Local small businesses spoofed The Office TV show, unleashed “Robert” the dancing janitor, and flashbacked to 1992 in their bid to win $10,000 in a video contest sponsored by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Microsoft Corporation.

Contestants were asked to demonstrate their positive experience with Microsoft Office 2010 or other Microsoft product. Three finalists were selected out of 33 submissions, with the $10,000 grand prize winner to be announced on May 12 at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Tradeshow at Qwest Field.

Finalists are:

4^th Avenue Media, a marketing company located in Bellevue

Thinkspace, an office space and operations management company located in Redmond

Questkids Clothing, a handcrafted clothing company located in Seattle

The contest was open to any business or organization with seven or fewer full-time employees, so long as they had a Washington state business license and complied with all contest rules.

The contest is part of an ongoing effort by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Microsoft Corporation to help small businesses increase productivity and profits through technology training and tools.

If you are looking for a chamber to join – the Seattle Chamber is simply the best (even if you live in Bellevue).

To participate, contestants must go to itstimeforbusiness.com/contest and download a free trial version of Office 2010 to use in their business. Any business or organization with seven or fewer full-time employees is eligible, so long as they have a Washington state business license and comply with all contest rules. Submissions will be accepted at itstimeforbusiness.com/contest until April 22, 2010.

The winning entry will receive a $10,000 grand prize. Best foreign language video and best video by a woman-owned business will receive $1,000 prizes.

Video submissions should explain participants’ positive experiences with Office 2010. This could include their favorite features of Office 2010, how Office 2010 increases their productivity, or how Microsoft Office products helped start their business.

Submissions must be at least 30 seconds and no more than two minutes in length. Any style of genre or film is allowed, including, but not limited to, animation, drama, still art, imagery, comedy or documentary. Acceptable file formats are .mp4, .avi, .mov, .mpg and .wmv.

The contest is part of an ongoing effort by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Microsoft Corporation to help small businesses increase productivity and profits through technology training and tools.

Small businesses were projected to maintain or increase investments in technology, even in difficult economic times, according the “Microsoft SMB Insight Report” released last March. Driving technology investments were concerns about declining revenue, competition from larger businesses and general economic difficulties.

“Office 2010 is an incredibly powerful product for entrepreneurs and small business owners,” said Jaana Linsenmayer, senior product manager–IW BMO small business at Microsoft Corporation. “The contest is an exciting opportunity for them to ‘test drive’ the product and get some visibility for their business at the same time.”

“Chambers of commerce are advocates for small business,” said Emmy Jordan, senior vice president at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. “As the economy begins to recover, we want small businesses to have a competitive advantage through technology solutions and know-how.”

The winner will be announced on May 12, 2010, at the Greater Seattle Chamber’s Annual Tradeshow. Videos of the finalists and the winning entries will be displayed on itstimeforbusiness.com.

For more information about the contest, visit itstimeforbusiness.com/contest.