Author Topic: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up  (Read 113601 times)

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Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« on: February 05, 2016, 11:32:58 pm »
I have secured two very high end scopes to give away come March, they will even come with unique EEVblog special edition branding!
One for my regular audience, and one for my Patreon & Forum supporters.
But how to do the giveaway?
I've used the Wobbulator program before, but that limit the contest to forum members only which I have had complaints about, and fair enough I think.
Got any good ideas?
Maybe there is some online contest software where you can sign up and it picks a winner? (I haven't looked, just floating it) I could post a public link and a private supporters link.
Or I could just get people to comment in Youtube comments, blog website, or forum with a specific keyword, and I can get David to write a program to collate them all.
Live draw video of course.

Ideas and thoughts?
 

Offline Skimask

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2016, 11:47:10 pm »
1.  Drawing of X number of Pre-Qualifying Entrants, forum members with X number of real posts, not just the one post sign up clowns.

2.  Pre-Qualifying entrants answer a set of fairly obscure questions which relate directly to your videos, old (all the way back), and new.  Not necessarily to show 100% right answers, but show a genuine interest by answers x% correctly.

3.  Final drawing from the best of #2.
I didn't take it apart.
I turned it on.

The only stupid question is, well, most of them...

Save a fuse...Blow an electrician.
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2016, 11:54:51 pm »
I'm hoping that the draw is open to bribery and corruption in which case I might stand a bloody chance, I seriously need a decent scope to bring myself up to speed with the current technology and would in turn give away some new meters and other gear that I have here and am not using, if I won.

Thank you, this is a wonderful gesture on your part and that of the supplier.... :-+  :-+ :clap: :clap:
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 01:57:48 am by Muttley Snickers »
 

Offline hamdi.tn

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2016, 11:58:30 pm »
idea, i have one :p me  :-DD
 

Offline apelly

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2016, 12:09:00 am »
Post in thread and say "I want"
 

Offline MarkDennehy

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2016, 12:20:52 am »
Post in thread, say "I want" and then describe the first project it would get used on.
Most interesting project (where Dave judges interesting and includes the "has a hope in hell of being doable" metric) wins.
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2016, 12:30:19 am »
1.  Drawing of X number of Pre-Qualifying Entrants, forum members with X number of real posts, not just the one post sign up clowns.

2.  Pre-Qualifying entrants answer a set of fairly obscure questions which relate directly to your videos, old (all the way back), and new.  Not necessarily to show 100% right answers, but show a genuine interest by answers x% correctly.

3.  Final drawing from the best of #2.

+1_100%_ :-+

As mentioned above the "what episode did Dave fly a quadcopter and how many times did it crash" might be a very good and fair playing field, the first to comment thing is no good with time zones and do people comment on Youtube or on the forum, sometimes this is not so clear.

The "I want" I personally feel is a bit rich, "Dave I would like" might be a bit more respectful and courteous.

 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2016, 12:39:01 am »
Post in thread, say "I want" and then describe the first project it would get used on.
Most interesting project (where Dave judges interesting and includes the "has a hope in hell of being doable" metric) wins.

Then it becomes a contest and not a giveaway.
Nothing wrong with a contest though if that's what people want.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 12:40:43 am by EEVblog »
 

Offline Stupid Beard

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2016, 12:39:31 am »
I've always liked the way you've done giveaways in the past, where young players tell you what they'll use the thing for and you pick a deserving winner. A high end scope isn't going to be of much use to a young player, but it would at least be nice to know that it goes to someone who will put it to good use rather than as a trophy in a massive wall of test equipment.

Maybe that's too much effort for this, I don't know. One thing is for sure; whatever you do there will be people who complain.
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2016, 12:43:14 am »
One thing is for sure; whatever you do there will be people who complain.

That's for sure :)

If it was a contest, maybe it could be something like post a photo of your bench as a qualifier, show us a project, put your age and what you do (hobbyist, student, grad, grey beard etc) and let the community vote on the winner perhaps.
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2016, 12:44:36 am »
A high end scope isn't going to be of much use to a young player, but it would at least be nice to know that it goes to someone who will put it to good use rather than as a trophy in a massive wall of test equipment.

That's always the risk with a random draw. It is a high end scope (think $15K worth).
 

Offline uncle_bob

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #11 on: February 06, 2016, 12:56:00 am »
Hi

I would certainly vote for the simple answer of "send it to me" :)

The way many other places do it is a simple post in a thread sort of thing. There must be some sort of program (or at least a script) to pull names out of the list. I think that having people do *something* to enter is better than a totally passive process. The idea is to kick up interest with the contest. Drawing numbers out of a hat and then matching them with member numbers runs the risk of picking people who no longer have accurate info on file.

Bob
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #12 on: February 06, 2016, 01:09:19 am »
The way many other places do it is a simple post in a thread sort of thing. There must be some sort of program (or at least a script) to pull names out of the list. I think that having people do *something* to enter is better than a totally passive process. The idea is to kick up interest with the contest. Drawing numbers out of a hat and then matching them with member numbers runs the risk of picking people who no longer have accurate info on file.

That's exactly how I have done previous contests.
 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #13 on: February 06, 2016, 01:18:28 am »
One thing is for sure; whatever you do there will be people who complain.

That's for sure :)

If it was a contest, maybe it could be something like post a photo of your bench as a qualifier, show us a project, put your age and what you do (hobbyist, student, grad, grey beard etc) and let the community vote on the winner perhaps.

Don't do that Dave.  No matter who wins it some will surely think either the winner didn't need it or couldn't possibly use it as effectively as they themselves could have. It isn't worth the aggravation. Just have a draw from all entries with everyone having an equally fair chance. Clean and simple.

I agree. Simple drawing with a minimum number of real posts - not too low, not too high (?100) to qualify.
 

Offline RobertoLG

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2016, 01:20:52 am »
ya, a simple draw would be fair for everybody
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #15 on: February 06, 2016, 01:24:37 am »
I agree. Simple drawing with a minimum number of real posts - not too low, not too high (?100) to qualify.

 Rules out everyone on Youtbue who isn't on the forum.
 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #16 on: February 06, 2016, 01:39:58 am »
I agree. Simple drawing with a minimum number of real posts - not too low, not too high (?100) to qualify.

 Rules out everyone on Youtbue who isn't on the forum.

What's your point? >:D

Ok - seriously - I hadn't thought about that... Separate drawing for each perhaps?
 

Offline digsys

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2016, 01:48:51 am »
Given that's it's an extremely generous prize, it has it's own unique problems.
- A "beginner / lurker / casual" wins it, and really has no use for it, other than a cheap CRO. To me, a waste of a good tool.
- A "member" enters and wins it, with no other motive than to sell it and make fast $$. Again, disappointing.
- Fake stories / uses / pictures are also a high probability, due to the prize value.

Whatever method, maybe a voting system, on say 10-12 front-runners, from members who didn't enter? or supporters? Just ideas.
It would be sad to find out that it was all for nothing. I'd hate to be in your shoes :-)
Hello <tap> <tap> .. is this thing on?
 

Offline Stupid Beard

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #18 on: February 06, 2016, 01:56:54 am »
You could go "old-school" and have people send in a postcard and then you could draw from a box/barrel/bag.

The Hellointernet podcast did this recently when they held a vote in their flag referendum.
http://www.hellointernet.fm/podcast/53

I like that idea. Would lend itself well to a video of the draw too. Downside would be the amount of time it would take for international post to arrive.
 

Offline Aodhan145

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #19 on: February 06, 2016, 02:57:13 am »
Maybe there is some online contest software where you can sign up and it picks a winner? (I haven't looked, just floating it) I could post a public link and a private supporters link.

Ive seen people who used this https://www.rafflecopter.com/
You can make people subscribe etc. to enter.
 

Offline sleemanj

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #20 on: February 06, 2016, 03:16:25 am »
Given the high value, you might need to think about international issues (both customs duties/taxes which could be imposed even if it marked gift and reported as low-valued, an legal issues regarding prize draws).  Maybe chat with your friends at SupplyFrame about what was required in regard to the hackaday prizes.
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Offline Brumby

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2016, 03:24:45 am »
I agree that any sort of contest where opinion or judging is involved, will leave the process open to criticism.

I also believe any 'qualification' criteria needs to be somewhat independent of parameters such as length of membership or activity (whether EEVblog or Facebook).

It would seem that any sort of 'inclusion' mechanism would be appropriate if it were directly associated with interest in the prize.  I would hate to see someone get a scope like that that hasn't the slightest interest in using it and just won it because they were 'in the room' as it were.

It is a further concern if the recipient could come under fire for not being in a position where they would not use the scope to it's fullest capabilities - so assessing or even commenting on that should be avoided.  I know I would be unlikely to fully utilise a piece of kit like that - but it would be fully appreciated!


The postcard draw idea has its appeal - the postal service issue considered.  I might suggest the formal announcement of an upcoming giveaway in a one-off blog video which can be a review (if you like), but details for entry will be announced at a later date.  This way, the word gets out and people are watching for it.  Once there has been a reasonable time for people to have found out about it, do another video to announce the giveaway period has commenced and include the entry details.

For an idea of how long to allow the entry period to run, I might suggest Dave sets up a poll thread where members here can vote on the time it takes for letters/postcards to get to Australia.  They can be senders, receivers or just know of people who have some experience with this.  From that, there will likely be a timeframe which will show up - and then add, say, two weeks.

I might also suggest that, in order to easily identify entry mail from other mail, that there be something big and obvious on the postcard/outside of the envelope.  Alternatively, is there another postal address that could be used?  (I'd offer my PO box - but I want to be in the draw  ;D )
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2016, 03:27:32 am »
Given the high value, you might need to think about international issues (both customs duties/taxes which could be imposed even if it marked gift and reported as low-valued, an legal issues regarding prize draws).  Maybe chat with your friends at SupplyFrame about what was required in regard to the hackaday prizes.

Good point.
 

Offline Corporate666

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2016, 03:52:49 am »
I agree. Simple drawing with a minimum number of real posts - not too low, not too high (?100) to qualify.

 Rules out everyone on Youtbue who isn't on the forum.


Is it valuable for you to have increased forum membership?  I mean, is it a goal you want to achieve?

If so, do a video saying there will be a BIG giveaway in April (or whenever), open to any forum member with 100 (or whatever) *real* and useful posts as of April 10 (or whatever date).

Bump your forum membership while you do a service for the community.  Win/win.
It's not always the most popular person who gets the job done.
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: BIG EEVblog Giveaway Coming Up
« Reply #24 on: February 06, 2016, 04:08:30 am »

open to any forum member with 100 (or whatever) *real* and useful posts as of April 10 (or whatever date).


That will be a problem.  Firstly, to define (you will have arguments out the wazoo) and secondly, to implement (how much work would be involved?)
 


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