My Neighborhood Life in High School Writing Contest
OFFICIAL RULES
1.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE
YOUR ODDS OF WINNING. SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND
MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
2.
Eligibility. Subject to the additional restrictions below, the My Neighborhood Life in High
School Writing Contest (the “Contest”) is open to legal U.S. residents of the State of California
who are between the ages of 13 and 18 and who are enrolled in grades 9 through 12 of a public
or private school, including vocational school and authorized home school. Employees and
contractors of KXTV-TV (“Sponsor”), Starbuck’s Corporation, Gannett Co., Inc., and their
respective affiliated companies, contractors and advertising and promotional agencies, and the
immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees and
contractors, are not eligible to enter or to win.
3.
How To Enter. The Contest will begin at 12:01 a.m. (P.T.) on Saturday, October 1, 2011 and
ends at 9:00 a.m. (P.T.) on October 27, 2011 (the “Contest Period”). Entries may be submitted
only between the periods of 12:01 a.m. (P.T.) each Saturday through 11:59 p.m. (P.T.) the
following Wednesday, during each week of the Contest Period.
Email Entry: To enter, submit one (1) essay consisting of between 200 and 1,000 words
describing the contestant’s life as a school student. Examples include a description of the
contestant’s school spirit, social life or studies, Each essay must be accompanied by a digital
photograph of the contestant with a written caption or no more than 100 words describing the
photograph.
. Submit the
essay and photo via email to Sponsor’s email address,
writer@news10.net, and include “My Neighborhood Life in High School Writing Contest” in the
subject line. Each essay and photo description must be the sole, original work of the contestant,
and must be in English. Each photo submission must be an authentic, original photograph taken
by the contestant identified on the submission.
Essays, photograph descriptions, and
photographs may not have been previously published or won previous awards or competitions.
Sponsor reserves the right to reject any photograph or essay it determines to be unacceptable or
inappropriate, and any photograph depicting frontal nudity will be ineligible and withdrawn.
Sponsor further reserves the right to reject any essay that exceeds 1,000 words or that is not
written in English. Contestants certify that any individuals of any age shown in the submitted
photograph have been informed that their likeness has been entered in a Contest and have no
objection to Contestant’s submission and Sponsor’s display and posting of such photo for the
purposes of this Contest. All digital photographs should be at the highest resolution possible.
Sponsor will accept the format of jpeg only. Images must not have been digitally altered in any
way other than necessary cropping. Entries received during any Saturday through Wednesday
period will be carried over to the following Saturday through Wednesday entry pool during the
Contest Period for the following winner selection. Essays and photos may not have been
previously published. Sponsor has the right to
Limit one (1) entry per person per Saturday-Wednesday submission period during the Contest
Period.
Sponsor will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected, or illegible entries, poor
quality photos, or for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of
any kind, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether
originating with sender or Sponsor. All entries become property of Sponsor and none will be
returned. Contestants acknowledge and agree that Sponsor shall have the right to edit, adapt,
modify, reproduce, publish, promote, create a sound recording of, broadcast, or otherwise display
or use entries in any way it sees fit without limitation or compensation to entrants. Sponsor further
reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is alleged to infringe on any third-party’s intellectual
property rights, or that Sponsor deems obscene, offensive or otherwise inappropriate for viewing
by a general audience.
4.
Winners Selection. A panel of qualified judges selected by the Sponsor will review all eligible
entries and select one (1) winner each Thursday during the Contest Period (October 6, October
13, October 20 and October 27, 2011) based on the entries received during the previous
Saturday-Wednesday entry period, according to the following criteria, 50% on creativity, 25% on
reporting, and 25% on tone/voice of the writer. The ratings scale for each criterion will range from
one (1) to ten (10), with ten (10) being the best score. In the event of a tie, tied entries will be rejudged on the same criteria listed above. There will be a total of four (4) prize winners.
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Prizes and Odds. Prize: Each weekly winner will receive an opportunity to be a Contributing
Writer for Sponsor’s “My Neighborhood” website, as directed by Sponsor, for a six (6)-month
period from the date of that winner’s selection (ARV: $100.00) and one (1) $10 gift certificate to
Starbuck’s coffee retail locations (ARV: $10.00) ARV of total prize package: $110.
Each winner’s identity and winning entry will be also posted each Friday after the date of such
winner’s selection on Sponsor’s “My Neighborhood” website that corresponds to the community
addressed in the winning entry for a two (2)-month period, as either a feature or in such website’s
archives.
6.
Winner Notification and Acceptance. Each winners will be notified on the Thursday that
he/she is selected as the winner via the telephone number and by email provided on the winner’s
entry form. Each winner must either respond to such email notification within 48 hours or receive
the telephone call in person. Failure to reach any winner in person by phone after three (3)
attempts or failure by the winner to respond to the email notification within such time period or
return of the notification email as undeliverable may result in his or her disqualification, forfeiture
of his or her interest in the prize and selection of an alternate winner. Winners may waive their
right to receive prizes. Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed
by winner. Prizes are not redeemable for cash. Prizes and individual components of prize
packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or
greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes.
Winners may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility/liability certifying that the entrant’s
submission is entrant's original work, that entrant owns right to the work, that the submission has
not previously won an award or prize in a Contest and has not previously been published, and
that entrant has complied with the Official Rules of the Contest, and a liability and publicity
release which must be returned as instructed by Sponsor. Failure to sign and return the affidavit
or release, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner’s
disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a
substitute winner. Except where prohibited, acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent
to the publication of his or her name, biographical information and likeness in any media for any
commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation the Internet, or further compensation.
Prizes not won and claimed by eligible winners in accordance with these Official Rules will not be
awarded and will remain the property of Sponsor.
7.
Participation. By participating, Contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the
decisions of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or
otherwise abusing any aspect of this Contest as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the
Contest is compromised by tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor
which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the Contest,
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest.
Should the Contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to
award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date. Sponsors will not be
responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected or illegible entries (either photos or essays),
poor quality photos, or for failure to receive entries or other electronic communications due to
transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning
of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or Sponsor. In the event of
a dispute, all online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP
account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the
natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service
provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated
with such ISP account. Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted or the owner of
an ISP account shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and Sponsor reserves the
right to disqualify any entries by persons determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect
of the Contest.
8.
Copyright. By entering the Contest, each Contestant grants to Sponsor an exclusive, royaltyfree and irrevocable right and license to publish, print, edit or otherwise use the Contestant’s
submitted entry, in whole or in part, for any purpose and in any manner or media (including,
without limitation, the Internet) throughout the world in perpetuity, and to license others to do so,
all without limitation or further compensation. Each Contestant further agrees that if his/her entry
is selected by Sponsor as the winning entry, he/she will sign any additional license or release that
Sponsors may require, and will not publicly perform or display his or her submission without the
express permission of Sponsors.
9.
Construction. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the
validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined
to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their
terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.
10.
Sponsor. The My Neighborhood Life in High School Writing Contest is sponsored by KXTV.
The decisions of Sponsor regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the Contest
shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical,
printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the
Contest. For a list of winners (available after November 11, 2011) or a copy of these Official
Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to "Winners List/Official Rules" (as applicable),
My Neighborhood My Neighborhood Life in High School Writing Contest, 400 Broadway,
Sacramento, CA 95818. If you have any questions regarding this Contest, please contact Edith
Sumaquial. 209-463-8566 and/or esumaquial@news10.net.
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