I don’t know how many of you saw the Monster.com commercial during the Super Bowl for the “Director of Fandemonium” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glsnLt4OkIM) but after the Super Bowl I signed up for it. You had to enter your name, e-mail address and your favorite team. Being a San Diego fan, I selected the Chargers.

According to the information on Monster.com, the first place winners receive season tickets to their selected team and other NFL-related gifts. The grand prize winner receives this (cut/pasted from the Monster.com materials):

One (1) Grand Prize will be awarded, to include a cash prize in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), to be distributed in four installments, as well as unique NFL experiences listed below, all of which to constitute the fictional employment position of the 2009-2010 “Director of the Department of Fandemonium.”

  • DRAFT: Announce a pick at the 2009 NFL Draft
  • PRO BOWL: Select a play at the 2010 Pro Bowl
  • SUPER BOWL: Join the coin toss ceremony at Super Bowl XLIV
  • INTERNATIONAL SERIES: Participate in on-field player introductions at the 2009 International Series game
  • THANKSGIVING: Be an on-field broadcast liaison for NFL Network's 2009 Thanksgiving game
  • PLAYOFFS: Assist in monitoring player uniforms on-field before a 2009 Wild Card game
  • KICKOFF: Act as a backstage talent wrangler at the 2009 NFL Kickoff
  • Such experiences will include, for the Director and one (1) guest:
    • Tickets to the applicable NFL game
    • Hotel accommodations at a location nearby the experience venue, at Monster’s discretion
    • Air travel from the airport closest to the winner’s residence, at Monster’s discretion
    • Hospitality access to the applicable event at which the experiences take place

Last week I was traveling in Vietnam and received an e-mail informing me that I was one of the finalists and that I needed to sign and have notarized an attached affidavit to continue with the contest. I thought it was a clever way to weed out the only semi-interested people and since there was no way I could get a notarized copy to them in time, I ignored the e-mail. I got the same e-mail the next day and ignored it. The third day I get an e-mail directly from the fulfillment specialist asking me to please respond and call him directly if necessary. Since there’s a 12-hour time difference from Vietnam to New York where he had his office, I waited until 10 pm Vietnam time to call him at 10 am his time.

I explained my situation and he allowed me to fax a signed copy with the understanding that I’d send a notarized copy once I returned home. Out of curiosity I asked him how many hundreds or thousands of people I’d be competing against. He told me that they had randomly selected a representative for each NFL team and that I was the fan they picked for San Diego. I’d be competing against 31 other contestants for the grand prize. How are you supposed to fall asleep after a call like that?! I was up until 3 am with the wheels turning until I finally took a sleeping pill – I was real effective the next day.

Now Monster.com is flying all 32 contestants to New York the 26-28 of March to compete for the grand prize. I’ve won season tickets to the San Diego home games which is great except for the fact that, oh, I live in Maryland! I’ll make it to a few games and have cousins in San Diego, so they won't go to waste.

I’ve posted this not just to share my good fortune, but because Monster.com is planning to add positions or perhaps do this again next season. I thought if you missed it the first time around, you may want to give it a closer look the next time it comes up. Here’s the link to the sign-up for more information page:

http://nfl.monster.com/InterimLanding.aspx

If there’s any interest in how things proceed in the contest, I’ll be happy to share more of the details and process as it comes. It would be great if any of this info was helpful to another Forum member.

Thanks for reading,

Jason