Contest: Organized or Messy Desk - Which is Better?

Some say a messy desk is the sign of a brilliant mind. Some say an organized desk is the only way to go. Which side of the debate are you on? It may pay to have your say!

I always thought that my messy desk was just a reminder of my less than stellar ability to keep the things around me neat and tidy. I felt bad about it...truly. Whenever someone would come into my office, I found myself making excuses for the piles of random stuff all over my desk.

Come to find out, there may be more to the story than I thought. I have recently read some interesting quotes that not only suggest, but pointedly SAY that a clean, organized desk does not always indicate that a productive worker lives there. In fact, I have read that a clean desk can hinder worker efficiency! Can you imagine that?

Here is where YOU come in to the debate! We are holding a little contest featuring the debate over whether it is better to have an organized desk or a messy one. We are calling it the Organized or Messy Desk - Which is Better Contest.

What exactly can I win in this contest?

With its all steel construction, 1.7 PHP Vacuum/Blower power unit and triple filtration system, it is the perfect tool to keep your sensitive electronic equipment and computers free of dust and grime.

That means, even if you tend to be more on the messy side of the organized vs. messy debate, you can at least keep the electronics part of your office clean. P.S. I have been known to vacuum the entire surface of my desk with my computer vacuum!

Your desk may be the epitome of clean and organized. You may say that is the only way to be productive and not waste time trying to find things lost on your desk. That may be true..but what if you are on the other side of the debate and say that your messy desk may look messy to others, but you know where every single thing you need resides in the piles of madness. I have read that a messy desk is just your short term memory looking for ways to expand into the environment because you are filling it up while multi tasking! What is YOUR view?

We will add a link to the winning blog entry on our home page and contest page. Second and third place blog posts will get a link too.

Simply by entering this contest you'll be making your own blog better by giving your readers an interesting post that even they can add their opinion to and tell THEIR side of the story.

What exactly does the contest entail?

You write a minimum 150 word blog post on YOUR blog telling everyone what your view is about having either an organized desk or a messy desk and why you feel that way. Doesn't that sound easy? Well it is of course!

There are no limitations and no holding back for the desk police. Nobody is going to come to your office or home and cuff you for having a messy desk or even an opinion about those who have clean ones.

I repeat, this essay goes on your blog, and to enter the contest, you do a couple of simple things for a chance to win the contest!

How will we choose the winner?

The winner will be chosen by the staff of Office1000.com. Here is some of the most important criteria:

• We are looking for creativity and a simply convincing argument for one side or the other
• We will also look at readability and quality of your blog, ie, is the type size readable (do you really thing we or anyone will else will bother reading teeny tiny print?) Is it formatted nicely? Are there lots of obnoxious blinking things to distract the reader (we hope not!)? Do you use at least minimal SEO (ie: NOT using these: nofollow links, no follow meta tags, no index meta tags, excessive widgets or javascript).

What things are necessary to enter you ask? Here are the rules:

1. You MUST write a blog post of 150 words or more as described above, and publish it in your blog.
2. You MUST include within your post a link back to this contest announcement  (or any other valid page on www.office1000.com)  and mention that you are writing your story because http://www.office1000.com is giving away a free computer vacuum, ie: http://www.office1000.com/contest/Organized-or-Messy-Desk.html
3. Submit the url of YOUR blog post to us via the form below (make sure you submit YOUR blog url and not our contest url!.
   
4. The contest deadline is May 31, 2010 up until midnight that night (Eastern Time). That gives you two months tell us whether clean desks or messy desks are better and why, but after May 31st, we're not reading any more posts!
5. If the winning entrant is from the Continental United States, the winner will be shipped a Metro Data Vac MDV3BA, if the winning entrant is outside the Continental United States a cash prize in the amount of US$125 will be sent via Western Union. We are not responsible for incorrect email addresses or email delivery problems.
   
6. Winner will be announced the first week of June, 2010 and the winner will be contacted by email for shipping or Western Union instructions for their prize depending upon the winner's location! Note: if winner has purchased an MDV3BA in April or May 2010, we will refund their purchase, or ship them another one at their option.
   
7. Employees of Office1000, Inc. and their families are excluded from the contest. Sorry employees, I know you were looking forward to a prize, but you can entertain us with your opinion on the messy vs. organized debate!
   
8. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. If you in a country that Western Union doesn't service, you'll need to provide an alternate person in a suitable location.
   

The bottom line is to satisfy the staff of Office1000 you'll need to have a readable blog that gives an interesting story and inspires your readers to voice their opinions too. We don't really care about your traffic, page PR, or that kind of stuff.

After you've published your blog, please let us know by submitting the url for your blog post below. You also need to include your email so we can contact the winner. There is an optional check box if you'd like to receive some information about a freelance writing opportunity (this will be a ONE TIME personal email, and only sent if the box is checked and we at least like your work a little bit).

That's it folks! How easy can it be? You submit your 150 word blog post url to us, the staff at office1000.com will read it (yes we will read every single one; but our friendly robot will check to make sure you included a link first; remember what rel="no follow" tells robots), and the most creative, interesting and most compelling post will be chosen by us as the winner.

The winner's blog will be posted on our homepage at http://www.office1000.com and you will receive either a FREE MDV3BA computer vacuum or cash equivalent of US$125!

Are there any other rules or things that are prohibited, you ask?

Well, yes, only one other thing: You must refrain from using stuff that is offensive in your post. We are a family-friendly site and don't want to upset anyone with vulgar language and other stuff you can't talk about in that kind of environment. If I see that kind of thing in your post, it goes in the garbage can of my mind never to appear in public on our site, and you have wasted your effort.

Note: the entry period for this contest is over. Our winner will be announced shortly. Please check out our new contest, Organized or Messy Desk

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