“The Winner is Always from Somewhere Else” – The Skeptics Say

You’ve heard the expression, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” Well, that’s the kind of negative attitude I hear from a lot of people who come up with excuses for not entering the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. If I’m talking to cynics in New York, they say the Publishers Clearing House winners are always from some rural area. If I’m talking to a skeptic on a farm, he or she will tell me that PCH sweepstakes winners are always from the big city. Apartment-dwelling skeptics insist that only residents of detached houses win, and vice versa.

Believe it or not, there are people out there who doubt that we actually award cash sweepstakes prizes to real people. They say “Those winners seen on TV in your commercials must be actors.” It mystifies me how they can think that when Publishers Clearing House has run a legitimate sweepstakes since 1967 (!) and when our Prize Patrol, contests and sweepstakes have been favorably profiled over the years on many national TV programs.

Skeptics with that kind of “stinkin’ thinkin” can’t help but be “losers.” Simply put, if they don’t enter the sweepstakes they can’t possibly win.

Take it from me: we have awarded cash prizes worth thousands and millions of dollars to honest-to-goodness real people who live in every corner of the USA, from every socio-economic group, from every demographic, from every lifestyle. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t be a winner too – assuming you enter the contest -- and, of course, follow the official rules.

And now, we have an exciting new free sweepstakes opportunity – our Prize Patrol Blitz. In May, Publishers Clearing House will award 101 prizes of $1,000.00 in local TV markets all across the country. Folks all over the place can believe it: real people “around here” will definitely win real cash prizes next month!

So what are you waiting for? Act like a winner, not a loser! Enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online now and as often as you can – simply by going to pch.com, PCHSearch&Win or one or more of the several PCH online game sites, such as PCH Lotto, PCH Games or PCH Scratch Cards.

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Prize Patrol Boot Camp – Advice For The Rookies

The boot camp invitations have been e-mailed, and already you can tell there’s a buzz in the air here at Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes headquarters. In anticipation of a huge prize drawing in which 101 Publishers Clearing House winners will be selected, the PCH Prize Patrol Teams are gearing up to blanket the USA coast to coast with prize checks, bouquets, balloons, champagne and plenty of smiles!

Knowing how special the sweepstakes winning moment has to be, we go through serious but fun training, where nothing is overlooked. That’s why right there in the boardroom, we install a mock front door – a bright red one, at that. Yes, it sounds silly, but it works. Experienced Prize Patrollers will stand behind it while we take turns knocking. It’s funny to see what happens when the door opens, as you never know if a pajama-, bathrobe- or towel-clad “winner” might greet you. The room fills with laughter, but the truth is, we need to be ready for anything – remember, Publishers Clearing House winners do NOT know we are coming!

We learn how to pack and carry the Big Prize Checks, what to do once the winner is located, and we even learn how to affix the Prize Patrol sign to the van. Sounds easy, right? Well from personal experience I can tell you that rolling up the sign has its risks – last year on a windy day the sign rolled up too quickly and socked me in the mouth. I survived – but I learned my lesson the hard way!

Speaking of learning lessons, here’s some advice from experienced Prize Patrol Deputies:

“Have fun! It's thrilling to give away money and the more animated you are, generally the more excited the winners are going to be.”

-- Bob B.

“Bring big sunglasses...once word gets around that you're on the Prize Patrol, you'll be an instant celebrity!”

-- Amanda C.

“Make sure it’s the right house!”

-- Dave O.

“Wear comfortable shoes. Expect the unexpected. Hurry up and wait. Get excited – remember you're about to change someone's life. And…don't forget to bring the Big Check on the airplane!”

-- Elizabeth T.

While there’s no barbed wire or walls to scale (although Prize Patrol Deputies have been known to dodge traffic or a herd of Chihuahuas), Prize Patrol Boot Camp is serious stuff. We’re looking for a few good winners – will you be one of them? You might, if you send in your sweepstakes entry!

Wishing you lots of luck,

Brenna S.

Prize Patrol Deputy

Prize Patrol Boot Camp – Behind the Red Door

In earlier Publishers Clearing House Blog stories, we’ve told you about the Prize Patrol Blitz coming up in May and how we will be preparing 66 deputies to deliver cash sweepstakes prizes in 101 towns and cities -- in the space of three days! The contest prize award training will take place on May 1 at Prize Patrol Boot Camp, a crash course that will be led by Prize Patrol veterans Todd Sloane, Eve Fish and yours truly.

Presentations will cover all areas of training necessary to carry off successful sweepstakes winning moments – like travel, wardrobe, the Prize Patrol van, the balloons, the roses, the Big Check, important paperwork, dealing with the paparazzi – and more.

A highlight of Boot Camp is a practice session where the trainees are given a kind of pop-quiz in front of a mock-up front door – which happens to be red. The Prize Patrol rookies are instructed to ring the bell and then be prepared to greet the unexpected – such as: a ferocious pit bull, a scantily clad winner who was expecting someone else, a married couple who are in the midst of a violent argument, a woman who becomes hysterical, or an overwhelmed winner who faints on the spot. A panel of judges rates the prize award trainees’ performance at the red door – to the instructional benefit, and amusement, of the audience.

Rest assured, the Prize Patrol deputies will be well prepared to surprise you in an exciting sweepstakes winning moment, should you be one of the lucky winners. But the “$101,000 question” is, will you be prepared? Will you have taken the all-important step to enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online or through the mail? If you don’t enter, you can’t possibly win!

Sweepstakes entries submitted now are eligible for Prize Patrol Blitz prizes as well as other contests including our next SuperPrize! So enter the sweepstakes at once, and that’s easy online at pch.com, PCHSearch&Win.com, or one or more of the several PCH online game website links such as PCHLotto.com, PCHGames.com or PCHScratchCards.com. I encourage you to enter the Publishers Clearing House free contests and sweepstakes as often as you can! We want to make you a winner!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Prize Patrol Boot Camp – where “Drop and give me twenty” becomes “Knock and give me money!”

When the PCH Prize Patrol goes around this great nation awarding free sweepstakes prizes in person to Publishers Clearing House winners, there’s a lot of preparation involved. Sure, we need to book plane tickets and hotels, contact florists and make sure the jackets are dry-cleaned, but we even go to “boot camp” to ensure the sweepstakes winning moments are everything our winners ever dreamed of.

First, we gather in our largest boardroom here at Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes headquarters to train the new Prize Patrol deputies who have not had the experience of our seasoned team. There are many first timers around, and you can tell from their faces they’re experiencing a mixture of nervousness and excitement. The Prize Patrol Elite Team members get things rolling, telling us about this grand-scale Award Giveaway. Most importantly, they emphasize FUN, telling us, “people are going to be excited to see you!” Then we watch some presentations past, all of us playfully chuckling at our coworkers who appear in the news clips. For those of us who have done this before, it brings back a groundswell of memories. For the newbies, it’s usually, “What if I say the wrong thing or go speechless when the lucky sweepstakes giveaway winner opens the door?!?” Well, that’s why we practice, practice, practice.

We interviewed a few of the new recruits, and here’s what they said is on their minds:

“I'm so excited to drive the Prize Patrol van up to the winner's door and share in the excitement of the winner's very own PCH winning moment!”

- Kim G.

“I hope the winner doesn't have a dog – or at least has a friendly dog!”

- Ruya Q.

“I'm just happy that I get to be a part of something that's going to make a difference in someone's life.”

- Rachel P.

“It would be great if the winner is at work and we get to go to his or her place of employment. I get excited when someone in my office gets flowers for Valentine's Day so I can only imagine the surprise of someone getting a big check …”

- Laurel U.

So, how do we prepare these brave volunteers for the challenge they’re about to face? Tune in for future PCH Blog entries to see the lengths we go to so they’re prepared for anything!

Wishing you lots of luck,

Brenna S.

Prize Patrol Deputy

A Good Luck Charm From Out of the Blue

On a vacation day the other day, I was taking a morning yoga class on the beach. The instructor started the class by saying, “Lie down. Relax. Breathe deeply. Feel the sunshine and gentle breezes. Listen to the birds.”

I was dutifully following her instructions when, “SPLATTT!!!” A sea gull flying overhead deemed my open left eye a good target.

“ARGHHHH!” I yelled, alarming all my relaxed classmates who sat up and burst into sympathetic laughter when they saw my soiled face and T shirt.

A woman right behind me exclaimed, “Oh, that’s a sign of good luck!”

“Well, good luck to all of you!” I snorted as I marched away to clean up.

But sure enough, it turned out to be a good luck day despite the bad start. I found out I’m getting a check from the Internal Revenue Service that I had not expected. I felt like I had just won a “Big Check” from Publishers Clearing House – which, alas, I’m not eligible to win since I’ve been employed by “the granddaddy of sweepstakes” for more than 27 years.

My wish for you is that The Bluebird of Happiness or some other sign of good luck will happen to you today. Maybe today is the day to try your luck not just at one Publishers Clearing House website but at more than one.

There are contests and sweepstakes every day at PCH’s growing network of websites. Enter online at once and as often as you can. That’s easy at pch.com, PCHSearch&Win.com, or one or more of the several PCH online game sites, such as PCH Lotto, PCH Games or PCH Scratch Cards.

Online sweepstakes entries submitted now are also eligible for the Prize Patrol Blitz in May during which 66 Prize Patrol deputies will fan out across the USA and award 101 prizes -- in three wonderful, lucky days!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Prize Patrol Boot Camp – Getting Underway

In an earlier Publishers Clearing House Blog, we told you about the Prize Patrol Blitz coming up in May, its objectives and how we need to train 66 deputies to deliver all these free cash sweepstakes prizes in 101 towns and cities all across the country in the space of three days. Take it from the guy who ordinarily heads a small team of veteran Prize Patrol’ers to a single city: there’s a lot for these rookies to learn at Prize Patrol Boot Camp!

The trainees will all be seated lecture-hall-style in our largest conference room. Eve Fish, a member of the Prize Patrol Elite Team, will give a Power Point presentation providing detailed instructions that are summarized in a Prize Patrol Blitz Manual personalized for each deputy.

Subjects that Eve will cover include:

• Making sweepstakes winning moment travel arrangements – itineraries, flights, hotels, florists where roses should be ordered.

• Prize Patrol wardrobe: what and how to pack (as lightly as possible)

• Prize Patrol paraphernalia to take for festive winning moments to be seen on TV– including the Prize Patrol van sign, big checks, balloons, etc.

• Important information folders – including Publishers Clearing House winner affidavits, real cash prize checks, Q&A’s and more.

• Pointers on keeping the contest award plans “top secret” and surprising the winner.

• Instructions for videotaping the sweepstakes winning moments

• Dealing with the local TV stations and newspapers who may be interested in telling the sweepstakes winner stories online, in print or on TV

With an operation of this magnitude, contingency planning is a must. Please return to the PCH Blog in coming weeks to read more about what will be happening at Prize Patrol Boot Camp. But, in the meantime, enter the sweepstakes online at pch.com. (Yes, online contest entries submitted NOW are eligible for Blitz prizes as well as other contests including our $10 Million SuperPrize!) And enter as often as you can! We want to make you a winner!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Prize Patrol Surprises a Winner on Tax Day

The PCH Prize Patrol didn’t have to travel far from our Port Washington, NY, sweepstakes headquarters on April 15 to surprise our big Tax Day winner – it was only a few miles away. Even so, the presentation was challenging because the winner lived in a large high-rise apartment building requiring the Prize Patrol to be cleared by security.

Marta Wolkind of Queens, NY, the newest Publishers Clearing House winner, was totally shocked to be on the receiving end of a PCH sweepstakes winning moment, which you can watch on video at PCHTV.com. In disbelief, Marta gratefully accepted the roses, the balloons and -- tah dahh! --The Big Check!

More prizes are on the way, and likely to be delivered in YOUR area! Contest entries submitted now are eligible for Prize Patrol Blitz in May during which 66 Prize Patrol deputies will fan out all across the USA and award 101 prizes -- in three days of sweepstakes winning moment frenzy! And there are even more contests and sweepstakes every day at PCH’s growing network of websites.

So enter our sweepstakes at once and as often as you can. Online sweepstakes entry is easy at PCH.com, PCHSearch&Win.com or one or more of the several PCH online game website links such as PCHLotto.com, PCHGames.com or PCH Scratch Cards. We want to make you a winner!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

A Dream Vacation

Spring is here! The trees are budding and the flowers are starting to bloom. All of nature has gotten a rest during the long winter. But what about you? Have you gotten a rest? A relaxing vacation?

How about an adventure in Aruba? A break in Barcelona? An escape to Ecuador? Or a holiday in Hawaii?

A getaway courtesy of Publishers Clearing House could be closer than you think – because we give away “Big Checks” throughout the year in our famous free sweepstakes. Some people see our Prize Patrol on TV and think that we only award SuperPrizes like $10 Million or $1 Million or $5,000 A Week for Life. Those giveaways are certainly exciting! But if you look at our mailings and surf through our growing number of websites you’ll see that we offer lots of prize drawings in all sizes – like $25,000 and $10,000 and $7,000 and $5,000. Just think of the fun you could have with a surprise cash windfall like that! Even one of our hundreds of $1,000 sweepstakes prize checks could provide the welcome break you deserve.

Now is the time to enter the sweepstakes at Publishers Clearing House, with many new prizes being offered. Our “Prize Patrol Blitz” is coming up in May when we will be delivering “Big Checks” to winners in 101 towns and cities across the USA.

And since you are online at this very moment, why not go to pch.com and fill out an online sweepstakes entry. If you search online, you can also get daily chances to win at PCHSearch&Win.com. Or, you can play free online games on the PCH family of websites, including PCHLotto.com, PCHGames.com or PCHScratchCards.com.

Return to these sites often and enter our contests and sweepstakes again and again! You have nothing to lose – and that vacation that you dream about could turn into the real thing before you know it.

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

Words of Wisdom

Anyone who ever went to college knows knowledge isn’t cheap. These days, nothing much is, and prices seem to just be getting higher. As an Oneonta State College class of 2001 graduate, my monthly student loan bill is a reminder of just how true that is, and will probably keep reminding me for many years to come. However, there is a group of people that have a little less worrying to do these days when it comes to bills – those are people like Natalie Bostelman and Doris Gray. They are two in a list of thousands of Publishers Clearing House winners.

These were everyday people who got up and went about their day like any other, until that day when the PCH Prize Patrol came knocking for a sweepstakes winning moment and awarded them big cash sweepstakes prizes simply because they mailed back their entry, or filled out an online sweepstakes entry in the hope that maybe it would make a difference. And for them it did.

Whether it was a $100.00 cash sweepstakes prize or a $10 Million SuperPrize, each of these contest winners went from paying their monthly bills to getting a check of their own, and in some cases a very BIG one!

You can read lots of sweepstakes winner stories at the Publishers Clearing House Blog, or watch videos of Natalie's, Doris' and other sweepstakes winning moments posted on http://PCHTV.com/. It's fun to see the reactions of the contest winners as they are surprised with their free cash prizes. You’ll also be able to enter our sweepstakes online and play free online games when you go to http://pch.com/.

From the college hopeful with years worth of student loans in the future – to the retired grandparent wishing to finally pay off that mortgage or just take that long-awaited vacation – anyone can be a Publishers Clearing House winner, all you have to do is enter the contest today! Consider this some knowledge, free of charge.

Shannon W.

Quality Control

Internal Production Department

Remembering Contest Winner Bob Castleberry

The Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol once had the thrill of surprising a cash sweepstakes winner who will live in our memories for a long, long time: Robert L. Castleberry.

En route to surprising this Publishers Clearing House contest winner in person,we were excited and a bit unnerved by the prospect of awarding a $10 Million SuperPrize to a Denton, Texas resident about whom we knew nothing. But before long, all of us at PCH -- as well as all the citizens of Denton, the whole state of Texas and indeed many throughout the USA -- got to know, admire and love Bob Castleberry.

We timed our arrival for the surprise sweepstakes winning moment at Bob’s home for early evening, just minutes before his name was to be announced in a PCH commercial seen on TV on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. The Prize Patrol plus an entourage of ad agency, PR and local media folks crowded into a narrow stairwell leading to Bob’s second floor apartment. Although we tried to be quiet, the vehicular noise outside and the general hub-bub must have gained Bob’s attention because he opened the door after the first knock.

“Well what have we got here?!” a big, middle-aged man in jeans and cowboy boots said as he saw the crowd, the flowers, the balloons and the cameras.

“You’ve just won $10 Million in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes prize drawing!” I announced.

“Well goll-eeee!” Bob exclaimed. “Well, come on in! Please come in!” he gushed in a big, warm Texas drawl accompanied with broad welcoming gestures.

The celebration began immediately and kept on through a press conference at a nearby hotel. Bob took it all in stride saying to all the interviewers and well-wishers, “I can handle this alright.”

And indeed he could. This Publishers Clearing House winner became a celebrity throughout Texas, and national TV appearances from New York and Hollywood followed. Now financially secure due to his lucky sweepstakes entry, Bob decided to retire at age 60 and pursue a dream he’d always had: to serve his beloved hometown, Denton, as mayor. So he ran for office, won, and served three terms. In the process, he nurtured economic growth in that city, about 35 miles north of Dallas.

Besides endowing scholarships in memory of his parents and donating generously to local charities, Bob decided to enjoy his new affluence in Texas-style. He bought a white Rolls Royce (with red and white leather interior) and built a beautiful ranch in which he spent his scarce leisure time. He bought cattle, and when he needed a branding iron he fashioned it after the Publishers Clearing House logo.

For years until his untimely passing in October 2004, Bob was a tireless goodwill ambassador for Publishers Clearing House, always encouraging everyone he met to be positive and enter the free sweepstakes. Although I have known hundreds of our contest giveaway winners over the years, Bob stands out as one of the biggest – not only because of his robust build, but also because he had a heart and personality as big as Texas. We treasure his memory.

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

Publishers Clearing House PRIZE PATROL