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Karla and Pip's Smoke-Free Lifestyle Wins!

Karla and Pip's Smoke-Free Lifestyle Wins!

by Quitters Unite  |  January 26, 2012 - 10:44am |  2 Comments

From 167 entries to 1 - we have a winner! After conducting a thorough review of the votes using all of the information available to us, we are happy to announce that Karla and her daughter Pip are the official Grand Prize winners of the My Smoke-Free Lifestyle Contest.

Karla did an amazing job of using her social networks, including a personal blog, email lists, Facebook and Twitter to share her video with a very wide group of people. Her employer even helped get the word out on her behalf to thousands of followers.

Amy, Jane and all of the finalists did such a great job of sharing their videos and were excellent ambassadors for Quitters Unite and our smoke-free lifestyle message. As we have said before, our goal from Day 1 was to help people consider all of the things they could do or buy with the money they save by living a smoke-free life. Each of the finalists already won their smoke-free lifestyle, the iPad was just icing on the cake.

We appreciate all of the support and positive feedback that we received since this contest began in October. Thank you for helping us end the contest on the same positive note.

If you have any questions or comments, please email us at info@quittersunite.com.

All five finalist videos can be watched at youtube.com/quittersunitebc.

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Smoke-Free Lifestyle Finalists!!

Smoke-Free Lifestyle Finalists!!

by Quitters Unite  |  November 30, 2011 - 3:06pm |  0 Comments

We are very happy to announce the five finalists in the My Smoke-Free Lifestyle Contest! After nearly seven weeks and more than 165 entries, judges from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and BC Lung Association narrowed it down to just 20 entries. This was not an easy task with so many amazing ideas!

After a 10 day voting battle and more than 1500 votes, five people emerged victorious. Amy, Jane, Jaclyn, Consuelo and Karla now get the opportunity to live their smoke-free lifestyle while we film it!

Over the next month, the five finalists will be filmed while they fulfill their $300 smoke-free lifestyle entry.

In January, these videos will be uploaded to Facebook where they will compete against one another for the last time. On January 21, the contestant whose video recevied the most votes will be declared the grand prize winner and take home an iPad2!

So if you didn't win this contest, don't despair because we have more contests heading your way and even some consolation draws coming up. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for details and drop us a line from time-to-time!

Thanks again to all those who entered! You really did open our eyes to all of the amazing things that people can do with their smoke-free savings.

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Chew on this

Chew on this

by Quitters Unite  |  June 22, 2011 - 12:00am |  4 Comments

I always find it interesting that chew or spit tobacco is so synonymous with sports. We've all seen the professional baseball player with a cheek full of the stuff, spitting onto the field every 30 seconds or the rodeo cowboy stuffing a wad of chew under his lip.

Perhaps chew is the tobacco of choice for athletes because it doesn't impact lung function or because they can't really be seen sucking back a cigarette while in left field. Although not as prevalent in sports as it once was, I still see athletes, both professional and recreational using the stuff. This includes a guy or two on my softball team and a few of my golfing buddies. These are guys who don't smoke and don't chew unless they're playing a sport...I just don't get this.

First of all it's just sick. My friends are a pretty considerate bunch of guys. They wouldn't ever spit in public regularly, but when they chew, they're having to rid themselves of a disgusting, brown wad of saliva every 20-30 seconds.

Second, smokeless doesn't mean harmless. Chew is every bit as dangerous as smoking cigarettes. It's got 28 cancer causing chemicals that may not lead to lung cancer, but significantly increases your chances of cheek and gum cancer as well as other lesions and mouth sores.

I've asked my friends why they chew, and only when playing a sport. Interestingly, they don't really have an answer aside from, "I don't really know, it just seems to go with golf, baseball, whatever."

Is it really so ingrained in our culture that chew and sports go together? Many people think so. In fact, many people see the use of chew by professional athletes as the main reason why kids continue to pick it up. Kids are especially impressionable during their pre-teen and teenage years. This is also the time of their lives that they are most likely to first try chewing tobacco. 

There are even some myths about chewing tobacco among teenagers and young people. Some popular myths are that chewing tobacco makes someone play better, or that tobacco is cool because the professionals do it. So when these adolescents enter into high school, they will most likely try tobacco because they have seen their favorite professional athletes do it.

For this reason many people think chewing tobacco should be banned from professional sports like Baseball. Would my friends have ever started using chew when playing sports if they hadn't seen this on TV growing up? Maybe, maybe not. But, personally, I believe this does have an impact on kids and think it should be banned in professional sports.

What do you think?

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Got ideas for a good contest? We want to hear 'em

Got ideas for a good contest? We want to hear 'em

by Quitters Unite  |  May 26, 2011 - 4:56pm |  1 Comments

We’re going to let you in on a little secret, we love contests! We love planning them, hosting them, talking to others about them, and most of all, awarding prizes to the winners.

Last year, we held two contests:

• A province-wide photo contest; and
• A share your story contest

Both contests were amazing in their own ways. The photo contest allowed us to go on a province-wide road trip where we got to meet hundreds of awesome people along the way, see some beautiful parts of BC and hand out free swag. We also got to dress people up in some pretty ridiculous outfits and snap some funny pictures. Now, who doesn't like that?

The Share Your Story Contest created an opportunity for people who had a story about smoking to share it online for a chance to win a bunch of prizes. The best part about this contest was reading / watching all of the incredible, powerful and inspiring stories that people shared with us.

Now it’s 2011, the Canucks are making their run at the cup and we’re thinking of contests for this year. Since we don’t get to participate, we thought it would make the most sense if we open the brainstorming up to everyone who can participate (i.e. YOU).

Ideally the contest has something to do with quitting smoking, but this isn’t 100% necessary. It can be any kind of contest you can think of, as long as it helps to achieve the following objectives:

• Increase awareness of Quitters Unite
• Drive people to the Quitters Unite website
• Promote sharing and online engagement via social networks

Any and all ideas are welcomed - there are no bad ideas here. So if you have creative juices, and we know you all do, get them flowing. You can share your ideas with us on Twitter, Facebook or through our comment box at the bottom. They don’t need to be long or fully developed. Send us whatever you have. Who knows, you may end up winning your own contest.

Go Nucks!

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Share Your Story Contest – Round 2 Winners

Share Your Story Contest – Round 2 Winners

by Quitters Unite  |  April 19, 2011 - 11:18am |  4 Comments

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Ya, we know that one’s a bit old, but we’re just so excited to finally announce the winners for Round 2 of the Share Your Story Contest.

With over 24 stories eligible to win this time around, three stories stood out among the rest. Based on a combination of public votes and judge’s picks, the top three stories this round were:

• 1st: Rest in peace my friend - Armin
• 2nd: Know when to hold ‘em – Alyssa
• 3rd: Never thought I would say, “no thanks, I’m a non-smoker” – Shannon

Each of the winners shared a story that presented an honest and personal account of their struggles and success with quitting smoking. It’s this kind of truly open disclosure that we were looking for because we realize that it’s not us that should inspire you to quit, it’s each other.

Congrats to all the winners in 2010/11 and thanks for submitting such inspiring stories!

If you know someone who smokes and may be struggling to quit, share these stories with them and tell them about Quitters Unite. Who knows, maybe all it takes is reading one of these inspiring stories to help them make up their mind for good.

Follow Quitters Unite on Facebook and Twitter for a bunch of new announcements coming later this year.

As always, best of luck to all of you still trying to quit and remember that quitting is easier when done together.

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And the winner is...

And the winner is...

by Quitters Unite  |  January 4, 2011 - 9:23pm |  1 Comments

A province-wide tour, nearly 500 photos, thousands of votes and a one-week finalist faceoff have led to this moment. Drum roll please…

The grand prize winner of the Quitters Unite Photo Contest is…Ryan Dirnback from UNBC!

At 9:00pm on Tuesday, January 4, Ryan had 165 likes for his photo, which was more than enough to earn him a shiny new Macbook!

We also want to congratulate the five runners up, all of whom will receive an iPad for their valient effort.

A big thanks to all those who participated and to those who showed their support along the way.

Winners will be contacted by phone and email with more information about collecting their prize.

The Photo Contest may be over, but the Share Your Story Contest runs until March 1. If you or someone you know has a smoking related story, we want to hear it. Share yours for a chance at up to $600 in prizes!

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Photo Contest Finalist Faceoff

Photo Contest Finalist Faceoff

by Quitters Unite  |  December 27, 2010 - 2:35pm |  0 Comments

Quitters Unite is holding a one-week finalist round for the Quitters Unite Photo Contest on its Facebook page starting December 28 at 9:00am PST.

Unusual voting activity prompted our team to investigate the voting results at the closing of the contest on November 30, 2010. Rather than immediately awarding the prizes, we have determined the best way to ensure a fair contest is to hold a finalist faceoff on Facebook.

The top finalist overall plus the five qualified regional finalists will face each other is a showdown on the Quitters Unite Facebook page.

Voting for this round is based on 'likes'. The participant's photo with the most 'likes' at 9:00pm PST on January 4, 2011 will be declared the grand prize winner. The other five participants will receive the regional prizes.

If you have any questions about the finalist faceoff round, email us at info@quittersunite.com.

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Share Your Story Contest Winners

Share Your Story Contest Winners

by Quitters Unite  |  December 13, 2010 - 9:40am |  8 Comments

It’s official! The stories are in and the votes have been counted. We are pleased to announce the winners for the first round of the Quitters Unite Share Your Story Contest.

Coming in with a combined total of 621 votes, the top three voted for stories are:

• 1st:  Time to just DO IT - Jean (291 votes)
• 2nd: The hardest yet proudest times in my life - Jacqueline (212 votes)
• 3rd:  My quit story interview - Liz C (118 votes)

Votes, however, were not the only thing that counted in this contest. For the Judge's Pick, two stories were selected based on creativity and their ability to inspire. These two stories (one video, one written) were unique in their own way, but both presented an honest and very real account of their struggle and eventual success with quitting.

The best written story goes to Angela for her story, Quit smoking vs. quit talking forever.

The best video story goes to Jean for the effort and creativity she put into her video titled, Just a few reasons why I am quitting. 

Congrats to all the winners and thanks for submitting such inspiring stories!

If you didn’t win this time, cheer up because round 2 begins Friday, December 17. Entries that did not win a prize will be left in the contest and automatically entered into the next round.

Good luck and remember, Quitting is easier when done together. Follow Quitters Unite on Facebook and Twitter.

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Share Your Story Early Bird Winners!

Share Your Story Early Bird Winners!

by Quitters Unite  |  November 18, 2010 - 4:58pm |  1 Comments

The Share Your Story Contest continues to November 30. So, if you smoke, used to smoke, or know someone who smokes we want to hear your story and are giving you the chance at some wicked prizes just for sharing it.

For now, here are the lucky winners of the Share Your Story early bird draw! For sharing their story before October 31, Monica, Liz, Jennifer, Ron and Amber won their choice of a $50 gift card to Future Shop, Sport Check or Save-On-Foods.

Check out their quit stories and share yours before November 30 for a chance at the big prizes! So far only one person has submitted a video story. With a $500 best video story prize up for grabs, you have a pretty good shot at a pretty great prize! Submit your today and get your friends and family to vote. Good luck!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest contest news.

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11,500 votes and counting!

11,500 votes and counting!

by Quitters Unite  |  November 10, 2010 - 9:14am |  14 Comments

After travelling over 2000 km and snapping nearly 500 photos along the way, the Quitters Unite Roadies found their way home.

To date, over 11,500 people have voted for their friends and family members and the contest is still far from over. Contest voting continues until midnight on November 30 so keep those votes coming! Remember, even if you don’t win the Grand Prize, there are 5 Regional Prizes available for the person with the most votes in their leg of the tour.

The best advice we can give you to increase your votes is to get those photos out to your Facebook network and ask people to vote for you each and every day.

We’ll continue to share our Quitters Unite Pic of the Day on our Facebook page. If you want us to share yours, ‘like’ our page, make your contest photo your profile picture and post that you want us to choose yours for the Pic of the Day. Good luck!

As always, remember, quitting is easier when done together!

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