I’m not sure what drugs I was on when I asked you to make two prize choices on the entry form. How the heck is that meant to work? So let’s just pretend those were “skill questions” and move on ok? Nothing to see here.

With that out of the way, here’s how it’s going down. There will be 16 separate draws, as listed below. I’ll draw 16 winners, and each of them will win the prize associated with that draw.

You’ll see my cunning plan immediately. You have to be on Ustream at the start and end to be eligible for those prizes. I blame my narcissism. There’s a chatroom on Ustream where I’ll ask for some sort of verification of your identity if you’re a winner. If you have a webcam, I think you’ll be able to join in, but I haven’t tested that yet.

It’s not all bad though, the most popular prizes are completely open to anyone who entered the draw. That’s why I asked for your choices. Or something.

If you haven’t entered, stick your details in the entry form before 7pm Thursday.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Skip the fluff and hit up the entry form now!

The Fluff

Thanks to this wonderful bunch of companies, I have a metric shitload of stuff to give away on Christmas eve. All you have to do is bung your details in the entry form.

For additional (optional) opportunities to select your prize, you’ll want to do one or more of the following :

• be watching the live draw at 8pm on Christmas eve; and/or
• follow me on Twitter; and/or
• register at the ben.geek.nz forums.

Point: none of the above are compulsory, but there will be at least one prize reserved for members of each group – but you must use the entry form as well. The majority of prizes are available simply for people entered via the form.

If you have any ideas how I’m going to verify identities during the live draw, feel free to let me know. I think maybe emailing the person after they are drawn and waiting for a reply?

The Prizes

Here’s the prize list as at midday, 14th December. It may grow some more:

• A super-rugged phone from Vodafone, valued at $699
• $250 account credit from Orcon
• A 4GB Philips Aria MP3 Player
• How about a Solar Pouch from IWantThat.co.nz?
• Lips: Number One Hits + 2 Mics for XBox 360
• A bunch of new PlayStation games from Sony
• A Sidewinder X6 Keyboard from Microsoft
• A Sidewinder X8 Mouse from Microsoft
• A Plantronics Bluetooth headset
• A BlueWatchDog personal security device

The Conditions

• One entry per person.
• Entries only valid using the entry form on this page.
• Entries limited to New Zealand residents only (sorry guys, the postage will kill me).
• The items are brand new, but may have been opened and reviewed for this website and TVNZ.
• Entries close Thursday 24th December 2009 at 7:00pm (NZ time).
• Winners will be contacted by email.
• Winners will be re-drawn if there is no reply by one month after competition closing time.

Popularity: 85% [?]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love you guys. This site is a hobby and a labour of love, but it’s made so much better by the fact that all three of you read it frequently.

I’ve been thinking about how to thank you for sticking with me over the past few years, and I’ve come up with a plan. It goes a little something like this:

1. On Monday (14th December 2009), there will be an entry form on this site.
2. You enter the competition to win one of a bunch of different prizes. Some are below, others to be revealed later.
3. The draw will happen on Christmas eve, live on Ustream.
4. If you’re watching the live draw and get selected, you get to pick your prize!
5. There’ll be a couple of prizes dedicated to live viewers.

How does that sound?

Get involved and tell me in the comments below which prizes you think should be dedicated to the live draw, and which should go in the general pot.

As a taster, the current (and growing) prize pile includes:

• A super-rugged phone from Vodafone
• $250 account credit from Orcon
• How about a Solar Pouch?
• Lips: Number One Hits + 2 Mics for XBox 360
• A bunch of new PlayStation games from Sony
• A Sidewinder X6 Keyboard from Microsoft
• A Sidewinder X8 Mouse from Microsoft
• A Plantronics Bluetooth headset
• A BlueWatchDog personal security device
• … and more stuff from my cupboard of doom.

Of course I have to thank the lovely consumer products people that enable me to do this stuff:

Finally, if you’re a tech company have something you want to add to the prize pool, feel free to get in touch. There’s plenty of space up there for a logo.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Righto. This one is just for my Twitter peeps.

If you like your coffee al-fresco, the Handpresso portable espresso maker might just be your gas. I’ve reviewed their lovely Handresso outdoor set, which comes with some accessories in a gorgeous case, and you can win it. It makes a great cup of coffee, and all you need is some hot water and a bit of elbow grease to pump it up. You can check it out in action from my TVNZ Breakfast segment this morning.

Fill in the form below to enter. You must be a Twitter user, but you don’t have to be following me.

Conditions:

• One entry per person.
• Entries only valid using the entry form above.
• Entries limited to New Zealand residents only (sorry guys, the postage will kill me).
• The items are brand new, but may have been opened and reviewed for this website and TVNZ.
• Entries close Sunday 6 December 2009 at 8:00pm (NZ time).
• Winners will be contacted by email and Twitter.
• Winner will be re-drawn if there is no reply by one week after competition closing time.

Popularity: 14% [?]

The chaps at Blackbox have been kind enough to let me give away the C18 earphones I just reviewed. You know the drill by now: stick the bits in the form below, and you’re in to win.

P.S. The spec page over here might be useful.

Conditions:

• One entry per person.
• Entries only valid using the entry form above.
• Entries limited to New Zealand residents only (sorry guys, the postage will kill me).
• The items are brand new, but may have been opened and reviewed for this website and TVNZ.
• Entries close Monday 30 November 2009 at 8:00pm (NZ time).
• Winners will be contacted by email.
• Winner will be re-drawn if there is no reply by one week after competition closing time.

Popularity: 17% [?]