no.stupid.answers

Are you sitting down? We have some news.

It’s time to bid farewell to our beloved Orange Guy. He’s been with us through thick and thin… but he’s also been busy helping many others on the web, too, and it’s time for a champion of our very own. Never fear - he is leaving a cousin to care for the WikiAnswers.com community! Introducing… the stick dude.

Like WikiAnswers contributors, the stick dude - and his stick crew - are a curious, friendly group that love to hang around the community, sharing what they know. These are your go-to guys, a friendly right-hand man, helping you around the site. The stick crew wants to make sure everyone has the best experience on WA, whether it’s poking around the Help Center or applauding the best questions and answers.

One thing remains to be decided. What should we call our new caretaker? “Stick” is lacking in… shall we say… pizzazz. We could name him Twiggy, after his toothpick legs. Supertwig came to mind, Or simply Fred or Skip. How about Max (and his lady friend, Maxine)? We’ve also had some more sophisticated ideas: JACK (jocular assistant of community knowledge) and CAL (community art liaison).

We need your help, and more importantly, stick dude needs your help. What are your favorite names for our new guy and his crew?

A big thanks goes out to everyone who flexed their fingers and maxed out their minds in name of knowledge this past weekend! This was the fourth AnswerThon we’ve had at WikiAnswers but only the second one without the bells and whistles for you purists out there. Since the original AnswerThon we’ve had Charity and How-To editions of this answering extravaganza…

Without further ado, the April 2009 WikiAnswers AnswerThon champions are Steven Keyman (supervisor division) and Jordang123 (standard division). Steven smoked the competition with an amazing 1,231 answers!  Second-place finishers included Aggie80, Rimshakr27, Iluvcake94, and Ananddave. Check out the full list of prize winners.

First, second and third-place winners are receiving Amazon.com gift certificates worth $500, $200 and $100 respectively. Additionally, second-place winners will take home WikiAnswers laptop bags while third-place finishers will walk away with WikiAnswers blankets. Fifty runners-up will receive WikiAnswers t-shirts.

Congratulations to all the winners, both first-time contributors and seasoned veterans!  When’s the next AnswerThon? I’m glad you asked. Sign up for WikiAnswers e-mail announcements and follow us on Twitter to be notified when the next WikiAnswers challenge is launched!

Today is the last day to vote for Answers.com in the Webware 100: Search and Reference category. Make sure you get your voice heard and make Answers.com a winner!

Just a friendly reminder that tonight at midnight, Eastern Standard Time (technically Saturday) the WikiAnswers AnswerThon begins. As long as you are logged in, your answers should count towards your total assuming they qualify:

• You are logged in!
• At least three sentences long, with each sentence contributing information.
• Answers should be correct and not nonsense.
• Proper spelling and grammar.
• Answers posted on the English WikiAnswers (http://wiki.answers.com); unfortunately, answers on the Tagalog site will not count.
• Answers must be new or completely replace a wrong or vandalized answer before it. Adding sentences to an existing answer will not count.
• Answers can be in any category.
• The timing is right: calculate what time the AnswerThon runs in your timezone by basing it off the EST time zone: midnight, April 25 (tonight) until 11:59pm, April 26 (Sunday night).

Check out the full list of rules.

Tip: You can ask a brand new question and answer it yourself if you find that questions don’t exist in the system.

And in case you lose your motivation after all that typing, coffee and answering: review the prizes.

Looking forward to crowning the AnswerThon champions next week!

There have been quite a few questions asked regarding the AnswerThon this weekend, so I will attempt to answer them here.

How do you register for the AnswerThon?

You actually don’t have to register at all. You just need to be signed in to your WikiAnswers account while you answer all the questions during the time of the contest. If you aren’t signed in, your answers can’t be counted.

Can you compete in the AnswerThon if you are a new contributor on WikiAnswers?

Of course! You could sign up for WikiAnswers during the AnswerThon and still compete (though I’d suggest not procrastinating). It’s not about your past contributions or how much time you’ve spent on the site so far. It’s about answering the most questions in that 48 hour period.

What are the times for the AnswerThon in different time zones?

Saturday, April 25th: starting at midnight, 12:00 am, Eastern Standard Time, (which is actually late Friday night in EST).

Sunday, April 26th: ending at 11:59 pm, Eastern Standard Time, (right before midnight of the 27th in EST).

If it’s April 25th, at 12 am in EST, it’s still April 24th across the rest of the United States - 9 pm in Pacific Time and 10 pm in Mountain Time and 11 pm in Central Time.

Here is a time zone converter site. Remember to consider your time zone!

Why do people want to be in the AnswerThon?

One word: prizes.

A few more words: Over fifty - 62 to be exact - chances to win a prize in this AnswerThon.

What are the prizes for winning the AnswerThon?

First, second and third place winners will be chosen separately from two sets of community members - contributors and volunteer Supervisors. From each of these groups:

One FIRST PLACE winner, who answers the most questions in two days, will be crowned our AnswerThon Champion and receive a $500 Amazon gift certificate.

Two SECOND PLACE winners will receive a $200 Amazon gift certificate and a WikiAnswers laptop bag.

Three THIRD PLACE winners will receive a $100 Amazon gift certificate and a WikiAnswers blanket.

Fifty RUNNERS UP (including both contributors and volunteer Supervisors) will receive WikiAnswers t-shirts.

Are 12-year-olds eligible to compete in the AnswerThon?

Unfortunately not. From the rules: “Participants must be 13 years of age or older in order to compete in the event.”

The prizes for this upcoming weekend’s WikiAnswers AnswerThon have been increased! Over 50 prizes will be given out to the WikiAnswers users who can answer the most questions in a 48 hour period over April 25-26.

First, second and third place winners will be chosen separately from two sets of community members — contributors and volunteer Supervisors. From each of these groups:

One FIRST PLACE winner, who answers the most questions in two days, will be crowned our AnswerThon Champion and receive a $500 Amazon gift certificate.

Two SECOND PLACE winners will receive a $200 Amazon gift certificate and a WikiAnswers laptop bag.

Three THIRD PLACE winners will receive a $100 Amazon gift certificate and a WikiAnswers blanket.

Fifty RUNNERS UP (including both contributors and volunteer Supervisors) will receive WikiAnswers t-shirts.

If I were you, I’d start collecting lists of questions to answer and even prep my answers in advance… Then you can seed them during the contest hours.

Remember, answers should be three sentences long, original wording, and proper English spelling and grammar.

Oh, and another tip - have plenty of coffee nearby.

You read that right: the AnswerThon is back. There is a new chance for contributors on WikiAnswers.com to win prizes by answering the most questions over a 48 hour period from April 25th through April 26th.

And don’t doubt for a second that you have what it takes. You can start practicing now by finding the Q&A categories you are good at, coming up with questions you can seed and answer during the contest period, and of course, flexing those typing muscles by practicing your answering skills.

Here are the details:

What?

During the AnswerThon, participants will answer as many questions as they can in any categories they wish over 48 hours, with the hope of spreading knowledge — and of course, winning prizes.

When?

Starting: Saturday, April 25, 2009, at midnight (EST).

Ending: Sunday, April 26, 2009, at 11:59 pm (EST).

What counts?

Only answers that are posted within this timeframe and in accordance with the contest rules will be counted as part of the contest.