I’ve been among the skeptics on Twitter, but two recent events are causing me to take another look:

* During the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, many witnesses, victims and hostages used Twitter to communicate with the outside world. While the event was going on, Twitter was as important as CNN in trying to figure out what was going on — in fact, Indian authorities begged witnesses to stop tweeting because they suspected that the attackers were using Twitter to follow troop movements.

* According to the New York Times, the Israeli Consulate in New York recently held a Twitter-only news conference.

If the Israeli government thinks that it’s worth communicating with the Twitter audience, who is Phil Bernstein to argue? So it is with great pleasure, and some curiosity, that I announce my first major Twitter initiative:

The Great Portland/Vancouver Twitter Challenge

It’ll work like this:

Portland/Vancouver area businesses will provide prizes worth $50 or more. Five companies have already agreed to participate — I’d like to wind up with eight.

Each company will also provide a question. The answer to each question will be on the participating company’s web site.

On Friday, January 23rd, at 9am, I’ll send out the first question via Twitter to my vast army of followers. Along with the question, I’ll provide a link to the sponsor’s web site.

Entrants click on the link to the sponsor’s site, find the answer, and tweet it to me. First correct answer wins that hour’s prize.

At 10am, I’ll send out a new question, with a new link and a new prize.

Once an hour, I’ll tweet a new question, until I run out of prizes.

The only way to compete in the contest is by following me on Twitter. You can sign up for Twitter here — it’s free. You can find me at http://twitter.com/philbernstein. If you’re already on Twitter, I’m @philbernstein.

One other note: if you win, you’ll need to pick up your prize in person at my radio station in Portland, Oregon. This is deliberate — I’m doing this to help Portland/Vancouver area businesses, which means that this is a Portland/Vancouver area contest.

If you’re a local business and would like to provide a prize, I’ve still got three slots open as of Thursday morning. Call me at 503-323-6553, or email me here.

Next week, I’ll provide a list of prizes and contest rules, so watch Portland’s Finest Advertising and Marketing Blog for details.

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Got a question? Call Phil Bernstein at 503-323-6553.