no.stupid.answers

Can I get a “Helloooo Austin, Texas!”

Our very own Shaya (@pickleshy) is running around SXSW Interactive with tons of Answers.com gear to giveaway. If you’ve been answering @Answersdotcom’s tweets and getting prizes for it, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t been - well, only 2.5 days left!

Shaya reported a bit on what she’s seeing and hearing at SXSW and here are a few snapshots to piece together… Oh, and the following statement that Shaya will have to explain at some point:

“Crowdsurfing sheep, flame-throwing buses, robots that play music, random random random (and ppl who call it stochasticity). Nearly saw a terrible rehashing of the super bowl Janet Jackson event during a slightly slutty soul sistas karaoke performance.”

Bag o’ giveaways in transit to Austin, Texas.

Getting the interactive on.

Lego A-burst!

Moose dude.

Answers.com sticker pole dance.

Sticker makes its mark.

The one and only Shaya!

Stay tuned for more tales from Texas later this week…

Good luck to all the teams participating in the first WikiAnswers Answerhunt, starting at 1pm Eastern time.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

Winning teams will be announced here, so stay tuned.

The first WikiAnswers scavenger hunt - known as the Answerhunt - is starting tomorrow at 1pm Eastern Time.

Team registration for the Answerhunt ends tonight at 11:59pm Eastern Time; you need three members to a team, one of whom must be a Supervisor. Get help coordinating a team by emailing WikiAnswers @ Answers.com (no spaces) or check out this Community Forum thread for help. Register your team and get ready to rock the clues, the first of which is being given from the Community Forum under Site Announcements.

And what’s the point, you ask? What’s in it for you?

FIRST PLACE TEAM wins $250 Amazon.com gift cards.
SECOND PLACE TEAM wins $100 Amazon.com gift cards.
THIRD PLACE TEAM wins $75 Amazon.com gift cards.
FOURTH PLACE TEAM wins $50 Amazon.com gift cards.
FIFTH PLACE TEAM wins $25 Amazon.com gift cards.

All winners will receive great WikiAnswers 9³ swag in addition to the other prizes.

Register your team now!

The folks at Answers.com are ready for the Q&A event of the year and now you can be, too: All the contest details are available on the official WikiAnswers 9³ Experience page (including the prizes).

In short, it’s a series of three events running from September 1-9, culminating on 9/9/09 (or 9³). You can participate in one, two or all three of the events (and win!):

1. AnswerHunt: The ultimate Q&A scavenger hunt, taking place across the WikiAnswers website on Saturday, September 5th. It’s also the first-ever WikiAnswers team event - each team must consist of two contributors and one Supervisor. Find your wiki-friends and sign up… and if you think you need practice around the site, better brush up now!
2. Town Halls: This is your chance to ask the WikiAnswers team-behind-the-scenes any questions you like! The best questions will be chosen and answered by Answers Corp staff; these video Town Halls will be shared on Wednesday, September 9th.



3. Video Contest: For the entire duration of 9³, you can submit up to nine Q&A videos - that is, videos you film yourself presenting a question on WikiAnswers and a visual answer. The best will be displayed here - and the creators will win prizes. Get inspired by one of the WikiAnswers Wednesday videos featured on this blog.

There isn’t much time to lose! Start gearing up for the 9³ events now. If you have any questions, leave ‘em in a comment below.

Have you been paying attention to what goes on around here on Wednesdays?

The WikiAnswers Wednesday video Q&As we’ve been sharing around here are a great example of the kinds of video Q&As you can do for the WikiAnswers 9³ Experience Video Contest. The more creative you are, the better.

You can submit up to nine videos displaying your Q&A creativity from September 1st through September 9th.

Here are some tips from Xtriece on how to use YouTube for submitting your videos:

A scavenger hunt in real time. A Q&A video contest. A series of town hall sessions featuring your questions to the WikiAnswers staff. Over $4,000 in prizes. Culminating on 9/9/09.

Ready to experience 9³?

More details coming soon. For now, a video from Xtriece summarizing the WikiAnswers 9³ Experience:

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.”