Aug

Summer Showdown throw down!

The trash talk is heating up even in the shade being thrown by competitors as we move to Round Two of the Smithsonian Summer Showdown. Cast your vote for the most Seriously Amazing contender!

The Smithsonian Summer Showdown has moved to Round Two. Twelve contestants made it through the gauntlet of the first round and will duke it out until Tuesday, August 18th at midnight to be the reigning champ of their bracket. Only four will continue on to the final round as the most Seriously Amazing. Be sure to vote for your favorites: http://showdown.si.edu

We also wanted to share with you some of the great things that happened in the first round. These examples mostly focus on the top twelve, but for a full view at the amazing work of your social media colleagues, please check out #SIShowdown.

We saw some amazing battles between units, which led to local coverage like this: What’s Better? The Hope Diamond or Tiger Cubs? and this from the DCist. As you can see, the zoo is a feisty competitor.

(Click to enlarge.)

We can’t wait to see what else the contestants have in store and neither can the public! I’ve included some of my favorite of the public’s reactions below.Be sure to follow the #SIShowdown hashtag on Twitter for a bunch of fun, facts and creativity from our social media colleagues and don’t forget to vote!

UPDATE

August 25, 2015 More than 50,000 votes were cast in the 2014 Smithsonian Summer Showdown and we can now announce the champion: Raising Endangered Babies, National Zoological Park and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute! (Pretty timely, too, with the birth of our new giant panda cubs on August 22.)

With 28 amazing contenders, there were some entertaining battles on social media and a few close calls along the way, but in the end the Zoo held its own against the fierce competition.

The Showdown garnered wonderful feedback from Smithsonian fans from all over the nation — and most seriously amazing is only one way to think about all that the Smithsonian does. Last year we did most iconic — what should we do next year? Click here and let us know!