Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Contest Rules: Please Read
Posted by Jason Dunn in "EVENT" @ 11:00 AM
Just a quick note about the contest before I kick it off today with the first prize drawing: winners will be notified via email, so it's absolutely critical that the email address you have listed in your profile is one that you check frequently, one that doesn't have harsh spam blocking, and has space for new email. If you don't get the email, you don't get the prize. I see newsletter email bounces every week, and they usually fall into one of the above categories: the person's account is full, they have some wonky spam blocker in place that hates everything, or they check the account once a month and miss time-sensitive information in the newsletter.
We've purposefully hacked phpBB to completely hide your email address - no spam bot, or even a registered user, can find your email address. And the only time we'll use that email address is if we need to communicate directly with you (in the case of this contest) or if you're getting the weekly newsletter (which you can easily turn off/on in your preferences). So please use your real email address.
Also, in the interest of actually finishing this contest :lol:, we're going to enact two strict rules: we're not going to "re-draw" prizes, and the user has 14 days to claim their prize. If the prize winner doesn't respond and claim their prize within 14 days, that prize goes poof. That's why having an accurate email address is extremely important - a month or so ago we drew a prize, the vendor emailed the user, the user never got the email (spam filter probably), hence the winner never claimed his prize. The vendor gave up and moved on, then the winner came back into the forums and complained about not getting his prize. Things like that upset the vendors donating the prizes, because it makes them look bad, when it's really fault of the prize winner (harsh, but true). And if the email address bounces for any reason, that's an instant loss of that prize.
In terms of how the contest will work, most of the prize drawings will be from the registered users list - I look at the number of registered users, use a Web-based random number picker, and line up that number with a winner. So if you're registered and able to post in our forums, you're good to go. Some of the contests might be ones where I ask people to post something in the forums, and there will be a time limit. It's important to watch for these. Full subscribers have a natural advantage here because they get the email blasts right after we post. :wink:
I know this might come across as a bit harsh, but I want this to be a fun AND successful contest - if everyone follows the basic rules outlined above, it will be both. :grin:
We've purposefully hacked phpBB to completely hide your email address - no spam bot, or even a registered user, can find your email address. And the only time we'll use that email address is if we need to communicate directly with you (in the case of this contest) or if you're getting the weekly newsletter (which you can easily turn off/on in your preferences). So please use your real email address.
Also, in the interest of actually finishing this contest :lol:, we're going to enact two strict rules: we're not going to "re-draw" prizes, and the user has 14 days to claim their prize. If the prize winner doesn't respond and claim their prize within 14 days, that prize goes poof. That's why having an accurate email address is extremely important - a month or so ago we drew a prize, the vendor emailed the user, the user never got the email (spam filter probably), hence the winner never claimed his prize. The vendor gave up and moved on, then the winner came back into the forums and complained about not getting his prize. Things like that upset the vendors donating the prizes, because it makes them look bad, when it's really fault of the prize winner (harsh, but true). And if the email address bounces for any reason, that's an instant loss of that prize.
In terms of how the contest will work, most of the prize drawings will be from the registered users list - I look at the number of registered users, use a Web-based random number picker, and line up that number with a winner. So if you're registered and able to post in our forums, you're good to go. Some of the contests might be ones where I ask people to post something in the forums, and there will be a time limit. It's important to watch for these. Full subscribers have a natural advantage here because they get the email blasts right after we post. :wink:
I know this might come across as a bit harsh, but I want this to be a fun AND successful contest - if everyone follows the basic rules outlined above, it will be both. :grin:
