there are two ways to look at this

1.) what business is it of your boss what you do in your personal time
2.) conflict of interest

if your boss told you not to design your parents house for them, would you listen.... probably not.

it is of my opinion that you should enter!

and then you should consider if that is the type of place you want to continue working for...

unless of course, you are working on your competition entry, while at work... then they have the right to tell you not to use resources for personal work - but still dont have the right to tell you want you can and can't do in your personal time.

you should not only enter, but print out your design and pin it up in your work station.

Can you maybe put the company name on the bottom of the board, with your's first so as to include them? I don't know if that would work, but maybe.

quandary.

you can't explain that it's just about doing it? what's non-loyal about entering a competition?

i'd try to talk to the person who has a beef with this and find out what the real motivation is. do they think it's taking away from your focus on work?

if it's done on your own time, i can't see that they've got any say in this matter whatsoever.

another potential approach, if you wouldn't mind it:
can it be an entry under your company's name?

that's where i am at...i guess the only issue is that i don't even care if i win (although i'm in it for the professional accolades)...but if you win you get a contract to build it that requires a registered architect (not registered yet) and license in georgia (no plans on that)

entering it under the company's name would raise incredibly larger issues and problems...trust me not an option.

also, sorry for the mispelling on quandary...too early, not enough sleep.

i have dealt with this before myself. did a competition with a friend. friend's office was doing same competition. he went to principal, explained the situation. they chose to finance our entry, thinking it was worth it to have more than one project entered, even if one was not in their name. neither of us won, but the boss of friend was impressed by our work...which helped friend a bit career-wise.

friend's office is international, big, corporate firm that has small boutique /atelier doing cool competitions within it...so maybe they are more open than most...

another example... my boss in london did a competition while at his old office (minor starchitect); his office also was entering . he placed second as individual, his office placed 3rd. no hard feelings way i heard it. within year he won a few more competitions and made own firm...still friendly with old firm.


which is to say that, in my experience so far, firms are pretty ok with such things. but not everyone is open to competition. some people are actually afraid of their own staff, sadly... so you needs to figger out what the problem is in the firm....an work out how to deal with it cuz you really should enter, regardless. if they prefer people without a bit a gumption then they have other problems to worry about anyway...

i've never had a problem with my employers over the competitions that i've entered... in fact they've been pretty supportive and even allowed me to use the plotter for printing my boards...

however, i know a lot of firms that request recognition with your entry even if you do it on your own time... i kinda have a problem with this, but such is life...

i agree with cln1's take that you shouldn't be working on the competition during work hours or using office materials (unless approved)...

i could definitely see a problem with working on your own entry if the office was working on the same competition, but that doesn't sound very likely...

i could also see a problem if the competition project type is in direct competition with the type of work that your firm does... i only say this because given the georgia licenced architect requirement that you mention, i'm guessing that this is the decatur modern house competition... so, if your firm does strictly residential, i could see your boss having a little bit of heartburn unless you agree to bring the project into the office should you win... otherwise you'd be competing directly with your firm...

but really they should just back off and let you do your thing... good luck...

hmm. thanks for all the responses...i guess i should explain the situation a bit more..rather difficult.

issue 1. working for a company developing prefabricated multi-story residential system - resolved by intentionally not using any knowledge that is proprietary to our company

issue 2. did not use company resources or time (so not an issue)

issue 3. company would not want to be recognized on the boards as it is still developing itself....does not want extra attention (links into issue 1)

issue 4. prize is not enough to make it worthwhile if i were to win (especially if you have to get involved with a georgia licensed practice to finalize project)

issue 5. potential issues that arise from winning might include leaving office or using additional time away from office to develop design

issue 6. potential conflict of interest by developing a different system than currrently working on for another entity (links into issue 1)

issue 7. enjoy what i'm doing and working on, but wanted to feel some extra exciitement, potential for recognition as an individual, also to explore some other interests that i can't integrate with current job. (links into issue 1)

in our country, the code of practice for architect has stated very clearly to encourage the young ones to enage in architectural discourse/lecture/competitions... i suppose u check with the code of practice for a license architect in your country.

how often does the winner of a competition in the u.s. actually get the project? i don't think there would be an issue.

win the thing and graciously bow out, deferring to the almost-as-good-as-you second place winner.

very good point SW

thanks meta for the very blunt answer...i can always count on you to resist subtlety

Try explaining to your boss that entering competitions is part of your ongoing professional development.

If your boss wants control over what you do during the other 16 hours (okay, 12) of your day, he needs to compensate you for them.