MSN are trying to attract users away from Google with yet another competition tie-in. No sooner has The Big Snap snapped shut, everyone’s favourite, albeit slightly older, archaeologist hones into view and becomes the subject of the latest MSN search competition. In fact it’s actually the Big Snap competition but with Indiana Jones in place of Dick & Dom (which has got to be a major improvement).
To enter all you need to do is do a search using MSN. Any search can win one of the many prizes on offer. When you search at the top of the results page you’ll see a banner, if the rotating stones turn green then you’re a winner. You’ll also be told the number of prizes left and when the last prize was won.
Is it worth playing?
Well top prize is a “VIP holiday prize package for 2 people to New Mexico”. You’ll be able to visit the film location for Indiana Jones and receive a VIP guided tour by the on-set manager. The prize includes spending money and 7 nights at the luxury Hacienda resort, Santa Fe. The rest of the prizes are Indiana Jones merchandise and there’s 1000 mobile downloads, which it seems make up the bulk of the giveaways.
It’s a bit of fun, but you might have more chance of finding The Holy Grail than picking up the holiday. Still, if you fancy one Last Crusade then try a few searches, for example ‘Temple of Doom’ - you might just find some buried treasure.
The quality of competitions and prizes on offer in recent months has been raised by some compers, but few can grumble about the goodies on offer in the brand new Hello Softie game from Andrex. They’re giving away 916 prizes including a £25000 family car, 10 x Family Holidays to Orlando, 5 x cash prizes of £10,000 and 50 x 12 foot trampolines. A big thanks to Mars King Size for spotting the competition.
To take part you need to get 5 trivia questions right to earn 5 golden feathers. If you get a question wrong you lose a feather, but as this promotion is in association with MSN you’re giving access to help with the answers.
Once you’ve done your 5 questions you then move on to the instant win element of the competition. Select 3 panels from the 9 shown and if you match all three symbols then you’ve won the prize. If you don’t win you can always have another go!
With so many big prizes on offer this will no doubt attract a lot of interest. Interestingly Andrex have included a robot check CAPTCHA between the questions and instant win section, which is actually great to see.
Your prize of a lifetime might be a brand new car or a holiday to a faraway place that you’d never expected to visit, for others it might a walk on a red carpet at a movie premiere or meeting a famous sports person. If you’re a fan of snooker (or just fancy being in the limelight) then the competition prize from 888 Snooker falls into the ‘prize of a lifetime’ category - simply because it probably will never be available again (you watch, they’ll offer this again next year).
To celebrate the forthcoming World Snooker Championships, you are being given the opportunity to present the 888.com World Snooker Championship Trophy to the 2008 Champion. The prize includes a pair of VIP tickets to the final, hospitality, pictures with the newly crowned champion and trophy and an invite to the official after final party.
Runners up have to make do with tickets to the semi-final and final of the 888.com World Snooker Championship 2009 or a signed John Higgins cue! Entering is easy, just send in your details, and the closing date is the 29th April.
These kind of competition prizes are rare, and they’re what makes entering competitions so much more fun. Snooker might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but winning this kind of prize for a snooker fanatic partner or relative could put you in the good books for many years to come.
If you want to be in the frame to win this snooker prize of a lifetime then get in the cue at 888 Snooker. If you decide to enter, good luck, and hopefully you’ll be on TV presenting that trophy!
One of the things we’ve always tried to advocate on Loquax is that comping should be a fun hobby. By entering competitions online you can surf the web, visit fun new sites, learn new things, pick up great ideas and through forums, like our own, interact and be encouraged by other compers, as well as forming new friendships.
However, is too much comping taking the fun away for you?
If you take comping down to the basics, sitting at your PC and filling in forms by clicking from site to site doesn’t make it sound that a glamorous pastime. There are of course the rewards of winning, but not everyone can win, so it’s important that if you’re going to be comping for sometime that you try and treat it as a fun thing to do.
In recent weeks we’ve seen a number of posts from frustrated compers complaining they’re not winning despite entering hundreds of competitions a day. No wonder they’re not enjoying it!
If you’re entering hundreds of competitions daily, then you’re possibly just trying to win something! Perhaps you’re not paying attention to the rules, or perhaps not even entering the right competitions!
Here’s our suggestions to start enjoying comping - even if you’re not winning the prizes!
1. Start being selective and prioritise! Choose the sites you like and the prizes you would really love to win - and do them first!
2. Read the rules and check your answers! Wasted entries won’t win you prizes and wastes your comping time.
3. Set a time limit! Decide you’re going to comp for a set time each day or week.
4. But, don’t worry about targets! Just because someone says you must do 30 comps a week doesn’t mean you must do it. Do what you can, in your available time.
5. Don’t worry if you don’t win! Not everyone can win every competition - so there’s no point worrying if you missed out. Just enter another one. Once you’ve entered a competition - forget about it!
6. Try answering the questions yourself! Take some of the mundaneness out of box filling by trying to answer the questions. It often doesn’t take as long as you think, and you get the satisfaction of finding out the answers yourself.
7. Keep note of websites you like the look of when you enter their competition - then revisit another day!
8. Be social! Ok, we’re biased and would like you to be active on the forums, but it adds an extra dimension to comping - interaction with other compers!
9. Be inspired! Keep an eye on the latest top winners and be inspired that people are winning. Enjoy the fact people are winning and use that to inspire you to keep trying.
10. Have fun!!!! What other hobby gives you the chance to win cars, holidays, cash prizes, or Lindt chocolate bunnies simply for sending in an email, postcard or text?
All hobbies can become frustrating if you spend too much time on them. Comping is the same! It’s not meant to be a pressurised ‘I must enter everything’ or ‘I must do 30 competitions right now’ hobby - so don’t let it be.
How do you make comping fun? Leave a comment/suggestion for other readers!
The new Jack Black movie Bekind Rewind is out now and by picking up your camcorder you could win some amazing prizes. Video your own versions of your favourite movie and then upload it to Youtube to enter the competition. Here’s Jack Black to explain more…
Why have we highlighted this competition?
Well, apart from the fact we can add Jack Black to the Loquax blog and put the word ‘Swede’ in the title, the first prize is pretty exceptional: LG Viewty Camera Phone, LG 37″ Plasma TV, LG 5.1 Home Cinema System, LG DVD Recorder with film editing capability, a week in Hollywood USA and a 1 to 1 careers session with an experienced film professional.
The downside though is you’re going to have to be quick - closing date for entries is the 22nd February!
If you miss the deadline, or the competition is not for you, it’s well worth checking out the entries as they’re good fun. It’s also worth noting that these kind creative competitions often attract low numbers of entries but can lead to really big prizes.
