Echo Sports Personality Special Achievement Award - BENFLEET

debbie g

We did it - we made the top 5 nominations for the Special Achievement Award in the Echo today for the club as a whole not just the ladies - thanks to all those who nominated us.

Now we need to get as many votes as possible - you can vote by post or online at www.echo-news.co.uk/personality

Please vote - closing date 13 Feb 2009.

debbie g

To avoid confusion the category in which Benfleet is nominated is the Special Achievement Category this is the direct link

www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/awards/achievement/

debbie g

Okay everyone this is a reminder that the deadline to vote is THIS FRIDAY 13th Feb.

Come on get everyone you know to vote for your club - we all know we're the best so lets make sure we win

I have a piece going in the Echo on Friday about our presentation night and I have added a piece about how we are looking forward to the Awards and mentioning all the club has achieved in 2008, not only in competition but charity raising, Kirste's brilliant efforts and the club's growth and success. It might help attract a few more last minute online votes.

So go for it everyone - email everyone you know the link in the post above and get them to vote

sharknett

I've voted already!
Any idea how we can attend the awards night in Basildon? Is it ticket-only or can you just turn up?

debbie g

Unfortunately it's invitation only Steve.

There are restricted numbers and 22 of us are going to see if we can come back with an award

sharknett

OK, at least the club will be well represented.

debbie g

Okay here is today's challenge - who can get the person furthest away to vote for us on the Echo Awards?

I had confirmation today that my friend in Germany has voted for us and all her friends as well. I also have votes from Norway and my secretary's family in Ireland are all voting for us. Another of my secretaries will be asking her family in Australia to vote for us too!!

My American friends from California some of you met at the cross country will be supporting Benfleet too!

So come on everyone lets see how far the international fame of Benfleet can spread!!

Ernie

So far I've got you/us 2 votes from Oz.
One from Darwin and one from Hobart, Tasmania which in regards to distance would be hard to beat.
More to come.....I hope !
This competition does seem just a little "rigged" to me but the Club deserves to win anyway.

debbie g

Excellent Ernie - you win the challenge! I have to disagree about the voting though it's impossible to rig as it's only one vote per internet service provider so every scoring vote is coming from someone different. The fact that we may have a better voting campaign strategy than the other nominees is another matter! The Echo say last year they had 37,000 votes. I'm not sure what their readership is but that would be a pretty high proportion of it and it's hard to believe they all voted so obviously voting is based on the success of the PR of the nominees and who they can motivate to get up and vote. Every successful person who relies on public votes has a campaign and a spin doctor...

Just think of me as the Alastair Campbell of Benfleet Running Club except I can run faster

Karl C

Well done for all the PR Debs.

Remember that is is "one vote per IP address", which means if the votes are coming from people in the same Company, it is very likely their IP address will be constant for all employees so only one vote will count...

Having said that - keep voting everyone

If you are on a dial-up modem you can vote everytime you log-on as it normally allocates you a different IP address everytime.

mArKw

I don't know about the furthest away vote, but I have just voted from what is surely the most exotic, fantastic location.......

MULDOON'S ISLAND

Nice to see him raise his ugly head (not to mention his island) again.......

Mike Mason

I voted from Romania......for myself...

Pat M

I think you have it right, Mark. Vote MULDOON'S ISLAND.
Debbie G, what a lovely avatar. Wink.
Mike, (MM) why Rumania? Anywhere near Transalvania?

mike s

If your on an ISP that has a dynamic IP i.e. it is not static and can change every time you connect to the internet then to do this on a wireless network turn the router off for a very short time 2 mins and there is a very good chance of having a different IP when it connects back to the internet, if the modem is internal or a wired one then the IP should change every time the computer is turned off. That way differing IP's are potentially endless.

Andy F

Yeah, What Mike said!!!

bobby · General

Mike S . Didn't know you could spak Swahili, very impressive. Big high to Muldoon. When are we going to see you. I am planning a nude calendar, you could have had a starring role.!!!!

debbie g

Okay I'm a semi-ludite but I'm not stupid and I can google

How do you find out if your ISP has a dynamic IP (for those of you who don't google that's Internet Protocol) as opposed to a static one?

I presume this will only work where you have numerous employees networked with the same ISP so if the IP is dynamic they could just switch off (if wired) or turn the router off (if wireless and they don't get lynched!!) and vote with their own email addresses from their own computers or if at home where they have family members with different email addresses? I say this because the email address is a mandatory field in the online voting form so presumably it must not only be a different IP address but the email address for the voter must be different. That would ensure that every voter is a different person right?

I've taken the novice's course in Swahili Bobby. And I suspect I'm talking rubbish anyway but it sounds good!!

Anyway just get out there and vote your hearts out - today's the last day !!

Karl C

http://www.ip-adress.com/

should tell you your IP address. Log off and on again and see if it changes..

debbie g

Thanks Karl.

debbie g

Go and buy the Echo today - shameless vote touting and best PR for the club so far I think

Nice pic of Ian and the ladies too. It's my piece about the Presentation Night and Great Bentley is also in there in another report.

Get a copy Bobby - nice piece about Brian too.

bobby · Echo

Debbie, I have replied on wrong thread, check Gt. Bentley thread, but well done again anyway.

debbie g

Hi All

The Echo have offered me some additional invitations to the Echo Awards Ceremony on 25 Feb at the Sky Bar Basildon at 7.30 pm. If anyone would like to go please post your names on this forum or send me a PM and I'll add you to the guest list and send details of how to get into the venue.

I will have to limit it to the 1st 10 to respond.

It promises to be a brilliant evening.

Debbie

Karl C

As all the attendees are probably still in bed, nursing hangovers I can reveal that we didn't win the top prize,

BUT Benfleet Running Club did take a well-deserved 2nd place in the Special Achievement Award.

To be nominated and get into the last 5 candidates was excellent, but to then come 2nd is a great achievement.

The top prize was won by
AARON WILLIAMS/BASILDON RUGBY CLUB
Williams broke his neck just over a year ago while playing rugby for Basildon against South Woodham and will now be paralysed for the rest of his life. The club set up a trust fund to raise money for him and other charities. With donations, they have now collected more than £100,000

debbie g

Thanks Karl for that.

Yes we took runners up place but it was a terrific achievement for the club. We got the nomination on the back of the Benfleet ladies' performances but it was the club as a whole that won the Award and given the top performances by our men towards the end of the year and beginning of this year at the Benfleet 15 and Great Bentley the club certainly deserved the Award for its overall achievements in the last year.

The ladies went up to collect the Award for the Club here is photographic record of the fine achievement -

WELL DONE BENFLEET!!

bobby · Award

Well done to all of you. Second is great, particularly as you were beaten but a deserving cause. Special well done to Deb for entering us and all her efforts towards achieving second place.

Karl C

Well done girls !

Echo Sports Personality Special Achievement Award - BENFLEET

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