ISCACON32 RULES AND REGULATIONS

Each competing artist will be required to agree to the rules and regulations if they wish to compete. The rules and regulations are available so that everyone has ample time to read through them before the conference. Violation of these rules will be evaluated by the ISCA Board of Directors and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. This may range from a verbal warning to removal from the Ballroom and ISCAcon32 without refund. Keep in mind that you are representing ISCA in all spaces both in and out of the conference areas. 

Please review and contact Executive Director, Kara Mundy at director@caricature.org if you have any questions. All rules and regulations are subject to change. Any updates will be posted online and at the conference. 

REGISTRATION 
Registration is open to anyone and includes admission to all seminars, the competition ballroom and any meals provided. 

Professional ISCA Members who register will receive a con t-shirt (if registered before Oct 7th), goody bag, the option to compete and all voting privileges. 

Holiday Special (through January 1st) – $350

Early Registration (January 2nd through July 1st) – $400

Standard Registration (July 2nd – Oct 7th ) $475

Late Registration (after Oct 7th) – $550 (does NOT include a con t-shirt)

An additional late fee of $100 will be added to every ticket type (with the exception of kids and day passes) after November 6th.

Kids 3-11 - $100

Day Passes are $125 and are available for a single day of entry to ISCAcon (10am-midnight). They include admission to all seminars, the competition room and all provided meals. Day pass entrants may not participate in the competition (except as subjects), or vote. Anyone can purchase a day pass. 

The ISCAcon32 Caricature Showcase - We are inviting members of the public in from 6-9pm on Thursday, November 16th with the purchase of a $20 wristband ($5 if you’re an ISCA Professional Member who didn’t buy a con ticket). 

Registration cancellations can be made by emailing Kara Mundy, director@caricature.org. All sales are final, if you need to cancel your registration your payment will be added to your account as store credit that may be used for membership dues, or future cons. 

COMPETITION SPACE : THE BALLROOM

Name badges MUST be worn at all times during the conference. Your name badge will be used to grant entry to the ballroom as well as the classroom areas. There are no exceptions. If you are not wearing your name badge, you will be asked to get it before you will be allowed inside the ballroom or classroom areas. If you lose your badge, contact Kara Mundy at director@caricature.org to get a replacement.

All in-person competing artists are allotted a space of no more than 2 feet wide (this may be less depending on the number of registered competitors and available ballroom wall space) on the walls of the competition ballroom. Artwork may extend above or below the blue painter’s tape used to delineate each competition space. Where the wall meets the floor is the bottom of your allotted space. Any floor space used in front of your wall must be for display purposes only (i.e. heavy canvases, easels, etc.). All other pieces that can’t be hung on your wall space must be submitted on the 3D table. All 2-D art displayed during the competition must be contained within each artist’s allotted competition space. The edges of the artwork are allowed to touch, but not exceed, the blue tape which separates each space. One artist’s use of another artist’s competition space in addition to their own is NOT permitted. Artists must use ONLY the blue painters tape provided by ISCA to display pieces on their walls. 

There will be a designated display table for standalone 3-D artwork (artwork that is 3-dimensional may also be displayed on wall space if it can be hung using ONLY blue painters tape but must fit within the designated competition space). Each piece of finished 3-D artwork cannot exceed 8 cubic feet (0.23 cubic meters) in size. If the ISCA Board finds a certain piece of art to be in violation of space requirements, or using hanging material other than blue painters tape, the creator of the piece will be notified and given the opportunity to either modify or remove it before judging begins. 

With the exception of board members and certain volunteers, no competing artists or guests will be allowed to enter the competition ballroom before 9:30 a.m. PST on Monday, November 14th. Any members or guests who leave any items in the competition room or set up their materials prior to 9:30 a.m. will have their materials removed from the room until all other competing artists have selected their space. 

Each competing artist can select an area of the competition ballroom to be their work area for the duration of the competition. Moving locations is permitted, however, please do not disturb anyone else’s belongings or workspace. Seating/work areas are available on a first-come, first-served basis daily. All attendees are responsible for their own artwork, supplies and any other belongings they bring into the competition room. The ISCA Board of Directors, its working staff, hotel staff or volunteers are in no way responsible for any lost or stolen items during the annual conference. Take caution in leaving anything in the ballroom unattended. The board tries its best to monitor the room, but it is your responsibility to keep your items (such as electronic devices, supplies, materials and personal belongings) secure and safe. 

CREATION OF ARTWORK 

Competition is open only to Professional ISCA Members who are paid in full. They will be assigned a designated “Wall Space” in which they will post their artwork for judging. Non-competitors are encouraged to create artwork to share, though they will not be assigned a designated Wall Space. Instead, they are encouraged to post their work publicly on social media. Non-competitors are also encouraged to join ISCA as a Professional Member if they wish to take part in the competition (this can be arranged during the event up until we close the drawing room for voting).

The awards competition takes place over four days and all artwork must be created during that time (with the exception of specially designated competition categories). Any artwork found on a competitive display which was created by anyone other than a competing artist or known to be created prior to competition time will be promptly removed by a board member. Previous rules about having to be present in the ballroom while creating artwork will not be enforced. You may draw anywhere and at any time you wish, as long as it is within the window of time allotted.

All artwork remains property of its creator(s) but may be used for promotional purposes and reprinted in further ISCA materials.

Artwork created, edited, modified, or using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in any other way is prohibited. Artwork suspected of utilizing AI will be addressed with the competing artist. Artwork known to utilize AI will be disqualified.

COMPETITION NUMBERS 

All competing artists will be assigned a competition number. Each drawing must be labeled starting with your competition number followed by a dash and then consecutively numbered 1-99. For example: If your assigned competition number is 100, you would tape your artwork in the wall space labeled “100.” Each piece you post will then be individually numbered. Your first piece will be labeled “100-1.” Your second piece will be labeled “100-2.” And so on. This number should be easily visible on the piece itself. Use of letters to identify an individual piece of art will result in the disqualification of that piece. If the ISCA Board finds a certain piece of art to be improperly numbered, the creator of the piece will be notified and given the opportunity to fix it before judging begins.

LIVE COMPETITIONS 

Participants in live competitions are responsible for supplying their own drawing tables, boards, etc. ISCA will provide chairs ONLY for these competitions.

Live Event Style Competition 

Formerly known as the Live Retail/Party Style Competition, competitors will have 30 minutes to draw live subjects in a party/event atmosphere. Competitors may draw in whatever style they want — black and white, color, heads-only, heads & bodies, digital, any size — though it’s suggested they work in whatever style/setup best reflects their own live drawing setup. Artists must write their competition number on each caricature. After the heat is over, artists have 10 minutes to hang their art on their wall. All Competitor attendees are given a ballot and are encouraged to vote, whether they participated in the competition or not. The artist with the most votes wins. Voting ends sharply after 1 hour. Voting criteria includes: Number of caricatures completed, likeness, artistic merit, humor and personalization.

Speed Competition 

TBD - Coming soon!

Likeness Competition 

(A warm up round, and three 10-minute official rounds). In each round, artists will have 10 minutes to draw the same subject. Paper size should be no larger than 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) by 16 inches (40.6 centimeters). Artists participating in the Likeness Competition are prohibited from adding bodies/gags to their drawings. Head and shoulders ONLY. The focus of this particular competition is getting really great LIKENESS while maintaining the defining qualities of caricature. Following each round, artists must write their competition number on each caricature and hang it on the designated wall space. Following the third round, artists will have the rest of the designated time to vote on their favorite rendition of each subject.

OTHER COMPETITIONS

Artwork must be dropped off at registration and picked up by the artist by the end of the Friday night awards banquet. 

Studio Piece Competition

Artwork must be no larger than 14” x 18” (35.56 cm x 45.72 cm). We recommend submitting prints or reproductions for 2-D artwork, however if you wish to submit an original piece, you do so at your own risk and ISCA cannot be held responsible for any theft or damage. If submitting a 3-D piece for the Studio Competition, then original artwork is perfectly acceptable, but though like 2-D artwork, you do so at your own risk. 3D pieces must also fit within the allotted  14” x 18” (35.56 cm x 45.72 cm) table space.

Live/Retail Portfolio Competition

Live/Retail Portfolio submissions must be brought as physical printouts held together in some sort of binder, folder or book and must be contained in a single volume. Portfolios should be no larger than 16 x 22 inches (40 x 55 cm). The portfolio should contain pieces that best represent the artist’s live work from 2023 (live work is defined as any caricature created in a retail or gig setting). Reference images of the subjects MUST be included. 

CONTENT OF ARTWORK 

All caricatures created for competition must use conference attendees as subjects (no celebrities or non-participants, except in specially-designated competitions). ISCAcon is an all-ages event and will have attendees under the age of 18. While the ISCA Board encourages the creation of humorous, thought-provoking, insightful, and inventive artwork, the Board will disqualify artwork containing the following:

-excessive use of nudity and/or adult language

-racism, sexism, pornography

-subject matter which could be considered vulgar, lewd, profane or highly offensive to any individual ISCA member or to the group as a whole

Keep your work professional and editorial comments about your models in good taste. The ISCA Board reserves the right to determine whether or not any piece of artwork on display is inappropriate or in poor taste. If the ISCA Board deems a certain piece of art inappropriate or in poor taste, the creator of the piece will be notified and given the opportunity to use content warning flaps for mature content. However, the mature content still cannot break the above rules. Any subjects drawn in mature content MUST have the appropriate consent identifier on their badge. If you have a concern about any artwork please bring it to any board member’s attention at any time during the conference or fill out our anonymous complaint form. 

VOTING ON ARTWORK 

At 3:00 p.m. PST the competition will end and no new artwork may be hung at this point. Any artwork hung after 3pm will be instantly disqualified. If artwork falls off the wall, it will be set in front of your wall space for voting.

Attendees will then have one hour to pack up their supplies, clean their workspace including all trash and leave the ballroom. The ballroom will be closed and locked at 4:00 p.m. PST.

At this point, volunteer moderators will then review all posted artwork to ensure it meets ALL of the rules listed above.Artists who are found to have artwork displayed which violates any of the rules stated above will then be notified and may be given the opportunity to either modify, cover or remove their artwork before voting begins. If the artwork violates the artwork content/mature content rules, it will either need to be modified or it will be disqualified.

Following the content survey by the ISCA Board, the ballroom will be open for voting from6:00-9:00 p.m. PST. The award winners will be determined by a straight vote via ballot, open to all Competitor attendees. A ballot link will be posted with instructions on how to fill it out and submit. Only Professional Members registered for ISCAcon32 may vote. You can only vote one time and you cannot vote for yourself.

SELLING OF MERCHANDISE 

Anyone wishing to sell merchandise during the con must pay for a Vendor Table ($75 USD), which may be purchased prior to or during the con by contacting the ISCA Executive Director, Kara Mundy. The term “merchandise” refers to items like art materials, books, or electronic items (in amounts greater than 5 units). 

Any attendees caught selling merchandise without having purchased a Vendor Table will be required to pay the Vendor Table fee.  

GENERAL RULES OF CONDUCT  

All competing artists attending ISCAcon should be free to work on their caricatures within a uniquely creative atmosphere. The ISCA Board aims to create a welcoming environment through respect, kindness and constructive communication.

Hate Speech or Bullying is strictly prohibited. Degrading comments or artwork about things like race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated. Anyone found making offensive or harassing comments or content will be removed from the event without a refund, at the discretion of the ISCA Board of Directors. For more information, please see ISCA’s Anti-Harassment Policy on caricature.org.

No Pricing Discussions. Price fixing is against the law. Any discussion of pricing within any ISCA related spaces should not include actual numbers. For more information go to: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-competitors/price-fixing.

Personal Space and Property. The personal space and property of all attendees must be respected. This includes the space of each physical attendee, as well as the space they have selected within the ballroom. Please keep your area tidy so you do not encroach into another attendees’ space. Do not move, take, or dispose of other attendees’ personal property without their consent. This includes touching, damaging, or removing any artwork from wall spaces.

Unruly Behavior. We encourage everyone to enjoy their time at ISCAcon, but please keep in mind that this is a shared space and experience for all attendees. Disrupting the work of other attendees with loud music, physical disruption of their workspace, overly loud discussions, etc. is not acceptable. Disrupting seminars, awards, the live auction, or other scheduled events, is also not acceptable. Consumption of alcohol is not prohibited, but please keep your drinking discreet in consideration of fellow attendees, hotel policies and guests.  Any attendees found to be in violation of the above will be asked to leave the ballroom/classroom area. If the behavior continues, the attendee will be removed from the event without a refund, at the discretion of the Board of Directors. 

Event Conduct. When attending seminars, please silence your phones, tablets, and any other electronic devices. Please be sure to step fully outside of the classroom area before answering any phone calls and make sure the door is closed behind you. All classroom seminars, and the Awards Dinner, will be recorded by the organization. Please refrain from recording, live-streaming and taking photos during the speaker events. This includes coming up the side aisles or crouching in front of the speaker. These activities disrupt all of the attendees in the immediate area. Any attendees found to be in violation of this will be asked to stop. If the behavior continues, the attendee will be removed from the event without a refund, at the discretion of the Board of Directors.