Digital Media Thoughts Grand Opening Contest: Over $23,000 USD in Prizes!

[Jason Dunn]

I'm thrilled to announce the kickoff of our much-anticipated grand opening contest. What's that? You're wondering why this contest is coming more than a month after our grand opening? The answer, dear readers, is simple: <b><i>there weren't enough prizes!</i></b> :-D I wanted to ensure this was the biggest contest ever on a Thoughts Media site, so I've spent the past three months communicating with different companies in the world of digital media, and gathering more prizes from them. As of this writing, we have <b>$23,227 USD in prizes</b>! I think that's enough :lol:, so let's get rocking. Who are the generous folks who donated prizes? All names you'll no doubt recognize...<br /><br />Our platinum sponsors, each having donated over $1000 USD in prizes, include <a href="http://www.ulead.com/">Ulead, <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/default.mspx" target="_blank">Microsoft US Windows Server Business Marketing Organization</a>,</A> <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia">Microsoft Windows Media,</a> <a href="http://www.adobe.com">Adobe,</a> <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/default.asp">Microsoft's OS group,</a> <a href="http://www.intervideo.com/">interVideo,</a> <a href="http://www.muvee.com">muvee,</a> and <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/">Microsoft's Digital Imaging group</a>. A special thanks to each of those companies for stepping up and supporting this contest in a big way.<br /><br />Our other great sponsors include (in alphabetical order) <a href="http://www.acdsystems.com/">ACD Systems,</a> <a href="http://www.adstech.com">ADS Tech,</a> <a href="http://www.ati.com">ATI Technologies,</a> <a href="http://www.crucial.com">Crucial,</a> <a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/">Griffin Technologies,</a> <a href="http://www.gs-magicstor.com/">magicstore GS,</a> <a href="http://research.microsoft.com">Microsoft Research,</a> <a href="http://www.ntius.com">NTI,</a> <a href="http://www.lifescapeinc.com/">Picasa,</a> <a href="http://www.pinnaclesys.com/">Pinnacle,</a> <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com">Pocket PC Thoughts</a> (donating some Vaja Cases coupons), <a href="http://www.ritek.com.tw/">Ritek,</a> <a href="http://www.roadwired.com/">Roadwired,</a> <a href="http://www.rokulabs.com/">Roku,</a> <a href="http://www.roxio.com/">Roxio,</a> <a href="http://www.shuttle.com/">Shuttle,</a> <a href="http://www.snapstream.com/">Snapstream</a>, <a href="http://soundspectrum.com/">SoundSpectrum,</a> <a href="http://www.sonic.com/">Sonic,</a> and <a href="http://www.verbatim.com/">Verbatim.</a> Whew! Is that a great list or what?<br /><br />Over the next several weeks we'll be profiling the products that each company will be giving away to give you a better idea of what you might win, and if you don't win, what you might want to buy. ;-) Once we've finished highlighting the products, we'll do one drawing per week day – so this contest will last several weeks. Don't you just love delayed gratification?<br /><br />What do you need to do in order to win? Just be <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/forums/profile.php?mode=register">registered in our forums</a>, which is free! At the time of this writing there are over 170 different prizes, and only 641 people registered in our forums. Those are some good odds of winning! Share the fun – tell others who are interested in digital media and encourage them to <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/forums/profile.php?mode=register">register</a> and be eligible to win. The purpose of this contest is to grow awareness of Digital Media Thoughts, expand our community, and to highlight some of the best digital media software and hardware on the market today from the companies who generously donated their wares.<br /><br />Sign up today to qualify, and good luck to everyone involved!

[sundown]

Whoa, that's awesome! I love this place even more now! :D

[JR]

$15,069!!! :shocked!:

:multi:

[karinatwork]

Dangerous, dangerous. :wink: I thought I could stay away from this site because it has a very bad BAAAAD influence on my bank account (too many reports about fabulous stuff that I need to get my hands on), but now I might be able to get some of it for FREE! Cool!

:)

[David Prahl]

:rock on dude!:

This is the largest contest I've heard of online (and been able to participate in)! Thank you, generous sponsors. THANK YOU JASON! :werenotworthy:

[Mike Temporale]

Wow! What a list of sponsors! :rock on dude!: Crucial... That reminds me, I need some memory for my laptop....


Way to go Jason and the rest of the DMT gang! :way to go:

[Jason Dunn]

Worth the wait eh? :wink:

[Christian]

Excellent contest! :rock on dude!:

A big thanks to all the sponsors, and of course the DMT team!

[Tim Williamson]

$15,000 in prizes! 8O Awesome!

[chrisspera]

Way Cool, Jason!!

Do you have a list of prizes so that we may freely drool over them??

:way to go:

[James Fee]

Wow! 8O

Excellent news Jason! I like my odds as long as the news doesn't get out (which of couse it will). :twisted:

[foldedspace]

I imagine the forums will get a *lot* busier now. Ah, well...the more the merrier!

:)

[omikron.sk]

COOL, hmmmmmmmm, that's what I call a contest!

BTW: nice to see well-known faces from PPCT here.
BTW2: finally Jason has one-good-looking avatar :wink:

[oom]

Its good to see there is still such a thing as a free lunch or software or memory or ...

craig

[David Horn]

Neat - I like those odds!

Jason: Will I need to be a subscriber in order to be entered automagically, like Pocket PC Thoughts, or will you just select randomly from the list of registered members?

[Jason Dunn]

Do you have a list of prizes so that we may freely drool over them??

That will be revealed on a day by day basis to make it even more exciting. ;-)

[Suhit Gupta]

Jason: Will I need to be a subscriber in order to be entered automagically, like Pocket PC Thoughts, or will you just select randomly from the list of registered members?
So these giveaways only require registration to the site, not for every giveaway. When we start having our contests (i.e. after the $15K worth of giveaways), those will presumably require entering each one specifically and that is when subscriber services will help.

Suhit

[Jason Dunn]

I imagine the forums will get a *lot* busier now. Ah, well...the more the merrier! :)

That's the basic idea! :D

[Jason Dunn]

Jason: Will I need to be a subscriber in order to be entered automagically, like Pocket PC Thoughts, or will you just select randomly from the list of registered members?

"What do you need to do in order to win? Just be registered in our forums, which is free!"
8)

[Crocuta]

Whoa, Jason, that's awsome. I've never seen a site offer a prize set like this anywhere. You're definitely the man! :werenotworthy:

Now if we can all just keep this a secret until the prizes are.... oh wait, did I say that out loud? :lol:

[jake080]

C00l, now if only i had a way to replace my half-dead digital camera!
-- it got 100% submerged, came up with a dead LCD, and ofer the last year seems to have slowed down in preformance and write speed, time to get a new one :P --

~Jake

[Fishie]

Ive been in a winning mood lately.
Hope my streak of good luck continues :lol:

[dangerwit]

Thanks for the contest Jason! It's a great opportunity for everyone! :)

[OSUKid7]

Awesome! Thanks again for these great sites and great prizes. :way to go:

Oh, and I guess this promotion is working:
We have 805 registered users

[lipinski77]

Now that is a contest! :rock on dude!:

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks for your support everyone - please tell everyone you know, online newsletters, etc. Let's spread the word and really grow DMT into a big site! :D

[ironguy]

Don't tell anyone about this site until after the contest is over. In fact, all of you should withdraw your forum registration. That way I would win everything! WOO HOO!

OK, go ahead and tell. The more the merrier I guess. It's a great place for help and info!

[David Horn]

Jason: Will I need to be a subscriber in order to be entered automagically, like Pocket PC Thoughts, or will you just select randomly from the list of registered members?

"What do you need to do in order to win? Just be registered in our forums, which is free!"
8)

D'oh!

[js415]

Wow Wow Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been here since before the site opened (?), and I can't wait. I just know one of those prizes has my name on it!!!

Thanks a lot Jason, for the site, and for the great contests.

Jerry

[mrkablooey]

1. In order to thank Jason for this, keep visiting the site.
2. In order to thank the sponsors, keep buying their products.
3. Complete both 1 and 2 to complete the cycle and set it in repetitive motion.

:)

[dazz]

Woo Hoo! This is going to be fun!! I won some financial software are PPCT last year.

What do we chant though? "Come on lucky...digital something-or-other!"

:? Doesn't quite have the right ring to it. :D

[jake080]

:lol:
im sorry, that just crackedme up!
:rofl:

[Honda_Civic_Si]

I'm glad I signed up way before the contests, that way, no one can say I am here for the prizes 8)

[spg]

Very cool contest. I can see newspaper headlines two weeks from now though -

Massive epidemic of carpal tunnel syndrome!
Rapid refreshing of DigitalMediaThoughts.com thought to be source of outbreak.

[ale2999]

Jason that is awesome. Thank you so much already, and thx to all the sponsors too!
Good luck every!

[RobertSeaton]

Saw this on Brighthand...could not resist. 8O

[Steve]

haha, wow. I had no idea that the thoughts sites were so huge. I was directed to ppct from cgtalk.com, and I'd never heard of ppct otherwise, so I always assumed it was small. I guess not :wink:

[pradike]

This site is right up my alley anyway - I'm a technology/gadget fiend.

I've dealt with PDAs, Digital Cameras, Wireless Netwroks, an other toys for some time....love this site! :D

[OSUKid7]

We have 925 registered users
D'oh! Stop telling people!!! lol j/k ;) hope this increases discussion around here.

[blazingwolf]

All right everyone stop telling everyone else about this. Man, my chance of winning is going down the tubes. :cry:


Jason, you need a smiley flushing the toilet for me. He he.

( Just kidding by the way)

[Jason Dunn]

Saw this on Brighthand...could not resist. 8O

Really? Where? I looked but couldn't find it. ;-)

[Pony99CA]

I'm glad I visited Pocket PC Thoughts and saw this. I've been interested in video for a while, even having my own small video production business (which is more or less dead now -- anybody want some professional S-VHS VCRs? :-D).

Steve

[Filip Norrgard]

8O WOW!
That's one heck of a competition! Thanks to the DMT team and the Sponsors for arranging it! :D

I wonder if I will win something? 8)

Well, good luck to everyone part... um, registered here! :wink:

[Russell]

bring on the prizes... :werenotworthy:

[asglobal]

Actually, it is posted on Geek.com

[Jason Dunn]

Actually, it is posted on Geek.com

Really? Cool! :D

[ctmagnus]

Anyone want to create a :proud to be a geek: avatar? :mrgreen:

[alanjrobertson]

Mmmm - nice-sounding compo, Jason - well done on getting so many prizes together! (& for not being just another of those North America-only competitions that a lot of sites have - at least I hope not! :D)

Cheers

Alan

[Jason Dunn]

...not being just another of those North America-only competitions...

This is open to everyone in the world. :D

[alanjrobertson]

Yay! :smilecolros: :turn-l:

That's what makes the 'Thoughts' sites so good!!

Ta,

Alan

[groan]

holy schmoley!
that is wonderful!
&lt;crosses fingers>

[mrkablooey]

Mmmm - nice-sounding compo, Jason - well done on getting so many prizes together! (& for not being just another of those North America-only competitions that a lot of sites have - at least I hope not! :D)

Seeing as how Jason is in Canada, it'd be kinda crappy for him to leave everyone else out. :wink:

[rtrueman]

The list of sponsors is great, but where is the list of winners? I keep seeing the prizes, but never who won them!

Rob

[Tim Williamson]

Yeah that's what I was thinking...but then I went back and read the contest info, and it looks like the drawings for the prizes will be done after all the prizes have been introduced.

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah that's what I was thinking...but then I went back and read the contest info, and it looks like the drawings for the prizes will be done after all the prizes have been introduced.

That's correct - right now we're just going through what the prizes are and giving the sponsors a little time in the spotlight. :-) Once we're finished, the actual giveaways will start.

[OSUKid7]

Yeah that's what I was thinking...but then I went back and read the contest info, and it looks like the drawings for the prizes will be done after all the prizes have been introduced.

That's correct - right now we're just going through what the prizes are and giving the sponsors a little time in the spotlight. :-) Once we're finished, the actual giveaways will start.
Any idea when that will be?

[Jason Dunn]

Any idea when that will be?

When we run out of sponsors to profile - I'd say about a week and a half to go. Why, you goin' somewhere? :wink: :lol:

[OSUKid7]

Any idea when that will be?

When we run out of sponsors to profile - I'd say about a week and a half to go. Why, you goin' somewhere? :wink: :lol:
lol...just wandering when I should expect to win. :wink: :mrgreen:

[Pony99CA]

Any idea when that will be?
When we run out of sponsors to profile - I'd say about a week and a half to go. Why, you goin' somewhere? :wink: :lol:
No, but the longer you wait, the lower our odds get of winning as more people sign up. :twisted:

Steve

[Suhit Gupta]

lol...just wandering when I should expect to win. :wink: :mrgreen:
Probably in about 2 weeks, maybe a little bit more (making an educated guess here).

Suhit

[Squid]

May sound a little slow... Did the competition end? :cry: I noticed that the forum dropped off at the end of April. I haven't seen any other links to the competition other than this forum though. Am I missing something? Even tried a search. Could someone point me in the right direction please?

Thanks!

Squid

[OSUKid7]

May sound a little slow... Did the competition end? :cry: I noticed that the forum dropped off at the end of April. I haven't seen any other links to the competition other than this forum though. Am I missing something? Even tried a search. Could someone point me in the right direction please?
I don't think it's started yet.

[David Prahl]

Every few days (week, maybe?) a future give-away item is featured on the front page. After all of the goodies have been presented to be drooled over, they're given away.

You're still in time -- hang around for a while and you'll probably win something!

[Suhit Gupta]

David is right, you are now entered for one of the many giveaways already announced (and some that will be announced over the next few days). Time to give them out is coming soon :).

Suhit

[Rikostan]

I don't mean to sound pushy, but have you guys started the contests yet? I didn't see anything on the forums..

[Jason Dunn]

I don't mean to sound pushy, but have you guys started the contests yet? I didn't see anything on the forums..

Nope, we're still announcing the vendors - I think we have about six left to go, so we're almost ready to start the giveaways! :-)

[Rikostan]

Ok cool, thanks for the reply!

[Jason Dunn]

Ok cool, thanks for the reply!

Sorry for the wait. Who knew we'd have a PROBLEM having TOO MUCH to give away? :lol:

[Rikostan]

LOL good problem to have!
There are so really awesome prizes there too. The Shuttle system will be huge for who ever wins it.
I really want to get a PC out in the livingroom to open up a whole new area of computing. I have found a lot of great info just from lurking here though, so I think I am getting my plan all sorted out.

[JTWise]

Bump for an update - I don't remember seeing any prize sponsor announcements last week so I am hoping we are about to start :D ! It has been great seeing the announcements for all of the prizes, but I am holding off on buying a couple products since I am hoping to win them.

Having enough prizes to constitute a two month difference between the giveaway announcement and the actual drawings in unbelievable! I have never seen anything like it elsewhere on the web.

[OSUKid7]

Yeah, hate to keep bugging, but how long has it been? Anyway, keep up the great work. :)

[Suhit Gupta]

I believe the giveaways start any day now... really! :)

Suhit

[OSUKid7]

I believe the giveaways start any day now... really! :)

Suhit
Great! Good luck everyone. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, hate to keep bugging, but how long has it been? Anyway, keep up the great work. :)

Only TWO more giveaways to list - one is two rather large prizes from Microsoft, and the other is ATI. ATI is the real slow-down - they never got back to me on what they were donating for the giveaway, so I need to contact them again. I believe that by this Friday, or Monday at the latest, we should be starting the giveaway process. Thanks for your patience everyone! :-)

[sheik]

Call me a cynic, but how is this site going to protect itself from people that cheat?
For example, had I wanted to, I could have registered at least 50 times using different domains that would require time to trace back to me (and I could always argue they go to different people).

So, is it just going to be a prize draw between every registered member or will some kind of participation in each draw also be required?

Actually, would multiple registrations even be cheating? I'd assume it would but I don't remember seeing any terms and conditions.

[The only thing I have ever won on the web came from Pocket PC Thoughts, when I won a fantastic case for my Ipaq. For that competition I think I had to e-mail Brad my device's serial number which was a pretty good way of ensuring only Ipaq owners would enter.]

Sorry to bring this issue up but I bet I'm not the only one that has thought about it 8O

/\dam

[OSUKid7]

Good question... :( I hadn't even thought about that.

[Jason Dunn]

For example, had I wanted to, I could have registered at least 50 times using different domains that would require time to trace back to me (and I could always argue they go to different people).

Technically, yes, that would be posssible. We've never had that problem in the past though, and if I ever discovered that someone did that, they wouldn't win anything.

Actually, would multiple registrations even be cheating? I'd assume it would but I don't remember seeing any terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions are for lawyers, not someone like me. :-)

[Rikostan]

Good to see ATI finally came through!

[Jason Dunn]

Good to see ATI finally came through!

Yup, we're good to go for Monday!

[makicr]

Monday has arived, and we all wait with bated breath.

[encece]

whatever happened to the giveaways?? Just wondering....

[Jason Dunn]

whatever happened to the giveaways?? Just wondering....

They sputtered because we got super busy - I'll try to kick then in the pants again. :-)

[encece]

I'm not trying to be demanding...(though it is the squeaky wheel that gets the greasin'....wink, wink, hint, hint!)

It has just been noticably absent and I'd hate to see some prizes become obsolete before they're given away! :D

[dave_p_1]

I'd hate to see some prizes become obsolete before they're given away! :D

We're on internet time, they were obsolete before they shipped.

:wink: