We picked a winner in our first-ever contest, last week’s 4th of July 2006 Contest that asked for five freedoms guaranteed in our First Amendment.
While the response was disappointing (only 29 entries), the winner was not disappointed! In the interest of proving it was all kept ‘top shelf’, I’ll describe the procedure to pick our winner.
First, the names and birthdates of eligible entrants were copied from the email entries into separate worksheets of an Excel spreadsheet. Each person was given their own worksheet, numbered 1-29.
Second, I Googled and found the random number generator formula in Excel. In a blank cell I entered the formula =INT(RAND()*29) . In English, RAND will deliver a random number between 0 and 1. To make it a random number between 1 and 29, I had to multiply it by 29 (hence the *29). This resulted in numbers with decimals, so to force it to round to the nearest whole number I added INT to make it an integer. (I’m not smart, I just know how to search for information.)
So I entered the random number generator formula in a blank cell, hit enter, and the random number was 27. I selected worksheet #27, and our winner was Carol McClaskey (I’ll keep the birth date secret). I went back to the emails, found hers, and notified her. 
Last night, Tuesday July 12, at about 7 PM, we met at the Idaho Falls Barnes and Noble. I verified name and birth date by her driver’s license, and took her picture outside.
Congratulations to Carol McClaskey, the winner of a beautiful Sony MP3 player in the first IdahoFallz.com contest. Carol said she found out about the contest from one of our yellow fliers handed to her at the parade.
If you are truly interested, I videotaped the winner selection. I didn’t compress it down, so it’s a sizable 13 MB. To the curious on dialup, it just shows my computer screen on an Excel sheet, the random generator formula being entered, the number generated, and the worksheet 27 being selected with Carol’s name shown.
Finally, there was no scam, no spam, no selling of anyone’s information, and especially no purchase required. The contest entries did not even ask for anyone’s phone number or address. Wouldn’t it be nice if all contests were as polite as IdahoFallz.com’s?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations Carol! I think it’s great that you were wise enough to judge this was not a scam, but a real contest. I hope if you’re not already registered you will be and sometime tell us both about your experience in receiving this flier at the parade and what it was like to win.
Please tell 5-10 of your friends about this site, as that is how it will grow. Also, if you know of local businesses that want to be profiled, either list them in the chat or e-mail Joe. I think the businesses are featured for a while at no cost, for a period of time, but am not sure of the details. Joe, please help me on this one – how businesses are featured and the cost.
Anyway, congratulations. I hope you have a wonderful experience with your Sony MP3.
Way to go girl!!! Get some Elvis music rockin’ on that new mp3 player. And a shout out to your husband whith all the smarts!!!
Congrats!
Crongrats and well done.
Nevermind, I don’t want to be a good sport. YOU SUCK!
Just kidding.
This site is slow lately, so I’m trying to spark some drama. Call it a character flaw.
Oh, and just to confirm my suspicions, am I the youngest dude here?
Whoooops! I must admit an error, small yet significant.
John McGimpsey pointed out that Excel’s INT function actually rounds down to the next integer, not up or down to the nearest integer like I thought.
So the function I used =INT(RAND()*29) would return whole numbers 0-28, never reaching 29. He pointed out a better function would have added one, as in =(INT(RAND()*29))+1
The contest selection was still randomized, though, so I feel confident the selection process was fair, if flawed by that tiny bit.
I do appreciate his help in pointing that out, and I’m sorry if my mistake upsets anyone.
We need smart people like that running our government, people who understand complicated formulae. 8^)
I think I might be younger Jeremy
I’m 22. You?
16
I win!
This is the follow-up thread to the contest.