I know there's another topic about this, so I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
I've never participated in a Short Story Contest, but I remember the last time we had one. Almost nobody participated, so there was only a couple of stories.
A Short story contest would be free, yet competitive for everyone involved. If there was enough interest I think that we could all learn from each other to become better writers.
If you're interested in writing for a short story contest, put your name here so we can see if there's enough interest to make one worthwhile.
I personally commit to write for the contest.