In my opinion none of the images listed in this topic can be considered a good contemporary logo. I would even say that the current logo is much better than some of the new ones posted here. I would suggest doing some research on modern logotypes, here is a GREAT website with lots of inspiring stuff:
http://designspiration.net/tag/logo/You can clearly see nowadays minimalism and geometric shape is the key to good graphic identification. Even big companies tend to remove as much as they can to make logos super informative and eye catching at the same time. Here are some examples, some better, some worse but it illustrates a trend that governs modern branding:
http://www.rebrandblog.pl/(sorry, Polish only, but it's the images that counts)
The only one that is usable is 2.png from first post but the font is terrible.
In my opinion a logo is EXTREMELY important and should be picked very carefully. Of course you can chose a unique logo without following modern rules but it's risky. Picking a bad one can force you to changing it and changing logos doesn't do much good to company's reputation.
How about an open competition? Even without prizes.