convention sessions

The day began with the My Choice draws from the previous night as no prizes were given out during the opening night’s Meet and Greet.

Jeff Crosno announced the annual DVD of the convention will be changing formats to a digital download with the option to get a DVD. (I’ll post full details and prices as soon as they are announced.)

Valerie Layton

The first speaker was Valerie Layton speaking on the second and third legs of her 7 Wonders of the World Sweepstakes prize from MasterCard. (Read about the first leg of her trip here.) The first was to South America. She visited Machu Picchu and the Amazon with a girlfriend. Her second was to Africa. She visited the pyramids and Victoria Falls. We are trying to talk Valerie into speaking at next year’s convention about her last leg, which will be to the Great Barrier Reef.

Steven Bougham

Then USPS Postmaster Steven Bougham took the stage. He talked about the changes in mailing in entries since 2007. This is important as the number of mail-in entries is dropping rapidly and conversely, your odds of winning a mail-in sweepstakes vs an online sweepstakes is getting better.

(NOTE: In Canada I have not seen an OEB – original entry blank – since 2006 and the only mail-in entries I do now are for NPE PIN codes – no purchase entry, personal identification number.)

convention session 2

drawing for prizes 2

After lunch there were more drawings. Lots and lots of drawings as they didn’t do the morning session giveaways.

Craig & Deena

Deena of Grand Rapids MI won the session’s grand prize of a laptop.

Gwen Beauchamp

Then Gwen Beauchamp, owner of SweepsU spoke about How To Win Skill Contests. (She also spoke on this subject in Hershey PA.) She has won many cooking and baking contests including being a finalist in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off (@PillsburyTreats). Three of her best tips are:

  1. come up with a catchy name for your entry,
  2. use an unusual ingredient,
  3. and test the recipe in half batches to save time, money and your waistline.

Carolyn & Nick

After dinner we had the pleasure of spending time with Nick Taylor of Best Sweepstakes Newsletter and Al Sayward of CJ’s Designer Envelopes. I had never met Nick in person, so it was wonderful to finally put a face to a voice. Al regaled us with his hilarious sweeping adventures.