Top Winston-Salem, NC Tech Giveaways With No Purchase Necessary: Safe Entry Guide

Winston-Salem, NC readers currently have two verified technology sweepstakes open to them that require no purchase to enter: Connection's "Galaxy Book6 Enterprise Edition" Technology Challenge, running through October 30, 2026, and Texas Instruments' Fall 2026 Ed Tech Webinar sweepstakes, which includes an October 27 entry window. Both are run by the sponsoring companies themselves, not by a third-party contest site, and both confirm in their own official rules that paying money is never required to enter or win. This guide covers what each sweepstakes actually offers, who in North Carolina qualifies, and how to tell a legitimate prize notice from a fake one.

It also explains why a national sweepstakes that looks open to everyone can still exclude certain states — a detail worth checking before you assume a giveaway applies to you.

Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on October 26, 2026.

The Connection Technology Challenge Sweepstakes

Connection, a business technology reseller, is running a "Galaxy Book6 Enterprise Edition" Technology Challenge sweepstakes from October 1 through October 30, 2026, open nationwide, including North Carolina, with no purchase necessary to enter or win, according to Connection's official rules. Entry works through a short multiple-choice quiz tied to each participating technology partner. Connection's official rules state that the sweepstakes awards eight prizes worth roughly $400 to $500 each, and that the same entrant can win more than once by completing quizzes for different partners.

Winners are notified by email on November 18, 2026. A Winston-Salem resident age 18 or older qualifies as long as they have no affiliation with Connection. The rules exclude U.S.

territories and bar Connection employees and their immediate families from entering, so eligibility for a North Carolina entrant comes down to age and having no connection to the sponsor. Because the challenge runs through October 30, a reader has only a few days left in this window to complete a quiz before this particular sweepstakes closes.

The Texas Instruments Ed Tech Webinar Sweepstakes

Texas Instruments is running its Fall 2026 "Sweepstakes – Ed Tech Webinars," which enters attendees of live TI professional-development webinars into a drawing for a TI graphing calculator. One qualifying session is scheduled for October 27, 2026, according to Texas Instruments' official rules. Entry requires attending the live webinar; the official rules confirm there is no purchase or payment of any kind required to enter or to be eligible to win.

This makes it a straightforward option for anyone willing to sit in on a live session rather than complete a quiz. Because this sweepstakes is tied to webinar attendance rather than a standalone entry form, the practical step for a Winston-Salem reader is registering for the October 27 session directly through TI's own webinar listing before that date passes.

What "No Purchase Necessary" Actually Means

"No purchase necessary" is a specific legal phrase, not a marketing slogan. It means a sponsor cannot require you to buy anything, pay an entry fee, or spend money in order to have an equal chance at winning. The Federal Trade Commission states that prizes in legitimate sweepstakes are awarded solely by chance, and entrants never have to pay a fee, buy something, or cover "taxes" or "shipping and handling" to enter or claim a prize.

This is different from a giveaway that hands out a free item to everyone who signs up. A sweepstakes like Connection's or TI's is a chance to win a specific prize — not a guaranteed benefit. Entering the Connection quiz or attending the TI webinar does not mean you receive anything; it means you are eligible for a random drawing or scored outcome among other entrants.

Knowing this distinction matters because it sets expectations correctly: completing a quiz or attending a webinar is low-cost and legitimate, but it is not the same as a confirmed reward.

How to Spot a Fake Prize Notice

Both sweepstakes covered here notify winners directly — Connection by email on November 18, 2026, and TI through its own contact process tied to webinar registration. A notice that doesn't match how the sponsor said it would contact you is the first thing to question. The clearest warning sign is any request for money after you're told you've won.

The FTC warns that a request to wire money or hand over gift-card numbers to "collect winnings" is a certain sign of a scam, since a genuine sponsor never asks a winner to pay to receive a prize. If a message claiming to be from Connection or Texas Instruments asks for payment, a gift card number, or your bank details before releasing a prize, that message did not come from the sweepstakes described in either company's official rules. A few practical checks before responding to any prize notice:

• Compare the contact method to what the official rules describe (email vs. phone vs. mail).
• Never provide a credit card number, bank account, or gift card codes to "release" a prize.
• Go back to the sponsor's own official rules page to confirm the notification date and method.
• Treat any request for an upfront fee, no matter how small, as a reason to stop and verify independently.

Checking Eligibility Before You Enter

Not every national tech sweepstakes includes every state, even when it advertises "no purchase necessary." NVIDIA's CES 2026 "Explore to Win" official rules, for example, barred residents of New York and Florida from entering even though the sweepstakes was otherwise open nationwide, according to NVIDIA's official rules. That sweepstakes has since closed, but it illustrates a pattern worth checking on any current one: a sponsor's state exclusion list is specific to that sweepstakes and won't match another sponsor's list. For the two sweepstakes covered here, North Carolina residents are not excluded.

Connection's rules exclude only U.S. territories, and TI's webinar sweepstakes ties eligibility to attending the session rather than to a state list. Still, the practical habit is to open the sponsor's own official rules page for any sweepstakes before entering, scan for a state exclusion section, and confirm your state isn't on it — rather than assuming nationwide language automatically covers North Carolina.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to buy anything to enter either sweepstakes?

No. Both Connection's Technology Challenge and Texas Instruments' Ed Tech Webinar sweepstakes confirm in their official rules that no purchase or payment is required to enter or win.

Can I win more than once in the Connection sweepstakes?

Yes. Connection's official rules allow the same entrant to win more than once by completing quizzes for different participating technology partners.

What should I do if I get a message saying I won and need to pay a fee first?

Treat it as a problem. The FTC states a legitimate sponsor never requires payment to release a prize, so any such request should not be acted on.