At the end of each summer, we take a look at the year ahead and ask ourselves, “What will excite people about the Cape and Islands?” While trying to answer that question last year, we thought about how often people describe the Cape and Islands as their “happy place” and how they dream of getting back there. That sparked the idea to create the Dream Vacation Giveaway. We had no idea that the initial spark would ignite a wildfire filled with beautiful comments, fond memories, and personal dreams from vacationers past, present, and hopeful.☺
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After two months and a flurry of entries, we picked a winner -- Bill Clark of Natick. He was a little skeptical at first, but after meeting the team in our office and being convinced it was true, he couldn’t be happier to know he’ll be spending some time by the beach during his dream vacation this summer. Saying Bill was lucky is an understatement, as the odds of winning were incredibly slim.
The winner, Bill Clark with the owners.
When we initially started planning the contest, we had no idea just how determined some people would be to win. The final tally at the end of 2 months stood at 25,888 individual people. But because vacationers earned an additional 5 entries when they shared the link on social media, and another entry for each person who signed up via their link, the total number of entries reached 89,384! One vacationer had so many people sign up with their link that he had 171 total entries! Most people, however, had entries in the single digits, including the winner. Bill Clark only shared his post to Facebook once, giving him just 6 total entries, but that turned out to be enough.
How Bill heard about and entered the giveaway was also interesting. Entries via a friend’s link proved to be one of the main sources. Bill was actually 6 people removed from the initial share, meaning one person entered and told their friends. They told their friends. They told their friends. They told their friends. And they eventually told Bill! The power of social media has never been so evident!
While we are a little sad to see the Dream Vacation giveaway come to an end, we’re ecstatic to discover that so many people, like us, simply can’t wait to Get Back to the Cape and Islands. In fact, we are inspired to start planning our next dream vacation giveaway! The only question is, where do you think the Dream Vacation giveaway should be? Cast your vote here.