BEA Offers $1,000 for Best Stories About Life on the Web

Posted on October 29, 1999

BEA Systems, Inc., has issued a call for entries for its "Life in the E-Generation" story contest. Stories submitted between today and August 31, 2000, vie for $1,000 prizes awarded each quarter to each of three winners. Further information, sample stories, and complete rules are available at: www.beasys.com.

"We take the e-generation very seriously, and we want to hear from them," said Bill Coleman, chairman and CEO of BEA Systems, Inc. "BEA sells to the companies that must satisfy the demands of the e-generation: the online population that has evolved as the toughest customers in the history of business. We already know our customers well -- 3,600 of the world's most successful companies such as Amazon.com, E*Trade, and Federal Express. But our success rests not only with our customers, but with theirs as well. And that's what this contest is all about. We want to hear from and learn from our customers' customers."

Stories will be judged on five criteria: Relevance (how well the story illustrates one or more aspect of the e-generation), Interest (how compelling the point or subject of the story is, and how well the story is told given the nature of the experiences related and the age of the storyteller), Context (how unique and relevant the subject of the story is), Believability (how authentic the story appears), and Appropriateness (the degree to which the events of the story are typical for users who are similar to the storyteller).

Prize winners -- three for each three-month period -- will be selected and announced in November 1999, February 2000, May 2000, and August 2000. Entries for the first three-month period must be received by 11 p.m. United States Pacific Standard Time on November 15, 1999. The winners will be required to sign and return a photograph of himself or herself, an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release, and a Publicity Release (except where prohibited by law) within 20 days of the date they are notified that they won. The contest winners will be posted on BEA's website and the entire winners list will be available after September 1, 2000.