The Tony G. Travel Raffle

First of all, the name credit goes to Andy Patton! What a sweet name for this contest!

Dear esteemed friends and loved ones,

I am SO happy to announce that the Tony G. Travel Raffle is a GO!

  Originally this started out as an idea formed out of loneliness because I miss you all and I wish that you could all share in my adventures in the great city of Shanghai. However, as soon as I started mentioning it, people really started to give me positive feedback and I think it turned into something more than I expected. Because of this I firstly would just like to say thank you to all who are participating in this. It's going to be a huge monument in my life organizing something this big and it's funny because again, as I often find in life, it would never happen without your support.

  So I would like to mention a couple of things about this fun-filled package that you will be receiving with the money that you all raise and I also want to point out some things that you need to be aware of before you commit to this.

First of all the things that you need to be aware of before entering the drawing:

1. You will need a valid passport (you can get one before you come out but it takes about 6 weeks so keep this in mind) to get a visa.
2. The money that I raise up to $1,500 USD will be used for round trip airfare as well as a tourist visa that is MANDATORY to come to China. This process takes a week or two so make sure you have ample time! I can help with obtaining your visa.
3. Accommodation will be provided for FREE as you will be staying with me in my apartment. I will take the couch and you will take the master bedroom so it's like a hotel anyway!
4. Meals, shopping and extra expenses unfortunately are not included in the initial $1,500 (unless there is some leftover from the airfare/visa) however, any money received on top of this will go towards us having some good times!
5. Please only enter the contest if you are serious about this. You will be able to choose the date that you wish to come out anytime between December 2011 and April 2012 but please, please, please make sure that you really want to do this because if you win and don't come out, I will be very sad and make sad faces all day and night.... then pick a new winner and you'll have missed your chance!

Ok, with all of that proper mumbo jumbo out of the way, let's get into some of the cool stuff we'll be doing once you win and get out here!

1. Number one on the list is of course eating a meal with my Chinese mother. For those of you who don't know of her legacy..... tourguidetonyg.blogspot.com Go right now.... RIGHT NOW!!!... unless you're already there...
2. You will meet my great Chinese friends and we will all have a meal together while they practice their English with you and I translate the rest.
3. I of course will guide you through some of the best sites that Shanghai has to offer and we will cover so much of the city it's unreal. Bring your camera!
4. You will come with me to a tutoring session or two to see what it's like teaching the children and or adults that are learning English.
5. You will have the opportunity to eat several different types of food that will blow your mind. Contrary to popular belief, there isn't just one type of Chinese food. In fact, “Chinese food” is different in over 12 regions of China! We will experience a few of them and I'll treat you to all you can eat Japanese hibachi! If you don't know what I'm talking about, refer to my blog... (Make sure I know if you're vegetarian, vegan or have allergies so I can plan appropriately)
6. Depending on your preference, we will either go to a nice jazz club, a crazy dancing club (or both depending on your tastes) and a nice bar near the top of the World Financial Center. During your stay you will also get to experience the awesomeness that is the diverse expat society. If you are into shopping, I will take you to the fake markets and make sure you get bottom dollar!
7. Again, depending on preference, we will throw a party at my house with guests representing over 8 countries and I will play you some sweet, sweet songs on my guitar to entertain you and my other guests.
8. You will learn about cultural differences very quickly as I throw you into the deep end and take you on the subway during rush hour, walk through a shopping center where people will devour your patience asking if you want to buy a watch or a bag and I will take you to an area where we will be the only 2 foreigners. (It's a great experience trust me!)
9. We will make a thank you video to ALL of the people who entered the raffle that will include pictures, videos and many hand-made hearts so that everyone who participated gets a gift of their own.
10. Last but not least, I will dedicate an ENTIRE blog post to you that will spare none of the juicy details. Everyone will know that even though they didn't make it out, they were directly involved with making someone experience something life-changing.

  For those of you who participate but do not win, I will write a PERSONALIZED thank you note to you for being a huge part of this whole ordeal. Don't get me wrong, a little bit of copy and paste MIGHT be used, but I'll do my best.

  So here's how this is going to work. The raffle will be between any and all participants that I know on a first-hand basis (sorry I just feel it's going to be more comfortable for the winner and I that way) and I will be selling 1 “ticket” for $10 USD. You may purchase as many as you would like and people may sponsor you as well by putting money forth in your name. For every $10 USD I receive in your name, you will get your name on a piece of paper in the bucket with all of the other ones! There is no limit to how many “tickets” you may purchase but remember, if you're putting in (exaggerating a bit) $500, you might as well just put up the other bits and get your butt out here! However, if you do decide to increase your chances and put in an obscene amount of money, that will be nice for the person who wins when they get here and I might just have to treat myself to a drink or nine on your tab. If it is the case that more than $3,000 USD is raised, this will then provide an opportunity to bring a friend along as well under the same guidelines.

  With that being said, you are welcome to use any amount that you win to help bring a friend out but then you must realize I can offer no further financial assistance and you will be responsible for any other costs that occur during the trip. On a side note, I am NOT receiving any profit whatsoever with this raffle. This is purely for all of you and although I will not turn down a meal or drink provided by the winner, I do not want any profit. Having you come out to visit me is prize enough.

  Money MUST be transferred by Paypal account so please get yourself a Paypal account (it's free!) or use a friend's. This reason is because first all of the money must be sent to one account to make sure that there will be sufficient funds and second because once I have picked a winner at random, that person will need to receive the money in full in order to purchase the tickets in their name with their proper identification.

  Ok so, I know this is a bit long winded but it is important that everyone knows this stuff before it goes ahead so that way it goes as smoothly as possible. My goal is to have all of the money accounted for no later then the 31^st of October so please send money asap as you see appropriate. I will announce the winner on November 1^st via a HUGE Skype conference call at around 7pm Colorado time. If that doesn't work out, I will film the whole process and post it on my blog and Facebook and send out a mass email announcing the winner.

  Here are the Paypal instructions: With your account, send funds to my account which is my email “munkyguitarist@gmail.com” Make sure that you select the personal tab under the amount and mark the bubble that says “personal gift.” The transfer will be free if you have your paypal setup straight to your bank account otherwise if it's coming off your credit or debit card you will have to pay an additional 2.9% + $0.30. You will have the option of having the receiver (i.e. me) pay for the transfer but honestly, I can't afford that! Sorry! Once you have sent the money to my account it is VERY IMPORTANT that you then SEND ME AN EMAIL at munkyguitarist@gmail.com from the SAME ADDRESS that is on your PAYPAL ACCOUNT that states your FULL NAME and HOW MANY “TICKETS” you purchased in the BODY of the email or the SUBJECT LINE. This way I can double check how many tickets each person has purchased and it will lead to less confusion and more convenience on my end since I will be responsible for all of the finances. With that in mind, I assure you that if this raffle does NOT receive the necessary amount of funds to select a winner, you will get your money back in full. I realize that you are all placing your trust in me to not be a dirty rotten scoundrel and take all of the money for myself, but considering you are all close friends, I hope that you can place your trust in me.

  Whew! We made it! OK everyone, let the raffle begin and best of luck to all of you. I am so excited and am going to do everything in my power to make this to work out even if I have to put up a bit of my own money. If this is super successful then you can count on more raffles in the future so don't fret if you don't win this time. Besides, you'll always be a winner in my book.

Tony G.