Dan wont be on full time staff until this summer if i have all of my facts straight.
We are working on a blog and article series on how to get published. This is honestly a more relevant conversation. You wouldn't believe how many good stories we can't use because of bad pictures from cell phones.
I completely agree the magazine belongs to Eastman’s and can they print the stories they so choose. Dan shot a great buck and it is certainly a cover worthy buck. Dan is certainly not the one at issue here, nor should this discussion detract in any way from Dan’s accomplishment.
The issue seems to really center around the prize, the Zeiss binoculars.
In virtually every contest I have read the fine print on, employees and even family members of employees are not eligible for contest prizes. Prizes are given by companies to encourage their customers to invest in their company. In this case, the prize encourages members to invest their time to write about, photograph and submit their stories, which profits the magazine.
A few relevant issues:
1) Writers contribute stories to the magazine, at minimal compensation, largely in hopes of having a story printed, but also in hopes of having the cover article and winning that prize. All writers should have equal opportunity to win the prize.
2) Who pays for the prize? Does Eastman’s purchase the binoculars, then give them as a prize? Does Zeiss provide the binoculars free of charge as part of their advertising? If Zeiss provides the binoculars, do they have conditions on if staff members are eligible for the prize?
3) Who choses the winner of the prize? If Eastman’s selects the winner, and the winner is on their staff (part time or full time or in negotiations to be a staff member) you can see where there is a clear conflict of interest. Other members who submitted articles, which profit the magazine, should be fully eligible and have equal opportunity to win the prize.
As a suggestion, if Dan was in fact a staff member (full time, part time or in negotiations), would be to award the “second place” article a pair of Zeiss binoculars as well. As a suggestion in the future if the cover article is of a staff member, the "second place" article would receive the prize.
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Scott replied in post #7:
1) “Dan won’t be on full time staff until this summer if i have all of my facts straight.” Scott could you clear up if Dan was part time staff or in negotiations to be on full or part time staff?
2) “We are working on a blog and article series on how to get published. This is honestly a more relevant conversation.” In all due respect, to say that is a “more relevant conversation” dismisses the valid concerns which were very carefully expressed by the OP, and the topic of this thread.
