As children, we all grew up playing with trains and many of us attached a kind of fondness to them. We envisioned ourselves riding the rails heading to our "special destination." Some of us may still hold on to those childhood destinations, while others have realized the practical use of trains. Whatever the reason you love trains, we want to give you the chance to share your affections in the All Aboard group and the "Next Stop" Poetry Contest.
Tell us why you love trains and where your train is taking you in a poem. The Gather community will vote to determine the 10 most creative and well-written poems. From there, the Gather Editorial Team will choose a Grand Prize Winner, who'll receive a $100 American Express Gift Card.
How to Enter
It's easy to participate in the "Next Stop" Poetry Contest. First, join the All Aboard group at allaboard.gather.com. Join now!
Share your poem - which should be no more than 500 words - following these quick steps:
- Click "Share" on the left of your My Gather page
- Select "Share a Post"; you may type directly into the body of the submission page or copy and paste in your entry, if you have written it elsewhere
- In the subject line make sure to include "Next Stop Poem Contest Submission"
- Under "Who can view my post," you must select "Everyone" and the "All Aboard" group
- Under "Rating and Commenting Options," you must select "Allow ratings on this article"
- Click "Submit"
All entries must be received by 11:59pm ET on August, 12, 2008. The Gather community will vote to determine the top 10 entries, which will be posted to allaboard.gather.com. Then the Gather Editorial Team will choose the Grand Prize Winner, who'll receive a $100 American Express Gift Card.
Click here for rules and regulations.
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Comments: 37
GREAT! The community needs another writing contest!!
I'll feature this in the Community DateBook™
Looking forward to reading the entries.
thanks!
Already have words steaming through my head.......
A ... B ... O ... A ... R ... D !
Life is like a train ride,
past flat and rolling grounds.
Don't ever think life is even;
there will always be ups and downs.
But when this ride is over,
I hope you look back and say:
"It's been a good life...
I'm glad I found my way."
copyright J. Meacham
Could you please clarify whether Gather Correspondents are eligible for participating in this contest?
Based upon the official rules, section 2.a, it would appear that they are not eligible.
Also, at one time Gather had wisely adopted a policy that Gather Correspondents and other members having a special relationship with Gather were exempt from winning Gather-led contests or giveaways...especially when the winner(s) are chosen by Gather staff. This is a common practice, and essential for maintaining the integrity of the activity, the sponsor and Gather Inc.
Has Gather moved away from this policy, or are correspondents still exempt from Gather-led competitions and giveaways?
Thank You.
The avoidance of impropriety is an important goal for Gather though, or should be.
There have been a small number of contests open to anyone on Gather, including correspondents. It is nice to be able to stretch my writing muscles outside of personal finance news writing and do-it-yourself cooking/decorating/frugal living feature writing. Contests here are indeed a great way to do that, dipping my toe -- for what in many cases is the first attempt -- into haiku, poetry, romance, mystery and more.
Consequently, clarification on the "agent" prohibition would indeed be helpful.
Hopefully Gather is continuing this policy.