64 finalists will be chosen. $20,000 scholarship is on the line. March madnezz style tournament. The vote is in your hands. You, the Zinch people are going to help us choose the scholarship winner. We narrowed it down to 200+ qualified winners. We can’t make the final decision. We believe all of these 200 are qualified to win the scholarship, but you’re going to help us decide.
Regionals:
44 students will qualify for the field of 64 based on peer votes. 17 more will be chosen by the Zinch Scholarship Selection Committee and the last 3 will be made up from the Cinderella 3.
Brackets of 64:
Every student in the field of 64 has a 50% chance of winning each round, until the winner is announced April 23rd. It’s one-on-one, mano yi mano, highest vote-getter moves on. Each round will cut the finalists in half. 1 vote per round. 1 vote per IP address. 1 vote per zinch user login.
Cinderella 3:
This is where we add the twist. We picked our semi-finalists, which will give us 44 of the 64, but we are going to let 3 students automatically qualify for the field of 64 whether or not you made the semi’s. The top 3 students that invite the most friends to Zinch, and have those friends create profiles that are at least 40% filled out will qualify. Any student with a Zinch profile is eligible. If you get the most friends to create a profile, you will get in the tournament.
Biggest Loser Competition:
All semifinalists who didn't make into the final 64 are qualified to participate in the Biggest Loser contest. Rules are simple: 1 vote can be cast until contest is over (April 23rd, 2008). 1 vote per IP address. 1 vote per zinch user.
Voting:
It’s public voting, so anyone can vote for anyone. Voters do not need to create a Zinch profile to vote, they just visit the March Madnezz page and find the regional bracket with who they want to vote for and click vote. Every public vote counts as one point. If the voter is a Zinch member (have a filled out profile), it will count as two points (they will need to be logged into their profile and vote from there so we can track it). We encourage all Zinch members to have their voice be heard, tell us who you think deserves it most. The person with the most votes at the end of each round moves on. Votes are cleared back to zero each week. And with each new match up, you must start from zero and get more votes.
We will only allow each contestant to receive one vote from a single IP address (location). We understand that many high school computer labs, public libraries, and business complexes usually have the same IP address. We apologize for that inconvenience. However, to maximize the security and minimize the chances of vote fraud and cheating, this is what needed to be done. Contestants should encourage friends and family to vote from their home computers. Usually each home as a unique IP address which will allow for them to vote for the same contestant just fine.
Verification:
All finalist will have the opportunity to tell the world why they deserve the scholarship through the about me, activities, and one random question. All this information must be accurate and all 64 finalists will have their information verified through their guidance counselor before the tournament. The winner will also be verified at the end. If there is any false information, they will automatically be disqualified and replaced without any questions asked.
Timeline:
Start date is March 3rd for regional matchups to get into the field of 64 and the winner will be announced Wednesday April 23rd.
+ March 3rd start regional match ups to get into the field of 64. Ends March 11th 9am MST.
+ Round 1(field of 64) will start March 12th at 1pm MST and end March 19th 9am MST.
+ Round 2(32 remaining) starts March 19th 1pm MST and ends March 25th 9am MST.
+ Round 3(sweet 16) starts March 26th 1pm MST and ends April 2nd 9am MST.
+ Round 4 (elite 8) starts April 2nd 1pm MST and ends April 9th 9am MST.
+ Final Four starts April 9th 1pm MST and ends April 16th 9am MST.
+ The Championship is from April 16th 1pm MST and ends April 23rd 12pm MST.
Hints:
+ Email your friends- Send an email to all your friends with the link to vote for you. Tell them to pass it on. Get your network working for you.
+ YouTube- Get creative, youtube allows you to reach a lot more people that could vote for you.
+ MySpace/Facebook – Tell your friends, post your link, create a group.
+ Pass out Flyers/posters- You gotta hustle. Get your friends to help you in the halls, pass out flyers, put flyers on the cars in parking lot, announce over the PA, go to other local high schools.
+ Counselors- Get your counselor on board. They should be willing to help you, and they meet with tons of students every day. They should also be able to help you get the faculty votes.
+ The turtles- This is an easy way to invite your friends to come to Zinch, create a profile and then vote, remember, Zinch members count as 2 points instead of 1.
+ HS Classes- Let your class members know you need their help.
+ Zinch Members- Like a said, these are 2 pointers. Who do you know on Zinch to that could vote for you? Use the Forums to get other students on Zinch to vote for you and have them to get their friends in their schools to vote for you.
+ Link- Use the link to help direct people right to the page- www.zinch.com/marchmadness
Do what you gotta do. You got a $20,000 Scholarship on the line. It’s yours to lose.
Every year we will give our a "Sweet Diggity Dawg" scholarship. We believe students are more than a test score and we ask you to show us who you are for this scholarship. Every April, a new Zinch Sweet Diggity Dawg will be crowned through a 64-person tourney(bracket style). Go to our scholarship page to learn how to qualify.
Amount: $20,000
Deadline: Jan 15, 2009
Eligibility: Current high school student (international students included), minimum 2.0 gpa. You must register on Zinch.com and your profile must be as complete as possible.
Judging: Both need of student and merit considered. Winners chosen based on what the student provides in his/her Zinch profile. Make sure it's complete.
By applying for this scholarship, colleges will have the ability to view your profile and recruit you on Zinch.