Wednesday, May 5, 2010

My Obsession

I have a problem; I am addicted to video contests.

Like most of the things wrong with me, I blame my mother.

It all started last spring when my mom sent me a gChat (yes my mom gChats, isn’t she hip?) that said “This is the perfect job for you” and enclosed a link to a contest website.

She was right; it was the perfect job for me.

Well, kind of. It was an amazing job. Six months living on a vineyard in Northern California getting paid 10 grand a month to keep a written and video blog of wine tastings and picnic spots. Sweet!

How could one acquire such a job? Well the first round was determined by a video submission entry. This was my video:


There were nearly 2,000 videos entered and mine was selected to be part of the top 50. And then there was a phone interview to narrow it down even more. I did the interview and my heart was beating so fast I couldn’t even pay attention to what I was saying. I may or may not have done the whole interview in German. Who knows?

Needless to say I didn’t make it to the next round.

I did get a sweet wine opener and a set of Liar’s Dice though.

I didn’t do a contest for the rest of the year, though I did write a couple of plays.

But I didn’t do any kind of video project. I hadn’t even really thought about one until a couple months ago when I got an email. It was some commercial email and in it was an advertisement for the Cold-Eeze video contest. I told everybody and their mother about it. In case you are a Fraggle, here is that video:


And do you know what happened with that contest? I WON IT! I know right? And do you know what I won? A mystery vacation! I have no idea where or when. But I do know that I am going with like 100 strangers. The best, right?

But even before I had one that contest, the process itself had me hooked like a drug addiction. That set off a seemingly ceaseless creation process that had me and my friends enter 7 different video contests in 8 weeks.

Yea I know, I get kind of obsessive.

In this process I coerced 6 different friends to play roles in these ridiculous videos that dealt with everything from a commercial for going green:


To a commercial for Bar-B-Q sauce:



WHICH I DIDN’T WIN even though the other commercials didn’t make any sense and the narrative structure of the videos didn’t equally relate to the…. Deep breath.

Sorry, sometimes I get indignant when I don’t win enough free meat to feed a Roman army.

Anyway, I realized something. I was doing better in contests where the public didn’t vote. So I said to myself, “Self, No more public votes. We are only doing panel judging from now on.”

And immediately after I came to that conclusion something else happened. I came across a contest where the winner would get 2 business class tickets to anywhere Air Pacific flies. So essentially… Fiji.

And then I had a really good idea for it.

But I had already sworn off public voting videos. What was I to do?

Seeing as I have an iron clad will and fortitude unmatched throughout the land I did what I always do… I caved.

I shot the video.

And I uploaded it hoping that the gods of the contest world would choose it as a finalist…

And they did!

So here it is. I am one of the top 3. The voting only goes until Monday the 10th. There is no registering. Just click the button for “Video 1” and click “Vote.” There is no personal information, no pets’ names, and no nonsense. It is easy peasy! And please, forward this to as many people as you can. I really want to win this one.

And I promise this will be the last one…


For a while anyway.

19 comments:

Madhu said...

Hey best of luck..
I hope you win and get to go to Fiji

:)

Anonymous said...

what if I liked the other videos better....?

=)

PeaceLove said...

Rich you and I and your readers all know this is not the last of the public voting for you. Nonetheless I will continue to vote for you and send you to sick sweet places around the world. Best of luck brother - Garett

turtlebottom said...

Good Luck!! Hope you get to go to Fiji!!

Hannah said...

You have been voted for. Here's to your blowing the competition out of the water.

Unknown said...

Voted! Hope you win - Fiji would be A-MAZING! Can I stow in your suitcase?!

Ms Dreamer said...

I have voted :)
I'd love to go to Fiji...

Tara Rose Stromberg said...

Kudos to you! Especially for being the kind of person who gets off their butt to get shit like this done.

Hope you continue to get rewarded!

erin said...

Okay I voted.

I make video blog every once in awhile, but nowhere near as ambitious as your commercials.

Excellent, dude.

Caroline B said...

I voted too - good luck!

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Fiji?? That's awesome. I hope you win!

JerseySjov said...

i can't blame you. if i had a camera and knew how to edit video i'd probably spend all my time making little films too

Unknown said...

Thats a LOT of video contest :P

G'luck,hope you win =D

Akirah said...

You are stinking hilarious. I think the funniest thing about it is that all the brands are so random. How in the world do you find these contests?
You made a video about Cold-Eeze...and BBQ sauce. That's just funny.

I voted for you. I hope you win. Will you take me on one of your trips?

scarlethue said...

Vote cast. Good luck!

Athena Hardison said...

Am I the only one that has noticed the trend among (women) being your primary voters?

Alas, I too have a sweet spot for you and voted in your direction.

Fingers crossed,
Athena

Pat said...

I love your commercials! I'm your biggest fan! I voted :) Yours was the best hands down!

Esther Boller said...

Haha man I love your blog and your videos! Voted, and I know you're a shoo-in to win! Good luck.

Adam McGrath said...

Not a bad endeavor with which to get obsessed. The combination of creativity and free stuff is wonderfully American. Best of luck!