The install contest
Nothing else in this product gives a fourteen-year-old a selfish reason to set it up before pageant day. A prize does.
How to run it
Announce a draw before pageant day — a free entry to next season, a tiara, a sponsor's gift, anything real. Say plainly that only girls whose alerts are working are in the draw.
Run it at rehearsal or the contestant meeting, with the pool set to everyone set up for alerts. Show the spin on a screen.
That is the whole play. It takes two minutes.
Why it works better than asking
It polices itself. Nobody has to be chased, because the qualification is visible and self-serve.
It verifies rather than trusting. The pool is built from girls whose phones actually received an alert and confirmed it — not girls who said they installed it.
And the draw itself gives every entrant a first notification worth receiving, which is the best possible introduction to what the alerts are for.
Make it look fair, not just be fair
The draw spins through real names and lands on one, big enough to show a room. This is not decoration.
A name that simply appears feels chosen. A name that visibly lands feels drawn — and a contestant's mother will assume the difference. Show the screen.
Every draw is logged
Time, which pool, how many were in it, and who won. Not for the contestants — for you, three weeks later, when someone asks.
The same tool, without a prize
Use it for interview running order. Draw it publicly, in front of everyone, and the question of whether the order was fair never comes up.
Also useful for day-of spot prizes, which keep girls opening the app — and for door prizes and sponsor giveaways, where a sponsor gets to watch their prize being drawn.
Pair it with the check-in check
A carrot at the exact moment she has her phone in her hand beats a rule enforced against her.
At check-in or rehearsal, a staff member asks to see the app showing green. If it is red, offer to send her a test — but only if there is no queue. Nobody gets denied a packet over this.
Questions directors ask
What prize works for an install contest?
A free entry to next season costs you nothing and is worth the most to the people you want back. A sponsor's gift works too, and gives the sponsor a moment in front of the room.
Is it unfair to exclude contestants who have not set up alerts?
It is a promotional draw with a condition anyone can meet in about thirty seconds, announced in advance, with staff on hand to help. Keep it to a bonus prize rather than anything connected to competition results.
Last updated 2026-08-23.