So here we are at the end of one road and the beginning of another. I can say for both Jonathan and myself that it has been a surprisingly rewarding experience for us over these past 18 weeks. When we initially conceived of this contest, we set out to offer one person the chance to change his/her life by becoming a PADI instructor. We devised the contest details, bought the domain, developed the site, shot the video and then, on October 30 2010, we launched The Best Dive Job in the World.
Press releases went out to hundreds of online outlets and the contest details featured in many print and online media resources in the weeks that followed. The response has been tremendous and has far exceeded our expectations. To date, we have received more than two hundred thousand hits on the blog, six thousand blog comments, 150 videos, 300 entries and a thousand new friends on Facebook. The support the entrants have received from their friends and families has been inspirational.
In reviewing this success over the past month, we saw how much it means to so many of you. For that reason, we then decided to launch a second place prize for this year’s contest. Well, I sat down with Jonathan this morning again and we’ve decided all of the top ten finalists should get a personal thank-you for their support of the program. The top prize is fantastic, the second prize is pretty sweet and the eight other finalist prizes are… well, still diving. 
Before I say what it is, I just want to say that I know some of you are going to be disappointed tomorrow. That is an inevitable outcome in a contest like this. I wish we could offer ten first prizes. Who knows, maybe we can next year, but it’s just not a reality for us at the moment. The other eight finalist prizes are more gestures of thanks than they are “prizes” per se. It’s not much, but it’s something.
Here’s the deal. If any of you eight fantastic individuals are ever in Bali, just drop by and we’ll be happy to take you out diving, on us. How does, say, three days for free sound? We would love for you to come and see the diving we have here. Sharing our passion for diving is the whole basis of this competition.
I bet most of you are holding your breath, waiting for me to start selling things to you. Well, that is not what this contest is about, and it doesn’t really suit my personal tastes, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going to sit here after all the great support you have given to the competition and try to market to you. I’m not down with that. What I will say is that if any of you are interested in pursuing training aside from this contest, I can offer you a private deal on any of our professional-level programs… which, by the way, we never, ever discount to the public.
Well guys, that’s about it for today. Once again, I can’t say enough how impressed I am with all the positive support you have each garnered for The Best Dive Job in the World 2011. Our two winners will be announced in about 20 hours, so stay tuned. I am sorry that eight people will be disappointed at that time, but please understand that we are always happy to help you meet your goals in diving. We will have a new contest up and running in a few months and you will be the ones with a head start.
To all of you, I once again extend my personal thanks and that on behalf of the directors of Blue Season Bali. You guys rock. I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to my next post!
TW
The Best Dive Job in the World
Blue Season Bali
PADI Career Development Center 6570
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