Vote & Win… In Your Local Elections!
Voters could soon be offered the chance to win prizes in a new initiative to try and get people interested in voting (The BBC). The idea that you could win something or even pick up a free doughnut was not a way to buy votes but a method to incentivise voters to take part in the democratic process.
The Daily Mail suggests that a prize draw to win prizes such as a Plasma TV would be an ideal way to overcome low turnout figures.
I’d be swayed by a free doughnut (there’s not much I’d not do for a free doughnut come to think of it….. hmmmmm, doughnuts) but the prize incentive could lead to all sorts of problems!
Would naughty compers try and get extra entries by getting their kids and pets to vote?
Would some compers try and vote in another area because they had a better prize?
What if the winner has the same surname as the winning councillor?
Would automated entry services charge to vote and enter for you?
Would the chance to win a prize encourage you to vote?
Popularity: 13% [?]
Playballonacy Balloon Lunacy Comes To An End
The internet’s first ever balloon race has come to an end and the top 500 travelling balloons announced at Orange’s Play Balloonacy. This has probably been one of (if not the) most innovative online competition. The competition had entrants tracking their balloons all over the internet, boosting, collecting stars and heading for rainbows. Some entrants, including Loquax users, spent many sleep deprived hours making sure their raccoon, dolphin, parrot or camel kept up with the leaders.
In fact it became more of an endurance test rather than just a float along nicely balloon race.
The winner was Reginald Ringtail who covered 5033 internet miles, however Loquax user Iwannawin made a valiant effort to take top spot, but fell short by 300 miles. It has to be said that Reginald seemed to have a jet engine up their backside in the final hours of the competition, so well done to them.
Hopefully Orange will run the balloon race next year - perhaps even make it an annual event. A lot of people didn’t seem to figure out how to play until late on in the game, however next year everyone will be better prepared and more organised for the challenge.
Did you enjoy Play Balloonacy? Why not leave a comment below!
Popularity: 21% [?]
MSN’s Iconic Britain Competition Goes Wrong & Makes Everyone a Winner!
The gremlins have hit MSN’s Iconic Britain competition making everyone a winner! The competition requires entrants to vote on how iconic and British a photo is and in return the voter can instantly win a Nikon camera. Today though everyone’s winning a camera - we’ve tried it a couple of times and sure enough the winning page appears.
The problem with these kind of competitions is they can break and once knowledge is passed around the web that a site is “paying out” the mistake ceases to be a one off bit of good fortune for a few, and simply becomes an exploitation of the issue by the many. It’s for this latter reason that MSN will invoke clauses in their terms and conditions and won’t have to honour these “wins”.
Of course, they could be kind and run a few prize draws for the “winners” - but don’t be too down heartened if your camera “win” today is taken back off you.
Popularity: 38% [?]
36 Seat Cars Up For Grabs at The DVLA!
Every comper would love the chance to win a brand new car and thanks to the DVLA you could win one as they’re giving away 3 new cars a month for the next year. Up for grabs are three brand new SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI cars each month. The SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI has CO2 emissions of 99g/km and so qualifies for zero charge for vehicle tax and, from 27 October 2008, the London Congestion Charge.
The competition is being run to encourage car owners to make more use of the Electronic Vehicle Licensing service. Instead of traipsing to the Post Office with your documents to renew your car tax do it online!
According to the DVLA “you don’t even need to find your MOT or insurance documents, as we automatically check them for you, and the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and takes less than 4 minutes to complete”.
To renew your vehicle tax or SORN quickly and easily log on to: www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc. All applications processed between 5th June 2008 and 31st May 2009 will be automatically entered into the free prize draw to win a brand new SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI. There will be three winners per month.
If you’ve not got a car and want to enter then there’s a NPN route open at DVLA Prize Draw.
Popularity: 99% [?]
Orange Launch First Internet Balloon Race!
We like to see something different in the competition world and Orange have come up with something very different…. the world’s first Internet Balloon Race. It starts soon and you can take part by signing up today - and the good news is that their are prizes to be won!
Register at Play Balloonacy and pick up your balloon. If your balloon travels the furthest in seven days you’ll win the star prize of a £16,500 VIP trip to Ibiza.
There are loads of daily prizes too - you just need to collect 5 stars in one day to enter the prize draw. You can promote your balloon via social networks like Facebook, MySpace or Bebo, by emailing friends or even posting to your blog (as we’ve done below… so go on, give our balloon a boost!)
The balloon race is active between midday on June 23rd 2008 and midday on June 30th 2008, but you can register now!
Popularity: 98% [?]