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
)