Google Wave Invite Winners and Reality

When we set out to give away 15 shiny new Google Wave Invites we expected a gold rush. Boy were we wrong!  In reality, the response was so quiet we could hear crickets chirping in Argentina. Interestingly, while our contest was running we’ve received even more invites to give away.  So, we are going to contact our current winners and provide you with an uber easy way to get your Google Wave Invite , that is — if you want one.

First off we need to congratulate @azastroman @dlynn7 and Emil for successfully securing their Google Wave Invites.  We’ll be in touch to deliver your invite very soon. Thanks for braving the entry gauntlet and emerging victorious!

Since we still have invites to giveaway – if you want one, simply leave a comment on this post with your @username and we’ll be in touch.  We’ll give them out on a first-come, first-served basis until we’ve exhausted our supply. Keep the comments coming and we’ll let you know when we are out of invites.

The thunderous lack of response to our Foolishly Great Google Wave Invite Giveaway contest made us wonder what happened. Failing at something isn’t a bad thing – so long as you learn from it and apply that knowledge in future situations. In reflection we looked at the contest variables – the entry process, the promotion of the contest, and the prize on the line. Here’s what we came up with…

The entry process wasn’t a big deal really, sure there was a little friction as it required potential entrants to do two things, but not unlike other giveaways.  Entrants could either subscribe to our eNewsletter or Fan us on Facebook, and then simply comment on the blog post to let us know which you did. Easy right?  We provided easy instructions and links. Both are opt-in and an entrant could simply unsubscribe when the contest was over. But, it might have felt too spammy for some folks.  What do you think?

We promoted the contest on Twitter and on Facebook and, watching our analytics, we saw pretty decent traffic coming to the post, Heck, we even saw  newsletter subscriptions and our Facebook Fan base grow nicely. Thanks!  But alas – very few comments came in to secure an entry. Admittedly, there have been a number of Google Wave Invite Giveaways on the web – so maybe demand has simply vanished.

So, we  researched the prize a little more and we found there is a lot of confusion over Google Wave.  Perhaps the initial frenzy for invites were the early adopters, those who will jump in and eagerly try any new gadget or web service. Some might call them geeks – a badge we wear with honor by the way.  We’ve also found there are many who simply don’t know what Google Wave is and that those have received an invite, aren’t sure what’s next.  Here’s a sampling of what we found:

Our research led us to this image on Flickr submitted by @karenximena Xime Dussán Riaño which conveys a ‘what now’ feeling many early “Wavers” are experiencing.

And, still this video from Swithed.com which poses the question “What is Google Wave?” on the street in NYC shows that beyond us geeks, Google Wave remains cloaked in mystery.

Live and learn right?  We ran our contest and true to our word the winners have been announced!  Congrats, we’ll be in touch very shortly.

If you would like to share your insights on why the contest was a dismal failure – by all means, let us have it.

If you still want a Google Wave Invite for yourself – leave a comment below with your @username – we’ll be sharing our invites until they are gone. At this rate, our supply should last until next December!

Tagged as: facebook, Google Wave Invite Giveaway, status updates, Twitter