Poll: Have you ever won a contest?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Have you ever won a contest? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=377)

[evil_santa]

about the only thing i have ever won, was a copy of MS Front page, for windoze. Went stright in the bin.

[TheArchpadre]

The only contest I can really recall winning was an informal one for poetry. Won a copy of "Leaves of Grass."

Though I suppose if you want to count scholarships, I could technically vote in the +$10,000 slot.

[wdlove]

I remember being picked to win some Adobe software, valued over $100. Then it would depend if you bid on an item and win if that would also be considered?

[jkojima]

By contest, does this poll mean solely events of random chance - e.g. lotteries, giveaways, etc.? Or does it also include forms of competition where your winnings are based at least in part on skill and/or effort?

I think that's an important distinction, because if you just assume the former, then I'm in the $100-1000 range. If you mean the latter, then I'm more in the $1000-10000 range.

[MongoTheGeek]

I got a box of stuff for wearing a button. They handed out buttons on the first day of Seybold then grabbed people at random who were wearing them. I think I was picked 'cause the guy was trying to hit on me.

My wife thought the box of stuff was cool though.

[Ambrose Chapel]

i won phish tickets once, outside of a pearl jam show in 94. a local radio station asked for a volunteer to sing a phish song. i was the only one who volunteered (wrong crowd i guess). actually my friends volunteered me. anyway i won 2 tix!

i also won my 2nd grade spelling bee. the prize was a book - Squanto, friend of the Pilgrims, or something like that

[wordmunger]

I said no, because I was assuming this meant "finish in first place" and "random lottery-type." I've won things like door prizes, basketball pools, and I've even won first prize in writing competitions--with prizes worth more than $100, but these don't strike me as "contests."

[latergator116]

A couple of years ago, there was a boat building contest and my step-dad, brother and I built a boat in the shape of a pencil and sailed it down the river. We won first place of four plane tickets to anywhere in the US. I think they are expired now.:(

I won a Snapple Sippers bottle under a Snapple cap once and it took them on year to get it to me. Does that Count?:p

[FriarTuck]

I've won a few radio contests and a $500 prize in a drawing of participants in an online survey.

[mrsebastian]

Originally posted by jkojima
By contest, does this poll mean solely events of random chance - e.g. lotteries, giveaways, etc.? Or does it also include forms of competition where your winnings are based at least in part on skill and/or effort?...

was wondering that myself. if it doesn't include gambling then it's 100+, or with gambling 10,000+

[virividox]

yeah,

won a school cookoff :)

[pimentoLoaf]

Called a now defunct FM station back in the 70's answering "What's unique about the Mona Lisa?" with "She doesn't have eyebrows" and showed up to claim a Robin Trower cutout album.

:cool:

[thepannist]

I won the Fender Goo Goo Dolls Giveaway. It was an acoustic-electric guitar that they used to record "Name" with signed by the lead singer.

Since I could care less about the Goo Goo Dolls, I sold it on ebay. There was a huge backlash of fans who were mad at me for selling it, and I got many nasty emails about it, but oh well. Money is money!

;)

[Trowaman]

I drew a picture of a leopard once that won me and myself and my parents tickets to San Antonio via airline and tickets to the zoo.

Of course I live in Houston, so it was a real short flight, but hey, I don't think any one else entered in that contest. Discovery channel needs better advertising.

I also won a copy of Jungle Book on VHS for coloring a picture when I was 3. To win, all I had to do was color in the lines, beat those other drooling infants easily.

. . . I wonder why I stopped drawing . . . oh well, film now.

[Trowaman]

oh yeah, and 4 out of my 7 iTunes Pepsi bottles.

[Doctor Q]

I'm a huge winner:

I once won a free chimney sweeping in a drawing at a fireplace store. Too bad we don't have a fireplace.

I once won a Michael Jackson record at some kind of club meeting I went to with a friend.

I've won a few ping-pong tournaments at camp, which was due to talent, not luck. I have some plastic trophy cups and a ribbon to prove it.

My sister once rode on an airplane with a California lottery winner.

Cash? Nope, never won any.

[KLFloyd]

When I was 4, I won a coloring contest and received a free ticket to see Sesame Street Live.

Seeing as I have absolutely no artistic talent (even then) I can't see how I won.

I guess that was my big thrill because I haven't won anything in the 20 years since!

[redAPPLE]

Originally posted by Ambrose Chapel
i won phish tickets once, outside of a pearl jam show in 94. a local radio station asked for a volunteer to sing a phish song. i was the only one who volunteered (wrong crowd i guess). actually my friends volunteered me. anyway i won 2 tix!

i also won my 2nd grade spelling bee. the prize was a book - Squanto, friend of the Pilgrims, or something like that

incidentally, :D eddie vedder sang (did he write that song, too) "we won the lottery, by being born..."

so i guess, everyone who could read this, who owns a mac, and is happy surely won something that is worth 10 000 $ +

no?

[slowtreme]

I never won anything I didn't actually EARN. I've won many contests, but never just by luck (Sweepstakes, raffle, $10,000 for buying a big mac, Clicking that damn monkey on a banner ad!, etc.)

[macFanDave]

who held a radio contest to answer this question: "What four-letter word can also be pronounced as a six-syllable phrase?"

I got it almost right away, drove on over, collected my check and didn't buy anything that day. (I bought a Corolla many years later.)

So try to answer this one and I'll check back and give you the answer later (or confirm the one you presented.) And, by the way, this one's just for fun -- that $500 is LOOOONG gone!

[question fear]

my dad won my family a trip to disney world once, he recognized someoens voice on aradio show, guessed correctly and won the drawing from the winners for the trip. it was great, all expenses paid and everything.
-c

[TimDaddy]

Just a random drawing- I won a restaurant gift certificate from work last year. I think it was $25 to O'Charley's. There were about 15 given out among around 500 people.

Gambling- I once bet a $1 exacta box on three horses, totaling a $6 bet. Two of my horses were 1st and 2nd, winning me over $350!

Contests involving some type of skill or attempt at doing something- I won a jumproping contest back in elementary school! Got a blue ribbon for that! In Middle School, I won a "Please Don't Litter" poster contest for the sixth grade, but came in second for the school-wide contest. I think I got a $25 check for that.

Work- We have a program called "Quality Circles" at work. You form small teams and attempt to solve problems in quality, safety, productivity, cost, and environmental. It is completely voluntary, but you get paid overtime for your weekly meetings. If you stumble onto something big, you can have more meetings each week with management approval. We kept having damaged exhaust pipes coming in from our supplier. We investigated everything, shipping, receiving, the assembler at the supplier's plant, and our own coworkers who were putting the pipes on the cars. Everybody was doing everything exactly to standard. We finally played around and figured out a new packaging standard. We solved the orginal problem, and found other benefits. We managed one more pipe per package, or twenty per truckload. This saved gas and reduced emissions from having so many deliveries. When the pipe was damaged, it was unfixable. It contained a lot of fiberglass, so it couldn't be recycled. So, when the damaged pipes dropped to nothing, we reduced a LOT of landfill waste. All in all, we saved the company about $170,000 per year. The circle gets a small cut. We got about $1400 each. There were eight of us. The company even pays all your taxes on those types of payments! We went on to the plantwide competitions. We had to give Powerpoint presentations in front of huge crowds of top management from California, Canada, Japan, and elsewhere. (Keep in mind we are just a bunch of assembly workers.) We came in second in the plantwide competition. There are about 8,000 people working at the plant, but I can't remember how many circles there are. The winner got a two week trip to Japan, all expenses paid. And, this is two weeks they would have been working. They got $50 U.S. spending money per day, and were paid their base rate for eight hours per week day! We got a whole bunch of little goodies, though, including a weekend getaway at a KY State park! Even if we hadn't done so well in the competition, it would still have been worth it for the overtime and our cut of the savings.

[SiliconAddict]

Depends,

I've won several things. But the cash value is questionable. It was a copy of Microsoft Office XP Professional that's something in the $400 rage since it was full version. Some may argue, and correctly so, that office isn't worth that much. *shrugs* I turned around and sold it for a quick $200. :) I already owned Office XP Premium so :p

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by macFanDave
"What four-letter word can also be pronounced as a six-syllable phrase?"I'm guessing it's an acronym that we have gotten in the habit of pronouncing, the way we use laser or snafu or modem, and it is four letters as an acronym and six syllables when expanded.

Example: ROFL = "roll-ing-on-floor-laugh-ing"

I always found it funny that people would say "dou-ble-u-dou-ble-u-dou-ble-u" as a shorthand for "wor-ld-wide-web" or "world-wide-web". Not much of a shorthand, is it?

[MetallicPenguin]

I just won my first free iTunes Song, on my first Pepsi!

[Jerry Spoon]

Won a contest to go see Letterman including airfare and hotel stay. But I had to do a stupid human trick to get it. Is that actually "winning"? I thought it was.

[Mord]

i won an xbox in a games competition (midtown madness 3) came 1st out of 30 :)

I buy all my games preowned so not a penny go's to microsoft

[Sabenth]

I won a game boy many years ago at a local festival thing that was happening when i was in this place for 2 weeks .. game boy many many years waisted :D

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by macFanDave
What four-letter word can also be pronounced as a six-syllable phrase?I'm still thinking. (That explains the burning smell you detect.)

Does this count?

YWCA = "why-dou-ble-you-see-ay"

[Kyle]

I'm a loser. :)

[Dazzler]

I must come from a lucky family or something.

Years ago I won a Tonka truck and a boardgame on a TV afternoon cartoon show (Cartoon Corner, with Daryl Somers and Ozzie Ostrich, for any Australians reading) and I've won a gorgeous Muppets illustrated hardcover book - the illustrations looked like they'd been professionally drawn with coloured pencils.

I won a comics-based trivia contest at the local Borders store last year and scored tickets to a comic convention the next weekend, plus a whole swag of free crap.

Back in 1997 my father won the first division of the local Lotto draw, pulling a cool $1 million plus.

And last year my mother won a brand new car for filling in a coupon at a home expo.

We must be doing something right.

[bennetsaysargh]

actually, i was at a show last october or november and my friend had to leave early, so she gave me her tickets to win a 50/50 raffle. the prize was 136 dollars. i gave her the money the next day at school. everyone says i should have kept it, but i gave it to her. and also i just won 2 tickets to see a bunch of local bands on the 27th at club crannel street.:) i entered a hate sucks contest and won to get the tickets. made a little thing in photoshop in about 15 minutes.

im happy today :D

[crenz]

Originally posted by Doctor Q
I always found it funny that people would say "dou-ble-u-dou-ble-u-dou-ble-u" as a shorthand for "wor-ld-wide-web" or "world-wide-web". Not much of a shorthand, is it?

In German, it is :D . But then, I usually refer to "the web".

[macFanDave]

Originally posted by Doctor Q
I'm guessing it's an acronym that we have gotten in the habit of pronouncing, the way we use laser or snafu or modem, and it is four letters as an acronym and six syllables when expanded.


You're getting warm!

According to the eminent scholar of the English language, George Carlin, an acronym is an abbreviation you pronounce as a word (like laser, radar, snafu, scuba, NASA). What most people call acronyms are simply abbreviations. As Mr. Carlin puts it, "The CIA, FBI and IRS are not acronyms. They're just pricks."

Unless you pronounce ROFL, "roffle", it is not a word. It's just a prick . . . uh, that's why I am NOT a famous comedian.

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Jerry Spoon
Won a contest to go see Letterman including airfare and hotel stay. But I had to do a stupid human trick to get it. Is that actually "winning"? I thought it was.

Yes, I would say that you are a winner Jerry Spoon. Congratualtions on awinning trip to NYC. Where did you stay? Did they give you spendfing money? What was your stupid human trick?

[shamino]

Many years ago, there was a radio show called The Computer Connection. (Are they still on the air? I haven't heard them in a very long time. Google searches all seem to lead to broken links.) Anyway, back when I was listening to the show, they did a weekly write-in contest. One week, the question was "who founded Apple Computer" - which was a real easy question :rolleyes:. So I wrote in, and they picked my post card. I won a copy of Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy for my Apple //c.

[slowtreme]

Roffle the mayo

[Centris 650]

I won a scavenger hunt one time in college. They gave out clues each week and you tried to figure out where the money was. I won $50 and spent it on my girlfriend...she broke up with me just a few weeks later.:p

[mrsebastian]

when it comes to itunes, i'm a loser so far :( and two try agains.

[gMac]

As a matter of fact, the only thing of consequence that I have ever won is the 17 inch G4 iMac (800Mhz) that I'm using right now.

Actually, I take that back, I won a $1500 iMac and paid the extra to upgrade to this one.

[Photorun]

I won an Apple T-shirt at an Apple Store opening. Oh wait, that was free... but it FELT like I won something!

[MetallicPenguin]

My only guess for the word thing is HTML, but it's not a word, and it's not six syllables :D

"iMac"

That is what it is! [whatever the i stands for] Macintosh!

...is it internet?

[bennetsaysargh]

i've won 10 i think if you're counting apple shirts. :p
driving how many miles to get to an opening should be worth a big big prize. im thinking G5? ;)

[mms]

A couple of $10 dollar gift certificates to wherever at various parties. I'm good at "Name that Song" and other party games.

[mms]

How does this have anything to with Apple or the Macintosh?

[macFanDave]

Originally posted by MetallicPenguin
My only guess for the word thing is HTML, but it's not a word, and it's not six syllables :D

"iMac"

You're colder than Doctor Q. This word was somewhat obscure but it has been in the news recently.

I'll give out the answer around 9:30 Central tonight. So, you've got a little less than an hour to work it out.

Good Luck.

[rainman::|:|]

Originally posted by thepannist
I won the Fender Goo Goo Dolls Giveaway. It was an acoustic-electric guitar that they used to record "Name" with signed by the lead singer.

Since I could care less about the Goo Goo Dolls, I sold it on ebay. There was a huge backlash of fans who were mad at me for selling it, and I got many nasty emails about it, but oh well. Money is money!

;)

yeah, i remember that. *glares at you*

ahem, anyway, i won a $25,000 scholarship, does that count?

paul

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by paulwhannel
anyway, i won a $25,000 scholarship

What for?
And that certainly beats my combined $800.

In 2nd grade, though, I did win this wierd contest...every so often during the year a teacher would show a bucket of some counted individual wrappers of treats inside, and everyone in the class had to put their name and guess (how many treats are inside the bucket) on a yellow post-it note and hand it in. Whoever guessed correctly kept the treats and the bucket.

Well, I guessed correctly one time... the number was 235. :eek: :eek:

Ironically enough, I was home sick the day my name was announced. So my 2nd grade teacher (whose name, voice, and appearance I mostly remember) drove to my house and dropped off the bucket with all 235 candies in there.

Now that's a treat!

[holmesf]

I won the uDevGame mactintosh programming contest for programming this:

http://danlabgames.com/index.php?rub=argonaut

$500 cash + Carrara studio + 10 free books + ADC select membership + 20% Apple computer discount

And it only took me three months of programming to win ;)

[macFanDave]

Originally posted by macFanDave
who held a radio contest to answer this question: "What four-letter word can also be pronounced as a six-syllable phrase?"

The answer is AWOL, absent without leave.
A-doub-le-U-O-L.

I realized that the six-syllable phrase was the world spelled out and that there is only letter that was more than one syllable which is 'W' and their was exactly one of those.

Fortunately, my late father (of blessed memory) used to tell us of his misadventures of his brief career as a draftee in the US Army. I believe we probably used the word at our house more than most families, so that's why it popped into my head.

Well, thanks for playing everyone!

[edenwaith]

Originally posted by macFanDave
The answer is AWOL, absent without leave.
A-doub-le-U-O-L.

I realized that the six-syllable phrase was the world spelled out and that there is only letter that was more than one syllable which is 'W' and their was exactly one of those.

Fortunately, my late father (of blessed memory) used to tell us of his misadventures of his brief career as a draftee in the US Army. I believe we probably used the word at our house more than most families, so that's why it popped into my head.

Well, thanks for playing everyone!

That doesn't seem to work quite right. If the phrase AWOL is considered, then that is only five syllables. The question probably should have been more specific.

I've had a few other questions which I figured out back in high school. Such as these:

1. How can you take half of twelve and get seven?

2. What five letter word can have the last four letters removed, and the remainder is still pronounced the original word?

I won a bag of M&Ms for answering the first question. The second question was just a question from the MindTrap game that our teacher used to start the day off with.

[edenwaith]

If raffles are considered, here are a few things I've won:

1. A ball and paddle.
2. A camera.
3. A copy of Microsoft Office 2001 Mac. The really odd and surprising thing about that last one was that it was a Mac version, and it was at an IT party which was filled with PC-heads. Still, what beautiful luck. :)

[Doctor Q]

I remembered two other times when I won something. At an event honoring school volunteers, I won a book, which they picked randomly from a collection the organizers had brought. The one I got was "Arthur's Computer Disaster", which was funny since a lot of my volunteer work was fixing computer disasters!

And I won a contest for predicting the Oscars 2 years ago. I got 14 out of 15 right, blowing away the competition and winning a gift certificate. Last year in the same contest I got about 6 out of 15 and was blown away by the competition.

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by edenwaith
1. How can you take half of twelve and get seven?

2. What five letter word can have the last four letters removed, and the remainder is still pronounced the original word?I've never heard these before, so I'll guess:

1. Take XII (12 in Roman numerals) and chop off the bottom half. You get VII (7 in Roman numerals).

2. ohhhh and queue

Questions where the answer is "Q" ought to be easy for me!

[macFanDave]

Originally posted by edenwaith
That doesn't seem to work quite right. If the phrase AWOL is considered, then that is only five syllables. The question probably should have been more specific.

W is three syllables (unless you're talking about the president who is Dubya and, coincidentally, is the reason the word AWOL is in the news.)

So with doub-le-U being three syllables and A, O and L each being one (except to stockholders of Time Warner where AOL is a four-letter word ;-)), that adds up to six.

[mattmack]

I actually won a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in a raffle and it was a Softail worth about $15000 MSRP. I ended up paying $1500 tax and licensce (sp?), but all in all well worth the $50 buy in. I think that's about all the luck I'm good for no more lotto tix for me
:D

[UberMac]

The BBC gave me a grant to buy my sax! Erm, it falls in at about £3000 so I'm in the $1000 up category I guess. Never got anything much other than that, apart from a small roboty thing in a raffle! (That was such a cool robot! But I sold it for £50 :D)

Uber

[sam10685]

te lottery... 4.7 billion.

[Eniregnat]

Real Genius (www.fast-rewind.com/rgenius.htm)

No, these are entries for Frito-Lay[McDonald's] Sweepstakes. No purchase necessary. Enter as often as you want. So I am.
...
Oh, I won. Only thirty-one point eight percent though. I have to figure that out. But not this summer.


This method has worked for me, but only in small ways.

[MnMacer]

I've won a few chili cook-offs. I got a couple of free slow cookers from them. But I'm holding onto a thin strand of hope my Powerball numbers roll soon!

[Applespider]

People who never win are often those who don't enter anything either ;)

I've won a few things; my biggest wins were three different wins of transatlantic flights; two flight only to NYC (lucky draw) and Florida (trivia knowledge) and one via the NFL to DC with hotel, Monday Night Football tickets and spending money thrown in which did require some skill to win since it was a writing/reporting competition.

My luckiest ever day was one birthday where I won 3 different things in a single raffle. Generally with raffles, I rarely get anything wildly exciting.

In other skill based competitions, I did win a Blue Peter badge in one of their creative competitions to design a card for the Royal Mail. 'Twas one of my proudest possessions in the mid-80s

[Jaffa Cake]

In other skill based competitions, I did win a Blue Peter badge in one of their creative competitions to design a card for the Royal Mail.A mate of mine won a Blue Peter badge too, but he got his for sending in a recipe to the show. Turns out he copied the recipe from Why Don't You? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Don%27t_You) :p

[BoyBach]

A mate of mine won a Blue Peter badge too, but he got his for sending in a recipe to the show. Turns out he copied the recipe from Why Don't You? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Don%27t_You) :p

Classic!

I've never won anything apart from the 100 metres sprint at school when I was 11 years old ;)

But, my brother once won a Gameboy from a packet of Quaver Crisps. I was so jealous :D

[corywoolf]

I won a fruit of the month club year subscription!:p

[devilot]

Won a pair of tickets to see a sold-out Weezer show, tickets to a sold out Cake show, tickets to a Spoon show...

Won a t shirt w/ a MINI on it (a car club raffle).

Won 1st outta my entire junior high school for a poem.

[2nyRiggz]

Nope, they don't like me:(


Bless

[Jerry Spoon]

Yes, I would say that you are a winner Jerry Spoon. Congratualtions on awinning trip to NYC. Where did you stay? Did they give you spendfing money? What was your stupid human trick?

Wow. I haven't been on this thread for about two years! That's ok. I'll still share since I'm taking a break right now.

Don't remember where I stayed in NYC, but it was right next to the Ed Sullivan Theater. Very nice hotel. NYC amazed me with the size and speed of the city. I didn't get any spending $, but they did provide a meal and some lice Letterman "stuff", backpack, t-shirt, hat, and a quick tour of the city which I didn't take. Decided just to start walking instead and took a few cabs along the way.
BTW, my stupid human trick was to "bong" a bowl of corn flakes, much like you would bong a few beers. All that down time in college did end up paying off a little.

[Jaffa Cake]

I've never won anything apart from the 100 metres sprint at school when I was 11 years old ;)Ah, well... if we're also talking about sporting events, then I won the egg and spoon race at our school sports day when I was six. I should point out though that I actually finished last – I only won because all the other competitors were disqualified for illegally holding their eggs in place with their thumbs.

They were a harsh lot, my teachers.

[nbs2]

I won $1m once. But, I never sent the form back to the Publishers Clearinghouse. So, in the end, I guess I didn't really win it.:o

[Doctor Q]

I won this year's MacRumors Predict the Oscars contest. Too bad there wasn't a prize. But at least I can boast about it to my friends.

[Lau]

In the last year I've won a set of Pantone markers and a Tivoli radio (RNLI orange, as iGav so kindly pointed out :p ).

I won two books at school for "Services to Art" (the question remains of who was "Art"....;) ). I'm hoping to win a typographic competition I'm entering this month, but that remains to be seen. Actually, I think you pass or fail rather than win, but if you pass you get to put the letters "STD" after your name, which is the main reason I'm entering it. :p

I think that's about it. I'd swap it all for a Blue Peter badge though. <jealous> :D

[Jaffa Cake]

I'd swap it all for a Blue Peter badge though. <jealous> :DNo need – you can pick them up cheap on ebay. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-BLUE-PETER-BADGE_W0QQitemZ6260359683QQcategoryZ112456QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) :D

Granted, it may set you back a quid or two but not only will you have the prestige of being a Blue Peter badge wearer, but you'll also get in free to places (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/contact/badges/) like the Scarborough Sealife Centre. :)

[Lau]

No need – you can pick them up cheap on ebay. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-BLUE-PETER-BADGE_W0QQitemZ6260359683QQcategoryZ112456QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) :D

Granted, it may set you back a quid or two but not only will you have the prestige of being a Blue Peter badge wearer, but you'll also get in free to places (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/contact/badges/) like the Scarborough Sealife Centre. :)

Ooh, I couldn't do it. Every free trip I made to the Scarborough Sealife Centre would leave me feeling like a dirty scoundrel. :D

[emmawu]

I won a new washing machine at a supermarket drawing, a trip to a Door County Resort buying Coke products, a gift certificate to Comp USA for correct Oscar picks and a bunch of iTunes.

[Jaffa Cake]

Ooh, I couldn't do it. Every free trip I made to the Scarborough Sealife Centre would leave me feeling like a dirty scoundrel. :DI'm impressed with your honesty and sense of decency, Lau. In any case, the Scarborough Sealife Centre's rubbish so you're not missing out. :p

[cgratti]

Won a brand new Dell computer in 2002, value was $1200, sold it for $1000.
Won some other stuff like a basketball rim & backboard, a $200 juicer, clothes, shoes, and a ton of books..... oh.. and a iPod Shuffle last year before Christmas... gave that to my 7yr old daughter...

[Compatiblepoker]

I've never won a contest that involves pure luck. One day.

[macEfan]

Yeah, I won a contest onece. Unfortunatly, it was a copy of microsoft windows. No Joke! Sold it, and bought a copy of OS X :D

[laidbackliam]

at last count i have won around 120 radio contests, and a few 50/50 raffle drawings


i learned when i was in junior high that if you dial quickly enough, and use two phones on the same line, you can be caller 1,3.5,8, and 10.

and since the radio stations i listened to were always caller 7 or 10, all i ahd to was call a half second later.


i wish i'd kept a notebook of everything that i'd won, it was mainly concert tickets and cds, some free pizzas, etc etc etc

the best was free passes to VooDoo MusicFest down in new orleans in 2004, drove 12 hours to go, got a cheap hotel, and saw awesome music all day, then onto bourbon street, and saw even better music.

[Jaffa Cake]

Ooh, I couldn't do it. Every free trip I made to the Scarborough Sealife Centre would leave me feeling like a dirty scoundrel. :DApologies for breathing life back into a slightly dead thread, but I spotted this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4848670.stm) story today – apparently the BBC is investigating the eBay Blue Peter black market. Edinburgh Zoo has even revoked free entry for badge holders as a result of the practice!

If only more people were as honest and decent as our Lau, deserving Scottish youngsters would still be able to see the penguins for free... :(

[Lau]

Apologies for breathing life back into a slightly dead thread, but I spotted this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4848670.stm) story today – apparently the BBC is investigating the eBay Blue Peter black market. Edinburgh Zoo has even revoked free entry for badge holders as a result of the practice!

If only more people were as honest and decent as our Lau, deserving Scottish youngsters would still be able to see the penguins for free... :(

Humph. The penguins at Edinburgh Zoo are awesome as well. They take them for a walk round the zoo at lunchtime.

Won't somebody think of the children?

[Mord]

Apologies for breathing life back into a slightly dead thread, but I spotted this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4848670.stm) story today – apparently the BBC is investigating the eBay Blue Peter black market. Edinburgh Zoo has even revoked free entry for badge holders as a result of the practice!

If only more people were as honest and decent as our Lau, deserving Scottish youngsters would still be able to see the penguins for free... :(

i thought of selling mine (i have a green one :P) seeing as they dont work once you turn 16, but i'd rather keep it, buying a blue peter badge is sad....

[St Soichiro]

A free iPod in the first iTunes promo. Already had one, so it went to eBay or MR, I forget which.

[SC68Cal]

Never have :(

[turbopants]

I won a free throw contest on the floor of the Unted Center during a Bulls NBA Finals game in 1997. Granted, the Bulls were playing in Utah that night, but about 12,000 people were there to watch the game together on the big screens. I hit 3 shots in row, and they came out with one of those huge checks you always see. It was for $1000. It was a fun night. :D

[Vader]

I won my avatar from iconize me! graphics.

[Doctor Q]

Never have :(There's a special prize for being the 85th person to post in thread number 60849. Just by chance, you've won!!!!

Your prize is a round trip to Philadelphia! Congratulations! :) :rolleyes:

[Lau]

Jaffa Cake, I dreamt about going to Edinburgh Zoo and looking at the penguins last night. I had no idea the story of injustice had touched me so deeply....:p

[Applespider]

There was an amusing story yesterday morning on the radio. A freelance cameraman phoned in to say that as a kid, he'd bombarded Blue Peter with letters, suggestions and competition entries. Eventually, one of his idea was considered good enough to be sent a Blue Peter badge in return.

Many years later, he was working on Blue Peter as a cameraman. He wore his badge proudly but the editor (who sounds a right curmudgeon) started to berate him for wearing it saying that they were only for those who had earned them. He protested that he had 'won' his badge. She went to her office where she kept a filing system with the names of the people who had won a badge and why - and came back to apologise after pointing out he'd written in a lot!

I'll have to hunt mine out next time I'm at Mum's.

[Jaffa Cake]

Jaffa Cake, I dreamt about going to Edinburgh Zoo and looking at the penguins last night. I had no idea the story of injustice had touched me so deeply....:pAh, but did you have to pay or did you dream you had a badge of your very own, thus gaining free entry? And were the dream penguins all wearing little Blue Peter badges themselves? Because if so, you know this has really affected you a little too deeply... :p

[Lau]

Many years later, he was working on Blue Peter as a cameraman. He wore his badge proudly but the editor (who sounds a right curmudgeon) started to berate him for wearing it saying that they were only for those who had earned them. He protested that he had 'won' his badge. She went to her office where she kept a filing system with the names of the people who had won a badge and why - and came back to apologise after pointing out he'd written in a lot!

I just read that to Liam and he very succinctly said "What a bitch!". :p

Ah, but did you have to pay or did you dream you had a badge of your very own, thus gaining free entry? And were the dream penguins all wearing little Blue Peter badges themselves? Because if so, you know this has really affected you a little too deeply... :p

:D

I think it was all very realistic and I didn't have a badge. I uphold my moral standards even in dream world! Although I did have a huge kerfuffle getting there - it involved several trains and buses. My recurring dreams always involve transportation stress....

[nw43]

A couple of years ago I won two tickets to see Spiritualized in a random text draw thingy.

I think that's the only thing but it was very good :D

[Applespider]

Although I did have a huge kerfuffle getting there - it involved several trains and buses. My recurring dreams always involve transportation stress....

Unsurprising really since the real journey from Bath would be the same.

I have just recalled though that I once won a toy giraffe at Edinburgh Zoo when I was little. I think it was the prize for being brave enough to volunteer to have a snake wrapped round me...

[pyrophite]

I win a lot of stuff, and quite regularly. I enter contests as a hobby. In the last 3 months a few of the things i have won are: 2 MP3 players, a $600 verizon cell phone, a Sony PSP, about 5 DVD's, a CD, a $50 iTunes gift certificate, 30+ itunes downloads, 100+ other music downloads, 4 posters, 2 tee shirts, and a bunch of other odds and ends including cash and gift certificates.

I started entering contests right after i graduated college, i was super poor, and didnt have a job yet. It helped me pay rent, and get some cool things. Now i have a great job, AND cool stuff!

[cairo]

Have never won anything :(

Some people are just lucky... I am just not one of them

[killuminati]

I have won a bunch of things on the radio, CDs, posters, concert tickets, being entered into a draw to meet a band,

[MacBoobsPro]

I won &#163;10,000 for designing Football Manager 2005 logo. T'was a competition I beat 6000 other entries. I AM TREMENDOUS!!!

Mind you I am a professional designer.

FYI they changed the final version without my input so its not tremendous anymore!



:cool:

[yellow]

I won backstage passes for Horde tour one year. Got to meet everyone in Primus, Blues Traveller, and Ween.

[naturetrance]

No, but my sister did when we were kids. A big stuffed animal. :)

[blink56k]

I won some personalized notepads, "From the desk of...[my name]"

Kind of lame, but it's something.

I remember when I was a little kid and I lost at this school raffle I started crying (what a brat, I know:) ) and they had to give me a cheap mcdonalds toy car.


Now you guys got me into the entering sweepstakes mood!

[iggyboy2]

Yeah, I won two movie tickets to the local theater when I was in college - but I wasn't calling in to win the tickets! I was calling in the score from the college women's BB game I was covering for the SID department when the DJ picked up and told me I won two tickets to "Predator"! HA! pissed off a bunch of townies by winning those...

[jefhatfield]

Vote: Poll: Have you ever won a contest? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=377)


no

but once at the catholic church festival in town, i bet on "16 red" on the roulette wheel and won a large stuffed animal...and i gave it to my brother who eventually chewed off the trunk of the large stuffed elephant ;)

[killuminati]

OMG! I just won a million dollars!

All I have to do now is enter my email address and they're gonna send me the money!

[adk]

I just won $2 off of a $1 scratch off lottery ticket. Hot Damn.

[meaculpa20v]

In the second grade I won a candy machine full of smarties. I know that Devilot has won both Cake tickets and Weezer tickets, oh yeah and Spoon tickets. Lucky girl.

Eric

[thejadedmonkey]

I won a $100 door prize at my post-prom.

[otterpop]

i was a winner in the AMD More than Megahertz campaign.
won a tshirt, hat, windbreaker, backpack, and then $1000 cash.
of course they 1099'd me.

also did a customer survey thing for amd and won a free CPU (athlon 2000+)

[nightelf]

I won an iPod mini 1G in a iLounge.com contest some years ago.

[Petalpink]

HI everyone,
I started doing radio contest about 2 years ago. I have had good luck. I 've won about $6,000 dollars of stuff . One time I won $1700 dollars when I figured out a mystery voice. I've won alot of free food and tons of CD'S. And lots of tickets to shows. People say your so lucky, but there is a skill to it. You get to know the times the contest run and the patterns of the different stations. I have a specific phone I use all the time. It has a good redial. I call it my magic phone:) Today, I won tickets to James Taylor, the DJ said she would take caller number #3, I dialed just as she started talking about it, before she called out the number. I think sometimes they say a number but they take the first caller. You have a better chance if you have to be the first caller. Sometimes when the contest involves a question, you dial before they ask the question and hope you know it. It is my little hobby and it's fun. Good luck to you in winning in the future:D

[dejo]

I was the Calgary winner of The Great Canadian Cabin Party with Lenny Kravitz in '93!

[GooMan]

I won a XBox, 1 year of XBox Live, about 5 or 6 games, a XBox carrying case and a couple of t-shirts from Microsoft a couple of years ago during E3. It was about $600 worth of stuff and I even got my story posted on xbox.com.:D

[slooksterPSV]

So far I've won:
1 Free Netware 6.5 050-686 test voucher - which I passed
1x$1600 Scholarship from Novell
1x$Full Tuition Scholarship from CTE
...and you just reminded me of something.

And I won a Windoze Competition getting a free copy of WinPatrol

[MacMan93]

I won a $10 iTunes Gift Certificate on May 11 from Blingo.com

[TallShaffer]

Yes Indeed.

A few years ago at school I got drawn to go into the "money machine". It was this plastic bubble that was phone booth size/shape, filled with money. I got to go inside for 20 seconds while a leaf blower blew all the money around as I caught it (had to stay standing). I won $40!

[cheekyspanky]

I won a track day type thing courtesy of Volvo - a bit of off roading, high speed passenger laps, even get to try out driving one of their trucks around a course..! Should be a good day.

[Detlev]

I won a $10 iTunes Gift Certificate on May 11 from Blingo.com
I won on Blingo on May 12th. Have not yet received my iPod. They said it would take six weeks.

[billchase2]

just a few weeks ago i actually won a trip for two to las vegas for 4 days/3 nights (valued at $1,500) from my university! i went about a week and a half ago and it was SUCH a good time! we stayed at the mirage and even got a jeep liberty to drive around while we were there.

[billchase2]

I won on Blingo on May 12th. Have not yet received my iPod. They said it would take six weeks.
i've never heard of blingo. i may be using that now to see if i can score some free stuff... :-)

[MBHockey]

a friend and i came in 2nd in an international bridge building contest in high school run by west point. we each received $10,000 cash and Gateway laptops. Needless to say, i immediately sold the Gateway laptop.

[Cybergypsy]

In vegas i win, contest....never

[dmw007]

I won my 60GB iPod 5G and a 1GB iPod Nano (that I gave to my sister).

[slooksterPSV]

I just won a free piece of software. Too bad its for PC :(

[Thidranki]

HI everyone,
I started doing radio contest about 2 years ago. I have had good luck. I 've won about $6,000 dollars of stuff . One time I won $1700 dollars when I figured out a mystery voice. I've won alot of free food and tons of CD'S. And lots of tickets to shows. People say your so lucky, but there is a skill to it. You get to know the times the contest run and the patterns of the different stations. I have a specific phone I use all the time. It has a good redial. I call it my magic phone:) Today, I won tickets to James Taylor, the DJ said she would take caller number #3, I dialed just as she started talking about it, before she called out the number. I think sometimes they say a number but they take the first caller. You have a better chance if you have to be the first caller. Sometimes when the contest involves a question, you dial before they ask the question and hope you know it. It is my little hobby and it's fun. Good luck to you in winning in the future:D
Reminds me of that guy who hacked the phone system to be the 9th caller or whatever. He won a Porsche!

[hellodon]

I won a trip to Hollywood for the StarWars 2 premier and got to see it at chinese theater 4 seats from samuel L. Pretty cool.

[twistedlegato]

I wish i could win a contest...an Apple lottery would be nice to win if they had one..it would have: 20" imac, 15"MBP, 60GB ipod, 30" apple display, Quad Mac Pro, and 2 Macbooks (one white 80GB HD, and one Black, Each with 2 GB of ram)

ahhh... i can dream cant I?;)

[Nermal]

I once won tickets to a skateboarding event called X-Air. I sold them on Trade Me (essentially a local eBay) and made a tidy profit :)

[Deepdale]

Many moons ago I won $1,000.00 on a contest that was sponsored by an oldies station. They played a very brief snippet of a singer saying 2-3 words and then you had to be the fifth caller and identify who it was. What can I say ... Bobby Goldsboro has been very, very good to me.

[dvdh]

I think the most memorable was a colouring (one of those old fashion ones that used crayons . . . sorry no illustrator) contest that I won when I was about six. I remember the prize being this cardboard caboose playhouse that my dad and I put had to put together. It ended up taking up most of my bedroom. I think I must have slept in it for at least the first week. . . . Sigh. Somehow cash prizes just don't have the same experiential value . . .

Edit: Oh ya . . . and there was also the time that I won the limbo contest at my University Frosh week. Picked up some white water rafting tickets for that one . . .

[count chocula]

i've won two spelling bees.

[imacintel]

I have won a Two dollar lottery.

Basically, it was a bingo card, I won.

Also won about 30 air miles(and I don't have a AirMiles Card).

[trainguy77]

I won a snowboard and jacket from DQ they say it was worth about $700 cdn.

[Mord]

I won a snowboard and jacket from DQ they say it was worth about $700 cdn.

so thats what, like 10 bucks US :/

[TimDaddy]

I've been pretty persistent/lucky this year. I grab every Pepsi lid I see and enter the codes online when I get home. During the Free Ride promotion, I got a total of $100 in checks. (A coworker actually won the truck. He took the cash option and got like $30-some thousand!) During Pepsi's current promotion, I have won a Razr for my wife and another for my mother. I am now trying to win one in my own name to replace mine which fell out of my pocket while motorcyling!

edit: btw- 700 Canadian dollars is worth 623.608 USD at the moment. Not too shabby, I'd say. ;)

[Mord]

edit: btw- 700 Canadian dollars is worth 623.608 USD at the moment. Not too shabby, I'd say. ;)

damn the dollar is weak, i would of honestly non jokingly estimated it at 480 bucks.

[ReanimationLP]

I've won 2 contests, one for a Jak 2 video game that I sold to my sister for half the price for a xmas gift for her b/f, and the other was a AMD Athlon XP heatsink which I used then sold off when I went to 64-bit.

[Jaffa Cake]

An update on one of the little tangents this thread took a while back – I was gladdened by the news today that the Blue Peter badge scheme (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5094782.stm) has been reinstated. :)

Now our Lau is moving to Edinburgh, if she sends in a recipe or something and wins her badge she'll be able to visit the penguins for free – hurrah!

[Lau]

An update on one of the little tangents this thread took a while back – I was gladdened by the news today that the Blue Peter badge scheme (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5094782.stm) has been reinstated. :)

Now our Lau is moving to Edinburgh, if she sends in a recipe or something and wins her badge she'll be able to visit the penguins for free – hurrah!

I will get on to that immediately. :D