Would You Like to Meet the “Mad Men” of PCH?

Two Publishers Clearing House employees who “invented” the PCH Prize Patrol are veteran advertising men. Over the years, Todd Sloane and yours truly have both seen a lot of Madison Avenue – the legendary birthplace of thousands of TV ad campaigns. But we are not literally “mad” men, and we didn’t come up with the Prize Patrol idea in bustling New York City but in the calmer suburban town of Port Washington where PCH was founded in 1953 and is still based.

Until 1989, PCH Sweepstakes winners were notified by phone that they had won big cash prizes. Todd thought an in-person surprise visit with the good news would generate extremely watchable TV commercial footage, and – boy! – was he right. For over 20 years now, major prize winners have been shocked by the PCH Prize Patrol knocking on the door with roses, balloons and –ta-dah! – The Big Check. And our TV ads featuring sweepstakes winning moments are classics of “reality TV.”

How would you like to meet the “mad men” of PCH? With this fall’s Prize Patrol Blitz – with 101 prizes of at least $10,000 in 101 towns and cities across the USA -- the chances of a visit are better than you might think.

Of course, the first step to winning is to enter the PCH Sweepstakes. And online sweepstakes entry is easy at pch.com.

At pch.com you can also find out if the Prize Patrol is coming to your area. Play the PCH contest often -- every day if you want – and improve your chances of winning. But the entry deadline is approaching fast, so don’t delay!

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

What is a Prize Patrol Blitz?

In a Prize Patrol Blitz the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol awards 101 prizes to winners in 101 zip codes across the USA. The sweepstakes prizes are awarded in a 2-3 day timeframe. This is accomplished by training over 30 teams of Publishers Clearing House employees to become Prize Patrol Deputies.

The training program is called Prize Patrol Boot Camp and it is conducted on the premises of Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes headquarters in Port Washington, NY. Dave Sayer, Executive Director of the PCH Prize Patrol and Todd Sloane, Senior Vice President, are in charge of running the boot camp training program.

What if the PCH Winner Isn’t Home?

People often ask what happens if the winner isn’t home when the PCH Prize Patrol arrives for the sweepstakes winning moment?

The answer is the Prize Patrol will find a way to award the cash sweepstakes prize to the Publishers Clearing House winner. Sometimes we’ll find out where the winner is and travel to that location to make the surprise prize award. Many a prize has been awarded at a winner’s workplace or a relative’s house nearby. Once we even awarded a prize on an airplane to a PCH winner who was headed out on vacation! Other times, we may leave the prize at the winner’s home with a trusted relative, or, if all else fails, we will mail the prize check.

Here’s an email sent from the road to the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes headquarters from Dave Sayer, Executive Director of the PCH Prize Patrol. He’s reporting on a prize delivery for a contest winner who wasn’t home when they arrived.

“The $10,000 Labor Day prize was delivered on Sunday to the home of Jane Kennedy in San Diego. Her husband Larry accepted the prize -- as Jane was in Arizona visiting her mother. Larry … had … a good reaction, a good usable "Outstanding!" for TV commercial punctuation. We talked to Jane on the phone and she was very excited.”

Well done, Dave! Even though the PCH prize winner wasn’t home, she will still get her prize. Plus, we will have an excited winning reaction from her husband to be seen on TV!

Deborah Holland

Executive Vice President

Publishers Clearing House (PCH)

Is the PCH Prize Patrol Coming to my TV Area?

Many folks are currently receiving Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes mailings and e-mails saying that in coming weeks the PCH Prize Patrol could be delivering Big Checks to their TV areas. To find out if PCH is headed to their TV area, recipients are instructed to go to pch.com and type-in their zip codes – the way you might use a “store locator” on a retailer’s website to find a store near you.

Some may be wondering what a “TV area” actually is. Well, the entire continental United States is made up of TV areas -- as defined by Nielsen Media Research, the same company that measures the size of TV shows’ audiences. The largest share of TV viewing in every county in the U.S. can be attributed to stations in a certain TV area. For example …

Most of the TV viewing in Sarasota County, Florida can be traced to stations broadcasting out of Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida; therefore, if you live in Sarasota County, Florida, you reside in the “Tampa Bay TV area.”

Since most of the TV viewing in Davidson County, Tennessee, can be traced to stations broadcasting out of Nashville, Tennessee, those who live in Davidson County reside in the “Nashville TV area.”

Whether you know it or not, you live in a “TV area” too. Chances are your TV area carries a label that matches the biggest metropolitan area in your vicinity.

We are sending Prize Patrol teams to 101 TV areas – areas which account for the vast majority of Americans. So the chances are excellent that your TV area will be among them. You could win one of our 101 Big $10,000 Checks! You could even win the $1 Million SuperPrize!

Of course, if you want to win you have to enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes! But that’s easy. Just click on this link to pch.com. There you can type in your zip code and see if one of our Prize Patrol teams is headed your direction. Then with another click you can enter!

Before you know it the PCH Prize Patrol van could pull up in front of your home – with roses, balloons and The Big Check and announce “You’ve just won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes!”

We wish you the best of luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

How Did the Prize Patrol Get Started?

Just over twenty years ago, Todd Sloane, an assistant in the PCH advertising department, came to me and said, “I have an idea.”

“What is it?” I asked as I sat in my office minutes after we had conducted a drawing for a Million Dollar SuperPrize.

“Well,” he said, “you’re about to place a phone call to a guy in Texas to tell him he won a million dollars. Then maybe you’ll bring him to New York and film a TV commercial where he’ll sit woodenly in front of a camera and say something like ‘I just won a million dollars in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes – You can too.’ I think we could make more exciting TV advertising if we surprised him with the Big Check at his front door.”

The idea seemed a bit outrageous; but Todd volunteered to experiment with his amateur camcorder; so we flew to the winner’s home in Texas to give it a try.

Well, the winner John Yancy and his wife Julie gave us a surprise reaction that was, in a word, classic. They screamed, they jumped up and down, they held their heads in disbelief. And a TV commercial emerged from the shaky camera footage that set the course of Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes TV advertising ever since. Todd and I founded the PCH Prize Patrol to personally deliver roses, balloons and Big Checks – which since 1989 have numbered nearly a thousand! That’s a lot of miles – and over $221 million in prize money!

Naturally, we are happy with the popularity of the Prize Patrol, the excitement it has brought to our mailings and TV ads, and the joy it has brought to so many winners – far and wide – over the years.

Twenty years ago a person who wanted to win our contests had to enter the PCH Sweepstakes by mail. That’s no longer the case. While our mailed Bulletins are gratefully received in many households, more and more Americans are turning to the web to visit Publishers Clearing House.

Of course, you know that because you are reading our PCH Blog. And you probably want to win too! So let’s get started.

Just click here to enter the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes online. Have fun playing PCH’s online games. Watch the Prize Patrol in action at PCHTV.com.

Good luck!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL

(P.S.: By the way, Todd continued to come up with bright ideas at PCH and is now one of our top executives.)

Where Will Dave Sayer Appear Next?

Visiting New York in the summer was always a family tradition. We have many relatives here, so we visit as often as possible. A favorite place to go has always been my Great-Aunt’s summer home on the Long Island Sound.

Since I've been doing a summer internship at Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes Headquarters in Long Island, NY this summer, it was convenient for me to make an afternoon visit to my Aunt recently. Hugs were exchanged and conversation was quickly made. All of a sudden, I heard my name being called from a distance. Thinking I was going crazy, I subtly glanced around. Lo and behold Dave Sayer, the face of Publishers Clearing House, was standing on the deck next door waving eagerly at me!

Apparently Dave has had a summer home next to my Aunt for years. We said “hello” and talked to each other across the yard, but I soon returned to chatting with my Aunt. Seeing as how it was high tide on a beautiful day, my aunt, mom and I decided to swim. As I was swimming around in the Long Island Sound, Dave kayaked over to me, telling me there was something important I needed to do for him on Monday at work. (I just happen to work in the same department as Dave Sayer.) He explained my task as I tread water and he floated, and when all was said and done he thanked me and paddled away.

When I got to work on Monday, I fulfilled my task and shared my story with fellow PCH employees. I was talking to Deborah Holland, the Executive Vice President of PCH, and she said, “When work needs to be done, we PCHers will stop at nothing! Next time Dave will parachute out of the sky to find you!” I laughed, but after being here for a few weeks I have noticed the real dedication Publishers Clearing House employees put into their work, and how proud they are to know each has a hand in the process of delivering those giant sweepstakes prize checks to our lucky prize drawing winners.

Liz D.

PCH Summer Intern

Publishers Clearing House Summer Internship

I’m what some people call a “PCH baby,” meaning someone who grew up involved with PCH, the famous sweepstakes company that has made many unsuspecting winners millionaires. My mom has worked at Publishers Clearing House since before I was born and consequently, I’ve spent countless days after school and during vacations sitting in her office drawing on computer paper with the one pink highlighter she has on her desk, stealing French raspberry candies she keeps in her top file cabinet drawer and taking countless trips to the dining hall for the free soda fountain.

Now I am in college and naturally when I thought about taking a summer internship, I turned to my second home. Working at Publishers Clearing House, even as an intern is a wonderful experience, and I’m not just saying that because I am a “PCH baby”. Yes it is helpful that I see many familiar faces in the hall telling me, “My you’ve grown up!” and, “Oh, are you working here now?” as they remember me from my grade school days sporting a plaid uniform and pigtails, but even co-workers who never met me greet me with a warm hello in the hall.

A lot of my positive feelings about this internship come from how Publishers Clearing House treats its internship program as a learning experience first and foremost. PCH does not ask its interns to make coffee runs for the office or to stay cooped up filing papers all day. My supervisor knew that I was interested in law so he found a job I could do – even though I have not yet gone to law school – that would interest me and help the company. I spent most of my summer researching new laws and creating documents that summarize the laws to help PCH workers with legal compliance.

Another meaningful experience I had was getting to meet with Andy, the president and CEO of Publishers Clearing House. PCH set up a meeting for all of the interns to meet with Andy to further our learning experience. Andy took the time to talk with all of us, hear what work we are doing for the company and what we have learned. Then he told us about what he does for Publishers Clearing House. It is wonderful and unique as an intern to feel so valued by the company you work for that even the president is willing to meet and talk with you.

Now as a PCH intern, instead of just a “PCH baby,” I can truly say that I am sorry to leave the team when I go back to school this fall. I will miss the other interns, my PCH coworkers and the buzz of excitement all over the company every time a new sweepstakes winner is announced. But, knowing me and how much PCH is a part of my life, I’m predicting I’ll be back again sometime very soon.

Chelsea H.

Legal Intern

Publishers Clearing House (PCH)

Relax – It’s The New PCH Dining Room

As employees of Publishers Clearing House (also known as PCH’ers), we enjoy amazing perks such as being able to award huge dream sweepstakes prizes, being a part of unforgettable sweepstakes winning moments, and getting to meet people all across America when we head out on PCH Prize Patrol. But another perk is a little closer to home – it’s the recently redesigned PCH dining room here at our Port Washington, NY Sweepstakes Headquarters. A few months back the dining room was given a facelift, making it an enjoyable place where PCH’ers could spend lunchtime or a well-deserved break.

First came the stylish, modern walls and improved lighting. Then came the new café, complete with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, gourmet soups and hot lunch specials, and which now features freshly made sandwiches and design-your-own salads.



Soon the flat screen TVs were set up and speakers added to the tables, followed by upgraded vending machines featuring snacks, desserts and drinks for sale, even when the Café is closed.



Last up was the talk of the town – while the dining room has always been the hub of the building, the usual buzz reached a new high when the new seating area arrived. It featured leather couches, large sculptured baskets and a sleek black coffee table. During the couch “frenzy,” I looked at Mike, who runs the PCH Café and joked, “You’ll have to excuse my coworkers. They’ve never seen a couch before!”

Of course I meant that in all good fun, since I too was excited to see the improvements. It’s encouraging to see a company put forth an effort to keep its employees comfortable and entertained. And, Publishers Clearing House scores high in this regard. Here at PCH our jobs may be hectic – a lot of work goes into putting together our fabulous selection of top quality merchandise, unbeatable magazine deals, interactive online games, and of course our incredible contest giveaway prize drawings – but having a place to kick back and relax for a bit makes the day go by in a flash for PCH’ers!

Wishing you lots of luck,

Brenna S.

PCH Prize Patrol Deputy

A Memorable Internship at Publishers Clearing House

There is never a dull moment at Publishers Clearing House. As an intern, I have come to the realization that there is always something to do here at sweepstakes headquarters in Port Washington, NY.

I work for two departments at PCH. I started as an intern in the Creative department and slowly made a transition into the Promotion Development department. This has given me the opportunity to have a great variety of experiences. I’ve done everything from attending meetings to discussing changes on current mailings, to working with the director and producers for national TV commercials. I have even met the members of the PCH Prize Patrol as seen on TV!

Not many college interns get the diverse experience that we get here, at Publishers Clearing House. I have had the opportunity to work with many different people, and the experiences and memories from this summer are irreplaceable.

On Tuesday July 14, I had the opportunity to participate and work behind the scenes in the PCH television commercial shoot. It was a twelve-hour day that began at 6:30 a.m. Although it was overwhelming at times, it was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve had as an intern.

The meeting time for participants in the commercial changed so many times in the preceding days that many PCH Prize Patrol Deputies ended up having to back out at the last minute. This caused some chaos for us, and it became my job to find PCH employees to replace the Deputies that stepped down, or needed to step out for a few hours to attend a meeting or get daily tasks done. I was also responsible for helping to collect Prize Patrol jackets and arranging to have them cleaned. (Liz, another PCH Summer Intern and I worked together on this project.)

Although I was concerned at first that I’d never find my way around the hallways and cubicles at Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes headquarters in Port Washington, NY, I’ve discovered that not everything is as complicated as it seems. Tasks that, at first, seem daunting can eventually be learned and may even become routine. On the other hand, things that seem easy – like giving away free sweepstakes prize money to happy contest entrants – actually require a lot of effort, logistics and coordination. My internship has taught me a lot about responsibility and hard work, as well as the importance of understanding how one’s job fits into the big picture. Most of all, from the PCH Prize Patrol members and the PCH employees (known as “PCHers), who are very dedicated to the company and enjoy working here, I have learned the value of working at a company like Publishers Clearing House (also called “PCH”) where you can have some fun while doing the work that needs to be done.

Erica L.

PCH Summer Intern

Challenging the Status Quo

Back in the early 1950’s, a magazine publishing executive named Harold Mertz thought there had to be a better way to build a magazine’s circulation than an expensive mailing promoting an individual title. He came up with the “win-win” idea of a single direct mail-piece that would offer a variety of magazine subscription deals to the consumer while boosting publishers’ circulations and saving both the consumer and publishers money. He challenged the usual way of doing things – or the “status quo” – and built Publishers Clearing House into a famous and successful company which has since become a multi-channel marketer of all kinds of value priced merchandise and magazines and has made millions of shoppers happy.

Recently our company president hosted an “All PCH’er” breakfast at which he encouraged each and every one of our 400+ PCH employees to continue to challenge the “status quo” – just as Mr. Mertz did. En masse, the employees responded, “Yes, we will!”

Everyone there recognized that these efforts will be good for the Publishers Clearing House business; but – most of all – these efforts will benefit YOU, the folks out there who like to win – win in all kinds of ways: great prizes, great merchandise, great magazines, great values.

By the conclusion of this and every “All PCH’er” gathering, the employees themselves feel like winners. Sometimes they win vicariously by rubbing shoulders with one of the Publishers Clearing House SuperPrize winners – like Doris Gray who recently won $5,000 A Week for Life. Then there’s always a wonderful video presentation so everyone can see the PCH Prize Patrol’s latest adventures awarding Big Checks. Finally there is always a prize drawing for our employees – after all, they aren’t eligible to win our PCH contests and sweepstakes; so it’s great for some lucky ones to go home with a welcome cash “sur-prize.”

What can YOU look forward to as a result of this “All PCH’er” gathering at our Port Washington, NY headquarters?

Prizes, prizes and more prizes: millions and millions of dollars in SuperPrizes, a PCH Prize Blitz in which our PCH Prize Patrol deputies will travel to deliver prizes to 101 Winners in zip codes, towns and cities all across America to surprise lucky folks with $10,000 Big Checks, and hundreds of prizes you can win through our growing network of exciting websites. And wonderful shopping experiences – with terrific products and Customer Satisfaction guaranteed.

So why accept YOUR “status quo”? There’s no purchase or fee necessary to enter and win our sweepstakes, but why not take advantage of all these “WIN-WIN” opportunities from Publishers Clearing House?

Enter the PCH contest at pch.com. While you are surfing, visit PCHTV.com to see our latest sweepstakes winning moments. And don’t forget to do your online searches at PCH Search & Win where you can get a chance to win online every time you use our powerful search engine.

All the best!

Dave Sayer

Executive Director

PCH PRIZE PATROL