Disclaimer: not a Slider Inc sponsored contest.

Hi,
Glad you took your time to drop in to see what this is about.
We (a group of friends and relatives that live and ride motorcycles and horses here in Texas) have a few male and female friends that have had or have breast cancer.

Well, October is BREAST CANCER AWARENESSMonth and we have decided to hold a contest.
This is an independent contest and it is not run by Slide, Inc.

Rules:
1. Create a habitat that is in good taste for BCA.
2. Tell us a story about the habitat and if it is dedicated to anyone.
3. We will not ask for your real name, however you can use it if you like. But we would like your age so we can have a child’s level **(ages 13-18 ) and an adult level(ages 19 & up.)**
4. Your entry is allowed 1 time and 1 time only! If there are any repeats this will disqualify you. So plan it carefully before you hit that POST Button.
5. This contest RUNS FROM 02am EST. on 09-23-2009 UNTIL MIDNIGHT PST 10-31-2009!
Any post after that time will not be considered.

WINNERS:A Post will be made no later than November 5th,2009 Stating the WINNERS. (I, hope we can go through all of the entries before then. LOL )

There will be a team of 6 judges. Each of us will go through all the entries and make a decision and then we vote on the final 6 from each category.

PRIZES: They will be awarded to each level. (Child’s level & Adult level)
1st Place:3 gold items!
2nd Place: 2 gold items!
3rd Place: 1 gold item and 1 of the oldest items from our treasure boxes.
3 Honorable Mentions: 1 of the oldest items from our treasure boxes.

Note**
Eligibility Criteria and Representations. You hereby represent that the following are all true:
a. You are at least 13 years old, and if You are less than 18 years old, You have the permission of Your parents or legal guardian to use the Slide Service. (Please be aware that Slide may create certain areas on the Slide Site that contain adult or mature content. You must be at least 18 years of age to access and view such areas.) If You are not at least 13 years old, please discontinue using the Slide Site and the Slide Services immediately.

We are looking forward to all the creations. If you are just dropping in to take a look, PLEASE GIVE US A BUMP!!
Send this on to your friends too.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
LOVE, LIFE, HOPE
And remember:
“BOOBS ROCK”
Angy, Chante, Trey, Lori, Willow & Brian

Follow the link.
My pet.

Funny picture right? But this picture exemplifies my brand in a way. It seems that at some point in the last year who Tojosan is, what the Tojosan brand is, has gained a few facet. Hats.

Unintentionally my hats have become part of who I am on the web. It didn’t hit me in the face so much at first, but recently it’s really become noticeable.

Recent events where I’ve shown up have resulted in some of the following comments:

You were sitting there?

Hey wait, I didn’t recognize you without your hat.

Hey, that’s not THE hat.

Didn’t realize it was you without the hat from your profile.

Um, so my face is hard to recognize huh? Or what?

There have been several suggestions that I wear my current avatar hat to all meet ups.

The conclusion is that I’ve created a facet of the Tojosan brand by the frequent updating of the profile avatar. Along with that, I’m on a self portrait project and frequently have a reason to take fresh pictures. The variety of hats just makes it more interesting.

Further emphasizing the hats as part of the Tojosan brand, is the fact that folks have actually sent me hats. A coworker is even bringing in a hat to give me, and one fellow employee already did. Um, yeah, it’s part of the brand.

Some of you might reject this sort of thing. Honestly I have to ask why? Unless you, your brand, etc become associated with something on the dark side, it might just give you that bit of uniqueness you need to stand out.

The hats have become a great way for folks to recognize me in a crowd, a perfectly safe conversation starter, and oddly enough, a way that folks can share about me, aka Tojosan, that spreads.

Even first time meetings at events inevitably lead to questions about the hat in my current avatar. Then it becomes about the why or the where or the WTH.

Now it’s become such a part of my presence, fans and followers get bothered if suddenly my avatars are hatless.

All in all, I’m saying if you have something like this that folks latch onto, consider making it part of your branding. Heck, it really is already.

What’s your stand out or unique thing that folks recognize and talk about? Don’t have one? You could do worse than hats.