ghacks christmas 2009 giveaways

[rgdot]

Its that time of the year and Martin at ghacks is going to have lots of sure to be useful giveaways.

Announcement a few days ago http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/27/10k-ghacks-christmas-giveaway-announcement/

I’m proud to announce that we will run another Christmas giveaway this year which will be even bigger than the last one. Not only because of the additional licenses and new software that we were able to get for you but also because of the participation of a partner site of Ghacks in the giveaway
...
The total price money of the giveaway is well over $20K.

[Curt]

- thanks for telling! :-)

[ghacks]

Yeah thanks for telling You can check out this url http://www.ghacks.net/christmas-giveaway/ for the links to the giveaways and a sneak peek of the software that will be given away on the next day. Today is Winzip 14 day btw

And shame on you that you are using an Adblocker to visit my site

[mouser]

actually i dont use adblocker.. but i do use NoScript which blocks any kind of javascriptm,etc. by default.

[yksyks]

Actually it's not a real giveaway, it's a kind of lottery:

We have ten Winzip 14 Pro licenses for you. If you want to win one of the licenses reply to this thread and let us know why you’d like to win the license.

Ten licenses? Not worth a try.

[mouser]

10 is more than we usually giveaway on dc, plus this is just for one day of their event -- with more giveaways throughout the month.. can't see what anyone could possibly complain about(!) yksyks you must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning

[Curt]

I actually won a program, on ghacks, last year :-)

[ghacks]

Some great stuff is coming in the next 24 days, even some "everyone gets one" programs. But each to its own, it is not that I'm forcing someone to participate

[rgdot]

And shame on you that you are using an Adblocker to visit my site

Added screenshot? thank you mouser.

(Might seem like I am sucking up but I have adblock disabled for ghacks)

[yksyks]

10 is more than we usually giveaway on dc, plus this is just for one day of their event -- with more giveaways throughout the month.. can't see what anyone could possibly complain about(!) yksyks you must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning

I have to apologize, I suppose. It was a misunderstanding caused by my poor English. I was convinced that "giveaway" means "something given away free" (at least according to Webster's Dictionary). I don't complain, I just wasn't aware that the term "giveaway" covers also what I'd otherwise call a lottery or a contest, perhaps, which I'm not interested in at all. One has to learn all the time...

[mouser]

Ah I understand.. you assumed it meant that anyone who comes to the site can get it.  I suppose that could be confusing.  We use the same term "giveaway" sometimes when we really mean that we have some copies to give away for free, but not everyone will get one.

It brings up an interesting issue in terms of words though -- because "raffle" and "lottery" are not really appropriate -- they usually imply to most listeners that one has to PAY to have a chance, and this is not like that.  And a contest implies that the "winner(s)" will be chosen based on some criteria, rather than randomly.

So for the wordsmiths.. is there a term would you use to identify an event where things were being given away for free but only a few people were going to be chosen randomly to receive them?

I think in general, i've used "giveaway" for this purpose.. and *not* used it when there is an unlimited supply of something.. in the case of an unlimited supply i think one is usually more explicit and says something like "we have a free X for everyone who stops by".

[Dormouse]

Actually it's not a real giveaway, it's a kind of lottery:

We have ten Winzip 14 Pro licenses for you. If you want to win one of the licenses reply to this thread and let us know why you’d like to win the license.

It's neither a lottery (everyone in the pot, winner(s) chosen by lot) nor a giveaway (stuff given away for free), it's a competition. There's a requirement to say 'why you'd like to win the license'. Definitely a competition.

[yksyks]

It brings up an interesting issue in terms of words though -- because "raffle" and "lottery" are not really appropriate -- they usually imply to most listeners that one has to PAY to have a chance, and this is not like that.  And a contest implies that the "winner(s)" will be chosen based on some criteria, rather than randomly.

You don't pay, but you have to enter a valid email address, and this is not a zero value. So isn't this a raffle?

On the other hand you're required to write why you’d like to win the license. It implies that somebody would evaluate the answers. So isn't this a contest?



Anyway, my understanding of the term "giveaway" was also supported by the Giveaway of the Day policy: everyone has a chance to get the item, no drawing lots, no probability involved.

EDIT: Dormouse beat me to it.

[Curt]

- the proper term is a drawing.
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To double your chances: http://techpp.com/giveaway/

[wanderer]

Always a great read with something for everyone. Many thanks as always..