National Pageant | Miss United Southern States Pageant

Director Resources

Director Requirements Defined, Most of you coming on board are experienced pageant. directors. This list is for those that are new to the business.

Be in this for the right reasons.

Please know that directing a pageant is very hard work. This is not an easy way to make money, nor is it a one time a year job. Most directors spend lots of time throughout the year working on advertising, organizing, updating websites, and spending time with their queens to meet this goal. You can make money in this business, however; it is usually after you have established brand and name before this will occur. Pageant directors are usually in the business because they love pageantry.

Must have excellent moral character.

This list is not all inclusive. Any action that you perform either inside or outside of the pageant industry that will have others questioning your moral character, will affect the outcome of your pageant. Consider the fact that the World is watching you. This list is created to help you succeed.
- No negative social media posts. This includes political posts, and pageant or contestant bashing posts. If your political affiliation is important to you, you probably should not be a pageant director. At any given time, half the people following you have different views than you do. Those peoplewill likely never attend your pageant. In addition, contributing to negative posts on Facebook will quickly put you on the banded/blacklist. Those that bash children do NOT need to be a part of your circle. If they are attacking adults, they are likely attacking you behind your back. It is not always easy to avoid these posts, but truly keep scrolling. I have found that the unsubscribe button works well.
- Keep in mind that you may delete posts as above, but they can last forever in screenshot texts.
- In addition to posts, watch the kind of posts you share on social media. Posting photos of yourself at different angles in compromising or questionable positions will not make you a fan favorite.
- Make 100% sure you are inclusive to all contestants. We pride ourselves on being diverse system. This will include your judging panel.

Do not cancel your pageant unless you absolutely have to. Contestants prepare months for this event. Cancelling will only have them question whether they enter next year. Postpone the pageant instead of cancelling if you do not have the numbers. Please handle this correctly. If the contestant that registered for the original date cannot attend the rescheduled date, please refund the deposit. If the only option is to cancel a pageant, this should be done at least six weeks in advance.
This pageant system offers many awards and is not usually a "one-man" show. Make sure you have the proper help to help you crown. I say this from experience, do as much of this in advance as you can. Pageant day will quickly come crashing in.
Have a trusted tabulator that will check, double check and recheck the results before calling them on stage. There is nothing worse than calling the wrong top five, alternates, or worse, crowning the wrong queen. People will never forget that experience! If you do happen to crown the wrong queen, you should not take awards from the one that was crowned incorrectly. It is your responsibility to make right and provide awards to both girls.

Want to have people never consider your system? Don't proof your emails, your website, or your posts. This is the quickest way to lose contestants.
- Have someone to proofread your work.
- Sending through Outlook? Use spell and grammar check.
- Posting on Facebook? There are many tools now you can use to run spell and grammar check.
- Not everyone is great with writing. Don't post and don't hit send until, you are sure.

Organization

Written and Oral Communication

415303224_767276588779368_3014293063974114488_n_edited.jpg

Frequently Asked Questions

Make an informed decision before you join our team!

Are there contracts?

We feel that if we treat our directors correctly, they will want to stay on, and if they want to leave, we certainly don't want them to stay. In the coming years, we want to be the very best to our directors. As we break even and make money, we will share to do things for you. With this being said, there is no contract required. Leave any time. We ask that you leave within the first month after you host your pageant, or before advertising. This prevents us from having to find someone to fill in if you walk away after planning a pageant.
We also reserve the right based on the information above to remove directors as needed. Why would we remove directors? This is rare as it is never our intention as this hurts us and our brand. What situations would deem us removing a director:
- Unfair pageant results - IE Fixed results or anything of the like.
  - When you take on this role, you commit to being honest, and prepare yourself to think about what may make you look dishonest. Examples are to stay away from the judges' table. Not to say anything regarding a contestant that may be misconstrued, etc. With this being said, we have been around the block a time or two. :) We know that there may be untruths could be told after a pageant. We may receive complaints at the national level. Most will be unfounded and a pageant mom that isn't happy with the honest results.
  - We would not remove you unless the complaints are investigated and founded.
  - Negative social media posts that hurt not only your brand, but our brand.
  - Contestant bashing of any kind.
  - Participating in any type of bashing sessions on social media.
  - We know we have people that are just dramatic. They live their lives for the next crisis. We ask that you do not participate in this. It not only hurts your brand but ours as well.
  - Bashing other systems. We want to earn respect. Not run other systems down to excel.
  - Taking part in pageant drama publicly. We expect you to be above that. Does this mean you can never post? No. If you receive a dress that was not in the condition that it was expected, or order a dress and was scammed, we absolutely support you adding to this the Beware Boards. Rule of thumb is to take "you" out of it and emotions and be factual.
  - Please know that racism that is proved of any kind will result in immediate removal.

Can I direct other pageants, or even direct for another system?

Absolutely! You can also direct smaller, local pageants although we want our events to be "State level" events. It is often hard to lose the small pageant planning rhythm. Your state pageant should be an EVENT rather than a pageant you direct monthly.

How does this system work?

We recommend you attend another State level pageant , or nationals to understand the format.

We have nine overall queens:
- Jr. Young: Pre-School-Kindergarten
- Young: 1st-3rd Grades
- Preteen: 4th-6th Grades
- Jr. Teen: 7th-9th Grades
- Teen: 10th-12th Grades
We will use the Young Miss Category as an example. This example is for a State director that does not offer the Model title. Crowning will look a little like this:
- Recognition of 1st grade alternates and side awards. Your 1st Grade winner and overall winner (if in the 1st grade) will take a seat on Royalty Row.
- Recognition of 2nd grade alternates and side awards.
- Recognition of 3rd grade alternates and side awards.
- At the conclusion bring up your Royalty Row and crown your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade winners. Then, your overall winner: Young Miss (Insert State here)
Directors may change this up to determine who is in royalty row, and whether you want your grade level queens in there. Typically, we do not pull grade level queens unless we do not have the other overall titles: Audience Favorite (or People's Choice), Talent, or Model. In the event you do not offer the Talent or Model titles, you would need to leave the grade level queens on Royalty Row since there is an element of surprise. Adding your People's Choice queen to this mix will usually help your participation.
If hosting a couple or three groups together, you would wait until the end to pull Royalty Row.

Not quite glitz. Not quite scholarship. Somewhere in the middle and glittery.

Makeup is allowed as long as it is age appropriate.
Sparkly attire - also allowed.
Fake teeth and full hair falls - not allowed.
Glitz short dresses - not allowed.
Hair extensions - allowed.
Lashes - also allowed.
Glitz routines - definitely not allowed.
Tans - allowed.
Retouched, natural photos for Photogenic and our sites - allowed.
Full glitz photos - not allowed.

Get Started!

We recommend you attend another State level pageant , or nationals to understand the format.

Set up your Social Media pages. These pages are not your personal page. These would be actual business pages for people to follow.
- We will add you as an administrator. It is important to know that if you leave this system, the social media pages remain with us.
- You can adv
Set up a website. Girls like to see their photos competing for a state title. Create a personal website that we can link to from our National page. This would require you choosing a service provider and creating your page. We use Wix.com and can share a template to get you started should you choose Wix. There are other providers as well. Choose the one that is best for you!
- GoDaddy
- Wix
- Hostinger
- Bluehost (formerly Yahoo Webhosting)
When you are creating a website, we shouldn't all look alike, but we do want to look like we are on the same team. Our colors are listed to the right.
Fonts:
- Space Grotesk
- Poppins Extra Light

Set your price to enter.
- The price will be more or less in different areas depending on the cost of living.
- Each state delegate should pay a $35 application fee.
- Figure your costs and determine your entry fee. The state entry fee should range from $295-$495 depending on your area. We do not want to appear to be a "discount" system. We want to be known for quality. If you need help attracting delegates, you may offer "free lunch" or free sides but should not discount the entry fee.

Start advertising!
- Once established, you can do newsletters quarterly or monthly showcasing your girls.
- Until then, social media will give you the most bang for your buck.

The Pageant

The event

Order your crowns and sashes. These can take a couple months to be received from our vendors.
Find your venue. Make sure it is state pageant worthy. A few examples are below:
- Performing Arts Center
- Convention Center
- Hotel
Find your emcee. Be sure your emcee is pageant friendly. This emcee will control your schedule and time the girls on stage to be sure that they have equal stage time.
Find your judges. Be sure this panel is diverse. The best judging panel has young and old, different ethnic backgrounds, and add a man on the panel if you can find one. Have backup judges, since it has become the new normal that judges cancel at the last minute.
Finish your handbook. It is always best when people ask you questions to refer to this handbook. This keeps your answers consistent. Also, never engage in opinions. Moms may try to ask opinions on dress color, etc. A generic answer is always best - I am not sure, they all look lovely. Stick to the rules of this handbook. Rules and not bent but broken and can make a system quickly appear shady.
Start planning your production and make it one that the girls will always remember. Most production teams cost in the neighborhood of $10,000-$15,000. Coming in 2024, we do have a production team that can bring our stage, backdrops, photo booth, and the works for a discounted rate. Your discounted price for this will be listed soon.

Logo

Our logo can be downloaded by double clicking. Please make sure you are downloading at high resolution before giving to any printer.

Need to add your pageant name? We can do this for you, or you can add. Please be sure it is in the correct font: All logos are in the file below. Please do not send designers to our director's page. It is your responsibility to download and send to them. Any designer will know how to add fonts to the logo.

Fonts for logo:

ASTON SCRIPT PRO BOLD

CINZEL DECORIATE-REGULAR

NEXA BOLD

Download

Scoresheets

Optional. Feel free to use the online scoring system if you prefer.
Best place to order these? Overnight Prints. Please don't pay full price. 500 scorecards are usually $29.85. Search the internet for Overnight Prints Postcard sale. Please note that these do NOT arrive overnight unless you pay astronomical shipping. These are ready to print on 4X6 postcards. Want to make your scorecards even more remarkable? Add the back for a few dollars more. Use any photo that is 4X6 side of your queens. You can use a different queen on the back of each scorecard. If adding extra touches, only order what you need for this year. You will want to change the queen on the back each year.

SHOP

What is in it for you?

You receive:

Nine overall titles entered to national with no entry fee. These ladies will still be responsible for their national package fee of $700. This includes:
- Full page advertisement
- Opening # dress
- Opening # shoes
- Earrings or hairbow (depending on the age group)
- Ticket to the Pretty in Pink Gala
- Ticket to Friday night social
- Full page advertisement
- Swag bag (for all national contestants)
- Scholarship fee
- You may send your grade level titles to Nationals as well.