Random Voter Prize Goes to …
As I mentioned at the end of the post announcing the winners of the wXSw Halloween SAL Contests, there was yet one prize left to award, and that was to a randomly drawn member of the voting group.
To determine the winner of that prize, I put my eight staff reporters to work. I wrote each entrant’s information down on a slip of paper. Each slip of paper was then wadded into a ball, and all of those were put into a brown paper bag from the grocery store. I also put some Yeowww! Catnip Buds Flowertops (see the product in the middle of the bottom row on that page) into the brown paper bag.
At this point, my reporters were already becoming very excited about participating in this particular staff meeting. The bag was taped shut at the top with duct tape so they would have to work really hard not just to open the bag, but also to get anything out of it.
I made a brief attempt to call the meeting to order, but the tension was palpable, and my staff have always done a very effective and thorough job with such matters. Instead, I moved out of the way to let them get to the task at hand.
My goal was to obtain the first scrap of paper to be carried or pushed into the kitchen, and I must tell you, this didn’t take long and their progress was one of the funniest things I have ever watched. I wish I owned a video camera …
It probably took about two minutes for them to determine they would have the most successful outcome obtaining the catnip if they handled the event as a team-building exercise. Once they came to that conclusion, they gathered in a circle around the bag and literally pulled it apart as if they were playing a carefully calculated game of tug-of-war in which the requirement was that the “rope” be pulled in all directions. That method took about thirty seconds flat.
At first, I feared their clever plan of attack would result in all mess and no random voter result, but not a single slip of paper was harmed during the randomizing process. I think that is probably because my precious felines were quite intent on not missing a single bit of that catnip! 
Several high kitties later, and with only a bit of a mess to deal with, I was prepared to announce our winner:
Maureen Ranson !!! Maureen, please contact me so we can square away the details.
Maureen wins a QSnap Hugger donated by Kim Ritchie (using fabric donated by me), along with the following from INN: a QSnap of the size needed to match her new QSnap Hugger (after all, I have to make sure she has a QSnap to hug! ), and — just to make sure she isn’t disappointed in her prize package because I picked out everything for her — a $10 gift certificate (worth closer to $13 if she uses it before midnight eastern time today) to One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies (plus free shipping) on me.
Technorati Tags: Maureen Ranson, random voter prize, Halloween SAL, wXSw, gift certificate, QSnap Huggers, Kim Ritchie, One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies,
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Thank you for a most enjoyable few minutes’ reading. =) Very successful staff meeting, I’d say. And faster than most!
November 26th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
LOL! I’ll have to use that method some time to get the “staff” to be useful around here…