|
|
||
|
Capsule Editor wins $10,000 |
||
|
Humor Menu |
Originally published 1997 in The Capsule (Brevard
Community College student newspaper) (U-WIRE) COCOA, Fla. -- Congratulations! You have won... A week barely passes without receiving a letter that begins with those words. So, when BCC student Glenn Danforth received such a letter a few weeks ago, he decided to treat it as just another magazine subscription sales pitch and trash it. After all, there was little indicating this letter may have been different--it hadn't been hand delivered by Ed MacMahon, and there wasn't a group of obnoxious people piling out of a "Prize Patrol" van with balloons and cameras. The only thing that saved the letter from the trash bin was the fancy stationary it was printed on. "I began to crumple it up until it dawned on me that the paper was of a much higher quality than you usually see from Publishers Clearing House," Danforth explained. "I decided to take a closer look. " It was a good decision. The letter notified the stunned managing editor of The Capsule that he had won $10,000 from SmithKline Beecham, makers of Vivarin, for having the best Internet home page created by a full-time college student. In order to claim his prize, Danforth was given seven days to return a notarized statement. Had he thrown the letter away the prize would have been given to someone else, Danforth said. After calling the public relations firm responsible for the award letter to confirm he wasn't the victim of an elaborate hoax, Danforth was told to expect a $10,000 check within a few weeks. "My girlfriend had to peel me off the ceiling," he said. "The only reason I entered the contest last summer was that Vivarin was giving $10 gift certificates for Blockbuster Video to 97 runner-ups. I figured with the expected 1,000 entries I had a one-in-ten chance to get some free video rentals." Danforth said he bought a computer last April and "spent every free minute teaching himself about the Internet and how to create Web pages. Danforth placed samples of his humor articles on the Internet last June with the idea that a newspaper or magazine editor, "with no taste," might read them and offer him a job as a full-time humor columnist. Danforth, who sat in front of a computer for the first time 21 months ago, believes his inexperience actually works in his favor. As he does when designing each issue of The Capsule, he created his Web site based on what looked good to him, "instead of what the 'experts' said could or couldn't be done." Danforth now has 10,000 additional reasons to believe his instincts were correct. In its first 10 months, Danforth's site has become one of the most popular stops on the information super highway. Danforth has written for such publications as "National Lampoon", "Satire Quarterly" and "Space Coast Review." Besides landing him several writing assignments, The Humor Factory was responsible for him being contracted to co-author a book about Notre Dame football which will be published by Simon & Schuster this summer. "I can't believe that any aspiring writer, or anyone whose career could benefit from the massive exposure the Internet offers, hasn't jumped on this gravy train," Danforth said. "Artists, photographers, poets, you name it. The Internet can help open doors for anyone with a creative bent." Who knows, with your own web page you too may have to pay closer attention to letters that begin with: Congratulations! You have won.... |
|
