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and
to whet your appetite,
here is a chapter from my book...
A Comper's World...
If you are new to comping, you are probably not yet
aware that there are several aspects to this hobby and all it entails.
With this in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you about
some of my own experiences - and where better to begin than to tell
you how I began...
First comp
I
can still clearly remember my very first competition (doesn’t every
comper?). I was a hard-up thirty-something housewife with two small
children, a part time job as a school cleaner, a big mortgage and a
small income. Comping wasn’t widely known about back then - although
there were a select few who belonged to the various comping clubs that
were beginning to form across the country - with the LCC (London Competitors’
Club (founded in 1952), being undoubtedly the oldest. But I knew nothing
of this, on the day my husband, Dick, came home with a promotional bottle
of R Whites lemonade with a limerick comp on the label to win one of
several Kodak Disc cameras - so it merely aroused idle curiosity, rather
than the eager enthusiasm I greet any new challenge with today.
A
secret lemonade drinker
But my apathy was not to last long - once I had picked up my pen and
started to think of all the possible rhyming words needed for my task of
completing the last line of the poem, I was soon engrossed. Today, I
would consult the rhyming dictionary that’s never far from side and
makes writing limericks and slogans a doddle. But, back then, inexperienced
as I was - it was all down to hard slog. However, I had always enjoyed
writing poetry and ditties and rather relished the challenge. And it
was also fortunate that I actually bothered to post my entry, as I had
always been sceptical about people actually winning comps (yes, I was
once just like you!) and can’t even claim that my first attempt at a
comp was brilliant - quite the reverse. The limerick had started:
‘A secret lemonade drinker called Anne
Drinks as much R White’s as she can
To win a Disc by Kodak...
with: ‘She bought up a whole stack She’s a Disc and ‘Top of the ‘pops’
fan!’
Being my contribution ….hmm! But how grateful I am to those two simple
lines today, as they were to be the small beginning of some very big
things to come!
The
champ!
Having posted my entry and forgotten all about it, you couldn’t begin
to imagine my surprise when, some weeks later, a small registered parcel
arrived at my door. It was a Kodak Disc camera from R White’s - a prize
I was to eventually repeat many times over - but I could hardly have
forseen that back then. It might not have been a very big prize - but
to me, it felt as if I had won the Pools. I still treasure the photo
of me in the champion’s pose smiling smugly at the lens as my hubby
captured me for posterity with my snappy little prize.
New
cars...
Having discovered that yes, people actually did win prizes… lifted the
mental barrier I had regarding competitions: the obstacle that prevents
most people from even bothering to enter in the first place - and I
resolved there and then, to enter every single comp I found (a tall
order and common symptom of ‘new comperitis’). This soon proved to be
exhausting and did nothing for the quality of my tiebreakers, which,
on reflection, were pretty awful and, before long, led to me thinking
and talking in rhyme most of the day - driving my poor family nearly
to distraction! And I’m sure my hubby began to rue the day he brought
that fateful lemonade bottle home. While I, on the other hand, was having
a delightful time dreaming of all the wonderful places I would visit;
the shiny new cars lined up on our drive...
Getting
the knowledge...
With comping so little publicised, I was pretty much going it alone
until I discovered (quite by chance) two comping publications: Competitors’
Journal (more commonly known as: CJ) which was the ‘bible’ of the keen
comper, and Enter Prize Research (EPR) one of the very first solutionist
magazines. Unfortunately, neither of these two titles exists today -
but what an eye-opener they proved to be for me - an absolute beginner.
For, with inside information and a little insight, I soon began to realise
that I wasn’t optimising my chances to the best effect and began to
take a more professional approach. Firstly: by becoming more organised.
Secondly: by being more selective and staying away from my first thoughts.
Prizes...
And, gradually, the rewards started to arrive: £60 in vouchers, 3 cuddly
toys and a Superman doll (which I regret not keeping as it would probably
be a collector’s item today - but seemed a pretty naff prize at the
time!). I also learnt how to pace my hobby to fit around my busy life
and utilised my resources and opportunities. For example: one of my
Christmas presents in 1983 included a rather expensive strong metal
box file that I needed for arranging my entry forms by their closing
dates (a system I still use to this day). “Are you sure you wouldn’t
rather have a nice bottle of perfume?” my bewildered husband had tried
to persuade me - feeling guilty that my Christmas present was something
so practical. But I was adamant and felt the ‘sacrifice’ was well worth
it. I meant business now!
First
big prize!
Before too long, comping began to change my whole outlook on life. After
years of having no real goals - it was with a renewed sense of vigour
I ‘Brassoed’ the doorknobs and cleaned the toilet bowls at the junior
school where I worked part-time. Those mundane tasks required little
brainpower but allowed me valuable thinking time for my all-important
slogans. In fact, it was while ‘Jiffing’ the washbasins in the girls’
toilets; I came up with my first big prize-winning tiebreaker - just
four months into my new hobby. I had spotted the comp whilst in my local
Co-op chemist on a diet product: Slimfast, and a slogan was called for.
I came up with what I still feel to this day was one of my best, when
I discovered that by reversing a few words - I had a good slogan:
‘I’ve mastered trying to diet – now friends are dying to try it!’
It scooped me 1st prize: £250 worth of Co-op gift vouchers - not an
enormous amount by today’s money - but a small fortune way back in 1983.
I was thrilled, as you can imagine! Now you’d think this was the end
of the story where that particular prize was concerned, wouldn’t you?
But no (and this is what I mean about the strange things that can -
and do - happen to a comper) allow me to explain...
Mr
Bean!
At that time, videos were a new innovation, and were just beginning
to catch on - but they were very expensive and few people could afford
them - including us. So we decided it would be a good idea to use our
windfall to treat ourselves to one. Adding another £50 to our vouchers
enabled us to buy the cheapest model our local Co-op department store
stocked: a Sanyo Betamax (a mistake, as it happens - as the Beta format
was rapidly overtaken by VHS - but not to worry - we were to win one
of those too, some time later). Having handed over our large bundle
of prize vouchers to the salesman (we had been given several denominations
in case we wanted lots of small purchases), we were dismayed to find
he was the most inefficient salesman we had ever had the misfortune
to be served by. The usual salesman of that department was off sick
that day, and this very unfortunate youth (rather like a young Mr Bean)
was absolutely hopeless. In the time it took him to process our vouchers
(one at a time… ever so slowly…) and wrap the machine - we could have
watched ‘Gone with the Wind’ on the thing! Going mad with frustration,
but not wanting to unnerve the lad (he obviously had a problem coping
with life - let alone our purchase!) my eyes began to wander around
the store, and I spied some leaflets in a nearby plastic container…
could it be a promotion? Yes… it was! Can you imagine my excitement
when I discovered they were for a Sanyo competition with prizes of trips
to the Olympic games in LA and proof-of-purchase just happened to be
a till receipt for any Sanyo product. Had that young salesman been more
efficient, I might never have spotted them - irritating as he was, I
could have kissed that boy then and there!
Olympic
winner...
Once home, I was eager to make a start and was pleased to see the comp
was one of my favourites: a tiebreaker comp. The lead-in asked why we
had bought a Sanyo product. Now if I had been absolutely honest, I would
have replied: ‘It was the only video player we could afford!’ but you
can’t win with comments like that, can you! So after a little brainstorming
I came up with:
‘Through the tapes and down the tracks – Sanyo’s first with Beatermax!’
my keywords linking the product to the track events at the Olympic Games.
That simple slogan was to earn me one of six 1st prizes: a £6,000 all-expenses
paid VIP trip for two to Los Angeles - taking in Hollywood; Disneyland;
Las Vegas and the closing ceremony of the 1984 Olympic games. On hearing
this news, I went into complete shock! But there was to be another…
our ‘Mr Bean’ was to go too, as the same prize was being offered to
all the salespeople who had sold the winners their Sanyo product. Apparently,
the salesman who had been off sick that day was even sicker when he
heard - but fortunately, ‘Mr Bean’ decided to take him along as his
guest as the sales prizes were also for two - so everyone ended up happy.
All this as a result of buying one £2 pack of Slimfast! It was hard
to believe how our fortunes were changing. In just a few short months,
we had gone from camping holidays in our faithful old tent (which was
rapidly banished to the attic, following this win) to our very first
flight (something we had always longed for). However, no sooner had
we recovered from the shock when a second letter arrived just days later:
‘Congratulations …’ it began: ‘I am pleased to inform you that you have
won 1st prize in the Wall’s Danish Bacon competition: a VIP trip to
Copenhagen, Denmark...’ But that... as they say, is another story....!
BRITT
To
place your order, please send a cheque/postal order for £10.99
made payable to: Brita Bevis at:
'By-Hook-or-By-Crook'
Publications,
21 Southgate Spinneys,
South Rauceby,
Sleaford,
Lincs
NG34 8QF
Price
includes UK P&P. PLUS...(while stocks last) I am also including
a selection of current competition entry forms.
©
2000
Brita Bevis -
How to Win
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