The "Happy-Holiday's-Random-Giveaways" Contest

The month of December can bring out both the best and worst in people. While I can tend to develop a rather anti-Christmas attitude (let's face it, this time of year can be hectic and stressful), my favorite parts of the end of the year are seeing all the lights, decorations, and people out and about... but most of all, I love the giving spirit that seems to fill so many during the holiday season. I also really enjoyed doing the "pay it forward" giveaway during the summer, so I am in the mood to do it again, in a slightly different format, with some different entry rules and prizes.

*Image found here

Here's what I'm thinking. Randomly, throughout the month of December there will be contests posted here to win a gift. The contests will have a range of entry requirements from something as easy as posting your name in the comments, to slightly more challenging entries. Since my readership is on the small side, the good news is you have a really great chance of winning something (Yay!). The requirements for the contests will probably coincide with the size and/or value of the gift, but, since I like to throw a wrench into things once in awhile, perhaps I'll do something wacky and reverse it, or make the gifts completely random with the contest. Who knows what my mood of the day will bring? It's really all just part of the fun.

*Image found here

Things you should know for each contest (even though exact rules will vary from contest to contest, these will remain the same, unless otherwise noted in the specific contest):
1) Entrants must reside (and have a mailing address) within the U.S. or Canada to win, but anyone is welcome to share information, if you're just the sharing kind of person. Also, if you are outside of the U.S. or Canada and are willing to pay the shipping costs of the gift, I'm all for you playing along, too. Santa's shipping budget just hasn't left me enough to cover costs to everywhere in the world, and my money tree has yet to sprout.
2) Anyone male, female, etc, may enter (As with the last contest though, entry is limited to humans, and my family members are ineligible, though friends... and enemies... are welcome to play along. Boy, I hope I don't have enemies, and if I do, please don't identify yourself. I prefer to keep it mysterious).
3) Participants may only enter each contest once, but may enter any and all contests.
4) Any taxes, fees, etc for reporting purposes and other reasons are the responsibility of the winner (check with your professionals, which is certainly not me).
5) Shipping of each prize will be paid by Endless Velo Love (except as indicated above, if applicable to you).
6) Please read each contest requirements carefully, as they will likely vary.
7) All winners will be chosen by a random name generator selection process online... which also means that it is possible to win more than once. However, I am placing a limit of two wins for any single person throughout the contest (we have to keep this somewhat fair and spread the love around...you know, to all three of my readers).
8) Though I'm not a very good rule follower myself, participants must abide by all rules for each contest, or the entry will not be included in the selection process.

There won't be specific dates or times given right now for the contests (I can hear the booing people... please restrain yourselves), but they could pop up at any moment during December. There's even potential for more than one in a single day (though I make no promises). Participants may only have a few minutes to enter from the posting time, or it might run for several days. I may even slip clues into blog posts, or in a tweet for the dates/times of contests. If the contest is a more complex entry, I promise to allow more than just a few minutes to enter though.

So, what is there to win? Ahh... that's the fun part. It could be something small, it could be something bigger (okay, not too big - there's no budget to give away a bike or anything of that magnitude this year), it may be Christmas-related, it could be new, it could be recycled/upcycled, it may be bicycle related (probably, since I seem to have a problem), it could be a blooper prize - there's just no telling until the contest is posted. I'm very excited to get this started though, and I hope that it will be something fun to keep spirits bright. Happy Holiday's, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.