Do they actually have Blackberry Storms to play with there? Trying to get a hands on before I buy this baby.

how long did you have to wait in line to try? probably not as long due to the rain today, but is it stil too long?

I won, got there at 10am and had to wait about 2 hours in line. The nice thing is as people got closer to the tent, they let you get under the tent so you didnt get wet. It was pouring out.

I was somewhere between the 25th and 30th winner. A lot of people were having a hard time, but the best method is to grap as man possible with your right hand and keep your left arm close to your body and tuck the tickets in, about half way through you should stop grabbing at air and pick them off the walls and ceiling.

One person said they were shipping them when they become available on the 21st and other said 6-8 weeks.

Anyway it was awesome, good luck to anyone heading down to Times Square.

I was just there and the current wait is 3-4 hours.

There is a first line where you 'register' to go up to the contest machine. The first line had about 40 people in it, with only one VZ rep registering people at 5-10 mins per person to get through that line.

Once registered you go to line 2, currently about 50 people. I timed 4 cycles (there were 3 winners) and it was 4-6 minutes per person (4 people in 20 mins went thru while I was there).

Hope that helps.

It was such a great experience. I won a storm around 12:15pm after waiting in line for 2 hours. It seemed that after a certain point a lot of people started to win and it seemed that men did better then women initially. The person before me and after me won as well. I couldn't tell how easy or hard it was, but I feel that if you developed a strategy you were bound to do better.

The hypeman was hilarious but also annoying at time because he took up a lot of time with his jokes but it was worth it to have him there. They were giving out chocolate and some Verizon people were walking around with the Storm.

Overall I enjoyed and I met some funny people and saw some unique people as well. One small thing though. I don't think we'll be getting the phone until 4 to 6 weeks after it comes out.

I got there around 9:15 this morning and was one of the first 20 or so people to go. I was busy strategizing the entire time I was in line with 2 other CB'ers. About 5 people won in front of me, and then there was a drought of winners and I was getting worried. The 2 CB'ers from NJ in front of me (sorry I never asked your name but I know one of you was Lisa) and I formulated a new strategy after speaking to some winners. Before it starts, kick all the tix into one corner and then lean your chest over the pile. Once the wind starts catch the tix with your hands and chest and pray. So the 2 CB'ers went first and low and behold, neither one of them won. I was nervous, was I going to blow this opportunity? I stepped up for my turn at about 10:30 and just did my thing. I came out of the booth after the 30 secs and the tix counter says you have won a bluetooth, I was devastated, but wait, she then says, you have won both, which do you want. Obviously I asked for the bluetooth....NOT! I got that Storm Baby!!! So happy, so worth the trip into the city, so excited!!!! Thank you Crackberry for making me aware that this even was going on!!!!

PS....who was the old guy in pink bootY shorts with 4 purses.....weird...I would love to post a picture, not sure how.....hahahaha

There were at least two Verizon employees was walking around with pre-production storms.

I am an iPhone 3g user and I have to say that I was really impressed with this handset. Screen was really nice, and they click in my opinion was not a gimick, it really works.

It will probably take some getting used to, but after a few days or weeks I think typing on the storm will be pretty easy.

There were very nice transitional animations going from menu to menu and you can flick the screen to look up and down. This was not as smooth as an iPhone, but they reminded me it wasnt the final verion of the software.

Overall it likes like a really great phone and I am very glad I won today.

It wont make me stop using my iPhone, but as a technology lover, it will make me activate this as a second line.

My friend and I are up in Riverdale, BX and it takes about 45minutes to get down to Times Square. We're debating about whether or not to go. Honest opinion, are there high chances of winning? Also what time does it end/what's the line looking like around this time?

Thanks

Matt I was there a while ago and the line was at *least* 3.5 hours (there are actually two lines) and that was before work let out. A VZ rep walking around said if people aren't in line by 3pm at the latest they would not get thru to the contest machine. Contest ends at 7pm. Each of the two lines had about a 2 hour wait when I was there.

Will thanks for the heads up, we had just decided that we were going to venture down there. Saved us a long trip of disappointment.

Just so you all know, I was down there two hours ago, and the line that everyone was seeing was NOT for the blackberry storm.. they were selling tickets to some show right next to this storm promotion.

At 3 oclock they had 45/100 Storms left, and about a 1.5 hour wait... So unless you're living in Times square, you wouldn't make it in time to the front.

I waited 3 hours in the cold freezing rain, but it was worth it.

I felt bad for my new "line friend", Brittney, in front of me who was 1 short of the 7 needed for a free BB Storm. She got a Bluetooth headset at least...

The only downside is I have to wait for it to ship on its launch day...no instant gratification

I got down there at 4:00 after seeing it on CB.com. I barley got there on time to register, and I FELT like luck was on my side! The line wasn't really that long, but boy did it move slow! I waited 2.5 hours and unfortunately, I had to leave to go back to work! :). I'm sure I would have been able to pick one up after heeding the advice of fellow CB ers. They sure had The right idea, because I saw some people use the system and it worked! I am so bummed out I couldn't stay. Hey if the two guys and girl I met on line (we were about 5 people from the end of the line after they stopped registration) read this, let me know how you made out by posting a comment. Hope you guys were lucky enough to bring one home!
Sure wish I had the chance.....I was so F*****G close!!

So i got there at exactly 4:14pm and waited on the ridiculously slow moving line for exactly 3 hours. I was one of the last people (the 4th to last to be exact) and i won!

Im so happy. Towards 6:45pm they started to announce that there were only 10 Storms left to be won and still 15 people left and that they had to give all of them away.
But when it was my turn to get in the box, they stopped me and told me that they weren't sure if there were anymore Storms left. i was getting so mad. But they had 3 left and i won one! i cant seem to say it enough, lol.

I hope the last three guys finished the winning streak :) Thanks for the help!

So worth the 3 hours in the cold.
I hope i get it fast though, and not in 6 weeks.

Just when I was about to go into the booth, the girl behind me and I talked about strategy. I went in and the paper started flying and I first started to panic. I said to myself "calm down" and I started picking them off the ceiling and on the sides. When I came out I had a lot but I wasn't sure if I had enough. The man said "You were an animal in there! But, I have good news. YOU WON!". I started jumping and screaming. I couldn't believe it. My verizon phone is in such bad shape and I needed a new one sooooooooo bad. Thanks Verizon. I never won anything until now.

Heres my pic with the winner's card.
http://i33.tinypic.com/2nv795i.jpg

This event was great even though I got there at 3:30pm and didn't win my free BB Storm (Winner Number 96) till 6:30pm. The contest is actually really easy to win and here is how for all your Jersey people going next week. One, don't drink to much if you go later on in the day cause they will feed you hot coco the entire time. While in the wind chamber stand in the left back corner where there are no vent wholes on the glass (whole are where the tickets stick for you to pick) keep constantly kicking the tickets up and looking at all three corners where the wholes are and the ceiling. Guarantee to win just make sure you stand on that corner and don't drop your tickets - seven all black to win the storm and 6 black/red tickets for a free bluetooth. Good luck Jersey