PL Prize Countdown: …4…3…

The top four finishers in the Power Line Prize contest win cash prizes: $100,000 for the winner, $15,000 for the runner-up, and $5,000 prizes for two third-place finishers. So as of now, we are in the money.

The first third-place finisher was a unique entry–in the eyes of several judges, the most creative one we got. It was not a single product, but rather an event conducted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The event was organized by Nick D’Orazio and his son, who have a YouTube channel and experience with viral video. It was conducted during the last 24 hours before the contest closed, and was called “Mock the Spending.” The idea was to start with an introductory video, and then try to make 100 videos in 24 hours–short ones–based on input received from others via social media. This is the introductory video, starring the younger D’Orazio. It is called, “If the Government Patched World of Warcraft:”

Here is just one more of the dozens of short videos that the D’Orazios made:

The YouTube counter was on the blink during the time when the event was conducted, but the view count is estimated at around 170,000 based on the number of YouTube “likes.” We have set up a new channel for “Mock the Spending,” so the counts have reset. It would be nice if some of the videos go viral. Please check out that channel and help make it happen!

Our second third-place winner is another video, titled “Dawn of the Debt,” submitted by David Nussbaum. It is professionally produced and filmed; informally, we referred to it as “Zombies,” or sometimes as the Tea Party video, for reasons you will see. “Dawn of the Debt is one of the most hard-hitting entries we received. Here it is; I would suggest watching fullscreen to get the full effect of the video:

So “Mock the Spending” and “Dawn of the Debt” will each receive a $5,000 third-place prize. Congratulations to the D’Orazios and to Mr. Nussbaum and his colleagues!

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