Instructions and form for voting for your
favorite BBS in the Boardwatch Magazine's
Reader Choice BBS contest. Prizes for the
voters, too!

BOARDWATCH 100 READERS' CHOICE BBS CONTEST 1994
-----------------------------------------------

The Boardwatch 100 Reader's Choice BBS contest has become something of an
institution each winter when BBS callers all over the country fax or mail in
their ballots nominating their favorite BBS for inclusion in a list of 100
BBS's that garner the most votes. This year, the contest will run from
January 1, 1994 through June 30, 1994. Winners will be announced at the
Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON) held in Atlanta,
Georgia, August 17-21, 1994. The Boardwatch 100 list will be published in
subsequent issues of Boardwatch Magazine and distributed in electronic form
world-wide. Last year's Boardwatch 100 BBS list has been widely disseminated
electronically, and published in several books.

PRIZES FOR BULLETIN BOARD OPERATORS

1ST PRIZE: The BBS system receiving the largest number of valid ballots will
be named the most popular BBS and will be presented with an award trophy at
the ONE BBSCON held in Atlanta Georgia, August 17-21, 1994. Additionally,
the winning BBS will receive air fare, hotel accommodations and registration
at ONE BBSCON for the primary BBS operator as the guest of Boardwatch
Magazine. Additionally, the system will be featured in a story in Boardwatch
Magazine and a free full-page color advertisement in Boardwatch Magazine for
a period of three months.

TOP TEN: The ten most popular bulletin boards selected by the voters will
each receive an award trophy at the ONE BBSCON, a story describing their
system in Boardwatch Magazine, inclusion in a special top ten BBS listing in
the magazine, and a free quarter-page black and white advertisement in three
successive issues. Additionally, they will be listed in the Boardwatch 100
BBS list. System operators from the top 10 who attend ONE BBSCON will
receive an award trophy in a special awards session.

TOP ONE HUNDRED: The 100 bulletin boards receiving the most votes will each
be listed in the Boardwatch 100 readers choice BBS list. This list will be
published in Boardwatch Magazine and freely distributed electronically on
thousands of bulletin boards world-wide.

IN CASE OF TIE. Positions for which an identical number of votes are received
will be determined by point value established by the date stamp assigned to
each received ballot. Time/Date stamp values are accumulated for all votes
and a cumulative score assigned to each BBS based on date of receipt of
ballots. Votes receive a date stamp value between 1 and 180 based on the day
of the contest the vote is received. System with lowest (earliest) cumulative
date stamp score will prevail in event of tie.

PRIZES FOR VOTERS

All valid ballots submitted by voters will be entered in a random sweepstakes
drawing. As of the opening date of this contest, prizes include five U.S.
Robotics Courier Top of the line Modems, five Hayes OPTIMA 288 V.FC + FAX
modems, and five ZyXEL Top of the line modems - and more are on the way. A
minimum of 15 valid ballots will be selected from all entries and each will
receive a free modem - from the most popular modem manufacturers in the
world.

RULES FOR CALLERS

Each voter can vote once, for a single bulletin board system. Each ballot
must be fully completed, and individually mailed by each voter. We will
verify ballots as necessary. There are three ways to vote:

1. Complete this ballot and mail to: BOARDWATCH MAGAZINE, READERS CHOICE BBS
CONTEST, 8500 West Bowles Ave. Suite 210, Littleton, CO 80123.

2. Complete this ballot and FAX to (303)933-0876.

3. Or, dial the Boardwatch BBS at (303)973-4222 and complete the online
ballot provided on the main menu.

Balloting closes at 23:59:59 on June 30, 1994.

This contest is not limited to Boardwatch Magazine subscribers, and no
purchase of anything is required to participate in this contest. Reasonable
facsimiles of this ballot are acceptable, so long as all specified
information is included.

We held this contest during 1993 and it generated over 20,200 votes by the
close of balloting for some 1,775 different bulletin boards. The TOP system
received 1,330 votes. Your individual vote can have a tremendous impact on
the outcome of this contest. Further, the odds of winning a modem in last
years contest were roughly 1 in 3,340. You won't get those odds in the
lottery.

RULES FOR BBS OPERATORS

While the obvious winners in such a contest are the BBSs voted the most
popular, The Boardwatch 100 Reader's Choice contest is designed for the
callers. This is their chance to note what elements of a BBS are important to
them, and to designate a BBS they think the world should know about. And they
receive the hardware prizes.

But past contests have indicated that the winning bulletin boards do campaign
a bit. Bulletin Board Operators may encourage callers to vote for their
system by offering whatever inducements/encouragements they like. There is
one rule to this contest for BBS operators. YOU MAY NOT HANDLE ANY VOTE AFTER
THE CALLER HAS COMPLETED THE BALLOT. YOU MAY NOT HANDLE IT IN ANY WAY.

BBS operators may provide callers with anything they like, including postage
paid envelopes, printed matter, solicitations, Jaguar convertibles, etc. But
once they have completed a ballot, if they touch, handle, or otherwise deal
with the ballot in any way, their BBS will be disqualified from the contest
without appeal or recourse.

This is because we have developed adequate mechanisms to determine the
validity of votes received - and they have proven effective. But if we allow
BBSs to collect ballots, we have no mechanism for determining ballots that
"got lost" and were never passed on to Boardwatch Magazine.

This contest is open to all bulletin boards worldwide with the sole exception
of the Boardwatch Magazine BBS - which is ineligible. Commercial services
such as Prodigy, America Online, CompuServe, are considered to be networks
and not bulletin boards for the purposes of this contest. HOWEVER, individual
forums, roundtables, or special interest areas moderated by a specific human
SYSOP on those services and allowing callers to post messages in that
specific area ARE considered to be bulletin boards for the purposes of this
contest and may participate.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM LAST YEAR'S CONTEST

Q. Can I vote for my own BBS.

A. Yes. If you don't think your BBS is the best in North America, it's
unlikely anyone else will. You may vote for your own BBS, and encourage
others to do likewise.

Q. Can I vote more than once?

A. No.

Q. Can I change my vote?

A. No. Once a vote is received, it is added to a database and tallied. There
is no mechanism for altering votes. If we receive more than one vote from a
single person, BOTH votes are disqualified and removed without notification.
If more than one vote is received from the same address, we may contact the
voters to ensure both votes are from different callers.

Q. Can I post an electronic survey form on my BBS and allow my callers to
vote electronically online?

A. No. Electronic balloting is provided only on the Boardwatch BBS, primarily
in response to past requests from vision impaired/disabled callers. BBS
operators participating in the contest may not handle the ballot in any way,
electronically or otherwise, after it is completed by the caller.

Q. Can I collect votes from my callers and mail them in for them.

A. No.

Q. Can I collect votes from my callers and fax them in for them?

A. No.

Q. Can I print up special ballots, and mail them to my callers with postage
prepaid envelopes?

A. Yes. The ballot must include ALL information and questions from the ballot
printed in Boardwatch Magazine and the ballot provided to callers must not be
pre-completed. It must be a truly blank ballot allowing them to vote for
whatever BBS they wish to vote for. But broadly, you can provide anything you
like TO the voters.

Q. Can I obtain a list of those voting for my BBS?

A. No. Voter data is used for vote verification and statistical analysis
only. We cannot provide voter lists to anyone.



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BOARDWATCH MAGAZINE - 1994 READERS' CHOICE BBS CONTEST BALLOT

Title of bbs you vote for as the BEST: The Strawberry Patch BBS

Primary BBS access telephone number : 606-432-0879

Is this BBS a long distance or toll call for you? [] YES [] NO



Voter name:__________________________________________________________________

Voice telephone number:______________________________________________________

Street address:______________________________________________________________

City:______________________________ State:____________ Zip code:___________

Primary communications software you use:_____________________________________

Primary modem manufacture and model:_________________________________________

Highest speed your modem supports:
[] 1200bps [] 2400bps [] 9600bps [] 14400bps [] 19200bps [] 28800bps

Operating system:
[] DOS [] OS/2 [] WINDOWS [] MAC [] AMIGA [] UNIX [] OTHER

Estimated BBS calls you make per month:_______ Average call duration:______

Estimated investment in hardware and software: $___________

Primary online interest (check all that apply):
[] Mail/Mail Conferences [] Games/Entertainment [] Chat/Social
[] News/Information [] Shareware (Files)

Do you also maintain accounts on commercial services?
[] AOL [] Compuserve [] Delphi/BIX [] GEnie [] Prodigy [] None

AGE:________ SEX: [] MALE [] FEMALE

SIGNATURE:____________________________________ DATE:______________________