First of all, kudos to the author of this thread for coming up with this idea, I think its great. That said I have an alternative set of rules that should be considered for this contest:
An alternative might be to have specific requirements to be considered for different "categories", instead of judges. And instead of judges letting the community vote on the mods they like best entered into each category. So it would be more like People's Choice awards rather than Emmies.
The mods could have been started at any point in time. However, they must not be a "community" style mod, or a major project that has already received recognition by the community i.e. mods with their own forums.
The contest would run til first week in July giving people approximately 3 month.
In order to enter, the modder must register here by posting their intentions to enter. and be entered into a list for mods running in each category.
Note that any future recurrences of this contest (i.e. if we decide to hold it annually) excludes any mods entered into previous contests.
Rewards might be front page coverage, and a special title created by the forum moderators. Someone might even create a "trophy" avatar.
Categories and Requirements:
Best additional civilization(s) mod.
Requirements for entry: at least 1 additional civilization.
Best total conversion mod.
Requirements for entry: a modded DLL, and or extensive use of an existing community project DLL. Must include changes to more than 2 major game concepts.
Best unique feature(s) mod.
Requirements for entry: must be 1 or more unique feature(s) that no one else has currently modded. Not to say they wouldn't in the future. This is about trend setting!
Best newbie mod.
Requirements for entry: must be created by someone new to modding. Must not have released more than 2 mods here or on steam. Must not have altered DLL in any mods or the mod entered.
Best unit(s)/building(s) mod.
Requirements for entry: must include 1 or more modded or new units or buildings.
Best user interface mod.
Requirements for entry: must have altered the in game user interface. I.E. additional popups, tooltip tweaks, change in layouts of popups.
Best art assets mod.
Requirements for entry: must have created new art assets for the game. I.E. user interface graphics/icons. New unit models or retextures. Visible building assets or wonders displayed on city or tile improvements or textures for new types of tile or resources.
The above categories would be voted on by the Civilization community through this forum.
) around March 20th, rather than in April... Ah well, I might participate with another Civ once I get new (civ) ideas 
(Other minuscule modern empires such as Andorra perhaps? I don't know why, but I feel like they deserve a mention in a game. I want to make those 85000 inhabitants happy and proud of their society 
