Yesterday I landed in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest Interactive and in the cab on the way from the airport to the hotel got the great news that I won second prize in the Solo Foods recipe contest for my video with my friend Joey (below).
The great news is that I was really happy to get $1000 and really happy to win with a video that I was proud of. The bad news is that when I talked to the folks at Solofoods, they told me they went through many of the votes over and over again because with thousands of votes cast, it was still too close to call down to the wire. And in the end, I missed out on the $5000 first prize by just 10 votes. A little heartbreaking, especially because it just makes me think of a few more phone calls I could have made, or a few more requests from friends to ensure they voted might have made the difference.
Still, I’m proud of my work, happy that some more money is coming in, and I have learned a valuable lesson for next time – be more persistent in nudging people. (I seriously never thought that was something I would have to re-learn. C’est la vie)