There’s so much that I love about this time of year. There’s the smell of a crackling fire, egg nog, Christmas lights and family. Unfortunately, the holidays also involve lots of planning, travel, organizing and finding new ways to stay connected. Recently, I was invited to check out some offerings from Qwest and give away $500 of their money to one of you.

Get Organized

Qwest partnered up with Microsoft to offer Qwest High-Speed Internet customers Windows Live from Qwest, which they’re calling a customizable, one-stop-shop for those things that matter to you most online. This service brings together your online world all in one space, with everything from news and weather to your calendar, social networks to your blog.

The service is pretty customizable. During my introduction, I was shown how you can move any widget around, add new widgets like weather or a news feed, check your email, get to your bookmarks, etc all from your homepage. It also allows multiple pages for multiple users, work vs home, or just different pages for things like games, blogging, or whatever strikes you. There were a few other features that stood out to me. One was the online storage (with privacy and sharing options_ for photos or just about any files, which could be a handy way to share Christmas photos and videos with family. Others were the online DVR manager that lets you schedule and manage your recordings when you’re not in front of your TV and the ability to purchase and view movies online pretty easily. Everything is intuitive from a user’s standpoint and works pretty quickly, too. To be fair, there are several services like this out there, but only a few do a good job with it and this is one. The additional features I mentioned above make it stand out, as well, and it’s really easy to use. If you already have service with Qwest, try out these features and if you don’t, it’s a nice selling point. For anyone who has any trouble with it, they also offer tips and FAQs.

Win $500!

What better way to liven up the holidays than $500 courtesy of our contest sponsor, Qwest.

First, I’ve got to throw out a big Thank You to Qwest for sponsoring the contest and helping to give one of my readers an extra special Christmas to remember. That said, there’s a lot of details about entering the contest below, and it’s always good to read that stuff, but here’s the basics. To enter, just post a tip in the comments below between now and 12:00 AM, December 21, 2009. Your entry must be written in 50 words or less and should describe how you get your family and/or children’s schedule organized during the holidays. Entries will be judged on : Creativity (50%), Uniquness (25%), Ability to help organize (25%), so give your entry some thought. We might not be able to pick a winner with just one or two entries, so tell everyone about it on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Then come back here right before Christmas, where I’ll announce the contest results.

Qwest “Hectic Holidays Sanity” Contest Official Rules

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

The Qwest “Hectic Holidays Sanity” Contest (the “Contest”) starts on December 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM MST and ends on December 21, 2009 at 12:00 AM MST (“Contest Period”).

ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are “readers” of the designated blog and are 18 years of age or older. Employees of Qwest Communications (“Sponsor”), Current Lifestyle Marketing, the publishers or owners of the designated blog, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and promotion and advertising agencies, and members of their immediate family (spouse, parent, sibling, child and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win. Void where prohibited by law. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

HOW TO ENTER: During the Contest Period, visit the JoeTech.com (“Blog”) and follow the directions provided to share a tip on how you get your family and/or children’s schedule organized during the upcoming “hectic” holiday season(“entry”). You may be required to register to post an entry via comment post on the blog. Your entry must be written in 50 words or less. All entrants are required to comply with any blogging guidelines of the selected Blog author (incorporated herein by reference). All entries must be received by 12:00 AM MST on December 21, 2009 to be eligible. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and entries by any means which subvert the entry process are void. There will be no e-mail or mail entries accepted. All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be returned.

Each entry must be entrant’s own original work, be in English, cannot be previously published or submitted in connection with any other contest, be in keeping with the Sponsor’s and Blog’s image and may not be offensive or inappropriate, as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third party rights. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it determines, in its sole discretion, is offensive or inappropriate, not in keeping with Sponsor’s image or that is otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules.

By submitting an entry, entrant hereby grants permission without payment or other financial consideration being provided for the entry to be posted on the Blog and other websites selected by Sponsor. Entrant agrees that Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for any unauthorized use of entries by third parties. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any entry.

By submitting an entry, entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor as well as Blog may obtain many entries under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or other contests sponsored by the Sponsor or submitted for other reasons on the Blog, and entrant waives any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any composition and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Sponsor or the Blog (or their respective designees) may be similar to his/her entry.

JUDGING: All eligible entries received for the Blog will be judged by the author of the Blog on the following criteria: Creativity (50%), Uniquness (25%), Ability to help organize (25%) (the “Judging Criteria”). The entry with the highest score, as determined by the Blog author in his/her sole discretion, will be deemed the Grand Prize winner for that Blog, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. [In the event that the Grand Prize winner’s entry (or an entry with the same theme or tip) was posted on the Blog by more than one entrant, the first entry to be posted will be deemed the winner.. Sponsor and Blog author reserve the right not to select a winner for the Blog, if, in their sole discretion, they do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries for the Blog. Prize award is subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.

Winner Notification: Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest. Potential Grand Prize winner will be notified by telephone, mail and/or email and may be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law), and, if Grand Prize winner, any other documents that may be required by Sponsor, which must be returned within seven days of date appearing on prize notification. Return of prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability to contact the potential winner within a reasonable time period, or noncompliance with these Official Rules will result in disqualification and the prize may be awarded to the runner-up for the Blog.

PRIZE[S]:
Grand Prize (1): $500 awarded as an American Express gift check(s).

General Prize Conditions: All prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. No substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent of prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, which reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value, at its sole discretion Any and all federal, state and local taxes on the prizes, and any other costs, fees, and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not explicitly stated herein as being awarded, are the sole responsibility of the winner.

GENERAL: By participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and Blog author, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Current, Blog author, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, dealerships, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the awarded prize; and (c) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph/video, tip, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.

OWNERSHIP/USE OF ENTRIES: By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees Sponsor shall own the entry submitted (including all rights embodied therein) and that it and its designees may exploit, edit, modify, and distribute the entry and all elements of such entry, including, without limitation, the names of any persons or locations embodied therein, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity without compensation, permission or notification to entrant or any third party.

Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled tips, posts or entries; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of tips, posts or entries, the announcement of the prize, the or in any Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from or use of the website. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Contest or website, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Sponsor or Blog may disqualify anyone from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that such person is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception or other unfair playing practices, or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or Sponsor’s or Blog’s representatives. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR DELIBERATELY UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. Sponsor or the designated Blog reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel or suspend any portion of the Contest should causes corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest and, in the event of cancellation, to select the winner for the Blog at issue from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received for the Blog up to time of such impairment using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an entrant, entry will be deemed to be from the authorized account subscriber of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry, regardless of the name that appears on the official entry form and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the e-mail address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), on-line service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses.

Request for Winner’s Name: For the name of the winner (available after December 31, 2009) send a self-addressed, stamped, envelope by (date TBD) to: Molly Steinkrauss, Current Lifestyle Marketing c/o Qwest Communications, 440 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, CA 9413.

SPONSOR: Qwest Communications, 1801 California Street, Fl. 50, Denver, CO 80202