work in the same way as Round 2 - see 4.2.
5 The above rules may be changed subject to comments and experience.
Nova Scotia Sunsets by 
I know that rules may sound complicated, but in essence, just post your collaborative articles within the "Call for Content" rounds and vote during the "Voting" rounds.
The Minnows Accelerator Project accounts will also upvote and resteem all quality submitted articles.
The theme for this first Binary Stars Collaborative Contest is EQUINOX. This can be taken literally, as we approach the autumn equinox, or metaphorically, or in any other creative way.
Any questions, please ask in the comments below.
The link to join the Minnows Accelerator Project can always be found at the
The current Signup Page can be found HERE.
