258 replies to this topic

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

That's weird. Doesn't look like it's closed. There's two comments there. Thanks for trying.

I don't know why I couldn't access them before, but I do see them now and someone has posted the link.

[ducky]

I don't know why I couldn't access them before, but I do see them now and someone has posted the link.

That's wonderful. Thank you so much.

[Dude]

One (1) “People’s Choice Award” @ $110,000 based on votes only.
Four (4) Grand Prize Winners @ $100,000 Judged
Seven (7) First Prize Winners @ $70,000 Judged

If I'm correct, why did Sac Bee exclude us from the possibility of winning the top two?

[Harold]

If you look at the Prizes section it is under First Place of which 7 are awarded. Turns out it is mechandise and not cash. but still ....

Seven (7) First Prizes: Prize consist of the following elements:
 $32,250 of Samsung® merchandise (exact items to be determined by Sponsor).
 $32,250 of Microsoft® software (exact software to be determined by Microsoft).
 $1,000 grant from DirecTV® (awarded in the form of a check made payable to each winning
school) and the DIRECTV GOES TO SCHOOL® package.
 $4,500 of Adobe® software (software to be determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion)
Total approximate retail value of each First Prize package is $70,000.

While I appreciate anything they give to the school, finding out the award is this way gives me a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sure they calculate their donation value at full retail (or higher), not the bargain basement price or the wholesale price they sell to distributors at. The real cost to the company is much less when you factor in the write off the loss of profit on their taxes. If they normally mark the stuff up 3X or 4X or more, then the true cost to them for their generosity is likely even less than $20K compared to the $100K they advertised. Makes them seem so much more generous than they really are.

[Dude]

If you add the total prizes, it is $1,000,000 worth.
But I still ask, why were we excluded?

[Dude]

Ahh, I see, so Sutter has already won $70,000 for the best video prize and now it's all about winning either the $110 or $100,000 prize. Geez, am getting too anxious I guess ...

[folsom500]

Ahh, I see, so Sutter has already won $70,000 for the best video prize and now it's all about winning either the $110 or $100,000 prize. Geez, am getting too anxious I guess ...

Actually Sutter has not been awarded the $70k worth of stuff yet. But worst case they will get the $70K prize for being a finalist.
If they win the grand prize ( one of four) or the people's choice (one of one) they would instead get that prize. It is not incremental to the $70K.

While I appreciate anything they give to the school, finding out the award is this way gives me a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sure they calculate their donation value at full retail (or higher), not the bargain basement price or the wholesale price they sell to distributors at. The real cost to the company is much less when you factor in the write off the loss of profit on their taxes. If they normally mark the stuff up 3X or 4X or more, then the true cost to them for their generosity is likely even less than $20K compared to the $100K they advertised. Makes them seem so much more generous than they really are.

It is just like the TV game shows- the Value is the RETAIL Value...

[caligirlz]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I saw this as an opportunity to support a local school and the "Community Choice" portion is definitely a chance to show some community spirit. My child won't even go to this school next year. They have already made it this far based on ability.

I am sorry and disappointed you and your friend feel this way. It's not like they are asking for someone to buy wrapping paper or candy they don't need. It was only a suggestion that students could do that to get the word out about the voting.

ducky, I'm sorry that you feel that way but it doesn't change my opinion. Surely you have friends, family, co-workers who have different opinions than you?

On another note, I find it rather interesting that any difference of opinion is considered anti-folsom, especially if the difference is about the schools or the community. You can pretty much bet on the fact if there are 1-2 people who dare voice a different opinion, that there are plenty of others who feel exactly the same way, but will not speak up.

The 5th vote in this contest is purely a popularity vote as it is in many other contests ( writing, photo, etc). That is why the 4 other Grand Prizes are picked by a board and are based on the technical merits of the submission.

It is done this way to get more people involved in the program as well as a certain level or marketing for the sponsor companies...

Thank you for the explanation.

I was going to post the link in the article's comments section, but it's been closed.

I've seen that they are encouraging people to post their comments on their face book page now, especially when they close the comments. You might want to try that instead.

[Dude]

I'm changing my voting strategy to around 8pm instead of after 9pm the night before. It's nice to see the count jump just before the official closing.

[john]

We're consistently trailing around 500 votes now. Would love to see us surge ahead.

[Dude]

that's much better than the 1000 gap i usually see in the afternoon, whatever we're doing, let's keep doing it and more of it. Anymore, I'm afraid to post my actual efforts just in case the competitor is peeking.

[Dude]

at 8:59pm 2/21
them 26492
& us 26128

[olivia]

at 8:59pm 2/21
them 26492
& us 26128

Bump. Keep voting and spreading the word.

[iyoga]

Support our school. We are a Samsung finalist and need your help to win $100,000 worth of technology for the school. Go to https://pages.samsun...video/index.jsp and vote for Sutter Middle School everyday through March 12.

Thanks in advance for helping our school.

[iyoga]

FYI... They are 2nd currently..... Need more votes....