A question for the younger forum members

[VanessaJW]

At work we are going to be running a competition in local schools/colleges aimed at roughly 13-18 year olds, and I'm looking for some ideas for what we could give as prizes. So if you're within that age group or thereabouts, what type of prizes would make you want to enter? I don't know what our budget is yet because we're going to be asking local businesses to sponsor/donate money for prizes so it depends how much we get! But I don' t think it'll be thousands, so don't go too crazy! I'm thinking gadgety type things, music vouchers maybe? Also which brands are good to go for? I just need to know what's hot and what's not for you young folk

[karinne]

iPods? MP3 players?

[Voodoochilli]

i bet an ipod nano would be a good start I'm too old though

[welshstew]

wii ??

[jtyoungs]

kids hate vouchers...
try events as well like local theme parks or something that not only one person can enjoy but the winner and a friend.

[c010depunkk]

I was always happy to get anything electronic...

[Blake121]

Yeah an iPod nano would be good. Or the new iPod nano video thing.

Or maybe a Wii or xBox 360 if the budget stretches.

[1840dsgn]

if you offered a Wii everyone would enter...twice!

ipods, creative mp3 players, massive TVs lol...

all depends on the budget really

I personally don't think 2 tickets to thorpe park really makes you enthusiastic about entering though...

[jtyoungs]

depends on money they get tho! i went to a shabby school! two tickets to thorpe park was like a trip to australia for me!

[Pádraig]

Anything with an Apple badge. What is the competition about? Designing?

[pa007]

13-18? And a Playboy subscription out of the question, I guess. Well anything shiny that you can put yer chunes (with a capital 'CH') on will probably go down well. Depends on the competition, different prizes will attract kids withdifferent interests. So tickets to watch Canterbury FC will entice kids interested in sport whereas something like a visit to a National Trust property will entice no-one. You won't go far wrong with brand-new gadgets like iPods (which are disgustingly cheap now), something even a bit extreme like a flying lesson would go down a treat with the lads (though what boys find interesting and what girls find interesting are not as separate as they once were). Not being a girl (really :o) and never having being one (rumors of my sex change were exaggerated) I'm not sure what young girls go for (well I do know, and it's awfully similar to what young lads are interested in, but it'd be inappropriate to mention it here ).

Judging by recent reports near me you'd be best getting Durex to sponsor you.

Pete.

[Daniel]

Yeah my old school did a competition with an Ipod as the prize - Nearly every pupil entered

[Voodoochilli]

I think a really cool and cheap present would be a weeks work experience in a real design company. maybe some kids would prefer a gadget or money, but in the long run that sort of experience is something money cant buy.

[alexgeek]

I'd prefer money
my schools offering £20 to design some logo thing for grease.
whats the price range?

[VanessaJW]

Thanks everyone for so many comments and suggestions so far! To answer/respond to some of them:

The competition is to create an image, using whatever method they like, that could be used in our posters/leaflets etc. So it could be a photograph, or a painting, or a graphic image, however they want to create the image.

The schools we work with are mostly in disadvantaged areas, so we wouldn’t want to give a prize that would involve them/their parents needing to spend more money to use it, e.g. if we gave a couple of tickets to an amusement park we would also need to pay for the accompanying adults, and their travel or they probably wouldn’t be able to use it. Also if we gave an Xbox or something like that which involved them needing to buy games, then that could be a problem, so we'd have to get a few games too - so all depends on how much money we get!

I'm not keen on giving money for various reasons.

[Marc]

I will give you one piece of advice, DO NOT give WHSmith/a book store vouchers! That is what my school used to do but now they just give cash

[alexgeek]

I hate those!

[VanessaJW]

Oh don't worry, definitely wouldn't give a book voucher!

[alexgeek]

hmv voucher wouldn't be bad

[Jack Franklin]

I agree with alexgeek. HMV voucher or maybe there could be a choice of vouchers? EG HMV, JJB, or M&S (for girls). Don't know. Ipod's would make me enter