Drumroll, please! The three finalists in the Name the Flamingo contest are...
After careful review and consideration by a team of judges, TPA has three finalists for its Name the Flamingo contest! The judges worked through the more than 65,000 entries submitted from all over the world, narrowing the selections down to:
- Cora - Submitted by Glorianne P.: “Because the official name of the art piece is ‘Home’, we can expand on that and consider the phrase ‘Home is Where the Heart is.’ Cora is short for Corazon, which translates to heart in Spanish."
- Finn - Submitted by Braxton W.: "Finn the flamingo has the perfect ring to it. Every time I see a flamingo, it looks like they have fins on their feet that they forgot to take off. It always makes me laugh.”
- Phoebe - Submitted by James M.: “A play on Phoenicopterus – the flamingo’s scientific name ‘Phoebe’ is also a playful alliterative to flamingo and means brilliantly inquisitive. The overall ‘Home’ sculpture is literally brilliant and reveals the flamingo’s inquisitiveness as it hunts for food in the shallows.”
Now, it's up to the public to decide the final winner.
To vote for your favorite, choose one of the three names at NameTheFlamingo.com between Friday, December 30 and 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 2, 2023.
The winning name that receives the most votes will be revealed after January 2.
About the contest
THE PANEL
The panel of judges who picked the finalist names was made up of six Hillsborough County Aviation Authority employees, each of whom had a strong tie to the famous sculpture. The judges also invited Matthew Mazzotta, the artist who created the flamingo, to join the deliberation process. Each judge was given access to a dashboard that contained all the valid contest entries so they were able to read through and evaluate the reason given behind each name.
THE PROCESS
This panel of judges met on three separate occasions and had the opportunity to review the entries separately. When it was determined that they could use more time to properly vet and review the thousands of entries, HCAA granted them a few extra weeks to do so in order to properly recommend three worthy names for the iconic bird.
Each judge presented their favorite name selections to the group for discussion. In evaluating their favorites, the judges took time to pick the strongest reason given for a name. In cases where the same name had multiple entries, the judges carefully reviewed each reason and selected their favorite.
Guest Experience Representative Janet Zambito said it was a special experience sitting in as a Name the Flamingo contest judge.
“In my job, I’m often stationed at the Information Desk, right next to the flamingo,” Zambito said. “One of my primary responsibilities is giving tours of the Airport, and a highlight – especially for kids – is seeing this piece. I was so honored to be a part of the process to give it a nickname and look forward to seeing which name the public decides on from the three we selected.”
THE PRIZES
The person whose name is selected by the voting public will get bragging rights for winning the Name The Flamingo Contest, plus a package of fabulous prizes:
- 4 nonstop, roundtrip tickets for themselves and 3 companions on Silver Airways
- A VIP Experience package to Busch Gardens, including 4 single-day admission tickets, 4 All Day-Dining passes, 4 Quick Queue Unlimited passes, and preferred parking
- A chance to bask in the limelight at a reveal event for the new name in TPA’s Main Terminal