Comments on: And the winners are……..

By: Young birder trips to Peru 8 days $699 | A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom

Young birder trips to Peru 8 days $699 | A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:00:59 +0000

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By: Gunnar Engblom

Gunnar Engblom — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:32:43 +0000

John has a lot of experience as a blogger. I am sure he will be an asset for the communities.

By: Gunnar Engblom

Gunnar Engblom — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:32:43 +0000

John has a lot of experience as a blogger. I am sure he will be an asset for the communities.

By: Brian Allen

Brian Allen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:03:13 +0000

Wow, exciting news I just heard from Tom Pavlik a fellow birder that has traveled to Los Amigos, Abra Malaga etc. as I had this year. Glad that you are working to promote eco-tourism in Peru , helping to save some of the incredible biodiverse habitats there and of course that I have this opportunity. BA, Michigan World Birders Facebook travel group. .-= Brian Allen´s last blog ..Manistee Christmas Bird Count 2009 =-.

By: Radd Icenoggle

Radd Icenoggle — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:21:08 +0000

Gunnar, I am so excited and grateful for the contest and the trip. I just found out this morning (been with family and friends all week)...I guess now I should choose a date and trip...I'll send an email to bounce some questions off of you later. Radd .-= Radd Icenoggle´s last blog ..Christmas in Plains =-.

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:13:38 +0000

Yep, I'm in Lima. Will be until mid-February. Still have to show up for work on weekdays but weekends I'm free
.-= Mel´s last blog ..Costanera Sur and La Plata =-.

By: Gunnar Engblom

Gunnar Engblom — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:48:01 +0000

@Mel thanks for popping in. Are you in Lima. Thinking loosely with Stephen Gast to informally arrange a Christmas Bird Count in Lima on Jan 1. Are you in Lima?
Cool to move to Cusco. More birds close to there!
@Dawn Would you help finding 1000 participants for the Social Media for birders workshop? Then there could be 1000 more bird bloggers by next year.
@anon. Pyramid scheme..hmm...well, MLM - multi-level-marketing - which is all too common on the internet is often accused for being Pyramide schemes....and truth is that it is the same principal, except that there is a tangible product at the end.
But accusing this even for being a pyramid scheme is a bit harsh. For the people taking part there is no money involved. The model will work if people are effective in spreading the word about us. If you like you could see the winners as ambassadors for the company. I don't know if everyone else agrees, but the blogpost
http://www.kolibriexpeditions.com/birdingperu/blog/index.php/do-you-want-to-go-on-a-birding-trip-in-peru-for-free/
cleary says that the trip is free from Lima (even trips you pay for with most US birding companies that operate in Peru will start in Lima...flights are not included in the given price!) and it states that the winners will be those that best spread the word about the contest.
In the newsletter I also explain that the winners don't have to recruit all the participants, but participants who think they have a capacity to actually recruit a few trip members are better off if Kolibri Expeditions can't get 5 people to each departure on our own. After all with 21 free trips given away, it does mean 105 paying clients need to be recruited. That is not a small task, and probably not possible for us alone without having 21 ambassadors also networking.
Hopefully, the social media workshop for birders will make all the winners more effective reaching other birders.
In the end, you are probably right, that the whole thing could have had a negative impact as well on several people, but if it was the first time people heard about me giving away trips and thinking it was some sort of a scheme, and the next time they hear about me finds out it was actually true.....it shall not be so bad.

@Alan. thanks mate!

By: Alan McBride

Alan McBride — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:01:20 +0000

Pleased to have entered and won a berth with Gunnar.

Hopefully will be able to get some decent publicity for the communities involved, such a good idea Gunnar. Well done, I'm sure it will be an immense long term benefit for you and Kolibri Expeditions. Cheers

Alan

By: anon

anon — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:09:24 +0000

I was interested in the contest initially but with each description and email I felt it was more like a pyramid scheme than a contest. I know you are a start-up business with good intentions because I follow you on twitter and many other people I follow support you. But when you use language like "promotions" "promote" and "marketing" in the contest details it paints a very different picture than "contest." I think you should include, in explicit terms, what the winner does get in detail, what the winner does not get (air fare?) and what is expected of the winner. When you use the word trip I think it includes airfare from the US to the destination and back again and was initially interested in the trip. But the trip does not include airfare and is completely inaccessible to me because I will not have money for an international flight in 2010. Also, saying the winner will act as a "host" makes me think if I won I would be responsible for recruiting others to go on the same trip and I do not have the internet presence or anyone close to me that could afford it. What I feel you did right was stay connected to the contest and continue to promote it personally. If I had the money for airfare I would have participated because I feel like you really believe the things you say (sometimes hard to tell over the internet) and your passion for the region is contagious. But I can see how people who do not follow you and share followers on twitter, and who do not read your blog or follow your facebook would be hesitant or turned off by the description of the contest.

By: Dawn Fine

Dawn Fine — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:02:55 +0000

Congrats to all the winners! I am look forward to reading all the blog posts of the trips. Great job Gunnar. .-= Dawn Fine´s last blog ..Dawn Goes horseback riding =-.