Better than a leg lamp
Recently there was a national contest through Sony for independent retail. The object was to make the best display for the 25th Anniversary Edition of Michael Jackson's Thriller. I had gotten the notification and materials but just hadn't gotten around to doing it, when my rep called and asked me if I was going to join in as it was the last day to get the pictures in. "What the hell" I figured at the last minute. I rushed through putting a display together. I worked my listening stations into it, as well as a Michael Jackson doll I have for sale and the framed autographed MJ poster I got from Sony years ago when I was a buyer for Believe In Music. I didn't have my camera at the store so I closed the store for a bit and ran home and got it. When I went to download the pics onto my laptop to send it was taking forever cuz I'm on dialup at the store. Back home I ran to send the damn pictures in before the 5pm cutoff. Phew! What an ordeal.
The prizes were:
1st place..a Michael Jackson Ipod a Gold Record plaque for Thriller.
2nd place..$700 in credit at my music distributor.
3rd prize..$300 in credit at my music distributor.
Things being mighty tight lately business-wise, that 2nd and 3rd prize looked damn good to me.
Later that evening after work, I was telling Casey about the ordeal it had been just to get those stupid pics in on time. I brought up the pics on my laptop to show him and he BURST out laughing.
"Okay (giggle) it's not funny (giggle) but it's funny", he said.
"What, what?!!"
To my huge chagrin, I realized that after all that, I had surely lost the contest. In my hand lettered part of the display, I had written:
MICHAL Jackson
Still a Thriller
Michal!! What an asshole! I had misspelled his name!! And sent that shit in to Sony! There went that $700 2nd prize I was dreaming about.
Friday I got a call from my distributor. I had won FIRST fucking prize! I could not stop laughing. And then I thought, wait a minute, I wanted the 2nd prize!! Apparently Sony picked the winners and it was a nationwide contest so there was no compromising. Boo hoo.
Later that night, I was laughing with Case about the fact that I had won a damn Michael Jackson Ipod and Gold Record. THEN we looked up what this Ipod actually is. Apparently there was only 300 made worldwide and they were only used promotionally and not available to buy through retail. We looked it up and these babies are going for between $1200 to $6,000 in the collectors market. So when that package arrives in the mail...
EBAY, HERE I COME!!
The prizes were:
1st place..a Michael Jackson Ipod a Gold Record plaque for Thriller.
2nd place..$700 in credit at my music distributor.
3rd prize..$300 in credit at my music distributor.
Things being mighty tight lately business-wise, that 2nd and 3rd prize looked damn good to me.
Later that evening after work, I was telling Casey about the ordeal it had been just to get those stupid pics in on time. I brought up the pics on my laptop to show him and he BURST out laughing.
"Okay (giggle) it's not funny (giggle) but it's funny", he said.
"What, what?!!"
To my huge chagrin, I realized that after all that, I had surely lost the contest. In my hand lettered part of the display, I had written:
MICHAL Jackson
Still a Thriller
Michal!! What an asshole! I had misspelled his name!! And sent that shit in to Sony! There went that $700 2nd prize I was dreaming about.
Friday I got a call from my distributor. I had won FIRST fucking prize! I could not stop laughing. And then I thought, wait a minute, I wanted the 2nd prize!! Apparently Sony picked the winners and it was a nationwide contest so there was no compromising. Boo hoo.
Later that night, I was laughing with Case about the fact that I had won a damn Michael Jackson Ipod and Gold Record. THEN we looked up what this Ipod actually is. Apparently there was only 300 made worldwide and they were only used promotionally and not available to buy through retail. We looked it up and these babies are going for between $1200 to $6,000 in the collectors market. So when that package arrives in the mail...
EBAY, HERE I COME!!