Backpacking Dad’s #BlogHer11 and #HomeHer11 Terrible Jam Giveaways

I’m going to BlogHer this weekend. I may be there already. (Are you reading this in the future? Then I went last weekend. It was fun. In your case this post is completely dated, and you should skip around to something else.)

Last year I stayed home instead of going to BlogHer, and in order to pass the time I started, then later tried desperately to keep up with, HomeHer (#HomeHer10 on Twitter). It was a joke that lasted four days. I’m still laughing.

This year, although I’ll be at BlogHer, a big piece of my heart is with the #HomeHer11 crowd, a dedicated and enthusiastic group of people who have been talking about this unconference for a while now, some of them since #HomeHer10 ended. In honour of those of you who will be at #HomeHer11, I thought I’d throw a little giveaway into the mix. How would you like some jam?

And not just any jam! This is some really terrible jam. It was jam I made from peaches from my tree during #HomeHer10. It’s overcooked, looks black in the wrong light, and it’s a year old. But, despite all of that, I love this jam, because making it was a huge part of my first HomeHer updates last year. It should go in a museum. I’m serious: Do not eat this jam. (Well, maybe it’s okay to eat. What the hell do I know about year old jam? This is my first time having any in my cupboards.)

So, #HomeHer11 folks, if you would like to win this completely unappealing piece of history, just leave a comment below with a #HomeHer11 hashtag (this will let me know for sure you are attending HomeHer and are not some creeping BlogHer wank, trying to steal jam). As usual with my giveaways, if you get a friend to enter as well, and they leave a comment in reply to your comment, you get an extra entry in the drawing, numbered immediately after them.

You do not have to follow me on Twitter or Facebook or anything like that. Just love #HomeHer11 deep in your hearts.

Now, I’m not leaving people going to BlogHer completely out in the lurch. I will also be bringing some terrible jam to them in San Diego. This terrible jam is made from apricots picked this July, it is completely untasted, and I know I didn’t use enough pectin to settle it, so it slides around a good amount. Its only saving grace is the way it looks. It is Superficial Jam.

So, #BlogHer11 folks, if you want to win this possibly inedible jar of apricot jam, you have to do some more work than my #HomeHer11 friends. I have 30 business cards to give out at BlogHer this year, leftover from a run I ordered two years ago. The information on these business cards is slightly out of date (my Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/backpackingdadblog now), and the picture is ancient. I have hand-numbered these cards from 1-30. To enter into the Terrible Jam giveaway, you need to have one of these cards. That’s right! It’s a totally exclusive giveaway! Further, I will only give you one of my collector’s item business cards if you address me as “O Captain, My Captain” when you see me.

I’m such an ass.

That’s it: See me, say “O Captain My Captain”, get a business card, hope I select your number, win some worthless jam that I made myself. You should probably follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/backpackingdad) so you can see what the winning number is, but I’ll also post it here on the blog. You’re going to have to be able to find me so I can give you the jam though.

Both drawings will be done on Saturday night. I think. If I remember.

(Note: I am bringing the Superficial Jam with me to San Diego, so I’ll physically give it to the person who wins. The Historic Jam will have to be shipped to the person who wins.)

Good luck!