Help make death wait. Win big and pay it forward

This morning while getting dressed I saw the incredibly powerful TV PSA (below) The Heart and Stroke Foundation using to reach out to women and let them know that heart disease and stroke is the number 1 killer.



Heavy, isn’t it? Did you know heart disease and stroke are the cause of death in 1 out of 3 Canadians? Pretty staggering, huh?

I was contacted by Karen Geier at OgilvyOne, asking if I’d participate in this program. I’ve been open about my family history and friends who have dealt with cancer, breast cancer in particular but I’ve been quiet about how heart disease and strokes have touched those I love as well. So, without hesitation, I agreed to help spread the word about the Heart & Stroke Calendar Lottery and hopefully help raise some awareness about the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

What is the Heart & Stroke Calendar Lottery?
For $25 you can buy a calendar with lovely photos by local photographers. In addition to helping the Heart and Stroke Foundation, you’ll have a chance to win great prizes every day of the year. There are some early-bird prizes too.

How to win a calendar
So now here’s a chance for you to win big and pay it forward by doing something to raise awareness about the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

I’m giving away two Heart  & Stroke Calendar Lottery calendars to each of five lucky people. The idea is you’ll keep one of the calendars for yourself and pay it forward by giving the second one to a friend or family member. For the blog, all you need to do is leave a comment sharing why you want to support the Heart and Stroke Foundation, by Thursday, November 10.  For Twitter, you’ll need to stay on the look out for two “tweet to win” opportunities over the next week. Keep an eye on the #GiftAndWin hashtag. Note you have to be an Ontario resident to win.
Update: I’ve decided to keep the giveaway on the blog an not run a Twitter giveaway as previously stated. 

How to buy a calendar
You can buy The Heart& Stroke Calendar Lottery until December 20 at midnight online, by phone at 1-888-514-7767 or by mail while supplies last (Ontario residents’ only.) For more information, visit the website or the Calendar Lottery page on Facebook.

Buy you calendar before November 10 and you’ll get a chance to win an Early Bonus Prize of $25,000! Order your calendar before December 15 and you’ll automatically be entered for a chance to win the Early Bird Prize of $250,000!

Disclosure: As an independent consultant, I work with Hill & Knowlton on some client accounts. I was unaware when I was contacted by Ogilvy that Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario was also a Hill & Knowlton client. I do not do work on this account.

Help spread the joy with Magic Santa and you may win a Disney vacation

Magic Santa is a free online video service that lets you make a personalized video message from Santa for the kids in your life. You can either make the video online or use their mobile service. You can also share a link to your child’s video with family and friends on Twitter, Facebook or by email. I made one for my 12-year-old on my iPhone in seconds. Even though we don’t celebrate Christmas and he’s old enough to know the truth about Santa, he was mesmerized and impressed by how much Santa knew about him.

Support Kids Help Phone
The service was launched by Sympatico.ca last month and in turn, they’re donating $0.25 for each video made to Kids Help Phone, up to $50K. Making a Magic Santa video message is such an easy way to help support this wonderful organization that does so much to help kids all across Canada – free of charge. Last year, Kids Help Phone counselors responded to more than 235,000 individual phone calls and web posts from kids in more than 2,500 communities. All contact is confidential, the service is available 24/7 365 days/year and callers are treated in a compassionate and non-judgmental way.

Wanna chance to win a vacation to Walt Disney World?
All you need to do to enter is take a photo or video capturing your child’s reaction to his or her Magic Santa video and submit it through the Magic Santa contest site by December 19. A random draw will be made on December 21 and one lucky winner will receive a $10K travel gift certificate. See the fine print for details. Pretty sweet Christmas gift, eh?

Have you made a Magic Santa video message for your children? What did you think? If so, did you enter the contest?

Full disclosure: Sympatico.ca is a client of Echo Communications. I’ve been part of Echo’s team for this campaign

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Ron White is giving away a $200 gift certificate on Twitter

Ron White is a Toronto-based high-end shoe store named after it‘s owner, with a focus on premium brands that put comfort first yet are equally fashionable.

Well, Ron White is new to Twitter and as a way to attract new followers and gain awareness for his store, he’s launched a Twitter contest. All you need to do between now and May 11 is email your favourite one of his tweets to Service@ronwhite.ca for a chance to win a $200 gift certificate to Ron White. Make sure to use “Ron TWEETS!” for your subject line. Make sure to check the website for complete details and while your there, check out the good work Ron White does in the community.

Just one word of caution, most items in the collection are well above $200, so while the winner probably won’t be getting a new pair of shoes or sandals for free, she will get a hefty discount.

I’d be curious to learn the total number of entries for this contest and the number of followers he gains compared to entries. How about you?

Hat tip to Connie Crosby for sharing.

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Winners announced for The Clothing Show!

Well, as it turns out, Jessica from The Clothing Show agreed to give all seven people who entered Bargainista’s contest by 5 p.m. today, a pair of tickets to the show May 14-16, 2010.

Congrats to:
‪• xoxo michelle‬
• Jean
• riann
• Eliana
• thirtyfourflavours
• calialexandra
and
• Natalie Ann

Thanks for your terrific comments. Please email me with your real first and last name and the name of your guest by next Wednesday, May 5, for details on how get your tickets to the show.

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Win tickets to The Clothing Show Spring 2010 Edition!

Want free tix?
The Clothing Show returns with the Spring 2010 Edition – offering a weekend of shopping, art, photography and runway shows. Once again, Bargainista is giving away some pairs of tickets. Comment by 5 p.m. ET, Friday, April 30 to enter a random draw. Make sure to mention why you’d like to go to The Clothing Show in your comment.

What?
The Clothing Show
• Shop for unique finds from talented designers and artisans
• Sample sales section features big names from our retailers (markdowns up to 90% off retail)
• Unique treasures from independent, vintage and retro vendors
• Special sales
• Runway fashion shows Friday night and all day Saturday
• Art gallery featuring works by local artists

When?
Fri., May 14: 3-9 p.m.
Sat., May 15: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sun., May 16: 11 a.m.7 p.m.

Where?
Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place (See map.)
Toronto

How much?
Tickets $8 in advance or $10 at the door. (Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult.)

For vendor inquiries, please call 416.516.9859 or email info@theclothingshow.com.

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Soothe Your Sole Contest: what would it take for you to sell your soul?

One of the most fashionable footwear shops, Davids Shoes together with one of the finest spas in the county, The Stillwater Spa, have teamed up for a contest.

The prize?
You can win two awesome gift certificates – $500 towards a day at The Stillwater Spa and $500 for Davids – just in time for Mothers’ Day.

The catch?
You have to enter online and agree to receive promotional material from the contest sponsors.

Seems like a small price for the sponsors to pay to build a healthy customer database. With so much of our personal data shared these days anyway, handing over an email address and phone number may be a small price to pay in exchange for a chance to win a day at the spa, especially with such high odds.

Are you entering? What does it take to get you to share your email address and phone number with businesses?

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Mad about Mad Men

I’ve always been a fan of early 60s style, especially fashion and décor. And, although I understand the sociopolitical context, I’m still amazed at how one decade began with women aspiring to be like Jackie O yet ended with the Hippie generation.

I’d been intrigued by Mad Men for quite some time, especially with all the talk on Twitter most likely due to the fact I’m friends with a lot of people from the agency biz. As some of you know, I’m no stranger to agency biz myself since I joined iStudio last spring. As for whether or not things have changed since the 1960s, I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Back to Twitter, about 10 days ago, new avatars started popping up all over the place. Why? Mad Men season 3 starts on August 16 and it was one of the ways AMC decided to create some buzz on blogs, Twitter and Facebook. If I’m any indication, it worked. Last weekend I rented season 1 and we’ve been having a Mad Men marathon ever since. Season 2 is available for free on Rogers on Demand until the end of the month. A Twitter fan campaign emerged last summer when accounts were launched on behalf of some of the main characters, creating buzz for season 2.

Here’s Bargainista Mad Men style:

Despite 1962/3 being a time where most women were either perfecting their best Martha Stewart impressions long before Martha Stewart was a household name (no wonder Mother’s Little Helper was so popular), or belonging to a secretarial pool, I related more to Peggy Olson and decided to join the boys club. You can check out MadMenYourself.com for yourself.

Better yet, if you think you really are a Mad Men (or Mad Women) material, you have until August 11 to get a special code from your local Banana Republic store (they’re not available online) and try out for the Mad Men Casting Call by entering the special code and uploading your photo – that fans can rate. A lucky winner will get a walk-on role in Mad Men season 3 and a $1,000 shopping spree at Banana Republic. Check out Banana Republic Mad About Style and Miranda Wickett from London, Ontario - looks like she may have a chance.

Update: As part of Banana Republic’s Mad Men promotion, spend $125 or more on new merchandise August 13-23 and save 25% off your purchase. (Note: Scroll down when you click on the link to see the BR promo.)

Do you watch Mad Men? What do you think? How much has the workplace changed in 40+ years?

Tip of the week: using Twitter to win prizes

This week’s tip comes from Adele McAlear or @AdeleMcAlear as she’s known on Twitter.

Here’s her tweet:
I’ve saved you the work and done the search. In the time it took me to write this post, there were 160 new tweets with the word “win” with links to all kinds of contests. If you’re really savvy, you can even subscribe to the RSS feed. If you do try this out, let us know if you have any luck.

Thanks Adele!

Have a tip to share? Email or tweet me and maybe I’ll post it here.

Bargainista shape up for 2009 contest winner announced

The judge has spoken and Patricia is our lucky winner. She’ll be receiving a brand new Vata Brazil workout outfit.

"I would give it to Patricia. She sounds dedicated, she has clear goals, and if she's going to have another baby they'll fit." - Michael Allison

Congratulations Patricia! Please email me for details so I can send you your prize.

Thanks to the folks at Vata Brazil for their generosity. (Note: the top isn’t the same one pictured.)

Bargainista shape up for 2009 contest

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably been thinking of new goals for 2009. Maybe you call them resolutions, maybe you don’t.

One of my goals – and I have many – is to lose some of the weight I’ve gained back since the Nutrisystem Challenge last year. Fortunately, NutriSystem has kindly offered to give me another month of food. Now, if I would only get up the nerve to place my order.

What I really need to do is kick up my activity level.

Enough about me. I want to hear about you. What are you doing to help stay in shape this year?

Leave me a comment, photo or video clip, provided I have permission to use it on the blog.

What’s in it for you?
I have a women’s 2-pc. workout outfit from Vata Brazil. It’s supposed to be one-size-fits-all and claims to be made with fabric they call “10x stretch”. I think it’s probably for women sized 6-10 or 12. The pants sell for $89.99. I don’t have a price for the top but I think it’s between $30-$40. I’ve included pictures except the top I’m giving away is white.

Entries are due by Sunday, Jan. 25, 11:59 p.m. EST. (Open to Canadian residents only.)

Michael Allison will be picking the winning entry and here’s why:

We met in person when he was in Toronto last summer and we’ve stayed in touch. Last month he asked me if I’d like to run a contest with outfits donated by his (now former) client Vata Brazil.

He did an excellent job on the blogger outreach side of things. Why? He did his research. He didn’t schmooze me in any way and most of all, he built a relationship with me. When he had a client who he thought might interest me, he got in touch and tailored his approach.

Unfortunately, Michael lost his job due to downsizing since he was one of the new guys. If you’re in Vancouver looking to hire a sharp guy with a background in communications with a solid understanding of social media, Michael’s your man.

Lil Did: We have a winner!

Last month I ran a contest for a free pair of hand-made earrings from Jessie Wilding, owner/designer from Lil Did.

I received 10 entries and there was a random draw – each entry was assigned a number – I asked my son to pick a number between 1 and 10. He choose 9 and Wayne MacPhail won the earrings for his lovely wife Barb.

And by the way, Lil Did has a great promo on now: Buy one item, get 20% off a second item of equal or lesser value. You can also join her mailing list and you’ll be automatically entered for a monthly giveaway.

Thanks Jessie!

Stay tuned for another giveaway coming up soon!

photo credit: wmacphail on flickr

Win a pair of handmade earrings from Lil Did

Local jewelry designer Jessica Wilding asked me if I’d tell you about her jewelry business, Lil Did Jewelry & Accessories. In return, she’s giving away a pair of black onyx sterling silver eardrops (pictured) as a gift to one of you.

According to Jessica, “The inspiration for this piece started from one of my first designs where I created these wire birds’ nests. They were interesting to look at and I had many compliments on them. From there I made “tornado” style birds’ nest earrings that were simply a wire funnel, then I decided to incorporate gemstones into that style.”

I love giving props to local artists and designers so I agreed. All you need to do is send me an email telling me what special offer Lil Did has on now no later than Tuesday, August 19 11:59 p.m. EST. Each email will count as one entry (limit: one entry per person). A draw will be held and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, August 20.

My PinUp Lip Balm Prize

Canadian Beauty is always giving away free cosmetics and other beauty products.

I rarely enter contests ’cause I rarely ever win.

A few weeks ago I got lucky and won an 8-Ball Gift Tin from PinUp Lip Balm. It included all 8 luscious flavors:
• Citrus Punch
• Gimme Grape
• Love That Lemonade!
• Mocha Loca Chocolata
• Peppermint Twist
• Royal Raspberry
• The Boys Love Coconut
• Voluptuous Vanilla

PinUp Lip Balm is made with all natural products and is not tested on animals. My prize retails for $32 (plus shipping) or $4 for individual containers. Yummy!

Wondering why I’m telling you about this?
I received a lovely personalized, hand-written note from PinUp asking me to spread the word. Very cool. FYI, their website doesn’t work that well so I can’t tell you where to buy it other than their online store. Not so cool.

Canadian Beauty has another great giveaway this week. It’s for 2 Nair prize packs. Why don’t you try entering and see what happens. You might just get lucky! If so, let us know.

Tamsin joins me for the NutriSystem Challenge

One week, nine entries, two posts and three judges later, we have a winner...

Congratulations to Tamsin who will be joining me in Bargainista’s NutriSystem Challenge.

Here’s Tamsin’s winning entry:

Happy new year Eden
I’d love the chance to give NutriSystem a try. In 10 minutes, I face my 37th birthday and, while I feel blessed and pretty good about my life, I know that I weigh more than I ever have and hate the way my clothes (don’t) fit. Like you, I’ve lost and gained -- back and forth -- over the past 5-8 years. I’m sick of maintaining 3-sized wardrobes! I feel I know my natural “happy” weight and this 145lbs isn’t it!

As for my physical activity, I began taking pole dancing fitness classes a couple of years ago and trained to become a part-time instructor last year. The pole dancing (2 classes a week) keeps me fairly fit, but natural aging has changed my body (I don’t have children). I *know* that I need to eat more healthily to trim my extra pounds -- I’d love to see myself 15-20 pounds lighter. (Portion control is another challenge for me, especially as my husband is the cook in our family.) I have never tried formal dieting before; I’m curious about NutriSystem.

I would love to share updates with your readers.

Tamsin

Tamsin has agreed to write guest posts so expect both of us to provide you with regular updates.

Thank you to everyone who entered the NutriSystem challenge. I hope you’ll follow our trials and tribulations over the next 12 weeks or so and share your weight loss experiences in the comment section.

In total, I received nine compelling entries from across Canada. The judges had their work cut out for them but in the end, Tamsin was clearly the winner.

Judges scored each entry individually. In order to stay objective, my role was simply to determine judging criteria and add up the scores. Judges were asked to score entries based on three criteria around the theme of building community.

A big shout out also goes to the judges:
• Kate Trgovac (Vancouver), publisher of One Degree – “a marketer's secret weapon” and author of My Name is Kate, one of Canada’s leading blogs on marketing and technology;

• Kim Vallée (Montréal), writer of At Home with Kim Vallee – inspiration for stylish living and entertaining; and,

• Sameer Vasta (Toronto), storyteller and new media junkie who likes to laugh a lot. You can find him at blogTO and Eloquation.

Join me for a NutriSystem challenge

If you’re like most Canadians, one of your New Years’ resolutions was to lose weight. I didn’t make any resolutions. Never do. But when NutriSystem asked if I’d have a reader giveaway, I immediately stepped up to the plate. (Bad pun, I know but I couldn’t resist.)

NutriSystem has been helping Americans lose weight for 35 years. New to Canada, they want to share their secrets with us Canucks. Apparently, clients who stay on the program for three months, lose 1.5 - 2lbs/wk (.68-.9 kilos). Carol Prinn has been on the plan for five months and lost 36 pounds. I want to know if her results are typical and what it’s like to be on the program. Teena has just started so I’ll be watching her closely too.

I’ve been struggling to shed the extra 25-30 pounds I gained back after a successful experience with another weight loss program six years ago. I used to go to meetings but got bored when the focus shifted to a triathlon the company sponsored. Last year I tried a workout program but it didn’t work out for me.

I lost some weight last summer but gained it back. My clothes aren’t fitting and nothing I try seems to look good on me. (The cat is out of the bag. Now you know why I haven’t been shopping for clothes lately.)

I’m curious to see if NutriSystem really works and what the food is like. I’ve never been a fad dieter or tried anything like this before.

Wanna join me for FREE?
Here’s the deal... NutriSystem will give us (me plus one lucky reader) a 3-month supply of food plus phone and online support for free (approximate value: $1,000). I’m going to blog about our progress at least once a week. And don’t worry, I’m not posting my actual weight and I won’t share yours either unless you want to. I’ll be focusing on weight changes. We can start the program together and I’m hoping the community will cheer us on. If you have a blog or podcast and you’d like to discuss your results, that’s cool too.

Want to join me? Leave a comment or send an e-mail explaining why. The contest is open to Canadian residents and ends on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. EST. So, what are you waiting for? Get your entry in soon.

Another NutriSystem freebie
NutriSystem has a promo on now. Buy 28 days of food and get one week of food for free. You won’t be alone. NutriSystem offers counseling and support for everyone on the program and provides preliminary counseling and assessment for those who are thinking about joining. If you do decide to try it out, as always, leave a comment.

The fine print
As with any weight loss program, contact your doctor first and read NutriSystem’s Terms and Conditions. I (“Bargainista”) am not responsible for any problems ensuing as a result of your participation in this program.

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Alexandra Ruget of Panem et Circenses who wins a copy of Nina Garcia’s The Little Black Book of Style.

You can read Alexandra’s style tip here.

Alexandra, please e-mail me with your mailing address.

Thanks to everyone who participated - your style tips are awesome. Special thanks HarperCollins Canada for providing the prize.

Technorati tags: Alexandra Ruget, HarperCollins, Nina Garcia, The Little Black Book of Style

Win The Little Black Book of Style

I just finished reading Nina Garcia’s The Little Black Book of Style. I’m pleased to report it’s not a little black book of superficial information about how to be the next Paris, Britney, Ashley or Mary-Kate. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Her inspiration comes from real women.

After a summer of bad blog pitches and tag lines making females feel like they’re never good enough, Nina Garcia starts the season off with a feel good message for young girls and older women alike – it’s inner beauty that matters. No matter what you wear (and this book goes into great depth about what to wear and what not to wear) it’s how you feel about yourself and how those feelings contribute to your personal sense of style that’s important. Yeah, Nina!

According to Garcia:

“Style comes from knowing who you and what you want to be in the world; it does not come from waiting to be somebody else, or wanting to be thinner, shorter, taller, prettier. Many of the most stylish women in the world have not been great beauties, but they have all drawn from an enormous amount of self-confidence. They made us think they were beautiful simply by believing in themselves.”

And don’t be fooled by her pedigree. This Elle fashion director and Project Runway judge with a penchant for the finest fabrics, jewels and designer labels, still knows the value of a bargain and has a warm place in her heart for H&M, my current fave.

When it comes to her tips on editing your closet, she wisely advocates buying clothes that fit instead of sizes you hope to wear someday:

“I much prefer to be seduced by chocolate and a pair of pants that flatters me.”

I think we’d get along famously. ; ) Garcia shares all kinds of great advice in this elegant coffee table book. I’m thinking of sharing in future “Tip of the Week” posts (of course I’ll be sure to give her credit.)

I thoroughly enjoyed The Little Black Book of Style. It’s written in an engaging fast-paced conversational style. Mini-interviews with couture designers including Michael Kors and Christian Louboutin and, successful models such as Iman and Heidi Klum (who shares her tips about pregnancy dressing) are insightful and inspiring. The playful illustrations by Ruben Toledo help make this a lovely gift for any woman in need of a boost.

Best of all, thanks to the folks at HarperCollins Canada I have a brand-new copy to give away. Interested? Share your favorite style tip. Leave a comment with your style tip by 5 p.m EST, Thursday, September 27. Comments will be entered into a random draw and the winner will be announced on the blog Friday, September 28. (Note: anonymous comments will be disqualified.)

Technorati tags: Elle, HarperCollins, Nina Garcia, Project Runway, Ruben Toledo, The Little Black Book of Style