My First Contest: The Great iOptron Giveaway

Have you ever had one of those ideas that when you have them, you slap your head and say, “Of Course!”

Well, I had one of those today. Here’s the train of thought:

• I wanted to do a contest for my readers but wasn’t sure anyone would show up. I wanted to offer something really cool as a prize for my first one.
• I want more material for my blog in order to have increased posts.
• I wanted to get an iOptron mount with a GPS unit so I could evaluate that for my blog. The problem is, I already have one and even I think it’s too much to own two of these just to get a GPS unit.

Do you see where this is going?

So here’s the contest, I want you guys to submit a post of around 500 words that describe something about astronomy. Now don’t get scared, you don’t have to know anything about astronomy to enter. I’m looking for well-written prose about astronomy that I can post, nothing else. There are no other rules than that.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

1. You submit your post to me via email.
2. I post it on this blog under the Contest category.
3. At the end of the submission period, I’m going to put up a poll with every entry listed in it.
4. Readers vote in the poll.
5. Winner takes the iOptron mount.

I’m also going to have a second and third place prize as well as something to hand out to everyone who enters. I’m still working out what that will be, but it’ll be astronomy-related and reasonably cool.

Here’s your chance to test your writing skills, get a link to your blog or website and maybe win a mount. You’ll get this very mount:

This is the grand prize. I paid $200.00 for it during the introductory pricing period. It’s still in great shape as I haven’t used it all that much.

Here are some posting ideas:

• First time you ever saw Saturn through an eyepiece.
• A constellation mythological story.
• An informative astronomy post, e.g., How the Sun will die.
• A heartfelt experience under the stars.
• Anything astronomy-related you can think of.
• A book review of a great astronomy book you’ve read.
• A review of a telescope or astrono-gizmo.

I encourage you to use your imagination, the sky’s the limit here. Don’t worry about making the post safe for work or using nice language, I never worry about it. (although many wish I would, probably) I find people write better blog posts when they write like they speak.

You can also make a video if you’re so inclined. Just post your video to YouTube and I’ll embed it on the blog. If you want, I’ll even post the video on my DeepAstronomy channel as it has over 1000 subscribers, you’ll get many people viewing it. It’ll also make the Space Fans waiting around for me to post something new happy. (See? win-win, huh?)

I’m going to give the initial submission period a two-week limit, so please have your posts submitted by two weeks from today. I’ll post them on the blog as soon as I get them.

After that time, I’ll make the poll and put it up. I think I’ll give people about one week to vote before handing out the prizes. By that time, I’ll have figured out the remaining ones.

I have to admit, I’m a little nervous. I hope someone participates, there’s nothing sadder than a contest that no one enters. That’s one reason I’m giving away such a great prize, it’s something anyone with an interest in astronomy can use. If you are a seasoned observer, you want one because you can never have too many GOTO mounts; if you don’t have a scope yet, you want one because they are easy to use and are great for beginners.

OK AstroBuffs, go out there and write.

[Whoops, I guess my email address isn't listed anywhere on this blog. Email your submissions to: skybuff@gmail.com]