LiveWorld Transcripts

Publishers Clearinghouse presents

Dave Sayer
Prize Patrol Director

August 19, 2000

Prize Patrol Director Dave Sayer answers your questions about the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes and what it's like to surprise people with so much money.

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PCH: Welcome to Dave Sayer's Prize Patrol Chat! The director of the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol talks to you about his life on the road as "the guy with the big check." Find out what his most memorable and exciting moments were and what it feels like to make someone a millionaire! Welcome Dave!

Dave Sayer: Hi! How are you doing? How's everybody? I guess everybody who's joining this chat tonight wants to be a millionaire, and hopefully I'll be knocking on your door this coming Thursday, and making you a millionaire!

Allisha: Hi! What does the Prize Patrol actually do?

Dave Sayer: The Prize Patrol finds out on the day of the drawing where the winner is, and the winner's identity, and then makes plans to travel to that location within a few days to surprise the winner at his or her door. It takes a lot of planning, and a lot of fast transportation details. Usually we have to reserve a flight, reserve the hotel, the flowers, and bring along the big check for whatever the prize amount is, and lots of paraphernalia. The Prize Patrol consists of up to five people, all company employees, and an official cameraman who videotapes the winning moment and the reaction of all those who are around. And of course, we have a lot of fun with the winners. It's an exciting time to get to know someone. We make about 30 prize deliveries a year. Every prize of 10,000 dollars and up gets a Prize Patrol visit, unannounced.

OceanSerenity: How do you know if you're a qualified winner? And when do you plan to hear if you are a winner?

Dave Sayer: You only find out if you're a big winner of 10,000 dollars or more when the Prize Patrol shows up at your door. Of course we hope a winner will be home, but if not, there's no need to worry. We will either wait or return when the winner is home, so there is no fear of you losing your prize.

OceanWoman: How do I enter the contest?

Dave Sayer: You can enter the contest a couple of ways. First you might get a mailing from Publishers Clearing House, and that will provide an entry opportunity. Or you can go to www.pch.com and enter online. In either case, it's simple and fun. And there is no purchase necessary to win.

MyDearSoulmate: How do you know if you are one of the qualified participants to the contest? And how are you going to win?

Dave Sayer: You only become a qualified entrant by sending in an entry, or entering the sweepstakes online, but as long as you follow the rules, you are a qualified entrant, and you have as good a chance of winning as anybody.

Allisha: Hi Dave! What is the funniest thing that has ever happened on the Prize Patrol?

Dave Sayer: There have been so many funny things, it is hard to single out one, because I have literally done hundreds of visits. I guess we always get the biggest laugh when someone just really goes crazy and starts to scream, so that everyone in the neighborhood can hear. That happened recently, out near Chicago, and this man was so loud that you couldn't help but laugh. Of course it's always fun to see people get faint, as long as they get up again right away.

Fourcountry: Dave, what do you do when you're not presenting money or prizes to people?

Dave Sayer: I'm in charge of advertising and public relations for the company.

Jetstar3: HI Dave Sayer, I enter faithfully and wanted to know what made you get into this line of work of making people's dreams come true; and what was the most excitingly funniest response from a winner?

Dave Sayer: When I joined Publishers Clearing House, I knew they had a sweepstakes, but I was rather surprised to find that part of my responsibilities included getting to know the winners. We decided early on that it would be better to surprise people in person with a visit than with a phone call, the way we used to do it, or the way we did it originally. I'm old enough to remember the old "Millionaire" TV show where a benefactor gave a million dollars to some unsuspecting person, and I must admit, I always thought that would be a great job. So that had an influence on the course of my career with Publishers Clearing House. As far as the most exciting and funniest, I guess they have been different. I already talked about the funniest ones, which are many. The most exciting was probably the first time we did it on live TV. It was very tense for us, and there was a lot of suspense, not knowing how the whole award would go. But it went beautifully, and we've been able to do live awards on TV a number of times each year. That has included 10 million dollar prizes, even a 21 million dollar prize on Super Bowl Sunday before a huge national TV audience.

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