Jul 30, 2007 10:29 am US/Eastern
OMG! Missing Exclamation Point Costs Texter $1,000
MINOT, N.D. (CBS) ―
Oh, no! Don't forget the exclamation point! It could cost you $1,000! Kevin Taylor, 30, of Minneapolis, lost out on a $1,000 first prize in a text messaging contest at the North Dakota State Fair because he forgot the punctuation mark at the end of a phrase.
So he settled for $200.
Beth Brevik, 32, of Minot, ended up with the big prize at Saturday's sudden-death contest, tapping out the phrase: "I hope I win the grand prize of $1,000 so I can buy a new phone. Whoo!"
"I was very lucky," she said.
Brevik and Taylor finished ahead of 38 competitors, many of them teenagers. Organizers said the contest was patterned after a similar event in New York, where a 13-year-old girl won $50,000.
Phrases were posted on a screen that contestants text-messaged to the judges, who verified the answers for accuracy. The contest was sponsored by a cell phone company.
Brevik said she thought she lost when Taylor put his phone down in the final round. Seconds later, Taylor realized his mistake and exclaimed, "Oh, no!"
The $1,000 prize is hefty, but it doesn't compare to the $25,000 purse awarded to a 13-year old in April in a texting championship sponsored by LG mobile phones.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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