The Great Comment Giveaway

Posted by Ronald Huereca on Jan 1st, 2007 | 6 Comments

The contest ended on 02/07/2007. Thanks to all who participated.

Anybody that comments and/or trackbacks on this site will be eligible (with certain exceptions) to win a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate. See below for the rules.

Comment Contest Time Frame

The start of the contest begins as this post is published. The contest will end when 500 350 total comments on this site have been reached. This blog has been running for seven months, and I currently have 230 comments. My hope is that this contest will incentivize people to comment so that the 350 mark is reached a little quicker. The rationale is, the more you comment, the quicker the contest will end.

Who is Eligible?

Anybody that isn’t related to me is eligible. However, in order for a comment and/or trackback to be eligible, it must fall within these parameters:

• Comments must add to the discussion.
• Comments must adhere to my comment rules.
• Trackbacks must be at least 100 words and must be somewhat related to my post. The trackback also cannot be one of those “I found this link” type of posts.
• You must provide a valid e-mail address. I will attempt to contact a website owner(if a trackback is provided) if that person is the winner.
• Comments and/or trackbacks should be respectful and avoid personal attacks.

Things that can make a comment and/or trackback ineligible include the following:

• Comments that add nothing such as, “I like this post.”
• Comments and/or trackbacks that are spam related.
• Comments and/or trackbacks that seek to defame my character.
• Trackbacks less than 100 words.

How Does the Contest Work?

The contest will work very much like a raffle. Anybody that comments and/or trackbacks is placed in a digital hat. The more you comment, the better the odds of winning. Trackbacks are worth five entries, and comments are worth one entry. Your odds of winning (with one comment) are roughly 1/100.

How Are You Going to Choose the Winner?

All comments and/or trackbacks will be placed in an Excel spreadsheet based on the comment ID. When the 350 mark has been reached, I will do a random selection, which will reveal the winning comment ID. I will then match that ID with the commenter and attempt to contact the winner.

I will post an entry with the winner’s name (or screen name) and try to contact the winner. If the winner does not respond to me (or contact me) within 24 hours, a new winner will be randomly selected. This cycle will repeat until a winner has successfully been notified. In the event that a commenter declines the prize, a new winner will be randomly selected.

How Will the Prize Be Awarded?

The prize will be e-mailed to the winner. An Amazon.com gift certificate code will be enclosed in the e-mail, and the winner is encouraged to enter the code in as soon as possible.

Questions?

I’ve done my best to think out the rules of this contest. If there are any further questions, please leave a comment. Please note that any comments on this post are indeed eligible (with exceptions stated above).

Disclaimers

• This contest is in no way affiliated with Amazon.com.
• This contest was inspired by Shawn Blanc.
• I reserve the right to end or extend the contest at any time.
• I reserve the right to exclude certain winners.
• I reserve the right to change the prize awarded.
• I reserve the right to add to, and/or modify the rules at any time.

Related posts:

1. Comment Contest Update and Peeve Week
2. Another Prize Announcement and Naked Web Day
3. Comment Contest Winner
4. Comment Contest Update – 50 to Go!
5. Prize 3 (Flickr Pro Account) Rules Revised

6 Responses

1. Shawn says:

   January 3, 2007 at 12:28 am

   Hey Ron, running the contest on my site was a blast. I hope it works out over here too. Consider this my first entry…
2. Ronald Huereca says:

   January 3, 2007 at 12:31 am

   @Shawn,

   Yeah, me too. I hope the chance of winning fifty dollars is enough incentive to get someone to type in 20 words.
3. jacob says:

   January 3, 2007 at 7:07 pm

   ohhh my 50 dollars… WOW Ronald that is spectacular haha
4. Nathan says:

   January 4, 2007 at 10:33 am

   Ronald,
   Great idea! I thought about writing a trackback post, but considering I’m having trouble coming up with 200 words about fishing lately, I figured I shouldn’t push my luck. I guess this’ll be my entry, plus I’ll try to participate more in other discussions. Take care,

   nathan
5. cetroyer says:

   January 11, 2007 at 12:19 pm

   Sweetness. What a good time to regain internet access! Especially with all those uncommented-on posts out there.

   cetroyer
6. Beppo says:

   January 11, 2007 at 8:34 pm

   That’s a neat idea! I’ve also got a blog, and I average probably 5 new visitors per day, yet less than 1% of them ever leave a comment. I’ve wondered why. Even the ones who look around tend to not leave a comment. I’m curious how well your giveaway will work…