Last night at 11am, an hour before the finalists were announced I received an email that made my heart drop. It was from Neil the Co-Founder of My Destination, the power house behind the Biggest Baddest Bucket List competition. It was informing me that I hadn’t made it through to the final round in London. The most disheartening part was that I was so sure I had gotten in, I had set the video camera up to record my reaction as I ran through and told my wife the great news. Needless to say, that video’s not being posted anywhere now. Neil wanted to personally let me know before the announcement, as he said I had made it through to the final stages of deliberations and how hard it was to decide on a final 10 and how it was the first video they received that they thought had winning potential.
I had lived and breathed this competition since it started on the 30th January. There were over 1,550 entries, with mine being one of the first in I think I set the bar pretty high. In hind sight, I wish now I had taken a bit more time to produce a video, think more about my blog, and choose better photos from my amazing trip around Europe last year. I found out about the competition, and eager to get my entry in quick busted my balls off to get everything filmed, edited, and submitted in under 24 hours. There’s no way to write this blog without sounding up-myself or a sore loser, but I truly thought I would make it through to the final round. They want an individual who can travel the world and document every step. Who better than a full time professional photographer & film maker? Don’t get me wrong, some of the finalists have produced amazing videos, but their are certainly some in there that I question. Had I know before that cheating entries weren’t going to be disqualified, I probably would have jumped on that band wagon too. I have no doubt that deciding on the top 10 was a very tough decision, but with getting over one million social impressions from high-profile people sharing my video such as John Key, Vodafone New Zealand, Air New Zealand, Wellington City Council, and the Wellington Mayor herself – my heart literally sank when I saw all that effort was for nothing. Not to mention I got the competition it’s first media attention after I got in touch with TVNZ and was interviewed about the competition.
The competition was amazing and the campaigning was fun! The highlight for me had to be finding out John Key was attending an event I was photographing and writing him a letter which I then hand delivered to him.
So while the Biggest Baddest Bucket List competition is over for me, that’s not going to slow me done ticking this bucket list off! I’ve got a head on my shoulders filled with ideas, and I’m already planning Brady’s Bigger Badder Bucket List.
To the top 10 finalists I wish you all the best – I really look forward to seeing what you can produce from the finals week. If I had to pick a top three based on their first submissions it would have to be these three guys.
Joshua Garcia from New York City
Dave Zwolenski from Australia
Alex & Marko Ayling from San Sebastián