Rita G. (entry #279) from New Jersey!!

I’ve notified entrant #649 (generated from Random.org from all the eligible entries — I had to delete a few of those duplicate) for week #3’s drawing and am waiting to hear back… but there’s still this 1 more opportunity to win!

So that means it’s time to move on to week #4  — the final week of this awesome contest. The last of the 4 posts I’ve going to make this month.  I’m really going to miss finding fun, drool-worthy ice cream pictures to post and drawing names that will result in one of you winning FREE Blue Bunny® Ice Cream for a whole year.

The Prize

Each of four winners will receive a shipment of one carton of Blue Bunny® ice cream and one Blue Bunny® novelty pack each month for a calendar year. You’ll receive a menu of Blue Bunny® ice cream and novelties every month, and have the opportunity to choose the carton and novelty that you’d like to receive. Each winner will also get a Welcome Kit complete with spoons, bowls and an ice scream scoop to get them ready! The prize value is $97.80 per winner. Sorry, only one winner per household – we want to spread the joy around!

The Contest Details

You will have the opportunity to enter your name & a valid email address using the form below. If you haven’t won any of the previous weeks, for each previous entry, you will still have an entry (up to 4) for this final drawing!! (Assuming you haven’t already won!) If this is your first week, you can still win. See Week #1’s description of the rules for further information (or feel free to email me if you’re still confused!)

How Winners Are Chosen

Each week’s drawing closes at Sunday 11:59pm ET and the winner that week will be chosen from all valid entries submitted according to the method listed above. The winner for each drawing will be selected at random using a number generated from Random.org based on the total number of valid entries received between the start of the contest on June 1st and the date of the drawing. Winners will be notified via email and will have until the next drawing to reply (in the final week, this means one week from date of close.) In the event that a winner does not reply within the time given, or the email is returned as undeliverable, a replacement winner will be drawn using the same method. Duplicate or multiple entries for the same week will be deleted. Winner must be legal resident of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, and supply an address where s/he can receive an over-nighted package of ice cream/novelty on dry ice – unfortunately, this means no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.

So the dates work out like this:

• 1st drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 8th
• 2nd drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 15th
• 3rd drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 22nd
• This drawing — open Monday June 22nd thru Sunday June 28th – winner drawn Monday June 29th

I can’t believe that we’re at the end of this already.  I also can’t believe how much ice cream we’ve bought and consumed in this house during June.  But seriously – it would take a stronger woman than I to post these things every week and not give into temptation herself.  My favorite?

In the interest of full disclosure? I am being compensated for holding this contest (this is a lot of work dude!) but I don’t get the ice cream – so I really am jealous!! But very happy for the four winners. I just have to lose a little weight from the ice cream I’ve already bought myself!

So if this is the first week you’re entering, you’ve still got 2 more chances (including this one) to enter and possibly win! Good Luck!! p.s. no need to comment to win – just put your name & email in the form and hit submit!!

Nadine L. (lucky #13) from New Hampshire!!

I’ve notified entrant #279 (generated from Random.org from all the eligible entries) for week #2’s drawing and am waiting to hear back… but there’s still 2 more opportunities to win!

So that means it’s time to move on to week #3 of our yummy contest, doesn’t it? The 3rd of 4 posts I’m going to make this month that will result in one of you winning FREE Blue Bunny® Ice Cream for a whole year.

The Prize

Each of four winners will receive a shipment of one carton of Blue Bunny® ice cream and one Blue Bunny® novelty pack each month for a calendar year. You’ll receive a menu of Blue Bunny® ice cream and novelties every month, and have the opportunity to choose the carton and novelty that you’d like to receive. Each winner will also get a Welcome Kit complete with spoons, bowls and an ice scream scoop to get them ready! The prize value is $97.80 per winner. Sorry, only one winner per household – we want to spread the joy around!

The Contest Details

You will have the opportunity to enter your name & a valid email address using the form below. If you don’t win this week, your name will still be submitted for the remaining drawings. So if you entered last week, but didn’t win? You can have up to 4 entries for the last drawing!! (Assuming you haven’t already won!) If this is your first week, you can still have up to 2.  See Week #1’s description of the rules for further information (or feel free to email me if you’re still confused!)

How Winners Are Chosen

Each week’s drawing closes at Sunday 11:59pm ET and the winner that week will be chosen from all valid entries submitted according to the method listed above. The winner for each drawing will be selected at random using a number generated from Random.org based on the total number of valid entries received between the start of the contest on June 1st and the date of the drawing. Winners will be notified via email and will have until the next drawing to reply. In the event that a winner does not reply within the time given, or the email is returned as undeliverable, a replacement winner will be drawn using the same method. Duplicate or multiple entries for the same week will be deleted. Winner must be legal resident of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, and supply an address where s/he can receive an over-nighted package of ice cream/novelty on dry ice – unfortunately, this means no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.

So the dates work out like this:

• 1st drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 8th
• 2nd drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 15th
• This drawing — open Monday June 15th thru Sunday June 21st – winner drawn Monday June 22nd
• 4th drawing — open Monday June 22nd thru Sunday June 28th – winner drawn Monday June 29th

Oh… and if you happen to be lactose intolerant? Yeah, did I mention that Blue Bunny also makes a bunch of cool treats that are dairy-free?  Like Bomb Pops.  Which now come in a variety of flavors.  But the Red-White-and-Blue ones always remind me of 4th of July and the Ice Cream Truck that used to be the only place you could get those when I was a kid.

In the interest of full disclosure? I am being compensated for holding this contest (this is a lot of work dude!) but I don’t get the ice cream – so I really am jealous!! But very happy for the four winners. I just have to buy my own Bomb Pops.

So if this is the first week you’re entering, you’ve still got 2 more chances (including this one) to enter and possibly win!  Good Luck!!  p.s. no need to comment to win – just put your name & email in the form and hit submit!!

Week 3 is now closed.

There’s still time for you to join her… Enter Here.

Seriously. If Voltaire’s wish was granted, I’d be in a lot of trouble. Or maybe even in jail. Maybe they’d serve ice cream in jail though. It would totally be worth adding a year or two onto my sentence for the right ice cream… mmmm.

What’s that? Oh, yes, sorry – I was daydreaming. You don’t really blame me, do you? I’m willing to bet it took you a second to get past your own mental image of the perfect ice cream to read further. (If it didn’t, you have super-human strength. Did you see that picture?)

Anyhoo. It’s time for the 2nd of 4 posts I’m going to make this month that will result in one of you winning FREE Blue Bunny® Ice Cream for a whole year.

The Prize

Each of four winners will receive a shipment of one carton of Blue Bunny® ice cream and one Blue Bunny® novelty pack each month for a calendar year. You’ll receive a menu of Blue Bunny® ice cream and novelties every month, and have the opportunity to choose the carton and novelty that you’d like to receive. Each winner will also get a Welcome Kit complete with spoons, bowls and an ice scream scoop to get them ready! The prize value is $97.80 per winner. Sorry, only one winner per household – we want to spread the joy around!

The Contest Details

You will have the opportunity to enter your name & a valid email address using the form below. If you don’t win this week, your name will still be submitted for the remaining drawings. So if you entered last week, but didn’t win? You can have up to 4 entries for the last drawing!! (Assuming you haven’t already won!) If this is your first week, you can still have up to 3.  See last week’s description of the rules for further information (or feel free to email me if you’re still confused!)

How Winners Are Chosen

Each week’s drawing closes at Sunday 11:59pm ET and the winner that week will be chosen from all valid entries submitted according to the method listed above. The winner for each drawing will be selected at random using a number generated from Random.org based on the total number of valid entries received between the start of the contest on June 1st and the date of the drawing. Winners will be notified via email and will have until the next drawing to reply. In the event that a winner does not reply within the time given, or the email is returned as undeliverable, a replacement winner will be drawn using the same method. Duplicate or multiple entries for the same week will be deleted. Winner must be legal resident of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, and supply an address where s/he can receive an over-nighted package of ice cream/novelty on dry ice – unfortunately, this means no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.

So the dates work out like this:

• 1st drawing — now closed winner drawn & notified Monday June 8th
• This drawing — open Monday June 8th thru Sunday June 14th – winner drawn Monday June 15th
• 3rd drawing — open Monday June 15th thru Sunday June 21st – winner drawn Monday June 22nd
• 4th drawing — open Monday June 22nd thru Sunday June 28th – winner drawn Monday June 29th

So now that I’m all drooly and day-dreamy… I thought I’d share with you that there’s also an option for those of us watching our caloric intake and yet still in love with le glaceau.  Blue Bunny has a Premium Light option that has 1/2 the fat and 30% fewer calories than its regular version.  I’m putting it on my shopping list for tomorrow.  Because now, I’m even more jealous of you guys than I was last week.

In the interest of full disclosure? I am being compensated for holding this contest (this is a lot of work dude!) but I don’t get the ice cream – so I really am jealous!! But very happy for the four winners. I just have to buy my own 100 Calorie Bars.

I’m sending the email now to Week One’s winner as drawn by Random.org – if it’s not you? Then you’ve still got 3 more chances (including this one) to enter and possibly win!  Good Luck!!

Week 2 is now closed.

Of course I said no.  Because I love you guys and I’d end up having to hate 4 of you out of sheer Ice Cream Envy if I did.

Wait, no I didn’t! I said “Are You Freaking Kidding Me??!! Of Course I’ll Do It!!!!”

So here’s the deal: The month of June is going to be Ice Cream Central around here…

The Prize

Each of the four winners will receive a shipment of one carton of Blue Bunny® ice cream and one Blue Bunny® novelty pack each month for a calendar year. You’ll receive a menu of Blue Bunny® ice cream and novelties every month, and have the opportunity to choose the carton and novelty that you’d like to receive. Each winner will also get a Welcome Kit complete with spoons, bowls and an ice scream scoop to get them ready! The prize value is $97.80 per winner. Sorry, only one winner per household – we want to spread the joy around!

The Contest Details

Starting with this post, you will have the opportunity to enter your name & a valid email address using the form below. If you don’t win this week, your name will still be submitted for the remaining drawings. But each week you have the chance to submit another entry – up to 4 (once per post) – and that will increase your odds!

Let me explain that a little better. If you enter every week, you will get one entry per week… if you don’t win that week? Your entry will roll over into the next drawing as well – BUT – if you come back and enter again, you will have another entry into that week’s drawing.

So you can just enter now, and you will have 1 entry for each week. Or you could come back next week, enter again and have 2 entries for drawings 2, 3 & 4… If you enter every week? You can have up to 4 entries for the last drawing!! (Assuming you haven’t already won!)

How Winners Are Chosen

Each week’s drawing closes at Sunday 11:59pm ET and the winner that week will be chosen from all valid entries submitted according to the method listed above. The winner for each drawing will be selected at random using a number generated from Random.org based on the total number of valid entries received between the start of the contest on June 1st and the date of the drawing. Winners will be notified via email and will have until the next drawing to reply. In the event that a winner does not reply within the time given, or the email is returned as undeliverable, a replacement winner will be drawn using the same method.   Duplicate or multiple entries for the same week will be deleted.  Winner must  be legal resident of one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, and supply an address where s/he can receive an over-nighted package of ice cream/novelty on dry ice – unfortunately, this means no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.

So the dates work out like this:

• 1st drawing — open Monday June 1st thru Sunday June 7th – winner drawn Monday June 8th
• 2nd drawing — open Monday June 8th thru Sunday June 14th – winner drawn Monday June 15th
• 3rd drawing — open Monday June 15th thru Sunday June 21st – winner drawn Monday June 22nd
• 4th drawing — open Monday June 22nd thru Sunday June 28th – winner drawn Monday June 29th

Okay – I’m already jealous.  Seriously – this is my kind of contest.  And before you say “but wait, aren’t you trying to lose weight again GeekMommy?”  Let me just tell you that one of  my *favorite* desserts when I’m watching my calories? Yeah, The Orange Creme 100 Calorie Bars. Mmmm… (pardon my drool.)  I like the Raspberry ones too, but GeekDaddy & I have been known to fight over the last Orange Creme bar in the box.

In the interest of full disclosure? I am being compensated for holding this contest (this is a lot of work dude!) but I don’t get the ice cream – so I really am jealous!! But very happy for the four winners.  I just have to buy my own 100 Calorie Bars.

So what are you waiting for? An Invitation?  Okay, I hereby invite you to enter.  Good Luck!!

Entries for WEEK 1 are now Closed. Winner will be announced in a follow up post upon confirmation. Please don’t forget to enter again for weeks 2 thru 4!! ~GeekMommy

I just, apparently, am in over my head right now!

I’m in Chicago for SOBCon.  I just left Cleveland where I was for the Stouffer’s Blogger Round Table event #LetsFixDinner.  I will be in Arkansas on Monday next week for Mind of Moms.  I should be home some day Wednesday.

Between now and then it is my intention to *try* and get up to date (partially) as I have some amazing stuff just sitting here in my head (and half-written on my hard drive) that I really want to share with you all.

But I’m brain dead and going to sleep to get up in 4 hrs to finish some overdue work before I have to leave this hotel in the a.m. and go check into another one.

Can someone please send me a couple of clones to get these posts up? No? Okay, how about just some people better at posting about why they haven’t been posting lately?

Yeah, I know, ever the optimist!

Bit of administrative stuff before I close laptop and crash?

Congrats to Alba Geuvara whos tip “@GeekMommy My Green Tip is for everyone to convert to using kitchen towels instead of paper towels#11MOMSGREEN #GMContest was randomly chosen from all valid entries for the Earth Day contest for a Brita Water Pitcher.

Thank everyone. More soon. Promise.  And also promise it won’t be another “why I haven’t posted” post.  I don’t have time for any more of these!

G’night!

In honor of Earth Day and thanks to the good folks at Walmart and Brita, I’m giving away a Brita Water Filter to one fast twittering reader.

Contest Details

• Submit your best Green tip for Earth Day on Twitter.com using  the hashtags #11MOMSGREEN and #GMContest.

Example: “@GeekMommy My Green Tip is ______________#11MOMSGREEN #GMContest”

• After tweeting please leave the link to your exact tweet in the comment section of this post or it might not be counted.
  (to obtain your url: open your twitter profile, on the giveaway tweet click the time stamp right below “about x mins/hrs ago”, copy the url at the top of the page, paste in the comment section of this post)
• Only one entry per person!
• The giveaway is only good for one day, TODAY April 22, 2009 a.k.a. Earth Day only valid entries received prior to 11:59pm MT will be counted in the drawing.
• Winner will be chosen by random integer generator from random.org
• Winner will receive 1 Brita Water Pitcher

Please note: All tips submitted into the contest may be used on Walmart.com.

The winner was drawn randomly from all valid entries received using a number generated by Random.org.  Congratulations to Jennifer Beggs who entered the contest after hearing about it on BlogTalk Radio.

Thanks to everyone else who entered.  There don’t forget to enter the contest for the trip for 4 to SeaWorld in Orlando for a chance to be one of the first people to ride the Manta roller coaster that opens in May!

I went to SeaWorld in San Diego once as a kid. My big memory outside of Shamu the Killer Whale was that my older brother got a pearl out of his oyster  from the pearl divers while mine came up with an empty shell. So when Ted Murphy told me that I got to go to SeaWorld in Orlando to experience a hard-hat tour of their upcoming Manta attraction? My first thought was “yeah, I’m going to head straight to the pearl divers! hah!”

You know what? They still have pearl divers – but we were so busy doing other exciting things? I kind of, um, forgot to go do that even tho I walked by more than once. Don’t worry, I’ll be doing it again soon enough with my own family (or so I’ve been informed by my daughter upon seeing footage of my weekend) so it will be on the list then I’m sure!

I’ll be honest that I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I mean, when someone says “Orlando” I used to think of that big park with the mouse, ya know? And before this weekend? When I thought “SeaWorld” I didn’t think “roller coaster” or “up close experiences with sea creatures” or even really much beyond “rotten-oysters-that-didn’t-give-me-a-pearl” and “Shamu” – so I didn’t exactly go in expecting to have the day of a lifetime. I mean, I didn’t even know that anything outside of the hard-hat tour was on the agenda before about a week out.

But dude. I had the day of a lifetime. I got to feed (and touch!) dolphins. Real, live, happy, frolicking, smiling, wonderful dolphins!! And it’s not an experience that is kept to the “select few” either. Sure, in order to get us through even a small portion of what the park offers visitors, we had VIP access that got us to the front of many lines – but there were lines. You? You can feed dolphins… and manta rays… and even sea lions (but man, those sea lions? a bit on the “fishy-smelly side” yikes!)   All you have to do is go to Orlando, buy a ticket to SeaWorld and buy some smelly fish and wait your turn… well, for the dolphins anyhow – the mantas and sea lions are sort of a ’step-right-up and feed away’ deal.

Even with all of that, I was still totally stunned by all of the stuff that is going into the new Manta experience.  I say ‘experience’ because it’s waaaay more than just an incredible one-of-a-kind coaster.  There’s also the immersive aquarium experience and so much more than I can fit into just one blog post. (Yes, there will be more informational posts coming – I’m like that, remember?)  Seriously, it’s not a “ride” it’s an experience.  I personally can’t wait to get back there when it’s open. (See Ted Murphy’s video for a feel of how excited we all were.)

What? You don’t see it in the budget this year? You should.  Seriously, I’m  frantically figuring out a way to put it in my budget for later this year.  But yeah, I understand – easy for me to say.  I just got back from there.  Not everyone is so lucky.

Aren’t you lucky then that you’re reading this? Because the awesome folks at Izea & SeaWorld have teamed up to create this wicked cool contest called Manta Mania.

Someone (You?) is going to win a trip for 4 to SeaWorld Orlando to be one of the FIRST people to RIDE the new Manta!! (Not to mention get to see all of the other cool stuff for themselves!)

What do you have to do to enter? Seriously, it’s so easy it’s almost done already:

1 – Blog Comment:
Leave a comment on this post sharing why you want to take your family or friends to SeaWorld to ride Manta.  Make sure to include valid information so we can contact you if you win!

2 – Twitter Tweet:
Tweet out why you want to go to SeaWorld and ride Manta in 140 characters or less. Be sure to include http://bit.ly/gmswc, #mantamania and @GeekMommy in your tweet to be registered. For example:

I want to go to SeaWorld @GeekMommy I’ve got #mantamania because __ fill-in-the-blank __ http://bit.ly/gmswc

3 – Blog Post:
Write a post about why you want to take your family or friends to SeaWorld and ride Manta. Be sure to leave a comment or trackback on this post with the URL of your post.

Each tweet, comment or post counts as ONE registration. A person can enter UP TO three times. The winner will be chosen at random by IZEA based on all valid contest entries.

I’ll be giving away a SeaWorld Schwag Bag to one winner who enters on GeekMommy.net and IZEA will choose the grand prize winner randomly from all entries on the 6 blogs participating in the giveaway. The bloggers participating in the giveaway are the ones who went on the SeaWorld trip with me – Wendy Piersall, Sarah Austin, Julia Roy, Alex Schek and Ted Murphy.

Just don’t sit too close to Ted Murphy if you’re at the Shamu Believe show – it’s um, a damp experience

Important Legal Stuff
The Manta Mania Contest is open to anyone who is a legal U.S. resident and legal residents of Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, or Dominican Republic and is at least eighteen (18) years of age. The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on March 10, 2009. Please be sure and read the full contest rules here.

]]> http://geekmommy.net/2009/02/11/manta-mania-win-a-trip-for-4-from-izea-to-seaworld-in-orlando/feed/ 109 http://geekmommy.net/2008/12/23/house-cleaning-post/ http://geekmommy.net/2008/12/23/house-cleaning-post/#comments Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:24:47 +0000 GeekMommy http://geekmommy.net/?p=365 Ew. Things have been getting a bit dusty around here of late.

I suppose that happens when I ignore blogging in favor of Twitter, Facebook, and anything else I can do instead of writing my blog posts.  It starts getting old and musty.

So time for a bit of quick house-cleaning – and then? Then I have a really cool surprise! The post right after this one? Is a guest post by one of the most amazing women I’ve had the privilege to meet – Wendy Piersall, founder of Sparkplugging.com and Social Media maven!

But first? The house-cleaning.

Contest Results

The winner of the Nickelodeon Giveaway for a $500 Walmart Gift Card was Grace from http://www.mammainthescene.com – her entry was chosen from all of the valid entries by the random number generator at random.org.

Thank you for all of you that entered and spread the word.  I know there will be other opportunities in the new year for folks to win similar stuff.  I’ll let you know.  Agains, congratulations to Grace!

Favorite Entry

I prefer to do random number contests because it keeps me from second-guessing my own biases all the time – but I do just have to share with you all this one entry.  If I’d been judging entries based on the one that stayed with me most (yes, I actually did read all of those great tips!) this would be the one that I’d have to choose – given how much it has stuck with me since I read it.

Donna Holmberg on December 14th, 2008 9:54 pm

Donna? Thank you!! That is just an amazing idea and one I think I’ll be finding a way to implement myself around here next year.  I think my circle of Mom friends will be enthusiastic as well!!

Upcoming Events 2009

In case I haven’t yet mentioned it enough yet? In just a couple of weeks I get the privilege of joining some amazing folks to speak at the first Women in Web 2.0 conference of 2009 – Chicks Who Click – in Boulder January 9th & 10th.  If you aren’t already planning on attending and can? I totally advise it.  I’m really looking forward myself to seeing and learning from some of my fellow speakers there.  Did I mention there was skiing, cocktails and networking as well? Yeah!! Hope to see you there!

I will also be attending South by SouthWest Interactive this year from March 13-17th if you happen to be there.

I’m trying hard to get to SOBCon in Chicago May 1-3rd as well, I’ll update you as soon as I know on that! If you’ve already gotten your ticket? I’m jealous!

And as usual, I’ll be at BlogHer in Chicago July 23-25th so it looks like I’ll get to Chicago more than once this year if I can make the numbers work!!

More as they happen!!

Last Little Bit of Tidying

Part of my New Year’s Resolutions this year (yes, there will be a post) is that I’m going to rebalance things.  It’s time that I refocused my energy on this blog and scaled back a bit on other social networks. Twitter is my addiction, but I looked at my lack of updates this year and realized that it’s been taking too much time away from my blogging… So that will be changing.  More on that soon.  But that’s the good part – there will be MORE of that soon!

Now, on to the absolutely rockin’ guest post by Wendy!