ialottery blog

Join Us for Facebook AND Twitter Contests

Now that our Facebook contests are back, we’ve gotten questions from some of our long-time friends about whether it’s OK to enter both. The short answer is: YES, absolutely!

A few years back, we held joint contests at the same time on Facebook and Twitter. You were only allowed to enter once, using one site or the other. But, we’ve split them up now! I guess you can call it twice as much fun. ☺

Some of you who remembered entering the joint contests have asked if you can enter both now. YES, you can! The contests are held on separate days, we ask separate questions and give away separate prizes. So please, feel free to enter either or both!

Our next Twitter contest is set for noon on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Then you can join us at 11 a.m. the following Monday, Feb. 20, on Facebook. All you have to do is follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.

We’ll see you for the contests! 

Facebook Contests Are Back!

Fun news for our friends in the social media world! We’re bringing back our monthly Facebook contests! Can I get a “Woo Hoo”?

Very similar to our monthly Twitter contests, we’ll be asking you a lottery-related question on our “Lottery Contest” tab on our Facebook page.

What’s the prize? Glad you asked. We’ll be giving away three prize packs that will each contain $10 in Powerball coupons and some sweet lottery swag!





A while back, we polled our Facebook fans to see what day of the week and what time they would like to see the contests held. The majority picked Mondays at 11 a.m. So with that said, our January Facebook contest will start at (you guessed it) 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.

To be eligible to enter, just “Like” us on Facebook – it’s free to create an account. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the prize packages.   

At 11 a.m. on Monday, we’ll pose our question on Facebook. Just click on the “Lottery Contest” tab, read the question, fill in the entry form and your answer and click “submit” during the 15-minute window and you’ll be entered. It’s just that easy!

We’ll print the list of eligible entries and use a random-number generator to select our winners and then post those winners under the “Lottery Contest” tab on our Facebook page. We’ll notify the winners by phone and/or email to claim their prize. We’ll also post a list of the winners’ names here on our blog.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your prize pack. Winners will have until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize. We’ll also select alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Facebook contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

A BIG Twitter Contest

Something BIG is coming tomorrow, and to celebrate, we’re having a Twitter contest!

As you may already know, $2 Powerball® debuted Sunday. Powerball now offers MORE millionaires, BIGGER jackpots and BETTER odds of winning. Well, tomorrow night is the first drawing in the newly designed game, and it’s BIG! Tomorrow’s estimated jackpot is $80 million.

To celebrate the changes in Powerball, we’re giving away three prize packages of $20 in Powerball coupons – so you can have a chance to win BIG from our Twitter contest!

The contest is set for noon on Tuesday, Jan. 24. To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account if you don’t already have one. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the ticket prize packages.

At noon next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll select the three winners here at our office, and as always, we’ll record a video after the contest and post it on our website and YouTube. We’ll also blog about the winners here, and link to that blog entry on Twitter and Facebook.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

December Twitter Contest Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! We asked you to name one of our ten holiday tickets we have out this season for our Super Tech promotion. We had a lot of right answers.

Today, we played the card match game to see who our three winners would be. We matched pairs of our holiday tickets with entrant’s names on the pairs.

Our three winners have each won $20 in the “Holiday Wishes” scratch game! And remember, if you have any non-winning tickets, you can enter them into your free VIP Club accounts in our Super Tech promotion where you’ll have the chance to win one of more than 250 cool electronic prizes!

Congratulations to:

@blondiekate
@TattooedJuggalo
@Kathy_L

The winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20 to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Stay tuned for the next one coming soon!

Winners of the Veterans Twitter Contest

Thanks to everyone who entered our Twitter contest today! We asked you to tell us the name of a veteran you know and the branch of the military in which they served. And, boy, was it cool seeing all those veterans’ names come up on our Twitter page!

There was a definite twist to today’s contest. Since everybody is a winner when they play the lottery’s veterans games, ALL of you who entered the contest today are winners!

You have all won $5 in “Veterans Hot $50” scratch tickets, a lottery “Dream” T-shirt and a VIP Club starter card worth 750 points to use in our Points For Prizes™ online store.

The winners need to contact us by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22 to claim their prizes. And remember, if you’re a VIP Club member, you’ll get TRIPLE POINTS for your non-winning Veterans Hot $50 tickets this month! And if you’re not already a VIP Club member, no worries, it’s free to become a member.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s contest. Stay tuned for the next one coming soon!

Honoring Our Vets With A Twitter Contest

With approaching Veterans Day celebrations, we thought we’d do our part by honoring our vets with a Twitter contest.   

We’ll be giving away tickets in our $1 “Veterans Hot $50” scratch game. Proceeds from the sale of this ticket go to the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund, which helps Iowa’s vets in many ways.

Another great thing about this ticket for you VIP Club members: it will earn you triple points in the month of November! So if you’re trying to build up points for a special item in our Points For Prizes™ store, this just might help you get there.

The contest is set for Tuesday, Nov. 15 at noon. We found that most of you liked the noon time slot better than 10 a.m., so we’re sticking with it until you tell us differently!

To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the ticket prize packages.   

At noon next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

As always, we’ll record a video after the contest and post it on our website and YouTube. We’ll also post a list of the winners’ names here on our blog, and a link to that blog on Twitter.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Thanks to You, We’re Winning Awards!

This week was the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) 2011 conference, and we walked out with a few awards!

Thanks in part to all you blog readers, I received the Powers Award for Public Relations through Social Media. Powers Awards are presented in recognition of the significant contributions lottery and vendor employees have made to the lottery world. These awards are named in honor of the late Edward J. Powers, the “Father of U.S. Lotteries.” The Iowa Lottery and I appreciate your support!

Another thing to celebrate: The lottery’s “Rock of Ages” scratch ticket was named one of the top three instant tickets of the year! You probably remember our $2 scratch ticket and the corresponding Rock of Ages promotion. We gave away Broadway show tickets, signed guitars and an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for two.

The ticket was actually designed right here at Lottery headquarters by one of our own staff. You can bet she’s really proud of the ticket now! We did our best to make the promotion a rockin’ good time, and it seems like it worked.

Thanks to all of you for making our success possible!

Feeling “Spooky?” Join our Twitter Contest!

As Halloween approaches, we’re getting into the mood with a “spooky” Twitter contest! It just so happens we’ve got a Halloween-themed scratch game out there called “Spooky Loot,” so we’re using it for a fun contest!

In this month’s contest, three winners will each receive $20 in the Spooky Loot scratch game. The game has nine top prizes of $13,000 and lots of other prizes, too! 

We also listened to the suggestions of our Twitter followers and changed our contest time so it will take place over the lunch hour. Some of our Twitter friends had said they thought more people could be a part of our contests if they hit over lunch, so we’re giving it a try!   

This time, our Twitter contest is set for noon, next Tuesday, Oct. 4. Be sure to mark your calendars so you’ll remember we’ve changed the time slot!

To be eligible to enter, just follow us on Twitter – it’s free to create an account. Then give us the correct answer to our super-easy contest question and you’ll be entered for a chance to win one of the ticket prize packages.   

At noon next Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. Reply with your answer within the 15-minute time limit and you’ll be entered in the contest! Reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don’t direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren’t eligible for entry.)

We’ll draw six semi-finalists’ names out of a bucket and have an in-house competition to determine the winners. It’ll be interesting to see what spooky game we can dream up to play this time. We’re thinking something with spaghetti hair and grape eyeballs might be appropriate… 

We’ll videotape the contest results, then post the video on our website and YouTube. We’ll also post a list of the winners’ names here on our blog, and a link to that blog on Twitter.

If you win, you’ll need to contact us with your name, date of birth and mailing address so we can send out your tickets. Winners will have until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, to contact us with their information in order to claim their prize. We’ll also select alternate names in case any of the winners don’t contact us within the specified amount of time.

A few other details:
• You must be at least 21 years old to enter.
• You must live in Iowa.
• There’s no purchase necessary to enter or win!

And now for the fine print: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter. You understand that you are providing your information to the Iowa Lottery and not to Twitter. The information you provide will only be used for the lottery’s Twitter Contest. The risk of loss for electronic misdelivery, late delivery or failure of receipt for information entered electronically remains with entrant regardless of the cause of the transmission failure.

Join Us For Our Next Twitter Contest!

We’re ringing in the holiday season with a Twitter contest!

The contest is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday (Dec. 7). In light of our current holiday promotion (Tech the Halls), we’ll be giving away prize packs of holiday scratch tickets to three lucky winners, who can use their tix to enter our promotion!

Our three contest winners on Tuesday will each get a set of tickets from our holiday games that are eligible for the Tech The Halls promotion. That’s $28 in free tickets for each winner!  If you get some of the tickets and they don’t win an instant prize, that’s when you can use them to enter the promotion.

To be a part of our Twitter contest, just follow us on Twitter, give the correct answer to an EASY question during the contest, and you'll be entered for a chance to win one of the sets of tickets. It all kicks off at 10 a.m. Tuesday and the contest will only last for 15 minutes!

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, we’ll pose our question on Twitter. If you don't know the answer off the top of your head, you'll be able to find it on our website!

Reply with the right answer within the 15 minutes and you’ll be entered into our contest! Please be sure to reply to @ialottery on Twitter. (Don't direct message us on Twitter, as direct messages aren't eligible for entry.)

And how will we determine winners this time, you ask? How about some holiday Plinko! We’ll select five names to be at the bottom of our Plinko board, and if the holiday Plinko piece makes it down the board to your name, you win! We’ll have three rounds to determine winners.

We'll videotape the contest results, then post the video on our website, YouTube and Facebook. We'll also provide a link to the video from Twitter and we'll post an announcement with the winners' names on Twitter. If you win, you'll need to contact us by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14, with your name and mailing address so we can send out your tix!

A few requirements:

• You must be at least 21 years old to enter, and you must live in Iowa.
• No purchase necessary to enter or to win!

Text Messaging: Get The Lottery News You Need

If you’re reading this blog, you’re someone who’s familiar with the world of social media and the ways that receiving information electronically can make things easier for us all as we find our way through today’s fast-paced world.

If you haven’t heard about it already, here’s another great way you can get the info. you want from the lottery while you’re on the go. It’s our text-messaging service that can send you the latest winning numbers in our Powerball and Hot Lotto games, jackpot alerts when the Powerball jackpot is $100 million or higher, and the details about our latest promotions and special offers.

You can sign up for the service from your cellphone or mobile device, or on our Web site at www.ialottery.com. Click here for all the details about our text messaging!

I’ve signed up for the text-messaging service and it’s a great tool for me to use as I answer people’s questions! Folks who know I work at the lottery always ask me what the latest winning numbers are, or what the Powerball jackpot is up to, and I can just grab the text messages from my phone and tell them! Hey, you never want to be out of the loop!

Here’s a video that quickly explains the sign-up process, if you’re new to text messaging.

There’s no charge from the lottery for our text messaging, but standard text messaging rates will always apply for your phone or mobile device. If you’re not sure what your messaging plan is, ask your provider.