Protect-A-Bed Blogher ’09 $300 Scholarship Contest CLOSED TO ENTRIES

THE ENTRY PORTION OF THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED.

FINALISTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THURSDAY MAY 7, 2009 AT NOON CST

Who is Protect-A-Bed?
Protect-A-Bed is a company that makes mattress and pillow covers with the goal of protecting your family. Their mattress and pillows covers are designed to help provide a perfect, healthy and comfortable sleep. Protect-A-Bed covers protect mattresses and pillows from dust mite and bed bug infestation (a major cause of allergies and eczema) and protect you from them by providing a barrier between you and your mattress or pillow. Protect-A-Bed products can be washed at home in your dryer and can withstand high temps for many washings. They are designed with care to be free of dangerous substances, have a greater flame-resistance rating than the law requires and they guarantee their commitment to not compromise on quality.

Protect-A-Bed covers are THE alternative to traditional mattress pads and do something that no other mattress pad can – provide allergy relief, bug protection and a waterproof barrier which all add up to a better nights sleep.

What is our experience with Protect-A-Bed?
Back in January I reviewed a Protect-A-Bed mattress cover for both of my kids, and a pillow protector for Jake. You can read the review here: Protect-A-Bed Mattress & Pillow Cover Review.

What is Protect-A-Bed’s relationship with bloggers?
Protect-A-Bed has begun partnering with mom bloggers as a way to help spread the word about how their products promote healthy sleep for our families. In conjunction with their support of mom bloggers, Protect-A-Bed is helping Alyson from 3 P’s in a Pod and I with some of our expenses to attend a major event in the mom blogging community – Blogher ’09.

I recently asked Protect-A-Bed why they partner with bloggers and why they feel Blogher is an important event for them to participate in.
And they responded:

During the past year we at Protect-A-Bed have worked with some amazing bloggers and developed a lot of great relationships along the way, all in our quest to share the importance of mattress protection for families. When we learned the BlogHer conference was in our home town of Chicago, we wanted to do something to show how important we think the women’s blogging community is. What better way to show our support than helping deserving bloggers travel to a conference where they can continue to develop their talents!

Why is the Blogher conference important to me?
What’s That Smell? has existed as a blog since September 2007, but it wasn’t until one year ago, on April 15, 2008 that we really consider our start date because that was when we began to focus on building not only our blog but also our relationship with the blogging community. For me, going to Blogher is not only a way to learn to learn from the great speakers but also a chance to fulfill the theme of the event “In Real Life.” I look forward to attending some great learning and networking sessions and coming back here refreshed and renewed with new ideas and ways to better old ones or even scrap something all together. And while I place a great value in that, I admit that I am most excited to finally meet the blogging community that I have become so intrenched in. I have met so many wonderful women through blogging and what really inspired me to attend Blogher ’09 was meeting my new friends IN REAL LIFE! And the great news is, I will be there, thanks in part to Protect-A-Bed and I am so grateful!

I’ve got more good news.

Protect-A-Bed wants to help one of YOU with some of your Blogher ’09 expenses by offering a $300 Blogher scholarship to help you pay for your hotel room, airfare, parking, whatever you need it for!

Isn’t that awesome! I am sooooo excited that they asked What’s That Smell? and 3 P’s in a Pod to host this contest.

How do you enter the Protect-A-Bed Blogher ’09 Scholarship Contest?

Prize:
$300 prize to apply towards costs associated with attending the Blogher ’09 conference.

How to enter:
You must be a blogger to enter, and because of the “sold out” status of the conference, you must be able to present proof of a paid conference pass to be eligible for the prize. To enter, write a post on your own blog on how the scholarship will help you attend Blogher. It can be a basic narrative, a poem, a video, a song, or whatever you are inspired to do to show us in a creative way how this prize will help you.

Required for entry:

1. Write a post on your blog as described above.
2. Include a link to Protect-A-Bed in your post. (http://www.protectabed.com/)
3. Include the contest badge below in your post:

   

   <a href=”http://accidentalmommies.com/2009/04/protect-a-bed-blogher-scholarship-contest/” mce_href=”http://accidentalmommies.com/2009/04/protect-a-bed-blogher-scholarship-contest/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn458/AccidentalMommy/Advertisers/PAB150.png” mce_src=”http://i323.photobucket.com/albums/nn458/AccidentalMommy/Advertisers/PAB150.png” alt=”Protect-A-Bed Blogher Scholarship Contest”></a>
4. Leave a comment on this post with a link to your entry post. You may enter here on What’s That Smell? or over at 3 P’s in a Pod BUT YOU MAY ONLY ENTER ONCE – it is your choice which site you prefer to leave your entry on. This will have no bearing on the winner selection.

Feel free to help promote this contest on Twitter using the hash tag #PAB.

Entry deadline:
Entries will be accepted between April 15, 2009 and May 6, 2009 at noon CST.

Finalist Selection:
10 finalists will be chosen from all eligible entries. A representative from Protect-A-Bed, Alyson from 3 P’s in a Pod and myself will together narrow all of the entries down to 10 finalists. Entries will be judged on their creativity combined with the entrants ability to communicate their response to the entry question. Finalists will be announced on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at noon CST and voting will commence.

Winner Selection:
On Thursday, May 7, 2009 at noon CST, the 10 finalists will be announced and the blogging community will then be able to vote on their favorite. The finalists may use any resources at their disposal to solicit votes but we have the following restriction: you may not run a giveaway with the main entry being to vote for you in this contest. You may use voting as an extra entry in a giveaway(s) but not as the main entry requirement. Votes can be cast until Thursday, May 14, 2009 at noon CST.

Final winner announcement
Winner will be announced on Friday, May 15, 2009 at noon CST.

Winner is responsible for adherence to all applicable laws and requirements associated with this prize.