**Check out the Official Rhinbeck Blogger Bingo page for all the updated info you’ll need. New particpants are added nightly!**

Looking for a way to meet some fellow bloggers? Want to put a face to the yarn stash you’ve been ogling online? Do you enjoy winning fabulous prizes while attending one of the best fiber festivals around? Well, then Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo is just the thing for you! And with a glamorous spokessheep like Dolores, I don’t see how you can resist. (A huge thanks to the Amazin’ Franklin of The Panopticon fame for lending his talents and his roommate to add pizzazz to the festivities.)

If you decide to play, here’s a sidebar button for you! (Please don’t hotlink the image, save it to your own server before you upload it.)

Here’s how it works:

There are three ways to join the fun; you can be a player, a square on the card, or both. Players are not required to have blogs, but you must have one to be a square on the card.

The names of participating bloggers will be randomly placed onto the bingo cards. Players will be sent a card electronically at least a week before the festival so you can scope your targets out beforehand. Maybe they’ll even offer hints about how to identify them. Just print it out, take it with you to Rhinebeck and let the games begin! It’s a guaranteed good time as you seek out the bloggers on your card.

Everyone participating will be entered to win something cool from an array of fabulous prizes, and we’ll also give out prizes for classic bingo patterns, like Straight/Diagonal, Postage Stamp, Picture Frame, or Black Out! You must turn your card in at a location To Be Determined to enter to win for a bingo pattern.

At some point in the not-too-distant future there will be a separate page for all Blogger Bingo updates and info. Keep an eye out for info about meet-ups as well as a growing list of participants so you can check out the competition. I’ll post any updates here as well.

The rules:

1. If you would like to participate, send an email to me at “yarnpants at yahoo dot com” (you can just use the link on the bottom right sidebar) with €œBlogger Bingo€ in the subject line. For best results, please enter by October 8th to give me time to add everyone to the cards and email them out. Be sure to include the following information in your email:

-Participation: (Player/Square/Both)

-Name

-Email Address

-Blog Name (if applicable)

-Blog Address (if applicable)

-What day(s) will you be attending the festival?

2. Participants whose names are on cards must prominently display the official €œI’m a Square€ logo identifying them as such. (the image is forthcoming. I have Franklin tied to the radiator until he finishes it.) We’ll be selling buttons, tote bags and other stuff in a Café Press store, or you can print out the image and display it some other way. If someone is on your card but is not displaying their €œI’m a Square€ logo, take it as a sign that they may be feeling overwhelmed and need some bingo-free time. Our intent is not to impose on those not participating, so please be respectful.

Please extend your respect to those participating in the game, as well. If they’re in the middle of a transaction with a vendor, deeply involved in a conversation or appear to be engaged in aggressive negotiations over a fleece with a fellow festival attendant, please wait until they’re finished to approach them. This is especially important in the latter case. Situations like this could be eruptive, so it’s best to back away slowly, without making any sudden movements. You may actually want to hide behind something until it’s all over and the fleece is no longer flying.

3. Use whatever means you choose to mark off squares on the card. Bingo dobbers, sharpies, a size 2 dpn, whatever.

4. While it is a lot more fun to say a quick hello to someone before marking them off your card, it’s not required. If you recognize someone and feel uncomfortable approaching them for whatever reason, you can simply mark them off and move along. Just remember that everyone signed up to play, and as long as they’re wearing that button, they’re expecting you. Don’t be shy!

So, whaddaya say? Wanna play?