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Remember to Contribute to OSS (or Tweet) to Get an Alagad Backpack

Pardon the shortness of this post, I simply wanted to remind those out there who follow this blog that I’m holding a contest to give away a very nice Alagad Swiss Gear laptop backback. To quote Vicky Rider of CodeBass fame, they’re “legendary”. All you need to do is make a first time contribution to an open source project and comment on it on this entry. The best first time contribution will be picked and that lucky person will get the backpack! The contest is open through the end of the year and, as of now, I’ve receivedpreciselyzero submissions.

So, go forth and contribute. Then report back! It’s that simple. You’ll be helping support the community of OSS developers and you just might get a really, really, nice backpack out of the deal!

Also, to try to drive a little interest in this contest, I’m holding a side contest for yet another Alagad bag. Simply tweet the following to enter and I’ll pick a random tweet the same day that this OSS contest ends. Here what you tweet:

Now I wish I’d never contributed to open source! #AlagadBag http://bit.ly/eJvDfi

Also – you may want to note that CodeBass is holding a contest to give away some swag to commemorate their MediaSlurp collaboration. I’ve donated an Alagad bag to their swag set. Get more info and learn how to enter their contest here.

Contest: Best First Time Open Source Contribution (Updated)

A couple of days ago I asked for suggestions for contests so that I could give away a bunch of extra Swiss Gear Alagad laptop backpacks that are taking up my precious garage space. I received a number of good suggestions and, for my first contest, I’m going to go with Kurt Wiersma’s suggestion: Best First Time Open Source Contribution! (Congrat’s Kurt – Send me your address and I’ll send you a backpack.)

The contest title is pretty self descriptive. I want to encourage those of you who haven’t contributed to an open source project in the past to contribute. So, go out, choose a project you deem worthy and contribute. It doesn’t matter how you contribute. Obviously you could contribute code or bug fixes. You could also write documentation. There are probably other things you could do as well. For example, maybe you could start a fundraising or publicity campaign for your designated project. The choice is yours – be creative!

As you make your contribution please put a summary into the comments on this blog entry. Be sure to make a good sales pitch on why your contribution should be the winner. When the contest ends I’ll post a survey and the community can choose which contribution is their favorite. The winner will get a really nice laptop backpack. Everyone else will get the glowing sense of well being and pride in knowing you’ve done a good deed.

The contest starts now and runs through the end of 2010.

I’ve given away several of these backpacks in the past, but, if you’ve never seen them in person, trust me, they’re very nice! I’ve been using mine for about two years and it still looks brand new. It’s very well constructed from very nice materials. It’s well padded and won’t hurt your shoulders, no matter what you load into it. There are about a bazillion pockets on this beast – more than enough to securely store and organize just about anything you might want to cary with you. Heck, it’s even gotventilationchannels to keep your back cool!

So, please, go do a good deed and help out an open source project and report back!

Update: I’ve added a side contest to this contest. More information can be found here. In short, all you need to do is tweet the following to enter:

Now I wish Id never contributed to open source! #AlagadBag http://bit.ly/eJvDfi

Contest: Help Alagad Give Away Swiss Gear Backpacks

I have a bunch of promotional laptop backpacks I purchased for Alagad taking up precious space in my garage. These are very nice swiss gear backpacks with the Alagad logo tastefully embroidered on the back pocket. They’ve got, I’d guess, a zillion pockets, lots of storage space, can fit a 17″ laptop, and are tough as heck. I’ve been using mine for a couple years and it still looks like new! I really want to give them away to good homes, but I’ve been struggling on how to best do this. Maybe you can help?

A few weeks ago I posted a contest where entrants would make a word search generator in an unfamiliar language. And, well, honestly, that went over like a lead balloon. I hadpreciselyzero entrants. Maybe I made it a bit too complex?

I’d like to turn this into a game or a contest or something of the sort and have a little fun with it! Furthermore, a little promotional activity can’t hurt since it looks like Alagad will be winding up their current contract in April. (It’s never too early to be looking for the next gig.) If possible, it’d be really nice to be able to help people learn something new or, perhaps, help out those who are less fortunate, especially durring this time of year. Winners of these contests would get an Alagad backpack.

So, this time I’m having a contest to come up with ideas for contests, games, or whatever. If you have an idea on what I should do to give away these backpacks post it in the comments below. I’ll pick one or more of the ideas and run with them. If your idea is picked, you’ll get a very nice backpack for your troubles!

So, how should I give away these backpacks?