Write a Local Business Review and Win $5,000 - Speak Up Sydney : Competition

Speak Up Sydney is an initiative to help strengthen the tie between Sydney’s local community and its businesses. Its goal is to provide a forum for Sydney residents to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and to voice their opinions in an open and honest manner. Why? Well, here’s what a recent survey conducted by research company PureProfile revealed:

95% of Sydney residents feel out of the loop and would like to be more in-the-know about businesses in their local community.
84% of Sydney-siders would like a forum to share their opinions and experiences (good and bad) with other people about the businesses and services in their local area.
76% of people in Sydney currently waste time travelling outside their local area for services such as masseurs and mechanics because they don’t know about alternative businesses within their local area.

That’s why. Sydney-siders are feeling more and more disconnected from the people and businesses in their local community and we want to reverse this trend. Speak Up Sydney is all about getting the conversation going and putting people back in touch with the local businesses in their community. In order to further encourage community participation, Speak Up Sydney is also a competition. Judged by an expert panel, the best written entries win up to $10,000 AUD in cash and prizes! Speak Up Sydney will run from March 15th to April 30th, 2008.

Because everyone loves to win money! OK, well apart from that, you should enter and continue to write reviews after the competition has ended because no one knows 'your' Sydney better than you we want you to help other Sydney-siders discover exactly what they’re missing. By entering, you’re sharing your knowledge from past experiences (both good and bad) with Sydney businesses and this will help other people make better choices and ultimately make businesses strive to maintain a high level of service or provide a better service where it’s discovered it's less than average.

And let;s not forget Speak Up Sydney's main purpose is also for YOU. The next time you need a business, you'll know where to go and find real life recommendations from others.

The super cool people over at RAYV have provided a place for you to search for businesses and find real life reviews and opinions in Sydney. You can also join the community and meet likeminded people. Using their business review directory you can register for FREE, search (or add) the business(es) you want to review and submit your words there and then. All reviews submitted to RAYV between now and April 30th are automatically entered into the Speak Up Sydney competition.

Yes, there are prizes. It wouldn' t be a competition without prizes! Get those reviews submitted and this is what you could soon have your hands on:

$5000 COLD HARD CASH CASH AND GET PUBLISHED IN TIME OUT SYDNEY
BEST OVERALL REVIEW
Brought to you by RAYV & Time Out Sydney

$500 DINING VOUCHER TO 360 BAR AND DINING
BEST RESTAURANT REVIEW
Brought to you by 360 BAR AND DINING

$500 GIFT VOUCHER TO STRIKE BOWLING BAR
BEST NIGHTLIFE REVIEW
Brought to you by Strike Bowling Bar

$500 GIFT VOUCHER TO A SYDNEY DAY SPA
BEST BEAUTY & SPAS REVIEW
Brought to you by WOTABOUTME

$500 WORTH OF LONELY PLANET GUIDE BOOKS
BEST AUTOMOTIVE REVIEW
Brought to you by Lonely Planet

$500 PREPAID VISA CARD
BEST SHOPPING REVIEW
Brought to you by bopo

7 GOLD CLASS DOUBLE-MOVIE-PASSES
BEST ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW
Brought to you by Greater Union

$500 GIFT VOUCHER TO STRIKE BOWLING BAR
BEST ACTIVE LIFE REVIEW
Brought to you by Strike Bowling Bar

$500 PREPAID VISA CARD
BEST HOME SERVICES REVIEW
Brought to you by Service Seeking

$500 WORTH OF NUDIE DRINKS
HEALTH & BEAUTY REVIEW
Brought to you by nudie

$500 PREPAID VISA CARD
BEST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES REVIEW
Brought to you by Talent2

Judging criteria for all entries will include originality, insightfulness, honesty, quality, community votes (High Fives) and a series of other elements, with the winning entries to be based on the majority vote of the judges. In the event of an equal number of votes being received, the two primary sponsors shall have the casting vote.

If you've won best review for a category we will contact you by email to let you know. You will then receive an invite to the awards party to be held in Sydney in May. The winner of the best overall review will then be announced on the night.

We couldn't just give these prizes away by sending a cheque in the post. Where's the fun in that? In the week of May 12th we'll be holding an exclusive awards party in Sydney (CBD) to present the winners with their prizes. Plus on the night we'll announce the overall Speak Up Sydney 2008 winner and present them with their $5000 prize. Drinks on them then! Full details of the event and how you can bag yourself a ticket (if you're not a winner) to be announced soon

Jump over the Speak Up Sydney blog and post your comments!