From the look of the entries that we received for our Messiest Office competition, it seems many of us still have a deep desire to hoard every little thing that comes across our work environment, and many of us also don't really do much about the mess of cables behind our desks. From boxes not being thrown out, to old PC add-in cards sitting around gathering dust, we saw some truly messy people in need of inspiration to clean up their office areas. The entries we've selected as the winners are the ones we think need the most attention. Time to clean up that mess!
First place
Our winning entry comes from Peter of New South Wales. Sometimes you need to hold onto every little screw, component board and unidentified cables — so many cables. You never know when they will come in handy for future projects. But sometimes, you just need to de-clutter, and we think that time is now. Congratulations, Peter, you are the winner of our APC Messiest Office competition. You get yourself a brand new APC BackUPS Pro 550, a 64GB iPad Mini (WiFi version) and a $100 iTunes gift card.
Second place
The second place prize goes to Malcolm from South Australia. Not only is this office messy, it also contains some wonderfully old tech that's strategically placed so that the desk can take the weight. As our runner up, you'll receive an APC BackUPS Pro 550 and a $100 iTunes gift card.
Third place
Third place goes to Andrew from Victoria. Just looking at the picture of this rack made us sick. Numerous power boards and power cables going every which-way, what appears to be a dangling circuit board, mixed in network cables, and an old UPS device that's a best friend to dust. That's a weekend worth of cleaning up right there. For your effort, you receive an APC BackUPS Pro 550.
The APC Power Challenge
The picture for this entry is perhaps typical of what can be found in almost every home and office in Australia. However, the entrant came up with a wonderful poem to illustrate the danger of having such a mess of cables that's unprotected from surges and blackouts.
The most disturbing thing I found,
Was the menacing, almost malevolent sound,
Intrigued- I ran out the door,
Moving across the sky was the Hammer of Thor,
The gathering electric storm,
In my Experience -beyond the norm,
Wreaked an devastating power surge,
All my precious memories it did purge,
If only I had the dependable data protection of APC,
Wouldn't be saying 'Woe is me'
Congratulations, you win our second chance draw, which consists of an APC BackUPS Pro 550 and a $100 iTunes gift card.
Honourable mention
Here's an entry that just missed out.
In this one we're not concerned with the cable management as much as we are about the skirting board coming off the wall and exposing the mains power cables that feed the outlets. Please get it fixed.
Well done to all our winners, who are the messiest of the messy. To our winners and to everyone who entered, please clean up your workspace!
