1. How do we enter the contest?
The website address is https://omnicontests4.com/?comp_id=476. Register in the upper left corner. Please read the RULES and the HELP pages before clicking the ADD ENTRY button. Please fill out and click save for all the tabs. If you are entering a jump as a second document, please label the first and second documents, PDFs, etc., as 1 and 2 at the end of the title. You may upload multiple documents by clicking the + option.
2. What about special sections?
Please email fpcpresident[at]gmail[dot]com for details. You will still fill out all of the information, but you will mail your entry to Sherry instead.
3. Do we have to pay through PayPal?
Although PayPal can be used, we realize some news organizations can only pay by check. Please email Sherry Mims (fpcpresident[at]gmail[dot]com) and Megan Stokes (megan[dot]magrini[at]gmail[dot]com) to let us know as soon as possible. Otherwise, omniCONTESTS will not let you finalize entries. We have to manually submit your entries for you, so our eyes will be the last ones to look at your entries. No changes will be allowed after entries are submitted.
To pay for multiple entrants online, take the amount omniCONTESTS tells you and add $20 for each person you want to enter. (Remember that you’re automatically charged one membership fee through omniCONTESTS.) Pay the total at https://floridapressclub.org/online-payments. You should see a Manual Payments option. Put that amount in the box and click return (enter) on your keyboard. Then email fpcpresident[at]gmail[dot]com to have your entries submitted and finalized.
4. Are the Serious and Light Feature Writing categories different?
Yes, despite the descriptions on the initial Call for Entries, Serious Feature Writing is the category for serious news features or in-depth profiles. The Light Feature Writing category is for lighter articles (holiday, entertainment). Only submit travel and tourism articles in the Travel and Tourism category.
5. If I am submitting entries for multiple people, what do I do?
If you are entering for two or more people, you can use your name as usual to register. On the second tab, it will ask you for Entry Information. Put names the way you would want them to appear on the certificate. (This option is required for everyone, not just for multiple entrants.) When you review the totals, you will notice you are only charged one $20 membership fee. This is incorrect if you are submitting entries for two or more people. There is a fee discount set up to allow lone entrants to pay $20 once. You can send a check or pay the total through PayPal, but then send us an email telling us the names and email addresses of the people whose entries you are submitting. Again, please email this information to both Sherry and Megan, but you will mail your payment to John Sotomayor, c/o The Florida Press Club, P.O. Box 668, Ocala, FL 34478-0668. Please include names of the people you entered (aka members) as well as their email addresses.
We will be going through entries, and we will disqualify any contest entries from people who did not pay the $20 membership fee. If there are multiple names on a byline, all people must be members in good standing. The $20 per person fee is good until the 2013 Excellence in Journalism Contest.
We recommend finalizing all entries BEFORE the AUGUST 4 deadline. We cannot fix entries if it is past the contest deadline, and we will not refund entrants for disqualified entries. This is to be fair to everyone who submitted on time.