Student Essay Contest
Presented by Professional Surveyor Magazine and 
Grand Prize: A Trimble R10 GNSS Rover
Two runners-up will receive cash prizes of $500 each
Theme: The Future of Surveying—Gloom or Boom?
Professional Surveyor Magazine
presents the 2013 Surveying Student Essay Contest, open to students currently enrolled in accredited public or private surveying programs (see rules for
eligibility).
Your essay should examine how you envision the future of surveying and, specifically, your future in surveying. Will this future be driven by
technological advances alone or the growing locational awareness of a geospatially charged world? What motivates you to seek this future and what
challenges do you see ahead?
The grand prize entry will be published in the February 2013 print issue of Professional Surveyor Magazine. Two runner-up essays will appear in
the March 2013 issue, and other finalist entries will appear in the companion online issues. Finalists will be selected by a panel of PSM editorial board
members and staff, with winners chosen by a VIP guest panel. Entries will be judged on the writers’ ability to clearly state their views and creativity in
conveying their vision of the future of surveying to the readers.
How to Enter
Your essays should be no more than 500 words, submitted as an MS Word document.
One essay per student.
Please include in the word document your name, mailing address, email address,
contact phone, and contact info for the instructor of the surveying program in which you are currently enrolled (eligibility of finalists will be verified
through their schools). Email entries to studentessay@profsurv.com. Finalists will be notified via email and asked to provide a bio, photograph, and
publication release at that time.
Entries must be received by midnight (PST) on December 15, 2012
Official Rules and Notices
Entries will be accepted until midnight (PST) December 15th, 2012. Judging of entries will occur from December 16, 2012 to January 15, 2013. The
announcement of the winner will coincide with the mailing of the February issue of Professional Surveyor Magazine, on or about January 24, 2013.
The first and last name provided on the entry submission will be the identity of the entrant and, if selected for the prize, the identity of the winner.
The use of a bogus name, street address, or email address will disqualify an entrant. All entrants agree to abide by these official rules. All entries,
photos, and editorials become the property of Professional Surveyor Magazine.
All entrants agree that the submission of editorials, papers, or other materials in this competition irrevocably transfers and assigns all rights to such
photos and editorials to Professional Surveyor Magazine, including without limitation all rights under United States or international copyright
laws. Professional Surveyor Magazine, its agents, employees, or assignees may use any or all editorials, papers, or other materials submitted in
this competition in printed publications, advertisements, or in any other manner that Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, or Trimble
deems necessary or appropriate, as determined in their sole discretion.
Eligibility
All entrants must be at least 18 years old, a legal resident of the United States or Canada, and enrolled, at the time of the submission deadline of
December 15, 2012, as a full-time student of a surveying or geodesy program, public or private, accredited by a U.S. state or Canadian province. Each
participant must be an undergraduate student during the 2012 calendar year and must identify his or her educational institution when entering the
competition. Eligibility will be verified by contacting the entrant’s school.
Employees and immediate families or household members of Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, Trimble, or any of their affiliates and
subsidiaries are not eligible to enter the competition.Owners, employees and immediate families or household members of Trimble distributors or such
distributor’s parent companies, affiliates, or subsidiaries are not eligible to enter the competition.
Professional Surveyor Magazine
, Flatdog Media, and Trimble are not responsible for any lost, late, illegible, incomplete, or misdirected entries, or any electronic miscommunications or
failures, technical hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer
transmissions that may limit an entrant’s ability to participate in the competition. Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble
are not responsible for any costs incurred by entrants in participating in this competition.
Selection of winner
Ten finalists will be chosen by the editorial staff of Professional Surveyor Magazine. The grand prize essay and two runners-up will be chosen by
an external VIP panel.
The winner will be notified via email.
The winner must respond within 3 business days of notification to claim the prize. Failure to respond within this time frame will be considered to be the
winner’s forfeiture of the prize, and an alternate winner may be selected from the pool of eligible entries. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, an
alternate winner will be selected from the pool of eligible entries.
Prizes
The grand prize essayist, if eligible, will receive a new R10 GNSS receiver from Trimble. Two runners-up, if eligible, will receive $500 each from Professional Surveyor Magazine.
Permission for Publication
Finalists will be sent an approval and release for publication form upon notification of selection. Failure to grant permission for publication will result
in forfeiture of any prize, and an alternate winner will be selected from the pool of eligible entries. The approval and release will include an
acknowledgement that the entrant’s essay has not already been or is not being considered for publication by any other publication, association, or
organization.
Odds of Winning
The odds of winning depend up the number of entries received.
General Conditions and Releases
The competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law in the United States and in all other countries and is subject to all United States’ and
other countries’ federal, state, and local laws and regulations (including United States Export Regulations). All taxes, applicable custom duties, and
other obligations on the competition prize are solely the responsibility of the winner.
An entrant or winner may be disqualified from the competition if he or she fails to comply with these official rules, as determined in the sole discretion
of Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble.
Unless prohibited by law, entry constitutes permission to use winner’s names and likenesses in all media for publicity purposes without any further
compensation. By entering or accepting a prize in the competition, winners agree to be bound by these official rules and to conform to all federal, state,
and local laws and regulations. The winner may be required to execute and return to Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble
within 14 days an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release to be eligible for the prize, or an alternate winner will be selected.
Winners may be required to furnish proof of identity, address, taxpayer identification, and birth date in order to receive a prize.
By entering, participants agree to release and hold harmless Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble, its subsidiaries and
affiliated entities, directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents, and representatives from any damage, injury, death, loss, claim, action, demand, or
other liability that may arise from their acceptance and/or use of any prize, the infringement of any third-party intellectual property rights in photos,
entries, or editorials, and their participation in this competition.
Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble are not responsible for: 1) failed, returned or misdirected notifications based on inaccurate information provided by the
winner on the competition entry form or 2) entries and responses to winner notifications that are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible,
misdirected, damaged, or otherwise not received by the intended recipient in whole or in part or for computer or technical error of any kind. Trimble
reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this competition.
Any person attempting to defraud or in any way tamper with this competition will be ineligible for prizes and may be prosecuted to the full extent of the
law. Professional Surveyor Magazine, Flatdog Media, and Trimble reserve the right to modify the rules of the competition in any way or at any
time. This competition shall be governed by California law. By participating in this competition, entrants agree that California courts shall have
jurisdiction over any dispute or litigation arising from or relating to this competition and that venue shall be only in Santa Clara County, California.
Winner listing
The prize winner will be announced on the Professional Surveyor Magazine website on or about January 24, 2013, which can be accessed at
http://www.profsurv.com/.
Sponsors
Flatdog Media, Frederick, Maryland and
Trimble Navigation Limited, Sunnyvale, California
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