NBC's The Event giving away BlizzCon 2010 tickets
by Anne Stickney 
Aug 12th 2010 at 2:00PM
Miss out on your chance to get BlizzCon tickets this year? No worries -- NBC's The Event, an upcoming conspiracy thriller television series created by Nick Wauters, is giving away five pairs of tickets to BlizzCon 2010. You can enter at the sweepstakes page, and you can check out the official rules on the sweepstakes page as well. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to residents of the United States; however, for those who couldn't click quickly enough to purchase tickets, this is an opportunity to make it happen. Check out the sweepstakes page and make sure to get your entries in by Aug. 31!
Filed under: News items, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nina Katarina Aug 12th 2010 2:14PM
I'm reading this as tickets only, no flights or hotels included, which means it's still probably out of my price range.
VioletArrows Aug 12th 2010 2:18PM
Hate this new trend in contests. You can have the tickets to this thing, but good luck getting there!
Brett Porter Aug 12th 2010 4:26PM
Exactly... be/c of where I live, it would be $800 for 2 people to get to Blizzcon... and that's with free tickets!!
Supernerd Aug 12th 2010 2:17PM
NBC was the last company I expected to be giving away Blizzcon tickets. >.> Quite strange. Won't stop me, though! Unlike the last Blizzcon Sweepstakes I won (Blizzcon 08) I don't even have to PAY for these tickets if I win! xD
ROB13 Aug 12th 2010 2:18PM
The kidnapping wasn't the event. The assassination attempt isn't the event. Blizzcon...is The Event.
Thorie Aug 12th 2010 2:32PM
I doubt this TV program will actually tell us what "The Event" is until a bit before the final season
Pyromelter Aug 12th 2010 2:39PM
So about 7 episodes into the 1st season then?
Kylenne Aug 12th 2010 4:29PM
I wish the event was Jeff Zucker getting canned.
That'd be the only hit NBC could come up with at this point.
JC_Icefox Aug 12th 2010 2:49PM
I have never been more annoyed by a marketing blitz than from this God Damned 'Event'. Every commercial break is puncuated with those inane 'overheard in some Chicago ghetto by two illegal immigrants' or 'a Presidential debriefing while he is brushing his teeth in the shower.
Even worse is how in the last four or so months we've learned about as much as when we started; absolutely nothing. Phil Collins eating a hot dog is not the event. The Presbyterian Churches Sunday pancake breakfast is not the event. Damn you, give me something tangible!
I'm almost certain that this whole thing is going to become the next Deserted Island Thriller for that crown now pining for something tone utterly confused about, but I for one hate - nay, despise - having to guess to find out if I was actually enjoying something.
To be clear, I'm all about building some kind of hype for new things as an effective marketing strategy, but when all you release as teaser information is completely context-free images of doe eyed men/glasses-wearing 'villain' characters or sound bytes from a seemingly puppet president figure ad nauseum, and then repeatedly bash your viewers over the head with it, I get rather pissed very promptly.
If any NBC execs happen upon this, I want to make it clear that you've started adverting FAR too soon, and any excitement has since dissolved and been replaced with complete disinterest.
/Rant Terminate
Razortooth Aug 12th 2010 3:10PM
That guy's face is PRICELESS
Cybeloras Aug 12th 2010 3:21PM
The Event is not The Event.
Marshal Aug 12th 2010 3:27PM
"The potential Grand Prize winner will have twenty-four (24) hours from the time of the first phone notification to respond or the prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner selected, time permitting."
Oh man. I'd have to make sure to have my cell battery'd up. Not that I would win, but still wishful thinking~
jishdefish Aug 12th 2010 3:45PM
Yeah, the contest has been advertised on the Blizz forums for a while now. I entered a couple weeks ago.
shadowscout Aug 13th 2010 4:24AM
Heh,
I posted it in the Blizzcon forum and got reported cause people thought it was a scam >.
Docp Aug 12th 2010 4:15PM
WARNING! STAY INDOORS!
Do not think about the event!
The event is over, we're in the present now and we just have to try to move on
WARNING! STAY INDOORS!
Kylenne Aug 12th 2010 4:41PM
What they aren't telling you is that this whole thing is just a setup for an episode of the new Law & Order spinoff "ripped from the headlines"!
In the middle of Blazecon, an angry mob of nerds who haven't showered in three days bumrush the stage and maul World of Weirdcraft lead developer "Wraithwalker". The fresh-faced, sexy new detectives out of central casting have to find the person who dealt the fatal blow. Along the way, they uncover a web of lies that includes a giant sack of money on Wraithwalker's secret yacht, the illicit fortune he made from illegal pony sales. Stay tuned for the shocking twist ending you did NOT expect!
CHUNG CHUNG!
**Guest Starring Gilbert Gottfried as the ill fated developer
Net Aug 12th 2010 5:33PM
Are you -sure- this is an offical sweepstakes? The NBC website doesn't mention it. This ad only shows up in banners on the WoW forums (the same banners that sometimes sneak thru goldfarmers). It's oddly "sponsored by Microsoft" for some reason. The WHOIS information on the website shows its owned by some UK company not associated with NBC, Blizzard, or Microsoft.
I'm not going to submit all that personal information until I'm sure its not an elaborate phishing scheme. All those graphics and logos are easily picked up off the various websites. It just doesn't make sense that these companies are together on it.
Alex Ziebart Aug 12th 2010 6:54PM
I cannot say with 100% certainty that it's legitimate, but I am about 99% sure after doing investigation myself.
The domain is listed as registered by Wapple Ltd. It is a company that does web and mobile marketing development. While the company is European, they have an American office in California and they have done work with companies like NBC previously for mobile marketing efforts including events and large blockbuster movie releases.
The Administrator of the sweepstakes is GMR Marketing LLC, which actually operates near where I live here in Wisconsin. We share an area code. I tried to call them this afternoon when questions of the sweepstakes legitimacy came up in WoW.com's internal chatroom, but their office hours end at 5 PM and it's just about 5:20 here in Central time. I just missed them, but I can tell you that the company is legitimate. This is exactly the kind of work they do. Their company description:
"GMR Marketing brings products to the people. The company produces product promotions at shopping malls, temporary retail locations, concerts, sports, and lifestyle events such as car shows and Spring Break -- as well as "virtual" events tied in with video games and online spaces. It provides all-inclusive services -- from concept and design to construction and site management. GMR productions have included the Microsoft Xbox Odyssey, the Kraft Food and Family Show, and the Miller Lite Racing Garage. CEO Gary M. Reynolds founded the company in 1979. It is a part of The Radiate Group, a unit of advertising giant Omnicom. GMR owns seven offices in the US and five in Beijing, London, Paris, Toronto, and Vancouver."
As you can see, they've done work with Microsoft previously so Microsoft as a sponsor really isn't that unusual, especially if they get some press out of the deal. Of course, someone could just write that company down on the website and you wouldn't know the difference since I wasn't able to talk to them today, but if this isn't legitimate, it's incredibly well done and required a lot of inside knowledge about how these events operate. It absolutely is not your average WoW phishing scam.
If I had to guess why it doesn't appear on the NBC website or The Event's social media outlets, it's because they're not advertising BlizzCon to The Event's audience. They're advertising The Event to World of Warcraft players. They're advertising the sweepstakes right where their potential audience will see it. People who see it on the NBC website will just wonder what the hell BlizzCon is and why they should care. BlizzCon isn't as big as we like to think it is in the grand scheme of things.
That being said, being cautious about these things is always good. Everything seems to check out, but I haven't spoken to any representatives from these companies yet, so there's still a chance that it isn't legitimate. I'm fairly certain that it is, though.
zdave Aug 12th 2010 5:46PM
John Ritter is looking good.
Wait....
Ringo Flinthammer Aug 12th 2010 9:38PM
"You guys didn't watch Joan of Arcadia. PLEASE watch my series this time!"