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The Party is Over – One Last Giveaway

Posted By Darren Rowse 8th of October 2007 Birthday Prize Giveaway, ProBlogger Site News 0 Comments

problogger-birthday-bash.jpgOh My Goodness – our 3rd Birthday Prize Bonanza is over (well it will be shortly – because there’s one more giveaway that all of you can enter below).

Over the last week we’ve given away over $54,000 in prizes (in fact it’s been closer to $60,000 because we added a few prizes and underestimated the value of a few others).

Before I announce the last giveaway – I want to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work and generosity of a few people.

Project Coordinator, Lara Kulpa – Lara Kulpa  has gone so far above and beyond the call this week that I can’t express to you how hard she’s worked. Lara has had significantly less sleep than she normally would this week and has managed over 100 sponsors, tens of thousands of entries as well as me (no mean feat on that last one). The project was much bigger than I ever expected it to be and Lara has taken it in her stride. If you’re ever in the market for someone to help you with web design, internet marketing or SEO – do consider Lara Kulpa (PS: subscribe to her blog here).

Our Sponsors have been wonderful. When we decided to go with over 100 prizes I literally began to shake as I began to think about the complexity of the task. Not only has Lara been great at helping us with the coordination of everything – our sponsors have been incredibly patient and generous with us. Of all the sponsors only on one occasion have we had any issues resulting in a sponsor pulling out (and that seems to have been a miscommunication – I substituted a cash prize in for the person who won that prize) – everyone else has been incredible! Please do visit some of our sponsors today as a thank you to them. If you won a prize it’d also be great if you’d link up to them as a thank you.

Here they are once again:

Help Desk Geek – Holiday for Every Day – Home Based Holidays – I Hate Bad Service – Intricate Art – iPod Repair of Memphis – It’s Write Now – JCM Enterprises – Jer Games – Jewel Caddy – Jill Koenig – Kim and Jason – Kirsty Dunphey – speaker, author, entrepreneur, retired at 27 – Leisure Lab – Lille Punkin’ Reviews – Lisa Marie Dias Designs – Lulu – Magic Vacation Villas – Mary Jo Rulnick – Mederma for scars – Melissa Roberts – Meryl Evans – Content Maven – Mighty Mugs – Mike Cavaroc – Million Dollar Pet Pix – Morris Green Clean – Nathan Rice – NetLink Web – Nika’s Culinaria – No Full Stop – Olive Oil Passion – On Target Media Group – – Organized Outcomes – Milo – Personal Self Defense – Publicity Hound – Raven’s Roads – Remarkable Communication – Retreat and Heal – Sea Slugs! Anime Blog – Secure Delivery – SeekZap – SEO Aware – SEO Book – Simple Kind Of Life – SKY FM Radio – SmallFuel Marketing – Soy Coffee – StarFeeder – Stogie Review – Street Smart Marketing – Tamra Engle – Tea Party Girl – The Bargain Queen – The Collecting Life – The Essentials of Trading – the Palmetto Guesthouse – The WellCenter Group – Tim “Gonzo” Gordon – Time For Coffee and Tea – Treo Today – Truffle Tree – Viral Electronics – Wall Street Fighter – Zach Everson – [Geeks are Sexy] Technology News – 1 Cool File – Angela Wills – Another Old Movie Blog – Artisan’s Cup (Teas) – Associated Content – Author Media Training – Babble Soft – Back in Skinny Jeans – Barefoot Parties – Baz – Best Hawaii Vacation Blog – Better Wallpaper – Blog About Your Blog – Blog Louder – BlogFlux – Blogging Fingers – Blogging Tips – Book Test Online – BVT Products – Center of Muse – Cheap Shooter – Chitika – Christina Perdue – Color Themes – Contest Blogger – Contest Queen – Cory Miller – David Airey – Derek Beauchemin – DisplayLink – distilled: pure website expertise – Egg Marketing Blog – Explore Life Blog – Fashionista TV – Free Money Finance – Freelance Writing Jobs – Freezing Hot – Geeky Speaky – Genealogy Reviews Online – Good Doggie – Groovy Vegetarian – Grown Up Geek

Readers – lastly I want to thank each and every person who participated in this last week whether they linked up, entered or patiently stood by and patiently allowed the craziness to take over ProBlogger for the last few days. Without your participation this event would have been boring. I was overwhelmed by the responses of many of you – some of you brought me to tears (in laughter) at your entries and I wish that I had more prizes to give away to reward you all.

While this competition was about celebrating the last 3 years of ProBlogger and creating a little buzz around this blog – ultimately it was my attempt at giving something back to you the ProBlogger reader community. ProBlogger.net is really nothing without those who read and participate in it – I hope you enjoyed this past week as much as I have.

One final Giveaway for Everyone (well 3000 of you)

OK – I promised one more giveaway. This one is one that I think everyone who wants to be a part of will hopefully be able to get in on the act of.

The giveaway is simple – SKY.fm Radio are offering a free 6 month Premium Upgrade (value at just under $30) for the first 3000 people who email them. To qualify you need to have a blog that’s been going for 1 month. To qualify simply email the URL of your blog to [email protected]

This giveaway will be closed off by SKY.fm in 30 days or after the first 3000 winners – whichever comes first.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Comments
  1. Lara Kulpa says: 10/08/2007 at 11:06 pm

    Thanks Darren, for the opportunity to work with you and these great sponsors and fantastic readers! I had a really great time, and loved meeting all these terrific people! :)

  2. Doug McCaughan says: 10/08/2007 at 11:08 pm

    Fyi. I received the following on trying to send the email:

    This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

    Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

    problogger_giveaway @ sky.fm

    Technical details of permanent failure:
    PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 16): 550 5.7.1 Requested action not taken: message refused

    Lara Says: Thanks for the notice – I’ll contact the sponsor to get clarification. In the meantime everyone, please hold off on sending the email.

    Lara Says: I just heard back from SKY.fm and they said that they’ve already received over 50 entries successfully. They suggest that if an email is refused for ANY reason, then you should try submitting from a different email address, or check that you’re not sending any weird attachments by default (vCards, etc.)

  3. Tim Agazio says: 10/08/2007 at 11:10 pm

    This has been a great contest and I’ve has a lot of fun following the results.

    Tim Agazio
    Genealogy Reviews Online

  4. Jacqueline T Lynch says: 10/08/2007 at 11:11 pm

    Congratulations again on your 3rd anniversary, and thank you for the opportunity to participate in the celebration.

  5. Link And Earn says: 10/08/2007 at 11:17 pm

    We didn’t win anything. But we had fun participating. 3 cheers to Darren and Lara.

    Congrats to all of you who walked away with a prize.

    Do come to Link and Earn to brag about your win. Bragging is good for your blog’s health and wealth.

  6. Suzie Cheel says: 10/08/2007 at 11:19 pm

    Hi Lara and Darren
    Nice site Lara, with great information. thanks Darren, looks like it has been a great week. I did follow, and only entered in the last hour, thanks for the opportunity. I really must open my google reader a little more frequently. I wonder what the 4th birthday bash will bring:)

  7. chtanxw says: 10/08/2007 at 11:19 pm

    Thank you problogger (Darren Rowse) and Lara. I am lucky to have a small piece of prize!
    I read this blog many times each day since I have found out it.

  8. Lori says: 10/08/2007 at 11:21 pm

    Thank you Darren. I enjoyed donating a prize, as well as, winning a prize (SEO Book).

  9. Denise aka The Blog Squad says: 10/08/2007 at 11:43 pm

    Darren, congratulations on your 3 year anniversary (my 3 year blogging anniversary was in September). And thank you for modeling a fantastic way to drive blog traffic and reward your community.

  10. colbert low says: 10/08/2007 at 11:47 pm

    I did not win a big prize but it was FUN.

  11. Tim Broder says: 10/08/2007 at 11:56 pm

    Darren, thanks a lot

    It was a lot of fun to participate and watch how you gathered a lot of bloggers together for an event

  12. Aruni says: 10/08/2007 at 11:57 pm

    Thanks for the fun! I was happy to be able to donate a prize. I guess I didn’t win a prize because I didn’t get an email from Lara but I really enjoyed playing along.

    I also enjoyed getting to meet some new bloggers and learning more about Problogger!

    Lara – you have been amazing. I’m sure it was quite a feat to help Darren pull this off. I doubt I can afford your SEO services just yet but you will definitely be at the top of the list when I am able to. :-) If in one year my blog has gained a lot of traction, I definitely know who to contact to handle any anniversary giveaways!

    Lara Says – Thanks Aruni – You’ve been wonderful too and definitely keep me in mind for anything you might need! ;)

  13. Chris Jacobson says: 10/08/2007 at 11:57 pm

    Thanks for everything Darren and Lara.

  14. Kabitzin says: 10/09/2007 at 12:03 am

    Thanks for the contest Darren, and thanks to Lara for taking care of all the details. I got to be both a sponsor and a winner, and both times everything flowed very smoothly. Two of my readers also won prizes, so I was really psyched about how it all went.

  15. Steve says: 10/09/2007 at 12:07 am

    Thanks so much for this. Even if I didn’t win anything it was still a good time. Happy Birthday.

  16. Craig says: 10/09/2007 at 12:52 am

    Indeed, thanks guys. Happy birthday Problogger – it’s been one heck of a party.

  17. Lara Kulpa says: 10/09/2007 at 12:55 am

    Go ahead and continue submitting gang – If you run into problems, try using a different email address. They stated that they’re already receiving a bunch of successful entries, so it’s possible that you’re just getting bounced back by their spam filters or something like that. Keep trying!

  18. Elliott Cross says: 10/09/2007 at 1:03 am

    Darren and Lara,

    Thanks for all of the hard work with the contests, and especially this site. I have learned a lot from reading this site, and I find it invaluable with information.

    By the way, with it being Fire Prevention week here in the states, I added a post with some Fire Safety tips.

    Hope you don’t mind… :)

  19. Annie Lawrence Loveambassador says: 10/09/2007 at 1:20 am

    Thanks for the opportunity to observe a successful blog event and to participate with our Sedona vacation giveaway. I have been so busy with the release of my new book Love’s Secret that I didn’t get to participate as much as I wanted but I will keep in touch. Thanks Lara and Darren and wishing you both continued success.

  20. Dustin Brewer says: 10/09/2007 at 1:33 am

    All I get is:
    PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 16): 550 5.7.1 Requested action not taken: message refused

    Thanks Darren and Lara for this wonderful giveaway, it was fun.

    Lara Says: Hey Dustin – Please check the other comments regarding this. Try sending your email from another email address, because it seems that their spam filters are bouncing back entries from people for random reasons. They’ve already had 100+ valid entries go through, so it’s probably just some random thing that triggered it. Let us know if you try from another address and run into the same problem.

  21. Anne Glamore says: 10/09/2007 at 1:52 am

    Thanks for a fun week! I don’t write about tech things, but try to stay in the loop. most importantly, your online poll made me feel somewhat younger in the blogosphere– I thought I was a dinosaur!

    Many Thanks–

    Anne Glamore

  22. Doug McCaughan says: 10/09/2007 at 1:54 am

    Instead of sending from gmail, I used my own domain’s email and promptly received a sky.fm gift certificate.

    Thank you Lara and Darren for the wonderful time this event has been. You certainly made the past week more interesting than normal!

    Thanks also to sky.fm!

  23. Tony says: 10/09/2007 at 1:57 am

    Thanks so much to Darren & Lara for their work on this, it was fun. Happy Birthday!

  24. Googlelady says: 10/09/2007 at 1:59 am

    I sent via gmail and no problem at all. Let’s see if I am a lucky winner ;)

  25. Googlelady says: 10/09/2007 at 2:01 am

    Sorry for the double post, but it seems that they sent me a link with the redeem code but the problem is the page to redeem your gift is not working “Not found”. Anyone has this issue?

  26. Max Powers at http://ConsumerFight.com says: 10/09/2007 at 2:03 am

    Thanks Darren and Lara. I really enjoyed this.

  27. Tamra says: 10/09/2007 at 2:08 am

    Thanks again Derrek & Lara,
    It was great fun to be a sponsor for the gr8 BD giveaway, and a wonderful opportunity to get to know so many different folks.
    I can’t wait to deliver my “Theme Song” to my winner, and look forward to chatting and working with others in the Pro-blogger family in the near future!

    Cheers,

    =Tamra=
    http://www.tamraengle.com

  28. Sarah says: 10/09/2007 at 2:30 am

    Hi everyone,
    I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I just received the gift certificate for the Sky.fm Radio in my e-mail. It was a very fast turn around…about an hour or so.Thank you for the birthday giveaways, and I hope that everyone can receive this great certificate! Keep trying…it does work! ;)

    Sarah

  29. Michael says: 10/09/2007 at 2:36 am

    Thanks for the giveaways and for exposing us to some of the people who donated prizes. Some of them I had never heard of before but have already visited. Interesting group of sponsors.

    Thanks again, and happy birthday!

  30. Denise aka The Blog Squad says: 10/09/2007 at 2:53 am

    I submitted my email about 3 hours ago and have not received anything. I will try again. Just a head’s up to let you know.

    Thanks for all your efforts on this event.

  31. Terra Andersen says: 10/09/2007 at 2:56 am

    Congrats to problogger on 3 informative years… and here’s to 3 more! Cheers!

  32. simon says: 10/09/2007 at 3:01 am

    Great!! Thank you Darren and your sponsors.

  33. Blogging The Movie says: 10/09/2007 at 3:05 am

    Great job Laura. Thanks again for the great information Darren.

  34. maneesh says: 10/09/2007 at 3:29 am

    I can’t believe I finally won something… its been ages sicne I won a contest.. :)
    Thanks Darren..

    and kudos to you too Lara.. you managed the entire show in the best manner..

  35. sagar trapasia says: 10/09/2007 at 3:40 am

    when will the winners be announced?and where?

  36. Medardo 'Dino' Manrique, Jr. says: 10/09/2007 at 3:43 am

    Already got the free 6 month Premium Upgrade from SKY.fm Radio. Thanks to Sky.fm, the rest of the sponsors and to Darren. :) Congratulations, Darren, and more power and blessings! :)

  37. MindBlogger says: 10/09/2007 at 3:56 am

    Thumbs up for Darren, Lara, and all the Sponsors…
    You guys so totally rock; even though I didin’t win anything.. haha!

  38. Julie says: 10/09/2007 at 4:05 am

    I just received my 6 month Premium Upgrade from SKY.fm Radio. (I submitted my email over 3 hours ago and just now received my gift certificate, so just be patient.) I also won a small gift earlier which I already received from the sponsor. I am thrilled to get both prizes! Happy Birthday to ProBlogger and thanks to Darren, Lara, and the sponsors for everything!

  39. Tanner Christensen says: 10/09/2007 at 5:11 am

    It was a lot of fun – not only to participate in, but also to watch others join in. Thanks to everyone who was involved. I can’t wait til next year.

  40. Heather says: 10/09/2007 at 5:40 am

    Ditto to the above -this was a great contest to participate in (and win something which was a real bonus!). Lara – what a fabulous job you have done!
    Thanks Darren for the opportunity to enter.

  41. Sonia Simone says: 10/09/2007 at 5:59 am

    Thanks for the contest week, Darren and Lara! I know it must have been an incredible amount of work. Great way to get the word out (even more!) about Problogger and lots of fun as well. Kudos.

  42. Lara Kulpa says: 10/09/2007 at 6:44 am

    Thanks everyone – so glad you all enjoyed it! :)

  43. Vik says: 10/09/2007 at 6:47 am

    Thanks for this amazing contest Darren! You have great ability for innovation. Its rare, but you are gifted.

    More than anything this was an excellent learning experience
    for me and I had a lot of fun too!

    Guess what, Google is updating Page Ranks,most other blogs PR has gone down.But I hope you get a boost in the Page Rank, with the amazing number of backlinks you might have got. ProBlogger deserve it. I have written a bit about it on my blog, if you care to check it out.

  44. Lenners says: 10/09/2007 at 7:08 am

    Thanks a lot for an awesome contest, and have a FANTASTIC birthday!

  45. Devvv says: 10/09/2007 at 7:18 am

    This was such a fun contest! Big thanks to all the sponsors, Lara, and Darren. Congrats on the big anniversary!

  46. Googlelady says: 10/09/2007 at 7:28 am

    Nice support after 15 minutes I got an answer and they fixed the problem. Got my premium thanks Darren

  47. Roberta says: 10/09/2007 at 7:35 am

    Thanks for everything Lara & Darren. This was the best contest ever. It was fun and I won something that will help my main blog so much.

    I’m subscribing to Lara’s feed now, because to handle all of this, she has to be great :)

  48. Vincent Sparreboom says: 10/09/2007 at 7:57 am

    To Darren and Lara,

    I really think this was an amazing week and not only because I’ve won something fantastic.

    I just can’t believe what one community/blog can accomplish by asking their “members” to contribute in a birthday bash, $54.000 or $60.000 is simply amazing.

    This was one unforgettable birthday, Ill/we’ll remember this forever.

    Thanks

    Vincent & Lonneke

  49. Darren Rowse says: 10/09/2007 at 8:14 am

    thanks everyone for your kind words.

  50. Mark says: 10/09/2007 at 9:33 am

    Hey Darren and Lara,

    I know you guys are busy but if you get the chance maybe you can publish some stats in one of your upcoming posts…e.g how many people participated in your contest, did your number of daily visitors increase, etc…

    Glad I was able to help support your birthday and I hope to see some of your readers visiting Culebra!

    Mark – Palmetto Guesthouse
    http://www.palmettoculebra.com/

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