• The Grand Prize includes two tickets to the 2012 Rose Bowl Game or a $1,000 Cash Prize. Multiple winners will have to split the prize. Deadline – 5:00 p.m., Friday, January 28, 2011

Download the contest guidelines and entry form!

Rose Parade High Concept

The 2012 Rose Parade theme pays homage to all things possible and
impossible. It is about potential and our hope, our discoveries and fascinations.
It is about looking for beauty in things rare and common.

On one hand, it harkens to a Dr. Seuss-like imagining of all of the wondrous
dreams of our childhood where reality playfully turns inside out or upside down.
On the other, it triggers thought-provoking questions of what visionary people
with a common purpose can accomplish to change and inspire us.

The Parade theme provokes images of children lying on grass seeing pictures in
clouds; scientists searching the stars for new worlds to discover; far away places
imagined by the poets and storytellers of the ages; determined athletes giving
their all in service of the ultimate prize; musicians, dancers, painters, actors and
sculptors expressing their gifts on the palettes of their vocations; and the
visualization of a future in which creativity and innovation are the twin masters of
our dreams.

While this theme seems to beg for the sculpture of storybook fantasies and the
world of a child’s imagination, it can also be expressed as a reflection of the
achievable hopes and dreams of adults, the remarkable accomplishments and
innovations of business, and the world vision of an optimistic future.

Heartfelt and uplifting, the Rose Parade theme explores original ideas from the
very small to the phenomenal, with an emphasis on touching hearts and inspiring
lives. Most of all, it is a theme full of opportunities for fun. Our goal is to leave
the audience in a state of suspended disbelief whispering one word… “wow!.”

Thematically, this idea is a treasure-trove of possibilities, especially as it comes
at the beginning of a new year. It should celebrate a new year of opportunity,
underscore the brilliant imaginings of our past, and inspire us to reach higher, try
harder, and believe in our dreams.

Possible thematic extensions to consider:

Artistic
Music, Sculpture, Painting,
Etc.
Dance
Performance
Techno and Pop
Music and Entertainment

Books and
Literature
Futuristic stories
Children’s Stories
Science Fiction

Worlds Yet to
Discover
Fantastic Places Fantasy
and Whimsy
Space
Future
Modes of Transportation
Technology & Medicine
Heal the World
New Discoveries

Heartfelt
The Movies
Anniversaries
Playtime