Most freelancers and solo entrepreneurs have what we call “multiple income streams,” meaning we are always working a lot of different angles to make a living, pay bills and have enough money left to keep traveling.
I’m no exception; in addition to writing/blogging about travel and NHRA drag racing, I teach Every Dot Connects social media workshops and do consulting work in the ever-growing Web 2.0 world (that’s why I’ve written here before about how Philadelphia’s tourist organization “gets it,” finding hotel rooms on Twitter and 6 ways travelers can use social media.)
One of my current clients is jumping into this arena with a new contest geared to all of you digital creatives out there, and I’m pretty excited about it.
Stir up your creative juices and start thinking “escape,” because we just kicked off the HomeAway Getaway, sponsored by the HomeAway vacation home rental site.
To enter, you submit either:
- a blog post, or
- a photo essay on Flickr, or
- a video on your YouTube channel
….explaining why you need a week away and where you want to spend it.
Entries are due by January 7, 2009, then on January 8 we’ll open up for voting by anyone, until January 15. The winner will be announced Friday, January 16.
What does HomeAway get out of such a Web 2.0/social media-based outreach effort? Here’s what they say:
“First and foremost, we want to introduce more people to the benefits of vacation rentals–especially for family and group travel…..We have run traditional sweepstakes in the past, but we chose to create this contest specifically for bloggers, vloggers and new media mavens because (a) we are beginning to adopt social media to communicate the value of vacation rentals; and (b) we noticed many of you are already talking online about your vacation rental experiences, so this contest is a small way to thank you for sharing.”
Where would you spend such a getaway vacation? In a big city? In some really unique lodging? By escaping to Hawaii?
Tell us why you need it – click here and give it your best shot!
Note: unfortunately because of assorted legal restrictions, the contest is only open to residents of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Canada (but not Quebec.) We did TRY to argue with the lawyer-types….
I was starting to get excited about this—until I read that only US residents…No fair! Why is it all the travel giveaways, sweepstakes, and contests are always aimed at US – companies need to realize that there is a whole big wide world out there full of people with spending power that like to travel too….
Hi Liz,
I know it! In fact, the first thing I said was, “But, I know this blogger in New Zealand…!”
The legal beagles in Corporate Land have, er, a significant amount of control over things, and the law has not caught up with an Internet-dominated world, I’m afraid.
Further general thoughts about contests being too US-centric….
As a traveler and travel writer, I tend to think globally and across borders, but the fact is that when a company runs a contest, it has to meet the requirements of national laws. Much as I might want a contest to be worldwide, I’ve learned through working with the folks at HomeAway that contests/sweepstakes can be much more complicated beasts than I’d thought. We’d have to have lawyers versed in the legal complexities of every single nation on the planet if we wanted to run an all-comers, worldwide contest.
Take the Canadian example – we can’t have contest entries from the Canadian province of Quebec because their laws require that we offer the option to create entries in French, and we’re only accepting entries in American English.
Multiply that small legal requirement times the number of nations in the world, and you start to see what a challenge it would be to run a contest that is truly global, much as I might want to do so. Kudos to HomeAway for making every effort to keep the Getaway as wide-open as possible.