We had our Slow Travel Contest 2006 last weekend and it was such a rush! We announced the winners on Friday (nine of us selected 100 winners from 400 entries - very difficult because the entries were all fabulous), then on Saturday did a drawing to determine the order in which the winners pick their prizes.
It took nearly two hours to draw the 100 names. We had a webcam going, people on speaker phone, a chat room with 30 - 60 people in it, and I was posting the names on the message board. Once we finished, people started picking their prizes.
Steve is blindfolded and picks the winners. Connie opens up the paper (each one was folded twice and taped) and reads the winner. I typed the name into a thread on the message board and Chris or Amy (who were on the phone) typed the name in the chat room.
It is taking longer this time for people to choose because we have so many accommodations prize, so they have to email about availibility. But it is going along and the first 14 people have chosen.
You can watch this on the message board.
It was a wonderful contest - better prizes than I ever thought possible and absolutely wonderful articles, trip report, photo essays sent in by Slow Travelers.
