How awesome would it be to attend Denver Nuggets media day? Or, better yet, to get to cover the whole day for your favorite online community?

This was the opportunity Denver-native and Denver Nuggets fan Adam Mares earned, thanks to a first-of-its-kind contest the Nuggets launched on reddit this past month with this post:

“I was really excited to see that the Nuggets were involving themselves in the reddit conversation,” Mares said.

“I’m a huge redditor – I’m on there every day – and when I saw that the Nuggets posted this contest, I just had to apply.”

Mares wasn’t alone."The reddit community really embraced this promotion," noted Dylan Hulser, reddit strategist. "It actually made its way to the front page of /r/NBA for a couple days!"

Unlike most forums or social platforms, content on reddit relies on community feedback – up votes or down votes – to decipher how prominent it remains. Only the top content as decided on by redditors each day is pushed to the front pages of each subreddit.

"The Nuggets were willing to take chances and get involved in ways that traditionally have been feared," explained Hulser.

"They've made it clear that they are willing to go above and beyond to connect and engage with their fans."

After an initial entry period passed, a handful of judges from the Nuggets and reddit whittled it down to three finalists to interview. Mares was ultimately selected as the Grand Prize winner.

“When I found out that I’d won I was really excited,” Mares said. He described his reaction on reddit like so:

“I think everyone on reddit was talking about it for a good week,” Mares said. “It was pretty cool.”

After the initial exhilaration of winning, Mares quickly shifted into preparation mode: “I just immediately started thinking about all the different ways I could involve the reddit community and Nuggets fans online.”

And involve those communities, Mares did. His selection was announced on reddit, and the community was asked for its feedback on what sorts of coverage they’d like to see from him on media day.

Mares took the questions and advice he’d received and compiled a list of the requests he’d received on reddit, including the following:

Finally, the big day arrived, and Nuggets and basketball fans everywhere got to share Mares’ unique experience as well as the quotes, photos and videos he compiled via his reddit live feed.

“It was awesome getting to interact with the reddit community and provide them with some behind-the-scenes info on Media Day,” Mares noted. “It was great seeing the huge NBA fan base on reddit interact with myself and with the Nuggets throughout.”

The community seemed to enjoy it as well.