Brickfish Community

Aero Products Int’l, makers of the awesome and comfy AeroBed®, have launched a fun new campaign, “What’s Your Overnight Guest Rating?” Do you put your guests up the guesthouse? Or next to Fido in the doghouse?

Whether you provide 5-star accommodations or a sheet on the floor, we’re dying to hear your stories – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Good or bad, your story could make you a winner. Tell us whether your “Overnight Guest Rating” is “Smart” or “Not So Smart” by submitting a photo, video or blog describing your success story (or tragic tale) – or even provide a tip or two for creating a relaxing guest setting. You could win free airfare and a new Smart Settings™ AeroBed® and claim status as the favorite “home away from home” for your family and friends.

We’ve received tons of savvy, not-so-savvy, and hilarious entries so far – accommodations ranging from a tent to the cozy oversized living room couch. Check out some of these awesome, hand-picked entries and get started on your own today!

ma04santos moved to the truck's trunk when there wasn’t enough room on his camping trip – smart!

We think simplyaddictive’s treadmill turned bed is actually quite a smart sleeping arrangement – very versatile!

justina92 demonstrates how to fit 7 girls into 1 bed

Webster’s Dictionary does not formally define a “photo crasher” so we’ll go ahead a do our own definition:

Photo Crasher [foh-to krash-er] noun, verb, photo crashing, photo crashed

- noun

1. a person or animal that “crashes” your photo.

- noun use

2. That idiot boytoy of yours jumped in our group sorority shot and ruined our adorable photo by making a silly face. Talk about a photo crasher!

- verb use

3. Why is that weird kid photo crashing our awesome pic at Disneyland?

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, the best way to explain is to simply show. The most famous photo crasher perhaps is the Squirrel Crasher, who crashed one couple’s vacation photo. He caused such a Web sensation that he was featured on the Today Show and National Geographic!

We were so tickled by this Web phenomenon that we’ve launched our own Photo Crashers campaign. Submit your pic that was the victim of a photo crasher and you could win $400 cash or scholarship. Lots of Brickfish members have already submitted their Photo Crasher photos, so enter yours today!

This elephant not only crashes the photo, he gets a little touchy.

Is that a ghost? No, it's a photo crasher!

Wedding Waiter Photo Crasher

Squirrel Crasher photo courtesy of Squirrel Crasher Photos, http://www.squirrelcrasher.com.

This month’s outstanding member is brookeleshea. She is a very active Brickfisher who has entered tons of campaigns with beautiful and thoughtful entries.  She is very involved on the site and writes meaningful reviews on her fellow members’ entries. We’re thrilled to present her story, in her own words…

Brooke’s Story

I came across Brickfish last year as I was searching for scholarships online.  It looked like a fantastic site and a great opportunity, so I jumped right in with my first entry.  I posted a photo of myself with a short description and voted for myself.  However, my participation stopped there.  My entry never moved up, and I didn’t think much about it until the end of the contest when I checked out the campaign and noted that winners had been chosen, and that I was not one of them.  At that point, I wanted to know what it took to win, so I began to look further into the website.  I read articles, the FAQ section, and entered a new campaign with new hope.

However, as I began to learn what it meant to have a “viral” entry and began to communicate with the great people on Brickfish, I found that the site is less about the campaigns and more about a community of people working toward similar goals and finding their voice within the issues and products around us.  I have made a lot of great new friends on Brickfish, have won some awesome prizes and love being an active part of the community. It is not only about great prizes and fabulous opportunities; it is about becoming a part of something larger than you. 

Brooke’s Top 5 Tips for Brickfish Success

•    Participate in campaigns that are meaningful to YOU!
•    Be creative with your entries, express yourself!
•    Be an active part of the community- make new friends- it’s fun!
•    Post entries on other websites that you have, get your friends and family to support you!
•    Above all, work hard and be nice!

Thank you, Brooke, for all of your positive participation on the site.  We really appreciate our members, and are always excited to spotlight them.  For your chance in the limelight, be an active force in the Brickfish community. Be positive, write thoughtful reviews, submit entries, and most of all – be yourself!

Beth, the Grand Prize winner for Conair’s How Do You Reel It In? campaign, has won the awesome honor of guest-blogging on The Conair Blog on Conair.com. Diagnosed at age 26 with breast cancer, Beth lost all of her hair, which was always a defining factor for her in her life. Beth fought and survived and five years later, she is cancer-free and her hair is back – stronger and healthier than ever. Beth is the guest blogger for The Conair Blog for the month of October, where she will share her story, critique products and provide hairstyling tips. We’ve published her first blog post here on the Brickfish Community Blog. To read more, visit The Conair Blog at http://conair.com/conair_blog.php. Thank you, Beth, for sharing your inspiring story. We can’t wait to read more!

My Hair Story
October 6th, 2009

October used to be my FUN month. My birthday always falls on Columbus day weekend, and choosing a Halloween costume that always outdid what I wore the year before occupied most of my time. Of course, I would shop in stores and see some pink products that donated money to different breast cancer charities, but I never really paid it much attention. Why would I? I was 26 and in the prime of my life. I had long, luscious, curly locks that were my trademark…literally. One summer when I was thirteen I cut my hair, and I guess word got around, and I got a barrage of letters from friends telling me my life was over because I had chopped off all my hair. I never cut it drastically again.

I had a great body, and great breasts. And never for a single moment thought my world was about to be shattered when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cut my hair to a bob length, to try to prepare myself for chemo. Then I cut it to a G.I. Jane length, and though I would let the chemo take care of the rest. Boy was I stupid. The day the little hair that I had left started to fall out, was as devastating as the day they told me I had cancer.

Still, I pressed forward. And with every passing year, I reclaimed my life after cancer. My hair growth was a huge part of every milestone.
My first hair cut (I ran out crying, and thinking the guy just set me back three months), my first pony tail holder (although I couldn’t get all the hair into the pony tail without bobby pins) the first time I saw my curls start to come back (and I had to go through that TERRIBLE, awkward short curly hair helmet phase), and of course, the first time my hair passed my ears, then my chin, and brushed my shoulders.

A few weeks ago I celebrated five years since being diagnosed with breast cancer. My hair is healthy and strong, as are my body and spirit. And while I am grateful for having hair, I still have the same good and bad hair days as every other girl out there. I’ve been bald and back. I’ve rocked every shade of hair color from blond to black and all the reds in between. And now, I’m here to tell you all about it. There isn’t a product out there that I haven’t tried, a hairstyle I haven’t attempted to pull off, and what better to do with all of the hair knowledge that has been bestowed upon me, then to share it with incredible, fun, fearless females like myself. So stay tuned ladies…because the doctor is in. First on the agenda, EVERYTHING CURLS!!! Inside scoop soon to come. Hubert De Givenchy once said, “Hair style is the final tip off whether or not a woman really knows herself.”

Let’s find ourselves and our best hair together…

To read more of Beth’s blog posts, visit http://conair.com/conair_blog.php.

Congrats to the winners and thanks to all that participated!

Creator Sweeps Winners
daydreamer27
breezy_bree2010
angel0cummins
justgirl22

Voter/Reviewer/Sharer Sweeps Winners
PinkyWhite01
jacquelyn_x
lisabreitling
akshu

These lucky 8 won some easy cash for school. Want to try your hand at some mad money? Check out our Fashion Your Passion Sweepstakes. You could be the weekly winner of $250!

Hello Brickfishers!

We thought we’d pass along some wisdom on the ins and outs of finding your way around our site. If you need help submitting an entry, navigating the site, or have any questions whatsoever, first and foremost check out our extensive FAQ’s section here. Chances are that you’ll find your answer there.

If you are unable to find the answer to your question or problem, please contact the Member Support team using this form. We’ll be glad to help you with any problems or inquiries and work to find a speedy resolution!

We have decided to pass along our 5 Most Asked Inquiries and address those questions to better serve you, our valued members.

5.  When will the winners be announced for a campaign?
When the results are in, they will appear in the archived campaign section here. Typically campaign results are usually posted within 6-8 weeks of a campaign ending depending upon the number of entries and the campaign, but results are not guaranteed during this time period. Trust us, we’re dying to announce the results but sometimes judging and winner notification and verification take longer than expected.  Patience is a virtue, friends

4. What does Most Viral mean?
The Most Viral winner will be the participant who creates an entry that gets a ton of attention across the Internet on sites other than Brickfish (such as Facebook, Twitter, Xanga, etc…). Using the Post to Websites or Embed tools to spread your entry across the internet makes you eligible for Most Viral prizes. Sharing is the most effective way to increase the score of an entry. There are a number of ways to share an entry, all of which will increase its chances of winning.

To learn more about how to go viral, check out this blog post: http://tinyurl.com/yj7ume7.

3. Where can I find scholarship Information? What scholarships can I participate in?
Brickfish always has lots of campaigns running that offer cash/scholarship prizing. Here is a link that lists the start and end dates of each campaign that offers a scholarship/cash prize: http://www.brickfish.com/scholarships.

2. Someone wrote a review on my entry that I don’t like. Can you please remove it?
We cannot remove any reviews that don’t violate our Terms of Use. However, you can mark a review as “unhelpful” (thumbs down) if you feel it is negative or inappropriate. Overtime, comments that are repeatedly marked as thumbs down can become hidden.

If you are arguing with a user or a guest about a review, please stop the discussion immediately and you can also block the person if they are a member. Generally, just preventing them from directly contacting you and ceasing your conversing with them will make them quit. If they keep posting things about you, report it to us.  While we support free speech, we do not condone threats or harassment of our members.

1. Why has my score dropped? Why have my votes disappeared? Why did I drop in the rankings?
These are great and valid questions since you all work so hard to promote your entries. Score, votes, and rank increase and decrease based on the interactions with your entry including votes and viral activity. We work hard to protect campaign participants against people who violate our Member Guidelines and Terms of Use. People who are violating the rules have less impact on an entry’s score. We also suggest that you check out the Complete Rules and Regulations for the campaign you are participating in. This states in detail how often a user can vote for an entry. You can find this PDF document in the ‘Details’ section of the campaign.

We also have a comprehensive blog post on how scoring works. Please check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/lkd9gd.

We hope that this has helped you learn more about our site. As always, the Brickfish Member Support Team is glad to work with you to solve your questions and problems.

Cheers,

Your Brickfish Member Support Team

We here at Brickfish would like to take a moment to recognize some of the wonderful reviews we’ve seen on our new campaigns. Reviews compliment, constructively criticize, and spark debate, which adds to the creativity and community we aim for at Brickfish. Take a look at these great reviews for inspiration!

JenSully9 writes: “This is a fantastic write up, you are creative and have a knack for advertising. You absolutely know what you are talking about and would be someoene I would ask my make up questions to!! I also love the layout of your photo and it looks professional.. On my WL!! Amazing!”

Torirae55 writes: “This is a very sweet entry and you seem very deserving to win! I know it must have been hard to skip the wedding part and rush right into the baby part… but that’s why I think you deserve to have the wedding of your dreams (because you seem like a woman who puts others first and that’s just who this contest is for)! good luck!”

Hickup writes: “I love the look your giving. it’s so serene… and that’s hard to get in pictures sometimes (without looking dead…) so very nice– luxurious!”

Thank you to all the Brickfish members and guests who foster positive discussion in our community through their thoughtful reviews!

Foster’s Wine Estates wanted to know, “How Green Can You Go?”, and you guys answered the call! We’re thrilled to present stories from some of the ten Grand Prize winners, who each won an e-Moto Metro High Performance Electric Scooter. They have lots of great advice on how to Go Green so read on for some fabulous eco tips!

Matt gets a kick out of his e-Moto Metro High Performance Electric Scooter. He says he rides it after work as a way to “de-stress”. When asked if he had any eco tips for fellow Brickfishers, he recommends, “Quit being lazy and walk, bike or get an electric scooter.  That and bake me cookies.” His Brickfish name is captainmoon in case you guys really do want to send him some cookies

Andria started going green a few years ago. She says, “I didn’t start the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) until I stumbled upon an Oprah episode. It was then that I decided to change. So I learned where my recycling bins were located and what could be put inside. I bought reusable shopping bags and stopped buying disposable water bottles. I look for eco-friendly household products too. It was little steps at first but now it is second nature!”

Quite the eco-conscious girl, Andria describes the eco-friendly e-Moto scooter as beautiful. She says, “I’m waiting for my license plate to arrive so I’ve only rode it a few times around the block hoping not to fly off! You definitely need practice; the scooter has some power!”

Scotty says of his e-Moto scooter, “I love riding my scooter; it’s so quiet and a real pleasure to take around town.  It’s impressive how well it coasts, how smooth the ride is, and it’s nice to zip through neighborhoods without deafening the neighbors.  I sprung for a classy helmet, too, one that matches my e-Moto and makes a statement, so if they can’t hear me coming at least they’ll see how cool going green can be.” We dig the helmet too, Scotty. Thanks for the stylin’ photos!

As for eco tips, Scotty says that, “every little thing adds up, and most eco-friendly adjustments to one’s routine can make a big difference.  Although sometimes it might be inconvenient to remember to bring your own canvas bag to the grocery store, or hold onto a bottle or aluminum can until you can recycle it, or ride your bicycle to a friend’s house, once it becomes a habit you’ll find that it generally isn’t a problem at all to achieve.  Besides, we’re all rational economic beings and going green can potentially save you money.”

Annabelle was thrilled “to win and excited about the prospect of having an electric scooter to cut down on fuel consumption and carbon emissions.” When asked if she had any tips to win, she responded, “I would encourage people to use their online social network. It is all about grassroots in today’s media and information overload.  But do it tastefully so people aren’t inundated with emails, requests, etc…”

Annabelle has named her e-Moto scooter Libby, after Scooter Libby, because Annabelle is a self-professed CNN junkie and politico. A knowledgeable eco-expert, Annabelle suggests, “Create things.  Make ‘new’ things using old things. Don’t buy new and consume.  Recreate and reuse! That’s my mantra these days.”

Michele and her husband are thrilled to receive an e-Moto scooter. Her husband has taken to riding the scooter to work every day. Michele says, “Papa, I swear, is like a little kid with a new toy when he takes his new scooter off to work each day. He has really impressed a lot of people at work, and is setting a good example of his respect for the environment, especially since the Port he works for is very big on environmental clean-up and consciousness in their developments in our county. Right now they are working on cleaning up our bay that was contaminated by industry and developing public parks and other developments on the once polluted waterfront to benefit the University, Coast Guard and citizens.”

“Papa is using the scooter all the time as long as the weather permits.  Now that is getting into winter time it is not as much. But, he got some heated gloves and outerwear so he can still ride when it is cold!  He is a true diehard and can’t say enough about how happy he is with the scooter!” Thanks for sharing your photo and story with us, Michele!

Internet Explorer® 8’s Create Your Own Internet PSA program was a great success. We loved the creative videos that we received. Read on to hear more about some of the winners!

James, the People’s Choice Winner, was a first-time video campaign entrant and thrilled winner. A college student who wants to major in film, James plans to use the $1,000 prize money towards a new digital video camera for future productions. But he does note, “The alternative is purchasing 4,000 Chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s.”

An ardent fan of IE8, James says, “Internet Explorer 8 is a nice way to explore the internet. I feel that my video does a good job of expressing IE8’s speed and efficiency for people like Timmy (his character in the video). I also like that it sponsors awesome campaigns like this one!”

Sandy, the Most Viral Winner, received $1,000. She says, “The first 10% went to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of my 18 year-old nephew who sadly took his own life nearly a year ago.  The balance of the prize money has already gone to pay for an online course for my son and to pay off some medical bills.  I am so thankful I received the prize money to put towards suicide prevention and to cover some of our necessities.”

Sandy is an active member with tons of sage advice for her fellow Brickfishers. She says, “It’s important to note the ‘Social’ part of the Brickfish Social Media Marketing title.  Being social, making friends, and being an enthusiastic supporter of others is what makes Brickfish fun and it goes a long way in helping your entry receive ongoing support. I’ve made some great friends through mutual support on Brickfish.”

Sandy continues with, “For newbies, I think they should note that having the #1 entry doesn’t mean you’ll win; I think it’s more important to enjoy the process of competing, and you will make friends, which is often the most important outcome of any campaign.”

Here at Brickfish Member Support HQ, we get tons of questions relating to Most Viral. What is Most Viral? How do I get my entry to go Viral? What is the Viral Map? Well you guys asked, so you shall receive!

What is Most Viral?
The Most Viral winner will be the participant who creates an entry that gets a ton of attention across the Internet on sites other than Brickfish (such as Facebook, Twitter, Xanga, etc…). Using the Post to Websites or Embed tools to spread your entry across the internet makes you eligible for Most Viral prizes. Sharing is the most effective way to increase the score of an entry. There are a number of ways to share an entry, all of which will increase its chances of winning.

How do I get my entry to go Viral?
Using the Post to Websites or Embed tools will make your entry eligible for Most Viral prizes. When you are looking at a specific entry, look to the right of the entry. You will see a Post to Websites button. Click this button and a box will pop up with all the tools you need to share your entry to sites such as  MySpace, myYearbook, and Tagged. You can also copy and paste the Embed code on blogs, forums, and other sites. Then, your entry will be posted to your desired site and your friends can vote for you on your MySpace or Facebook pages or via email.

What’s this Viral Map™ business?
The Brickfish Viral Map™ is a really cool way to monitor your entry’s popularity across the Social Web. It shows the number of people who have viewed your entry on Websites other than Brickfish. Once your entry has been posted and viewed on another Website, the Brickfish Viral Map™ will activate. As more people view your entry, the circles and number grow.

What’s the deal with the Geo View?
The Geo View shows where your entry is being viewed, reviewed, and voted on around the world. As more people engage with an entry, the Geo View will display more locations. However, the Geo View does not update immediately. Before a point will appear on the map, an entry must be viewed, reviewed, or voted on by multiple people in one area in order to protect the anonymity of the people viewing the entry.

I posted my entry to Facebook (MySpace, email, etc…) and I haven’t had any views from that site on my Viral Map. What’s up?
The prop player (the technical term for the thingy that posts your entry and tracks the engagement it generates on a given site) works in a manner that requires that someone click on your entry (whether it is on Facebook, Tagged, or email). If no one has clicked on your entry, then nothing will show on your Viral Map. Additionally, it may take up to 24 hours for viral content/postings to show on your Viral Map.

I hope this has helped you guys out and given you some insights and tips into how to get your entries viral. As always, please Contact Us if you have any further questions. Good luck!