Four green lights on the voting box are what contest entrants dream of. The lights signal that all four judges approved an entry for placement.

The judging, twittering, blogging, podcasting and watching all take place in Tucker Forum in Gannett Hall at the University of Missouri.

From left, judges Barry Locher, Nicole Frugé, Lara Solt and Zach Wise watch as images are projected onto the screen during the judging of International Picture Story.

John Schreiber, front, and William Lounsbury test the projector and screencast before the start of CPOY judging. Schrieber and Katie Wood, not pictured, are Co-Coordinators and operate the images shown to the judges and record "ins" and "outs," respectfully.

Six different microphones stream audio through a Soundcraft PM6 Mixer. Four judge mics, one director mic and one caption reader mic all contribute to the audio heard on the podcasts as well as in-room audio.

To record the dialogue between judges during the competition, four Shure SLX4 receivers are used to pick up the discussions. The recievers feed into a mixer, which feeds into a compressor, which feeds into an amp, which finally feeds into a computer that records the audio.

An anxious Josh Bickel rubs his head while one of his entries is being discussed as a possible candidate for final placement in a category.