I'm with you and understand everything you say - matter of fact when I first met Ben, he sent me photos of Nips - I asked him why he was not marking his photos. Now I notice all his photos are being marked with his logo and URL.. I just think that in this type of fun event that there are plenty of amatuer photographers who would shoot it just to get published, the swag is an added bonus.
A sanctioned regional or national event is another matter. Published work in a portfolio is much more credible than an album of snapshots. The scenario of - How do you get credit if you don't have any credit, comes to mind.
Ben does have a good eye, and yes, his photos are a dime a dozen in the snow trade rags - but his work isn't in those rags (yet) and that is the point I was making in comparison. He shoots every weekend for the fun of it and this might be something he would like to do since he has done parking lot jams before.