We Have an Inaugural “You in the Conejo” Winner!

Published by Anne Russell on 02/01/202302/01/2023

January’s “You in the Conejo” winner is John Noble, whose selfie featured his thumb’s up to a distant oak tree. An oak tree was the challenge object for January. John reports he took his selfie from the Vista del Mar trail, which leads to Twin Ponds and is a great springtime hike.

We had many fun and creative entries, of which we’re including a few here.

And here’s a recap of the “You in the Conejo” rules:

• Each month in 2023, we’ll post the name of something that you can find in the open space. Then we want to see you post a selfie of you with it—for the month of February it’s RUNNING WATER. Any kind of running water, as long as it’s within the Conejo Open Space, qualifies.
• At the start of each month, we’ll identify a specific item for you to find within the Conejo Open Space. For the kickoff, we started with something easy—an oak tree—but it’s not always going to be that basic. The challenge will be in effect the entire month to give you time to complete it. (And if you’re not sure about Open Space boundaries, please see our new trail guides on this single web page.)
• After you’ve located something that matches the challenge description, take a selfie with the object. It’s okay to include other people or pets in the photo as long as we can see that you found the challenge subject. (For the camera shy, it’s all right to photograph just your hand or foot with the subject. And if your photo includes minors, please be the legal guardian.)Then post the photo of yourself to your Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #youintheconejo and tag COSF (@ConejoOpenSpaceFoundation). Identify where in the Conejo Open Space you took it. Make sure your privacy setting on the photo will allow us to view it. If all of that social-media effort sounds overwhelming, just email us your entry with the location info. (That’s news@cosf.org.) We will then post your entry to our social media accounts.
• The contest is open to anyone 18 years of age or older.
• Only one entry will be counted per person per monthly contest.
• Of the people who successfully complete the month’s challenge, a winner will be drawn at random at the end of that contest, just as in the past. We’re also offering a new prize: An earth-friendly COSF t-shirt! And this year, you can win multiple times.

To be notified by email of each month’s new challenge, please sign up here.

Happy trails—and selfies—to you. We look forward to seeing what you find.