Let the Office Winter Games begin!

Yet more Microsoft Office news today, this is a more lighthearted piece regarding a Winter Game competition that the Microsoft Office team are running. The website for the Office Winter Games can be viewed through this link.

Two bloggers will be able to win the chance to blog live from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC as a credentialed member of the press. Supported by the U.S. Olympic committee, the Office team have kicked off the Office Winter Games contest today - looking for one student blogger and one female blogger who will get to use the latest technology Microsoft has to offer to blog live from the games.

In order to be eligible for the contest, female and student bloggers who are interested in giving it a go and have had an active blog for at least three months should hit the Office Winter Games website.

Once there, bloggers will be required to submit a short 250-word sample post on why they are the best candidate to cover the Vancouver Games. Entries close on November 1.

Once registration has closed, a panel of judges who include five time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair and CollegeHumor.com stars Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld, will select the top five semi-finalists from each category. From there it is up to the public to decide who has the honour to blog for Microsoft Office on the Winter Games. Think of it as the blogging X-Factor. This is a great chance for bloggers wishing to get into journalistic careers to test their skills blogging at the Olympics.

Prizes for the chosen two don't stop there though. The full list of prizes for the successfully chosen pair include: trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a week at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC, press credentials at the Olympics, and the latest technology including Microsoft Office 2010, Office Web Apps and a fully equipped Acer Aspire 4810 Timeline laptop.

Bloggers in the US need only enter this competition, only US based bloggers are eligible. Hit the website if you are interested where you can view the prizes and find out a little more about the judges Bonnie Blair, Jake and Amir. Happy blogging, good luck to all those who enter.