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Inspire a sysadmin, get a ThinkGeek gift certificate

·352 words·2 mins·

UPDATE: THE STAKES ARE RAISED! Check the end of this post for details.

ThinkGeek Gift CertificateToday is my birthday and I’m doing things in reverse - you are getting gifts today. I’m giving away four $25 gift certificates to ThinkGeek today (yep, that’s $100 out of my pocket) but you’ll have to do something to earn them.

I’m looking for words of wisdom and guidance from the readers of my blog for system administrators who are just getting started. I talk to brand new sysadmins and college graduates regularly and they’re all hungry for what the seasoned folks in the industry know. They’re not specifically on the hunt for hard facts and how-to’s; they’re looking for guidance on how to gain experience, reduce errors and learn efficiently.

Let’s get to the important stuff: How does this contest work?

  • Write a comment. Put an inspirational story, anecdote, or random words of wisdom for system administrators who are new to the industry in a comment on this post. Although it doesn’t have to be extraordinarily lengthy, try to write more than just a sentence or two.
  • Give me a way to contact you. Add something to your comment so I can contact you if you’re the winner.
  • Do it soon. The contest ends at 11:59PM CDT tonight.

I’ll be the judge of the comments and I’m going to choose the winners based on the content of the comment. The more inspirational and profound your comment is, the better chance you have of winning. Any comment written in LOLCats caption style will lose points immediately. ;)

One last thing: This contest isn’t affiliated with my employer or ThinkGeek. I’m doing this on my own. However, I’m a big fan of both my employer and ThinkGeek, but that’s irrelevant right now.

UPDATE: The folks at ThinkGeek decided to not only pay for one of the gift certificates, but they’re going to double it. There’s now a $50 certificate for the best entry and three more $25 certificates for second, third and fourth best entries. Thanks again to ThinkGeek for offering this up!

UPDATE: The winners have been announced!