The Game/Contest

Pin It

Do you remember going to the carnival when you were a kid? You know, the one that set up in the parking lot of the shopping center, mall, or out at the fairgrounds?

I sure do.

I remember looking wide-eyed at the bright lights and twirling rides, the music that would play, the smells permeating the air, and the chance to win prizes.

I remember one game in particular; it was a game where you’d try to get your rocket/racecar/horse/or whatever object it was to the top of a track or pole before your friends by shooting water onto a target.

Do you remember this particular, little carny game?

Well, guess what? At midnight tonight we’re going to start our own little carnivicular contest where it’s you against all of your friends…and some people you probably don’t even know.

How does it work? Well, do you see on the sidebar to the left? Well, more specifically the widget that says, “The Top 10 Post Viewed Over the Last 30 Days”?

Well, starting at midnight, we’re going to wreak havoc with it.

Seriously.

We’re going to play a little game that requires just a little bit of effort on your part.

I’m not sure exactly how that widget works, but from what I understand, it ‘reads’ the hits on specific pages on this blog over a 30 day period, and figures out which pages have been viewed directly the most—meaning that have been directly clicked on—for the past 30 days. People may peruse this blog, but unless you click directly on a post’s link, it won’t be ‘counted.’

Does this make sense?

So, here’s the contest.

In the next 24 hours, in the comments section, give the URL and name of your favorite post from this blog (the post you want to “race” to the top of the widget). Whichever three posts are at the top of the widget one week from today, July 14th at 7 A.M (Mountain Time) will be the winners.

But wait, Teachinfourth, if this is a race, then what do the three winners get as a prize? After all, you said there would be prizes…

Ah, such a good question.

The three winners will get to pick any matted photo from either my photography website or this blog—any size they want (up to 8x12)—which will then be sent to them via US mail. The person in the top spot gets to pick two images (photos of people are not eligible to be selected unless I get the ‘okay’ from said individuals OR unless YOU are the said individual).

You know, shots like these, these, or these...just as a few samples.

Any hints for winning Teach?

Well, I don’t know about ‘hints’, but I do know this: the Happy TeachinFOURTH of July 2011 post rocketed straight to the top in less than 24 hours because two or three people put it on Facebook once or twice and/or on Twitter. It was also added to blogs as a link as well. I’ve never seen a post jump so quickly to the top as I saw that one do.

Also, the more people who go to your post, the more likely you’ll stay in the lead. If your friends click on the main banner they won’t be voting for anyone, just if they click on individual post names—in other words, don’t freak out if they look at anything else on this blog.

So ask a few friends to put your entry on their Facebook page, tweet about it, or whatever it is you like to do...dig it? The more individuals that hit that page, the greater your chances of staying in the lead.

Anything else we should know?

Well, you can enter the contest as late as you want, but the sooner you do, and the quicker you start, the better your chances should be. From what I understand of the widget (which isn’t a lot) it calculates the hits over 30 days, so the more hits you have over each of the 5 and-a-bit-more-days of the contest, the greater your chances are of being in the top three slots.

Oh, one last thing…all the current ‘entries’ in the widget are off limits and cannot be used as entries. So any of these that you see below cannot be used as yours. I’ll post an image of what these are below. Also, look at the comments and make sure that nobody else has picked a particular post – it’s first come, first choice in this regard. Pick a good post, not a lame one (like there are lame posts here…).

Comment moderation has been turned off until 12:00 tonight so you can make your selections and will know right off who has what. At 12:00 moderation goes on once-again.

Good luck.

P.S. Be sure to let me know your ‘racehorse’ in the comments section and please don’t start the race until midnight. Remember, you can pick a post and start the race as late as you’d like, but your chances are probably better earlier in…all posts that show up in the widget before midnight are automatically exempt from being chosen in this contest.

In a nutshell:

1. Pick your favorite post from this blog.
2. Let me know in the comments which post it is.
3. Advertise that post on Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, or wherever else you want to.
4. If your 'faved' post from this blog is in the top 3 slots on the side widget by the deadline (July 14th at 7:00 am) you win a print from this blog, or my photography website.
5. This post doesn't count as a winner - I see it's already on the widget.

Oh, and I posted over at Four Perspectives today.

Top image garnered from: http://sanatogapost.com