TO ENTER SEE INFO BELOW • TO SEE CONTESTANTS CLICK HERE • VOTING STARTS 9/1/15

The Search For The

Next Spyder Girl

Total Prize Packages Worth Up To

$2,400!!

(including main Spyder Girl prize and 9 finalist consolation prizes)

Are YOU the Next Spyder Girl? Or do you know someone who could be? We're looking for the next member of this exclusive group of ladies to help represent Poison Spyder at shows and in photos. If you think you've got what it takes, see the instructions below for entering the contest. But first, let's have a look at what you'll win if you are chosen as the Next Spyder Girl:

• You will help represent Poison Spyder at the 2015 Off-Road Expo, October 2-4 in Pomona, California!
• Poison Spyder will cover up to $500 in travel and accomodations expenses to attend the Off-Road Expo.
• You will receive a $1,000 Poison Spyder store credit to use to fix up your Jeep (or a friend or loved one's Jeep)
• You will participate in a photo shoot with the rest of the Spyder Girls, with photos to be used throughout the year by Poison Spyder for promotional purposes. Digital copies of all photos can be provided to you.
• There may be additional opportunities to help represent Poison Spyder at various events around the country.
• You will forever be a Spyder Girl!

In addition to the Next Spyder Girl winner, there will be 9 Finalists who will each receive a $100 Gift Certificate from Poison Spyder.

How the Contest Works

There will be three phases of the contest: the Contest Entry period, in which contestants submit their entries to be the Next Spyder Girl. Next will be the Public Voting period, which will choose our 10 finalists. Then we will conduct our own Internal Jurying of the finalists to choose the Next Spyder Girl. The Contest Entry phase will run from August 21st, 2015, until midnight on August 31st, 2015. Public Voting will commence the next day, beginning at 8:00 AM on September 1, 2015. Public Voting will end one week later, at 8:00 AM on September 8, 2015. The voting will determine our Ten Finalists. Next our Internal Jury process will determine the contest winner from among the ten finalists, and announce the winner by 2:00 PM on September 14, 2014.

Instructions for Entering the Contest

1. Find at least FOUR (4) photographs of yourself that you would like to use for the contest. Among these photographs, at least one must be a "head shot", and at least one must be a full body shot. If you would like to submit a photo for consideration in the 2016 Spyder Girls Calendar, at least one of your photos must meet the Calendar Submission Guidelines (click for details).
2. Go to the Contest Page, click on "Enter" button at top-right, and enter TWO of your photos into the online contest app. Your "head shot" must be one of them, the other shot entered can be your choice but NOT your Calendar Submission. The way the contest works is that you will enter each of your photos as a separate entry into the contest. Use the same First and Last Names on each entry, and also fill in the caption field to display your name, city and state with your photos. Note that photo entries are held for moderation prior to being shown on the voting page (you won't see them there right away).
3. Send an email to Dusty Sharp at [email protected]. Write "Spyder Girl Contestant" in the subject line. Include at least FOUR of your photos as attachments to the email (the two you uploaded to the contest page, plus at least two more, in the highest resolution files as possible). Include your Calendar Submission photo among them. Within the body of the email, provide the following information:
   • Your Name (must match the name you supplied on your contest photo entries)
   • Home town and state
   • Age
   • Ladies T-shirt size
   • Tell us a little about yourself
   • Why do you want to be the Next Spyder Girl?
   • Link to your Facebook page
   • A phone number where you may be reached. This will only be used if you make it into the Ten Finalists round, as we will then contact each finalist for a short phone conversation.
   • Your statement that all of the photos provided are your property and that you are granting Poison Spyder the right to alter (crop, watermark, touch-up, etc.) and use them on our own website, calendar, Facebook and other social media, and/or print media projects.
   • Your statement that, if chosen as the winner of the Next Spyder Girl contest, you will be available to represent Poison Spyder Customs, Inc. at the Off-Road Expo in Pomona, CA October 2-4, 2015, and that you are willing and able to cover any remainder of expenses to do so, over and above the $500 toward travel and accommodations that Poison Spyder is providing as part of the prize package.
4. You may receive a Facebook "friend request" from Dusty Sharp, Sarah Henry and/or Amanda Hopper. Please approve the friend request (you may "un-friend" us when the contest is over). Don't worry, we're not checking to make sure you are squeaky clean, and frankly we don't mind if our Spyder Girls are a little rowdy or rough around the edges. This just allows us to do a cursory check to make sure there are no glaring problems that would reflect negatively on Poison Spyder or the Spyder Girl program. Of course you may deny the friend request if you would rather not allow access to your Facebook page, but if so please email us to let us know.
5. If the above steps are completed before midnight California time on August 31, 2015, you are entered in the contest. Photo entries are "moderated" so there may be a time delay before your photos are approved and appear in the contest voting page. Note that even if your photos appear on the contest page early, the voting mechanism will not be enabled until the official voting starts on September 1.

What Happens Next

Campaign for Votes
You may now start campaigning for votes. You can start your campaign early, but remember that actual voting will not commence until September 1, 2015. Share links to your contest entries on your own Facebook page and on any other social media in which you are active. If you are a member of any enthusiast forums or bulletin boards, especially Jeep and 4X4 related ones, you might consider stumping for votes there. And make sure all of your family and friends vote for you. The contest is set to allow one vote per day, per facebook account. So keep reminding your supporters that they can vote for you every day during the voting period, which will end at 8:00 AM Pacific, on September 8, 2015.

Shout-Outs from Poison Spyder
At some point during the contest (either during the entry phase or the voting phase), we will make a "shout out" post on behalf of UP TO 10 CONTESTANTS, on our Facebook page. Of these, 5 will be chosen from among the earliest entries, as an incentive to get your entries in as quickly as possible. The other 5 will shout-outs will be chosen by our panel from among the best Calendar-worthy submissions we've received. The shout-out post will include a link to one of your photo entries in the contest. This will be a great opportunity to reach our fan base of 125,000+, so make sure to get your entries in early and use the most calendar-worthy shots you can get!

Ten Finalists Chosen
Voting will close at 8:00 AM Pacific on September 8, 2015. The votes will be tallied (from the TWO photos entered by each contestant) and the Ten Finalists will be announced by noon the same day, September 8, 2015.

Jury Deliberations to Choose The Next Spyder Girl
During this time, someone from Poison Spyder may contact each of the Ten Finalists by telephone for a short conversation. After that, our jury will deliberate privately to determine a winner. The Next Spyder Girl will be announced by 2:00 PM on September 14, 2015. The winner will then begin making preparations to join us in Pomona, California for the Off-Road Expo October 2-4, 2015, and will be awarded her prizes. The remaining 9 finalists will each receive a $100 Poison Spyder Gift Certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question about the contest? We've tried to cover the most frequently asked ones below. If you don't see an answer to your question here already, send an email to [email protected], and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with the information you need.

Q: Is there an age limit?

A: We are limiting the lower age limit to 18 years. There is no upper age limit.

Q: Do I have to own a Jeep to enter? Do I have to know how to weld or work on Jeeps?

A: Of course not. We're looking for the Next Spyder Girl, not the next shop help. There will be some observers of the contest who think the Spyder Girl should be a Jeeper, or own a Jeep, or be able to work on them, etc. We see those comments every year, and those who hold that opinion are of course welcome to exercise it with their votes. But remember, the final decision on who will be the Next Spyder Girl will be made by our internal jury process, and ultimately the winner will be chosen by our perception of which contestant will best be able to help represent us at events. That said, the girls who do own their own Jeep, and/or know how to work on them, seem to get a lot of votes for those reasons.

Q: Can I enter the contest again if I've been a Spyder Girl contestant before?

A: Of course you can, and we welcome all of our past contestants to give it another try. For most of the girls its a fun experience and we've built lasting relationships with many of our past contestants, each of whom are welcome to try again if they'd like to.

Q: Why are you arbitrarily choosing the winner internally? Why not let the raw votes determine the overall winner?

A: This is not a popularity contest. Again, we are looking for a Spyder Girl who we believe will best suit our needs. The voting portion of the contest is our way of gauging popular support for the candidates, and narrowing the selection down to 10 for our jury committee to choose from. By getting into the top ten, our jury will know that each finalist does already have the ability to cultivate a fan base. But there will be online campaigns conducted on various forums, and some of the contestants or their supporters may be able to pad their vote tallies in this way, skewing the vote. Other contestants might already have a measure of fame that will generate votes. The final jurying process is our way of evening the playing field, so to speak, and ensuring that our final winner is the best candidate according to what we are looking for in the Next Spyder Girl, not just the one who can generate the most Likes on Facebook. That said, some of our past winners have also won the overall vote, while some have come from lower down in the Top Ten.

Q: Can contestants from outside the USA enter the contest?

A: Yes, we welcome contestants from anywhere in the world. However, be advised that upon entering you are guaranteeing that you would be available to help represent Poison Spyder at the Off-Road Expo, at the date and place specified. The prize package includes $500 in travel and accommodations expenses, so if you are able and willing to cover the remainder of the travel expenses yourself, should you be chosen as the winner, you are welcome to enter the contest.