Dec 01 2007
It Was Rigged!
A few days ago I ran Ms. Q’s Fantastic Postcard Contest.
Amazingly, 5 people entered!
These intrepid contestants were:
Derek Wong of Going The Wong Way.
Jill of Twipply Skwood.
Christine of Total Waste Of Time.
Sue of La Chanson de Phoenix.
Ricardo of Unloaded.
I’m sorry to have to tell you that the contest was rigged.
Yes, rigged! There is no Randomizer. However, there IS a Patented Selection Process.
The night of November 29th to early November 30th, the Patented Selection Process (PSP) was deployed. Here’s where the Rigging comes in.
All five contestants will be receiving a postcard!!
Derek, Jill, Christine, Sue and Ricardo – check your mailboxes in the next few days.
Each person got a Personalized Message and I tried to select a postcard that I thought might appeal to each. Since the Personalized Message was written during the PSP, all I can recall is that I am pretty sure each got a different message.
It may seem like a silly contest but I am very touched that 5 people I have never met want a postcard from me. I may be Inimitable but then, we all are.
Five people put their trust in me. I do think it takes trust and a leap of faith to send a stranger your mailing address. As much as I write about myself, I am as vague as possible about where I live and how to find me.
I enjoyed writing to everyone very much and I hope that Jill, Derek, Sue, Ricardo and Christine take as much pleasure in receiving their cards as I did in writing them. It’s one thing when I’m writing here for anyone and everyone to read. It’s another to write a private message to one person. In my case, when I write for one person, I have an image of them in my mind. I couldn’t imagine Christine, as I have no idea what she looks like!
Speaking of Christine, she offered to reciprocate and send ME a postcard!
I’ll have to pass but it did give me an idea – maybe bloggers round the world can send each other postcards from their hometown – run their own Fantastic Postcard Contest!
As much as so many of us connect through comments and emails and posts, I don’t think anything can replace the handwritten word. It’s a moment in time, no backspace, no spellcheck, one of a kind. Human.
The human touch.
I like the idea of tangible connections.
Just a thought.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I so thrilled to hear of this!
Sue: I’m glad! My postcards tend to be about whatever I am experiencing at the time. A bit stream-of-consciousness. I hope you like it. Tell me when you get it! I posted them all on Friday.
Maybe you can do the same – you said you tried doing something similar but only got one request – now that you’re blog has grown, maybe it’ll be more successful this time around!
How about a picture mail of a hand written note?
You could make up a postcard, snap a photo, and pressto snappo!!
Speedy! I dunno about a picture of a handwritten note. Not quite the same. I’m wondering if the “Lucky Winners” will post a photo of themselves with the postcards though! hahahah! Not quite a “Clearinghouse Winner” but still…
Okay, I’m a geek, but I think I’m safe here with bloggers reading these messages.
Ham Radio operators will sometimes exchange postcards to each other after making contact on the radio. These cards are called QSL cards. “QSL” is one of many “Q” codes used with Morse code. The cards can be sent to each other regardless if the contact was made over Morse code or using the microphone or any other form of transmission.
The QSL card lists the person’s radio call letters, the location of the station, the time and date of the contact and the type of radio and antenna used. I have received cards from stations in Russia, Germany, Finland, Argentina, Australia and many other countries. These cards, of course, don’t compare with postcards sent from Ms. Q.
Jake: Oh, Ms. Q is ALL OVER those Q-cards! And Morse Code and Geeks. You may be one of the few readers who understood the note I left on my Thankful post.
Thanks for the view into the World Of Ham Radio Operators. Kinda cool for me to learn that I am doing my version of it and funny that I was also thinking of my cards as “Q” cards!
WOOO! I’m glad that there were only 5 of us, so you weren’t so inundated that you had to actually be choosy.
And, if you are truly curious about what I look like…
Next time you read my blog, click on the link to my MySpace page. There you can see me, and with a little sleuthing Hubby, an Extremely Attractive Man, The Guy Who Wears Fun Clothes, and, even…
The Magic Shoes.
Not The Sons, though. If they want to throw their pictures all over the internet, that’s one thing: I’m not going to start that for them.
Ms. Q. – I’ve been in the thick of the holiday crazies with Hannukah starting tomorrow night & my daughter’s play practice in HIGH GEAR plus my son’s birthday coming up in a couple weeks here & him wanting a PARTY (of all things), my carpets getting cleaned tomorrow, not to mention all the run of the mill December stuff…so internet time has been extremely scarce for me.
BUT I just got your post card today!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such a nice surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I’m glad to hear it was rigged, that everyone else got one too.
Christine: I’ll check out your MySpace when I get the chance! I hadn’t noticed any link and thought you were being private, like me.
Is there an Extremely Attractive Single Man in there somewhere???
Jill: You’re having your carpets cleaned? That means you actually have to be able to see them. I recall they don’t emerge very often and are sometimes thought of as mythical.
It IS the holidays and you DO have lots of stuff going on so no problems about checking in here. I mean, I like to leave comments for all my buddies but when I’m on the road? Ugh.
I’m glad you got your postcard today! Thanks for letting me know. Did it live up to your expectations?? hahehehe.
MY CARD ARRIVED and I am tickled. I’m doing a Christmas Card Swap with another blogger, which is weird, especially since she lives about 20 minutes from where I grew up. I could totally find her house. But we are Internet Acquaintances Only. Which is also cool.
I am not particularly private, so MySpace es SuSpace.
And I will let you be the judge of the attractiveness factor of the people linked to on my various pages. But there are several shots of my friend with the tank shirts, for ya.
Christine: Funny to exchange cards with someone you only know online who’s from an area you know so well.
I am glad you liked the card! I was hoping to run more ‘contests’ when I went to other places but after today’s post, well, no more of that, at least for a while.