Yesterday was the kickoff to the 2013 membership drive. As mentioned in that post, there is a new membership system which is now based on Stripe. Also, I announced a new, members-only perk: the Coffee Methods section to the website.

Today, I aim to make things even more fun through the giveaway.

But first things first: my sincere thanks to all the new members who’ve signed up in the past 24 hours. Welcome!

Also, thanks to all the current members who have chosen to migrate their membership over to Stripe. For those of you who aren’t sure if you should migrate over to the new system, I hope you will. Unfortunately, I cannot port your membership for you, nor can I merge the two — which means there are two unique systems in place. Those who wish to stay with PayPal will continue to get access to the membership benefits just as they always have. But new Stripe-based system is leaps and bounds better than the PayPal system, removing nearly all of the frustrations and shortcomings of the latter. I apologize for asking you take this extra step, but I think it’s worth it and the feedback I’ve heard from all the members who have migrated so far has been great. Everyone gives Stripe two thumbs up.

For those who haven’t yet signed up for a membership, well, like they say: there’s no time like the present.

Members contribute nearly half of this site’s income. Which means there is no way I could be writing here as my full-time gig without the generous support of the members.

The Giveaway

Ideally, you are signing up to become a member because the value and enjoyment you get from the writing on this site is worth it to you. But, modesty aside, the members-only perks are a sweet bonus as well, if I do say so myself. But that’s not all.

During the next two weeks of this membership drive my chief aim is to try and sweeten the deal as much as possible. Therefore, I’ve arranged for some sweet prizes to give away to all members who are currently active, or who sign up for a membership on or before March 1.

Anyone who signs up for a membership before 11:59 pm CST on Friday night, March 1 is eligible to win. And all members who already have an active membership are automatically eligible as well. In short, if you’re an active member as of Friday night, March 1, then you’re entered to win.

There are a slew of top-notch prizes donated by friends of the site, with an aggregate value of $3,150.

The List of Prizes

• Visual Supply Co.: 3 copies of a VSCO Film pack (winner picks the pack they want).
• Studio Neat: 5 Cosmonauts and 5 Glif+ kits for either iPhone 4 or 5.
• Backblaze: Three 1-year backup plans.
• Tom Bihn Tri-Star travel bag.
• Tom Bihn Travel Tray in Darcy Gray.
• One GroovBoard for iPad.
• The Sketchnote Handbook: Mike Rhode’s illustrated guide to visual note taking.
• Ugmonk: 2 Mountain Tees.
• United Pixelworkers: 4 t-shirts (winner picks the shirt they want).
• Bloc: 3 of the large blocs, and 3 of the bloc minis (one each in: cherry, walnut, and maple).
• Two 20×30 prints from Jorge Quinteros (winner picks the print they want).
• Five 8×10 signed prints of my “Americano” photo.
• Incase: Origami Workstation keyboard case and iPad stand.
• Slate & Stylus: Origami iPad Case for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation iPad.
• Dominion: Base card game for 2-4 players.
• Cuvée Coffee1 bag Dead Fingers and 1 bag Espresso Medici. (Courtesy of Seth Goldberg.)
• Summermoon Wood Fired Coffee: 2 bags of Swinging Lantern Tri Roast. (Courtesy of Seth Goldberg.)
• 1Password: 2 licenses each for both Mac and iOS.
• Flickr: Ten 3-month subscriptions to Flickr Pro.
• Fusion Ads: A one-week “Burst” campaign spot. (Winner must have a relevant product / service to promote on the Fusion Ad network.)
• Byword for Mac: 5 licenses.
• 22slides.com: 1-year subscription
• Droplr: Five 1-year subscriptions to Droplr Pro.
• Basics of Markdown: Three copies of this Mijingo screencast.
• Static Websites with Jekyll: Three copies of this Mijingo screencast.
• Evernote Essentials: 5 copies of Brett Kelly’s Evernote guide.
• Fantasical: 5 copies each of the Mac and iOS app.

How to Win and Other Rules

• Anyone who signs up for a membership before 11:59 pm CST on Friday, March 1 will automatically be in the runnings to win something.

• If you are already a member with an active membership, you are eligible to win.

• You do not have to live in the United States to win — international members are most welcome and most eligible.

• The drive ends at 11:59 pm CST on March 1, and the drawing will be held sometime the following week. It will be random and I will contact the winners via their PayPal or Stripe email address.

• If there is a certain prize in particular that you’d like to win over another, please fill out this form. I will check it once the winners are drawn to try and get people a prize they prefer. You do not have to fill out the form to win, only to request a particular prize.