Good summary!
The only thing I'd add is to stand at the end of the line when you join a costume contest. It's usually fairly obvious who is and isn't in the contest. Trying to fit yourself in between two people in the middle is going to annoy those people, the people next to them if they shift to let you in, the judges, and probably random people in another zone.
There's a line of people. At some point, there are no more people. Put yourself there, and voila, you're in line!
Too bad there's no Judging Guidelines. It's just like judging art, it's not an exact science, but every costume will have varying degrees of difficulty and the best judges will be those who recognize composition.
The problem with just picking things that interest YOU the most, is that it WILL bring personal feelings into the whole Ordeal and may even earn you Hecklers.
The best thing to look for is complimentary color schemes, a "flow" in the chatracter's shape, and continuity or enginuity in their component selections that the largest amount of people will recognize. And even if you're not experienced with these artistic principles, it would probably be a good idea to atleast Announce to the Contestants what you're judging on in the most precise manner you can describe it in.
So yeah, make sure you judge execution over content when possible. It saves a lot of grief in every contest with people ranging from talented newbies to professional artists.
I think another Judge guideline that might be helpful is to
Limit the Levels you'll be judging.
I really can't stand running past a contest under Atlas and seeing a bunch of low level n00bs, some with great costumes and even some with fun bio's, standing up next to your level 33's and 45's. That's just plain not fair. And what's worse is that I've seen them WIN against these little guys. At those levels, it is very incosiderate to even apply next to a level 7 kid who really will appreciate even a little extra Influence.
I'd also like to see more Bio contests. Generally what I do is run around while someone else is holding an unrelated contest and simply reward the good bios (the ones that exist and have few typos let alone those which have some content) with a wad of influence.
And Bio/Battlecry/relevance to costume contests. 
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Repurposed
I considered adding a section in my guide on whether to award prizes to higher-level characters, but I know that people have mixed opinions on this issue, so it didn't seem like something I should put in a semi-official guide.
That said, here's my opinion. Level 35 players need influence too. The SOs get pricier and pricier. I have no objection to having a level 35 player win if his/her costume is the best one. Everyone has equal access to the costume generator. Now, before people burst blood vessels about the fact that higher levels have access to capes and auras that the lowbies do not, I'm well aware of this. As the judge, you can take this into account. Is the glowy-eye aura what makes the costume click? Is it the cape? If so, you can factor that in and rate the costume accordingly lower.
My other rule of thumb is to balance character level with contest prize. If the prize is 100k, I might be more willing to limit it to lowbies. But if the prize is a million, that's of genuine use to higher level characters, especially if they suffer from altoholism as I do.
Another tip for those planning to host costume contests: Please do not have your contestants line up in an area that has NPC pedestrian traffic. I was in a couple of contests last night that were irritating because pedestrians kept coming through and either nudging people aside or actually pushing them down an entire flight of stairs.
This is yet another reason why I think the Atlas platform is an ideal venue for costume (and/or bio) contests.
One other tip for those entering:
If you have multiple costumes, PICK ONE and don't switch it mid-contest. It's impolite, it causes unnecessary confusion and/or frustration as the judge now has to re-evaluate your 'new' costume, and it very well could get you DQ'd. If you really want to show off your 'costume change' routine/battlecry/emote/whatever... ask the judge via Tell first if it's OK.
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You left out the part about how most costume contests are actually hottest female toon contests.
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I'll admit this is personal preference, but I'm of the opinion that costume contests should always be conducted with the "powers OFF" rule. It's a costume contest, not a "who has the sparkliest power" contest. You're awarding good costume design.
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I certainly understand your point, and that is the reason I usually don't enter any contest. I usually design the costumes of chars with how the powers look they use in mind.
This is in particular true for brutes/tanks/scrappers, where the different armour toggles are visually very heavy, and IMO need to be integrated in a way to work with the costume.
Like for example Ghost Maiden, my forum name character, she needs to run at least Integration, stealth, and hover (and her aura) to complete the floating, transparent, green glowing ghost look.
Otherwise, good, well written post, just my opinion on this particular bit.
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I'll admit this is personal preference, but I'm of the opinion that costume contests should always be conducted with the "powers OFF" rule. It's a costume contest, not a "who has the sparkliest power" contest. You're awarding good costume design.
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I certainly understand your point, and that is the reason I usually don't enter any contest. I usually design the costumes of chars with how the powers look they use in mind.
This is in particular true for brutes/tanks/scrappers, where the different armour toggles are visually very heavy, and IMO need to be integrated in a way to work with the costume.
Like for example Ghost Maiden, my forum name character, she needs to run at least Integration, stealth, and hover (and her aura) to complete the floating, transparent, green glowing ghost look.
Otherwise, good, well written post, just my opinion on this particular bit.
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Valid points. I have (and/or had) toons with the same issues. I had a fire tanker with a fire-colored costume, and he looked better with Blazing Aura on. I have that spines scrapper I referred to, the one with the green costume and tan veins... he looks really good with his spines activated, because the veins match the spines, and he generally looks more the like cactus he was desgined around thematically. I have a Zeus-looking broadsword scrapper named Olympic Metal (hehehe) who looks much better when he's wielding his sword.
So yes, there are times when some powers enhance the look of the toon, and that can be by design. But generally speaking, if you allow the use of powers during a costume contest, you almost always get power SPAMMING. People casting every power and every toggle they can squeeze out--and in rapid succession. It turns chaotic. And as I said, there are some powers that affect how OTHER toons look (e.g., accelerate metabolism). Some of my best looking toons look -horrible- with the green AM glow.
Anyway, sometimes I've seen (and run) contests where it's allowed to draw your weapon (spines, sword, bow, etc), but the use of active powers during a costume contests -usually- brings about more harm than good.
Again... my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
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You left out the part about how most costume contests are actually hottest female toon contests.
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Unfortunately.
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So youve got some spare influence burning a hole in your spandex, and youre considering holding a costume contest to get rid of it. Well heres the post for you. ... Or maybe you just heard on broadcast that someones hosting a costume contest shortly, and youre hoping to win some influence. What should you do?
Broad daylight is best. Shoot for that if possible.
Im sure there are things I forgot to mention, or if you have any other tips or guidelines to add, fire away.
First, some brief background... Recently (ish), someone posted a thread titled Guide to costume contests and then proceeded to declare all such contests fake. In that thread, I posted some real guidelines, but I decided to make a legit post out of it, as well as tweak some of the first-draft content I had before. Ive broken this into two sections: one for contest HOSTS, one for CONTESTANTS.
And no, I do not claim to be the end-all authority on costume contests, not by a longshot. What youre about to read are my thoughts on how I personally think contests should be run. Feel free to reply with your own ideas as well.
GUIDELINES FOR HOSTING A COSTUME CONTEST
1. In-game time-of-day. I know this seems like an odd way to start these guidelines, but if youre thinking of running a contest, consider waiting for the right time of day in-game. I dont mean whether its 9:00 p.m. EDT. I mean, in Atlas Park, is it full daylight? Night? Is the sun beginning to set? Generally, contests are best when theyre held in full daylight. So if the sun is setting over Paragon City, consider waiting for the sun to come up again. I know that can throw your own timing off, but the stage of the sun in-game affects how costumes look. The setting sun especially tends to add a pink/red tint to peoples costumes, which can turn some very attractive costumes into rather odd and unattractive ones. I have this one character with the veiny costume, green with tan veins (spine scrapper). That tan turns pure pink at dusk. Very unsettling.
2. Broadcast that you are going to host a contest. If youre feeling generous, you could broadcast in multiple zones. Generally, the lowest-level zones are best. Atlas, Galaxy, Hollows.
3. State/broadcast the contest location. Most contests are held under the Atlas statue in Atlas Park, and Im of the opinion that its a good spot for them. You generally want to have the contestants line up on the north edge of the plaza platform, their backs to City Hall. The line can wrap around the edge of the platform as needed. Alternative locations usually involve having people assemble behind City Hall (Atlas) or the Freedom Corps Bldg (Galaxy). Typically if you just say under Atlas, people know where to line up and will do so spontaneously. Inquiring newbies may need direction.
4. Give people time to get there. Remember, you're doing this in Atlas/Galaxy, and many/most of the people there don't have travel powers yet. I'd suggest giving a minimum of 5 minutes advance warning. Minimum. Ten minutes would be even better. You probably dont need any more than 10 minutes warning, unless youve broadcast in the Hollows too. Remember, no travel power means its going to take people a while to get there. Or perhaps they need to wrap up what theyre doing so they can load a different character.
5. State/broadcast the prize(s) in advance. If the 1st place prize is 10k, most people won't bother attending unless they're very very new to the game. Even if it's 100k, some people won't bother. The point is, give your prospective contestants this information from the start so they can decide whether to attend. Its customary to give prizes for first, second, and third place. State all three prize amounts in advance.
6. Powers off. I'll admit this is personal preference, but I'm of the opinion that costume contests should always be conducted with the "powers OFF" rule. It's a costume contest, not a "who has the sparkliest power" contest. You're awarding good costume design. Don't penalize the level 4 player who simply hasn't reached the sparkly-power level yet. Plus it avoids chaotic power-spamming (healing, Freezing Rain, Rain of Fire, etc.). And there are plenty of powers out there that affect how other people look (e.g., Steamy Mist, Accelerate Metabolism, Shadow Fall, etc.). I know that when Im a contestant, I get perturbed when Captain Inconsiderate next to me makes me glow green with AM or puts hideous black ink at my feet. Ruins my look. Discourage this. Generally if you say powers off, 99% of people comply. If there are some rebels in the crowd, you can warn them that powers = disqualification. Usually this isnt necessary, but be prepared to give (and enforce) the warning if needed.
7. Don't take forever. Once the contest starts, make your selection(s) of the winner(s) in a timely manner. Five minutes is good. Ten is okay. Try not to go past that. Having people stand around for half an hour while you continually broadcast, "Gee, you're all so good, I can't decide" is a waste of people's time. Typically, only 1-3 people get prizes, so the other 20-40 people stand there for nothing. Let them stand there for 5 minutes, not 25.
8. Announce your winners publicly. This serves two purposes. First, it lets the people who didnt win know that the contest is over. Second, it lets the contest winners enjoy their moment in the spotlight.
. . . Some contest hosts prefer to choose 3 to 6-ish finalists, from whom the final winners are chosen. If you select finalists first, announce those publicly, and then announce your final rankings once you've (promptly) decided them. Do not just say, Ive chosen my finalists. If you didnt get picked, you didnt win. Ugh! Annoying! Take the ten seconds and tell everyone the 3 to 6 finalists names. As a contestant, it's very irritating to stand through an entire contest and never hear who the finalists and winners were. As contest host, if you prefer to have finalists join your team and/or move into City Hall for the final decision phase, fine. But if you DO go into City Hall for the end phase, then (a) dont forget to announce who your finalists are, and (b) don't forget to broadcast your final winner(s). Again, though, I prefer everything to remain out on the Atlas plaza so everyone can see the action from beginning to end.
9. Thank all the participants and politely send them on their way, explicitly letting them know that the contest is over.
Thats the chronology. Some other things to consider...
(A) Ignore the beggars and whiners. Ive yet to be in a contest where people werent saying some variations of: I never win these things! Im poor, please pick me! His costume sucks! How could you pick him? Mine is way better! You cant please everyone. Dont bother trying and dont let the inevitable sniping bother you.
(B) Some of the guidelines above can be adjusted in special cases.
. . . (1) If youre holding a major contest, with huge prizes. With a first-place prize of a million or several million, you should extend some of the time limits I listed. Give people more time to show up, at least 15 minutes advance warning. You can take longer than the proscribed ten minutes to decide, and this may in fact be necessary if you have hordes of people showing up. Still, though, try to make your decisions as soon as you can.
. . . (2) If there are multiple judges. Usually this involves SG-mates as co-judges, and this typically takes longer to coordinate and decide on winners. However, if you and your SG decide to do this kind of a multi-judge contest, only do so with a major prize offering. Dont make a huge production of it and take all day just to hand out 250k.
. . . (3) If youre including bios in the judgement. This will obviously take longer since you have to read each persons bio. Please announce in advance if bios are being factored in. Dont spring this fact on them halfway through the contest, or even worse, at the end.
C) Dont overlap with a contest already in progress. If somebody is hosting a contest, let him/her completely finish before you even announce that youll be hosting one. Be sure to wait for the current host to announce his/her winners (not just the finalists). Then give your 5- or 10-minute pre-warning.
GUIDELINES FOR CONTESTANTS.
Hopefully you read the above guidelines for hosts. If not, please do so. If youre a contestant in costume contest, you should do the following.
1. Be patient. Dont say things, especially repeatedly, like: Is this over yet? Whats taking so long? This is just annoying. And you are very likely disqualifying yourself by doing this. Annoying the host is not the best strategy for winning a contest.
2. Be relatively quiet. Some banter is perfectly fine, and Im all for it. This should be a fun atmosphere. But please dont clog up the airwaves with pointless spam, especially if the host is trying to announce finalists or winners. And keep the banter in the Local channel, not Broadcast.
3. Dont turn your powers on. Read why in the host section (6) above.
4. Be polite. Congratulate the winners. Dont chastise the host for picking a costume that (a) wasnt you, and/or (b) you thought was ugly or boring. Regarding (a), you cant win every contest you enter. Its silly to expect to. Regarding (b), everybody has different taste and preferences. When youre the host giving out your hard-earned influence, then you can hold your own contest. Until then, behave.
Prior to the contest beginning, there are a couple of warning flags that you can pay attention to that may reveal that the particular contest you just heard advertised might be a hoax, which is relatively rare but unfortunately does happen sometimes.
Warning flag #1: A low HostLevel-to-Prize ratio. If your host is a level 6 player offering 500k to a million infl, this could be a hoax. It's entirely possible that this level 6 player (a) has transferred the infl onto this character previously from his higher-level chars, (b) has received the infl from higher-level friends, or (c) will do the judging while a high-level friend gives out the prize. However, the smaller that Host-to-Prize ratio is, the higher the odds that it's a newbie trying to entertain him/herself at the expense of everyone else.
Warning flag #2: The host refuses to state the prize up front. When a host announces a contest and doesn't state the prize, I'll usually send him/her a /t and ask what the prize is. Usually the person will respond privately and then broadcast the prize amount now that I've pointed out the omission. But I've had conversations that go like: "Greystar: What's the prize?" "Host: Influence." "Greystar: How much?" "......" No reply. Those are usually hoaxes, where the host just announces a "contest" and gets people to show up, and then the "winners" are announced and learn that they've just won 173 influence. -- Now, sometimes I've had hosts say, legitimately, that they're going to decide on the prize depending on the quality of costumes that arrive, and I can understand that. I'd hate to offer a million influence and then end up with a batch of generica for costumes to choose from. But usually the host will ballpark it if it's legit. Flat refusal to state any prize range should set off alarm bells.
Ok, there you have it. Ive tried to be as complete as possible, and I commend you if you actually read through this entire post.