It was a few hours ago now, but this afternoon we held the draw for the 50" HDTV that has been brightening our networking lounge since Tuesday morning.
The winner was the lovely Dianne Stayton of Web Your Business, who seemed more than a little excited to have won the prize.
Congratulations to Dianne. We had a lot of fun at the networking lounge this year.
A while later, at the other end of the exhibit hall, most of the exhibitors who had prizes to give away took the stage at the presentation theater to announce the winners (the TV was a little bit big to bring over there).
At the conclusion of things, Keith Duncan of Ping! Zine took the stage. After a little grandstanding and the obligatory good-natured potshot at the WHIR, Duncan proceeded with the much-anticipated showstopper, giving five lucky winners the chance to sit on a motorcycle for a couple of seconds.
Nobody wins! Goodnight everyone!
I suppose it was understood in advance that there was really a very slim possibility that somebody would actually win the motorcycle (about 2 percent, I believe - five people each drawing a key from a bowl of 250, one of which apparently unlocked the box containing the actual key to the bike). But it was still a bit of a lame duck promotion, and it should have been apparent to everyone hyping it up that it could be a let-down as big end-of-show prize drawings go.
Sure, it would have been fun if, against all probability, somebody had actually won that motorcycle. As it turns out, there was a bit of "how do we know there's a real key?" and "let everyone take one more key." Nothing too serious, but it wasn't much fun. I'd rather have a Nintendo Wii.
Kudos to Keith for making a big to-do out of what basically amounted to nothing. I suppose it was a pretty good promotion at the end of the day.
By the way, you heard it here first: at HostingCon 2009, anyone who can throw a baseball from Navy Pier to the W hotel wins 100 spaceships, courtesy of the Web Host Industry Review (a challenge made all the more difficult by the fact that the event's going to be in Washington DC).
Did anyone else witness Keith Duncan groveling to the Harley dealership dude as he returned the bike they borrowed for their cruel charade? It truly would have been wonderful to see them have to give it away (more so now that we've seen their true colors), but I'm confident that the actual probability of winning was 0%.
I'll always remember never to take a second look at their rag, since they've shown that they have no problem being deliberately misleading (about the rules of the contest, and probably even "rigging" the lottery, or just holding a shamelessly fake one). Great promotional idea, morons.
It's a pretty common thing with sweepstakes. You can read about how it works here: http://www.insuredprizes.com.au/how.html
Technically, the prize was the CHANCE to win the bike. I don't doubt that the promotion cost Keith some money. Say the bike cost $20,000. If the odds of someone winning were 2 percent then maybe it was $400 to insure? I don't know. Maybe it was more like $1,000. But no way was it a fake contest.
Anyway, this kind of promotion can be a good way to get people excited. The problem is that when you get people excited, then you have a big ceremony where there's a 98 percent chance nobody's going to win, then you're just asking for people to get mad.
OR, maybe nobody cares and this was a really successful promotion.
Just wanted to thank the great folks at WHRI for the TV! It is not here yet but I am very excited about it. It was very nice of them to ask when we wanted it to be delivered. They said it could be there as soon as Saturday - but as we were staying in Chicago a few days longer, they asked when WE wanted it delivered. Thanks for accommodating our needs! It should be here tomorrow... I am very excited. (I have the perfect room for it)
Also the Networking Lounge really was a great place to catch up with other companies and old friends in the industry - hope to see you again in 2009 in Washington DC
Oh, can I do a shameless plug for our hosting company please:
Check out http://www.AAABusinessHosting.com
Great deals on domain names and shared/dedicated servers!
Sincerely,
Dianne Stayton - CEO
Web Your Business Inc
Now a giveaway means that the prize will be given to the number one finalist regardless of skill or merit (though some may argue that luck is merit, I will not argue that point).
What people fail to realize is the marketing genius behind the motorcycle competition. Without a winner people are talking non-stop about it and not only did it give Pingzine a lot of publicity, but it continues to do so. The blogs on The Whir, the article in Top Host, and people talking to each other spreads the word. This is publicity money can't buy. The picture that has been seen by hundreds on Flickr is a great example. Not only do we see the bike, but the Pingzine logo and magazine is prominently displayed in the picture.
This was a marketing coup d’état and my hat (if I wore one) is off to Keith and company.
I get the feeling from your comment that you feel like PingZine has pulled one over on the WHIR or on TopHosts. Personally, I don't begrudge them any attention they get, whether it's via the WHIR or any other site.
Also, I wasn't criticizing it from a marketing standpoint. It was more of an event-planning thing - setting up a big scene for the end of the exhibiting that would leave everyone kind of disappointed. And I certainly wasn't suggesting that Keith was up to anything underhanded.
And I think if you read my post and comment you'll see that I address that, as well as the fact that this may have been a successful marketing effort at the end of the day.
I'm going to say maybe "marketing genius" is a bit of a stretch. But I think it's a great question - how true is that "no such thing as bad publicity" adage? I tend to think "not always true," especially if you're in the publishing business, where your reputation is a pretty important consideration. Maybe not to advertisers (maybe not in the hosting business). But possibly to some readers.
Not that this hurt Ping Zine's reputation, necessarily. But let's discard this specific example and talk generally. I think there's an invisible line out there where bad publicity is, well, bad publicity. There are super-obvious examples (ask Michael Vick, or Michael Richards). But there are also business examples ("22 Confessions of a Former Dell Sales Manager," for instance).
Obviously, this motorbike non-controversy isn't any of those thigns. But it's no Go Daddy Super Bowl ad controversy either.
Also, since you went all dictionary on us with the giveaway-versus-contest thing, I feel I have to point out that you said "coup d'etat" when you meant "coup."
Burn! Bad publicity for David Dunlap!