The Jamaica Independence T-Shirt Design Competition, supported by the Ministry of Education and endorsed by Jamaica50, has attracted entries from across the island.

Each entrant hoping to win a share of $150,000 plus available in cash and prizes. Marc Morgan, the CEO of Zedrin Limited, and the organiser of this competition, states that the event will cause secondary students to reflect on the significance of Jamaican Indepen-dence and will raise money for secondary schools in Jamaica.

Morgan said hundreds of people have voted and the number of voters continues to rise. He said it is clear that the public has responded positively to weeks of promotion of the contest. Simply put, the t-shirt design competition has gone viral.

favourite designs

Going viral is the new in thing on the Internet. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a competition goes viral when it is "circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another".

Members of the public are voting on their favourite designs in the contest. They are enthusiastically sharing information about the entries they like with their Internet networks.

The competition began accepting submissions in May. After the submission period, a panel of judges narrowed the entries down to 10 top designs.

Three of the entries selected by the judges have progressed directly to the final round of the competition.

The seven other top designs are in the process of being voted upon by the Jamaican public. The two most popular of the designs being voted on will also progress to the final round of the competition.

Voting for the competition can be done through an app located on the Zedrin Facebook Fan Page (http://www.facebook.com/zedrinclothing). Voting ends July 7. If you have not voted already, then get your vote in for your favourite design. Time is running out.