Tuesday, August 26, 2008

WOW. You guys are GOOD.

I know that Wordy is going to update you with more details soon on how our whole judging process works and is going, but I just wanted to send a little shout out to everybody right now because we just finished looking at everything -- with our celebrity judge from (RED), two other (RED) experts and our Hallmark team and... EVERYONE WAS SOOOO IMPRESSED.

You guys rocked our socks off. It was really, really, truly very hard to land on the top tier and the alternates.

Thank you for such a wonderful problem. Thank you, thank you.

And congratulations on contributing to a great cause, whether or not you wind up being one of the finalists. This all feels so good, don't you think? We hope you feel as good and as proud of yourselves as we do of you.

Your fan,
Judgy

p.s. Nice booth surprise on Monday. Wordy will fill you in on that tomorrow, I think. You all have prankster tendencies of which I was entirely unaware. ;)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Judgy - Are you going to tell us how many submissions you guys received? That would make it even more impressive to know that you narrowed it down to the finalists. Tell us how many - come on now, you know you want to!

Unknown said...

anonymous,

On a previous blog post, Wordy let us know that there were more than 100 but less than 900 entries to Your Holiday.

In all of the contests, I don't think I've ever heard the exact figures. There's always a first for everything, though!

If you submitted a design, good luck to you.

Unknown said...

Hey Judgy,
Welcome back and I'm glad you liked the combined decorating effort, thanks to our tips on the blog. I think a lot of us, here on the blog, really let the creative juices flow again, thinking of ways to get into the holiday decorating spirit, this time of year! I keep a table in my living room with three ceramic Santas, year-round, and I have a friend who has one whole room of her house devoted to a Santa collection. It's nice to have a bit of Christmas, year-round!
My birthday is a few weeks before Thanksgiving and in our family's holiday craziness, we've always launched our artificial Christmas tree on my birthday, sometimes not taking it down until Valentine's Day. (There is a story behind that.)
While it is still too early to launch the tree, I did buy some pine scented candles, some cookie and birthday cake scented candles, and I began purchasing Halloween candy for Trick-or-Treat night, as inspired by my 'holiday' submission.
Suddenly, I'm really in a holiday mood, though I'm far from a Christmas shopping mood!
I can't wait to learn more about all of the fun and difficulty in the selection process. Nerve-fraying for those awaiting word? Yes. Incredibly exciting and worth every minute? Absolutely!

Anonymous said...

This is so exciting !!!! :) Thank you again for the wonderful opportunity, and fun !!!! :) The suspense is huge !!!! :)
Good fortune to everyone !!!! :)

Anonymous said...

celebrity judge? is it Bono??!?!!!!?!? =D

Unknown said...

Bono would be neat. I was listening to a local radio station, this morning, heard a U2 song and smiled, because of this contest.

If I would happen to make it to the finals, I'd definitely rush out and buy the forthcoming U2 box set, just for the memories, if nothing else!

Unknown said...

My "YourHoliday" Christmas wish is that regardless of who wins, who is a finalist and who is an alternate that everyone involved in this process continues the good fight against AIDS in Africa.

Unknown said...

alexando79,

I echo your sentiments, entirely. Earlier this year, I contacted Duke Medical Center in North Carolina, with the hope of finding out more information about their "memorial" celebration for cancer patients' families.

In doing so, a wonderful chaplain, who oversees the AIDS patient support project at Duke assisted me in transferring my messages to the appropriate person, affiliated with the cancer memorial. I was so moved by what I read about the chaplain who was assisting the AIDS patients and Duke's AIDS patient assistance program that I wrote a poem to assist the AIDS patients at Duke, as well.

Cancer has taken a heavy toll on my family, as has kidney disease, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet, just as I pray, daily, for a cure to wipe out those illnesses, I also pray for an AIDS cure.

Whether we end up as finalists or not, the very fact we submitted in an effort to support this cause should be enough for those who are not finalists to light a candle to honor those still suffering from AIDS, worldwide.

Good luck to you, Alexando.

Unknown said...

well, you certainly are poetic with your words. as for the 'fisherman' part, i can't vouch for that at the moment but i am sure it is true. thank you for sharing a personal story and an uplifting message and call to action.

i just recently started my own graphic tee clothing line and designed a tee to support keep a child alive. one of my friends informed me of this contest and i jumped at the opportunity.

the magnitude of the AIDS pandemic in Africa needs an even larger response. my entry to this contest and the tee that i designed to support kca are my way of contributing to that response. it all starts with caring and once we open our hearts, action will flow out, as it did with so many entries to this contest.

i hope the designs that don't make it to print are sent out as e-cards to family and friends, this holiday season.

Unknown said...

alexando,
As far as the 'fisherman' part goes, I was in fourth place in a catfish tournament until 48 hours from the end. On the last day of the tournament, I landed three catfish, each one ounce below the other and the largest was one ounce below the original 4th place fish. I finished 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, but the tournament only paid places 1-5. I've also caught a few fish that would have been state records, at the time, had I known about them and would not have released the fish, first.
On another note, I love the idea of e-cards. Hallmark, is there anyway to possibly take the honorable mention cards from Your Holiday, turn them into....say... pay per click e-cards, thus raising more money for Product(RED) and allowing the honorable mentions an opportunity to assist, as well? I think that would be a neat idea, if plausible.

Anonymous said...

Poeticfisherman...

That would be a great idea ! Wonder if Hallmark would do that? Pay Per Click E-cards !

Good call, and for each one sold, still money can be raised for RED !


I am getting excited too, never entered before this, but...Boy, the anticipation !

So I am clear, they email the top 20 submissions? Well, no email here...But, maybe too early for that yet !


Good luck everyone!


Emmi Gossard

Unknown said...

wow p.fisherman, those are some impressive fish stories. i am not a fisherman at all. i even bought the as seen on tv flying lures to aid in my catching of fish. however, i do love playing fishing games on my ps2 and i do pretty well at that.

i and i think all those afflicted with AIDS second your ecard motion. let's make it happen!

judgy judgerson said...

Okay, okay, people.

Q: How many submissions to YourHoliday did we receive?

A: We received close to 400 qualifying entries. We were (and are) beyond thrilled with this number particularly since the quality and care with which they were created and submitted was outstanding.

Our pet card competition garnered a lot more entries (in the thousands) probably because snapping a picture is a wee bit easier than creating a design. :)

Oh and fyi, we're starting to work on our next competition already, too. We think it'll be big fun for you guys.

Judgy

Anonymous said...

What about Funny*ness, judgy? Approx. how many entries did you receive for that one?