• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 10, 2012

Much like a real game of musical chairs, the virtual version also lasts between seven and 10 minutes.  Blu Dot, which makes high-end furniture, began hosting a series of musical chairs games on Twitter Dec. 3 with winners receiving one of its new Hot Mesh chairs, valued at $99.

This is the third quirky campaign conceived by Blu Dot and its agency, mono.

Two years ago, a Real Good Experiment took place in New York when Blu Dot left 25 of its Real Good chairs on the streets of New York, waiting for someone to collect them. The catch of the campaign was, each chair was outfitted with GPS, and the newfound furniture owners were visited by the agency to be interviewed for an 8-minute documentary. See my coverage here.

The company also hosted an online swap meet, offering an array of its furniture for odd and creative pieces. Winning swaps included a motorcycle made out of popsicle sticks and a share of Enron stock.

A total of 100 games of musical chairs will be played, with 10 players per game, meaning 100 Hot Mesh chairs will find new homes.

Those interested can visit musicalchairs.bludot.com to learn more about game rules, along with information on when the next game will be played.

So, how does one rush for a virtual seat during a virtual game of musical chairs? Forget the fast feet; players need fast hands and sharp typing skills to grab a seat.

Mono worked with the band Doppio to select the music played for each game, using seven of the band’s songs. When the music stops, a phrase appears onscreen that users must quickly type and submit in hopes of making it to the next round. The phrase cannot be copied and pasted. That was the first thing I tried, even though I figured winning a chair couldn’t be that easy.

Some examples of secret phrases tweeted include: "140 character dash. #bludot," "Seatstakes. #bludot" and "Music you can sit to. #bludot."

“Blu Dot's mission is to bring good design to as many people as possible,” said Michael Hart, co-founder and creative director of mono. “This time, we decided to take a more playful approach to getting good design in the hands of more people. And since they design some of the coolest chairs around, the idea of musical chairs seemed a natural fit. Then it became a question of how to do it in an inventive way. Twitter is the fastest, most immediate and still personal media. Putting the two together seemed right.”

Games end Dec.12. Good luck to all!