Southern California treasure hunt

[TheOldProspector]

I've been on this as well, and have PM'ed them and emailed them from their site.

So far, I have received no replies.

Today's Hint for Clue #2 throws out everything I have done (because it breaks their own rules). First it says that Th'ing is like the Bermuda Triangle, and gave the three points (have to guess those for yourself, sorry). Now it says to think outside the triangle (after saying it was inside the triangle previously).

My biggest question is "How do they plan on making money from this?" It's going to take 500 registrants just to break even, after giving away the first $5000. Unless it is some kind of advertising for something bigger, I just don't know. I will still go looking, but don't exactly trust this.

Best-Mike

I do apologize for the delay, Mike. I completely understand how it would make anyone leery.

I think now you'll agree that the clue did not tell anyone to search inside the "Bermuda Triangle of gold hunting". You made that assumption on your own. (As did nearly everyone else, by the way, so don't feel too bad.)



Others asked why there isn't advertising on the site. Why would we advertise someone else's product on our website? Aren't you irritated by going to a website and having to hunt through all of the ads to find what you actually want?

We plan to make money with registration fees.

We plan to advertise on radio, college newspaper ads, and on this site in a drop-down menu...we just haven't spent any of that ad money yet.

In our radio campaign alone, we will reach 1.2 million listeners.

If one in 500 responds to our radio ad, that's really bad, right? One in five hundred? Awful.

No, that's 2,400 registered players, or $24,000 in revenue.

Let's say the college ads have a lower response rate, as they are small classifieds. Let's say only 1 in 2000. We'll hit 800,000, so that's only 400 more players...or $4,000. So there's $28,000 in revenue, $5,000 in prizes, and about $8,000 in advertising. Profit somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 before taxes.

Now...if we really do hit those numbers, then it's not going to be a $5,000 hunt for long. We'll see numbers like $20,000 and up. It's our goal to eventually become a monthly hunt for $50,000. Outrageous? We don't think so.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that we do hit something like 1 in 500...but even at 1 in 1,000, we have a pretty good month. And whenever we can raise the prize money, we will. We believe that the more money we give away, the more people will want to play.

--dave

 

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[DrJoePrime]

Hi Dave,

I have not too much of a problem with the clues...they were pretty clever and interesting too. Catherine, it seems, specializes in winning contests and I admire her for that.

While your explanation of the security of your contest sounds reasonable it still has the "trust me..it's only $10" feeling for me. I'd like to see more. I'm not sure what exactly..perhaps the prize kept in some sort of escrow?

I would love to assume you are a completely scrupulous person just like the daily winning prizes I receive in my e-mail (total for the past month = $23,600,000 ... unfortunately there is a delivery charge which I can't afford). AND I am one of the least cynical people alive..believe it or not!

Joe

 

[gollum]

I've been on this as well, and have PM'ed them and emailed them from their site.

So far, I have received no replies.

Today's Hint for Clue #2 throws out everything I have done (because it breaks their own rules). First it says that Th'ing is like the Bermuda Triangle, and gave the three points (have to guess those for yourself, sorry). Now it says to think outside the triangle (after saying it was inside the triangle previously).

My biggest question is "How do they plan on making money from this?" It's going to take 500 registrants just to break even, after giving away the first $5000. Unless it is some kind of advertising for something bigger, I just don't know. I will still go looking, but don't exactly trust this.

Best-Mike

I do apologize for the delay, Mike. I completely understand how it would make anyone leery.

I think now you'll agree that the clue did not tell anyone to search inside the "Bermuda Triangle of gold hunting". You made that assumption on your own. (As did nearly everyone else, by the way, so don't feel too bad.)



Others asked why there isn't advertising on the site. Why would we advertise someone else's product on our website? Aren't you irritated by going to a website and having to hunt through all of the ads to find what you actually want?

We plan to make money with registration fees.

We plan to advertise on radio, college newspaper ads, and on this site in a drop-down menu...we just haven't spent any of that ad money yet.

In our radio campaign alone, we will reach 1.2 million listeners.

If one in 500 responds to our radio ad, that's really bad, right? One in five hundred? Awful.

No, that's 2,400 registered players, or $24,000 in revenue.

Let's say the college ads have a lower response rate, as they are small classifieds. Let's say only 1 in 2000. We'll hit 800,000, so that's only 400 more players...or $4,000. So there's $28,000 in revenue, $5,000 in prizes, and about $8,000 in advertising. Profit somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 before taxes.

Now...if we really do hit those numbers, then it's not going to be a $5,000 hunt for long. We'll see numbers like $20,000 and up. It's our goal to eventually become a monthly hunt for $50,000. Outrageous? We don't think so.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that we do hit something like 1 in 500...but even at 1 in 1,000, we have a pretty good month. And whenever we can raise the prize money, we will. We believe that the more money we give away, the more people will want to play.

--dave

Yes, I realized later that I should have said "implied" inside the triangle.

I must admit that I feel much more comfortable since receiving your answers both here and via email.

Thanks-Mike

 

[TheOldProspector]

Hi Dave,

I have not too much of a problem with the clues...they were pretty clever and interesting too. Catherine, it seems, specializes in winning contests and I admire her for that.

While your explanation of the security of your contest sounds reasonable it still has the "trust me..it's only $10" feeling for me. I'd like to see more. I'm not sure what exactly..perhaps the prize kept in some sort of escrow?

I would love to assume you are a completely scrupulous person just like the daily winning prizes I receive in my e-mail (total for the past month = $23,600,000 ... unfortunately there is a delivery charge which I can't afford). AND I am one of the least cynical people alive..believe it or not!

Joe

I think that once the prize gets high enough and we're making enough money that we will do something like your escrow idea, probably have the gold held by a third party such as an attorney. At this time, we're running on a very slim budget and we really don't want to pay California attorney's fees simply for holding on to a few coins, then turning them over when we ask. That's an extra $500 or so in overhead we can do without right now. But it is a great idea and one that is very likely to be implemented once the hunts really get rolling.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Skifisher]

Thanks for the post, a little more background on you and how it works helps a lot with understanding and integrity. Out of curiosity, why did you choose So Cal?

I wish you the best of luck with this undertaking. I really hope it works out, it could be a lot of fun. And a lot better odds than the lottery!

It would kind of help knowing ahead of time what county it would be in, as I cannot always logistically get to other counties. I know that would erase one of the clues, and possibly some revenue... but........ living in OC I would most likely try this again if I knew it was in OC. I suppose I could ask for the first numer of the winning lotto string too

 

[TheOldProspector]

Thanks for the post, a little more background on you and how it works helps a lot with understanding and integrity. Out of curiosity, why did you choose So Cal?

I wish you the best of luck with this undertaking. I really hope it works out, it could be a lot of fun. And a lot better odds than the lottery!

It would kind of help knowing ahead of time what county it would be in, as I cannot always logistically get to other counties. I know that would erase one of the clues, and possibly some revenue... but........ living in OC I would most likely try this again if I knew it was in OC. I suppose I could ask for the first numer of the winning lotto string too

Hi fisher,

We chose SoCal because I grew up in Southern California and am very familiar with the geography and the culture, though I live in Austin Texas today. SoCal has a market of over 17 million people, as opposed to just over 1 million for the Austin area. Bigger market, more effective use of ad dollars, potentially greater income. As I still have family in the area, it's an easy thing for me to set up everything where I am, but still have the hunt held in SoCal.

If you live in O.C., you won't be too far from any of the final locations. We are limited to the 5-county area of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, and San Bernardino Counties.

The first number of the lotto is 12.

--dave

 

[gollum]

 

[TheOldProspector]

To all: The California Gold Hunt has had to delay the start of the second hunt, due to the pullout of $15,000 in investor money that is necessary to running an ad campaign and paying for prizes. Until we can secure about $9,000 more money, the hunt is on hold.

If you go to the website to have a look, please do NOT register for any upcoming hunts, because we can not be certain if or when they will start. We have to leave the site up and active to show to potential investors, so that they can see that it is a working site.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and we will inform everyone via posts here (or emails if you've registered as a player) when the next California Gold Hunt will begin.

Thank you.

 

[DrJoePrime]

Sorry about your partner problems...however I am still waiting for a photo of the winner. The hole in the tree where the coin was is nice though.

All Best, Joe