“We’ve received several dozen entries to date, and there are some good ones!” Babeland Marketing Director Rebecca Suzanne said.
As originally planned, Babeland.com customers will judge contest finalists online beginning in June of 2006, and all entrants will retain ownership of their designs.
The first place winner will receive $250 cash, a $250 gift certificate to Babeland and a package of sex toys. Prizes also will be awarded for second and third place winners.
“This contest will be fun as well as productive. We are definitely looking for the next great sex toy,” explained Babeland co-founder Rachel Venning. “All entries will be judged on viability, originality of design, functionality and safety, aesthetics and the ability of the toy to advance the cause of human sexuality.”
Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional entries will be accepted. Final judging will be conducted on July 11 in Babeland’s Los Angeles store.
“I am so excited that the Los Angeles store has been chosen as the site of the final judging,” said L.A. store manager Kristina Garcai. “I know we are going to get some phenomenal entries and having a talented panel of judges reviewing them is going to be fantastic.”
Babeland was co-founded in 1993 by Venning and Claire Cavanah to be a woman-friendly destination for adult-oriented products, beginning with its first Seattle location. The company started a mail-order operation in 1995 and expanded into New York and, later, Los Angeles.
Babeland has received numerous honors in its thirteen years of business, including a Zagat Survey Awards for “Top Service” in New York City in 2003 and 2006. The store was voted "Best Place to Buy Sex Toys" by The Village Voice, New York Magazine, New York Press, Miami New Times, Seattle's The Stranger, and The Seattle Weekly.