The Condo Contest Official Rules

·       Multiple Essay Entries: Multiple essay entries by an individual are acceptable.  Each essay entry must be original.  Each Entry must also be attached to a separate Entry Form, mailed in its own envelope, accompanied by its own self addressed stamped envelope, and by its own $50 Contest Entry Fee.

·         Please read these Official Rules in their entirety for further rules regarding content pertaining to Essay Entries.

·         By entering the Contest, each Contestant represents that his/her Essay Entry is original and will not constitute defamation or an invasion of privacy or otherwise infringe upon the rights of any third party, and that the Contestant owns or has the rights to convey any and all right and title in such Essay Entry.

Video Requirements:

• Videos must be in English
• Your name and contact information must NOT appear or be stated in the video-use the contest entry form to submit your contact information. 
• Video entries must be 1-2 minutes and no longer than 2 minutes total run time including credits.  Entries longer than 2 minutes will either be disqualified, or only the first 2 minutes will be judged, at the sole discretion of the Panel.
• Videos must be in YouTube approved formats:  .mpg, .avi, .wmv and .mov

Your video entry will be reviewed and judged once we have received your $50 entry fee.

·        Multiple Video Entries: Multiple Video entries by an individual are acceptable.  Each Video entry must be original.  Each Entry must also be attached to a separate Entry Form, mailed in its own envelope, accompanied by its own self addressed stamped envelope and by its own $50 Contest Entry Fee.

·         Please read these Official Rules in their entirety for further rules regarding content pertaining to Video Entries.

·         By entering the Contest, each Contestant represents that his/her Video Entry is original and will not constitute defamation or an invasion of privacy or otherwise infringe upon the rights of any third party, and that the Contestant owns or has the rights to convey any and all right and title in such Video Entry.

THE PRIZES

Grand Prize:

·         One (1) Grand Prize winner will be chosen from the thirty (30) Finalists, which may be either a video entry or an essay entry at the sole discretion of the Panel.  The decision of the Panel shall be final and binding.

·         The single Grand Prize winner will win ownership of a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom condominium at Canton Park Condominiums free and clear of any liens, mortgages and taxes as of the date of transfer.  However, property taxes and insurance along with all closing costs and taxes associated with winning are the sole responsibility of the Contest winner as of the day of transfer of ownership to the Contest winner.  Transfer of ownership shall occur no later than 30 days after the Grand Prize winner is notified.

·         Condominium value:  $235,000

·         The condominium has wonderful amenities and is newly renovated with carpeting, gorgeous hardwood floors, cherry cabinets in the kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, a patio or balcony, generous closet space and more.  The property is located minutes from the commuter rail, and a short drive from Boston making it an ideal location for folks who want city convenience without the congestion.  The property has beautiful landscaping and is pet friendly.  Open houses are held every Saturday and Sunday from 12pm -3pm and Monday through Thursday from 11am-3pm or email us at tour@thecondocontest.com to schedule a private tour.  A video tour, pictures and a promotional video can be found on our website HERE

Essay Entries:

Eligible Entries received during the Essay Entry period will be judged by the Panel.  The Panel will score each eligible Contestant’s essay Entry based on the following criteria:

o        Creativity;

o        Humor;

o        Originality; and

o        Adherence to topic.

Based on the Panel’s judgment using the criteria set forth above, fifteen (15) Essay Entries will be selected as “Finalists”.  In the event of a tie, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by the Panel, who, using the judging criteria set forth above, will break the tie.  The Panel’s/additional judge’s decisions are final and binding.

Public Voting:  The Finalist Essay Entries that have been reviewed and approved in accordance with the rules set forth above will be posted for public voting at www.thecondocontest.com.  If the Sponsor does not receive the minimum number of eligible and qualified Essay Entries and Video Entries, Sponsor reserves the right to extend or terminate the Contest.  Public voting shall then take place for a period not to exceed 14 days and during such period website visitors may place a maximum of one vote per essay per day.  Votes in excess of the stated maximum will be disqualified.   At the conclusion of the public voting period the results will be further evaluated and approved by the Panel.  The top ranking Finalist Essay Entries will be subject to further evaluation and final approval by the Panel.  In the event of a tie, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by the Sponsor, who, using the judging criteria will break the tie.  The Panel’s/judge’s decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest.  The ranking of Finalist Essay Entry winners will be announced at www.thecondocontest.com on or about October 31, 2008, after all winners have been verified, unless the Contest Entry period has been extended by the Sponsor, at which time the announcement will be made on or about thirty-one (31) days from new contest deadline.  Designation as a Finalist Essay Entry winner is subject to proof of compliance with these Official Rules in their entirety, maintaining compliance with these Official Rules in their entirety and approval by the Sponsor.

Based on the Panel’s judgment using the criteria set forth above, fifteen (15) Video Entries will be selected as “Finalists”.  In the event of a tie, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by the Panel, who, using the judging criteria will break the tie.  The judges’ decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest.

Essay Finalists:

·         Fifteen (15) Essay Finalists will be chosen and notified by email based on the contact information indicated on the Entry Form on or about October 7, 2008. Each Essay Finalist will be required to execute the following documents and return them via email or facsimile (and subsequently by mail per instructions to be provided) to the Sponsor by 4:59pm Eastern Prevailing Time October 10, 2008:  (1) a personal release; (2) an affidavit of eligibility and waiver of liability; (3) and such other releases as the Sponsor may require regarding publicity. If documents sent to Essay Finalists are returned as undeliverable, if an Essay Finalist fails to properly execute and return all documents required herein in the time noted, if an Essay Finalist is found not to be eligible or not to have complied with the Official Rules in their entirety or such other Policies and Terms set forth herein, such Essay Finalist will be disqualified. If disqualifications occur the Sponsor may permit the next highest scoring Essay Entry to move up if time permits at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

·         Copies of the Essays of the Essay Finalists will be posted on www.thecondocontest.com for public voting.

·         Public Voting on the Essay Finalists will commence October 11, 2008.  Voting will end 11:59pm October 24, 2008 Eastern Prevailing Time.

Video Finalists: 

·         Fifteen (15) Video Finalists will be selected and notified by email based on the contact information on the Entry Form on or prior to October 7, 2008. Each Video Finalist will be required to execute the following documents and return them via email or facsimile (and subsequently by mail per instructions to be provided) to the Sponsor by 4:59pm Eastern Prevailing Time October 10, 2008:  (1) a personal release; (2) an affidavit of eligibility and waiver of liability; (3) and such other releases as the Sponsor may require regarding publicity. If documents sent to Video Finalists are returned as undeliverable, if a Video Finalist fails to properly execute and return all documents required herein in the time noted, if a Video Finalist is found not to be eligible or not to have complied with the Official Rules in their entirety or such other Policies and Terms set forth herein or the YouTube Code of Conduct, such Video Finalist will be disqualified. If disqualifications occur the Sponsor may permit the next highest scoring video Entry to move up if time permits at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

·         Copies of the Videos of the Video Finalists will be posted on www.youtube.com/thecondocontest for public voting. 

·         Public Voting on the Video Finalists will commence October 11, 2008.  Voting will end 11:59pm October 24, 2008 Eastern Prevailing Time.

COPYRIGHT AND PUBLICATION

Submission of Essay and Video Contest Entries constitutes an assignment to the Sponsors of all copyrights under both statute and the common law and all other rights derivative therefrom.  By entering the Contest, Contestants grant further permission for Sponsors to publish all or part of the submitted Essay or Video, to use the Contestant’s name and photograph and to publicize the winning entry and the name of winner, all without royalty or other consideration.  Each Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Sponsor does not now and shall not have in the future any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of the Contestant’s copyright, if any, in and to the Entry.
 

All Contest materials are copyrighted by Sponsor, and may not be copied, reproduced or used for any purpose without the express written consent of the Sponsor. Each Contestant hereby acknowledges and agrees that the trademarks and logos used by Sponsor (“Sponsor’s Marks”) are the exclusive property of Sponsor.  Each Contestant further acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor’s Marks are valid and enforceable, and that Contestant shall do nothing to challenge the validity or enforceability of Sponsor’s Marks in any forum.  Contestants agree that the use of Sponsor’s Marks is permitted only for the purpose of making a Video Entry for entry in this contest and that any use of Sponsor’s Marks (whether in Video Entry, Essay or otherwise) beyond this scope infringes the right of Sponsor and will result in irreparable harm to Sponsor.

RELEASE OF LIABLITY

Contestants, by participating in the Contest, agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Condo Contest, LLC, and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, and advertising and promotion agencies, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives, shareholders, members, consultants, contractors and agents (collectively the “Released Parties”) against any liability for injuries, losses, costs, expenses or damages of any kind, including , but not limited to, consequential, incidental or punitive damages for death, personal injury, property damage or property loss, or other harm, whether in whole or in part or directly or indirectly, resulting from participation in the Contest or the acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any Entry or Prize, rules and their application thereof, all means of entry, process, and/or winning selection.

All reasonable efforts have been made to provide for accuracy in the representations made on in these Official Rules and on this web site.  However, Sponsor can not be held liable for any unintentional, typographical or similar errors including any technical issues such as computer malfunctions or lack of web site accessibility.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Sponsor shall not be responsible for lost or late entries nor for electronic-transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone-equipment, electronic, computer, hardware, or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind, or inaccurate transmissions of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof.
  

PLEASE NOTE:  ANY ATTEMPT BY A CONTESTANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH CONTESTANT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.
 

In addition, if, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right to void suspect Entries and/ or votes and/or terminate the Contest and award the prizes at its sole discretion.  The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other mechanical or electronic means that permits that participant to automatically enter or vote repeatedly is prohibited.  In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a Contestant based on an email address, the entry in question may be disqualified subject to the Panel’s and/or Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Video Entries must comply with the “YouTube Community Guidelines” set forth at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines.  In addition, Video Entries must not:

1)      Include trademarks, logos, copyrighted material or other intellectual property not owned or licensed by Contestant;

2)      Use, without permission, in whole or in part, company names, individuals’ names, music, photographs, works of art, or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media;

3)      Contain profanity, pornographic, or sexual content;

4)      Contain content promoting alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms, or weapons;

5)      Contain hateful content of any kind, including racism, sexism, etc.;

6)      Contain content that promotes violence or harm to another living creature;

7)      Contain any other offensive, obscene, or inappropriate content;

8)      Defame, slander, misrepresent, or contain disparaging remarks about other people, companies or communities, including, but not limited to Sponsor or competitors of Sponsor;

9)      Promote a political agenda regardless of the political affiliation;

10)   Contain, without permission materials embodying the names, likeness, photographs, or other identifying elements of any person, living, or dead.

Video Entry Terms: By entering, Contestants agree to comply with YouTube’s Terms of Use (www.youtube.com/t/terms); YouTube’s Privacy Policy (www.youtube.com/t/privacy) and the Sponsor’s Privacy Policy (www.thecondocontest.com/privacy.html).  By entering, Contestant warrants that the Video Entry and all elements thereof satisfy the Terms and Conditions of YouTube’s Terms of Use.

Entries may only be submitted by individual persons.  No group entries are allowed. By entering the Contest, each Contestant represents and warrants that he or she has obtained all of the rights, licensing, and permissions in writing from each person who appeared in or helped to create the Video Entry.  If the Sponsor determines in its sole discretion that a Contestant has breached a representation or warranty, the Entry will be disqualified.  Neither the Sponsor nor any Released Party shall be responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate entry of information, human error, technical malfunction, lost/delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failure of any telephone, computer or other network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof, inability to access any website, for problems uploading or downloading any contest related materials from any website, or for any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incorrect or incomplete Entry.  For purposes of these Official Rules, receipt of entry occurs when Sponsor successfully receives the uploaded video file from YouTube’s servers and records the required Entry information.  Any Entry information collected from the Contest shall be used only in a manner consistent with the consent given by the Contestants at the time of entry, with these Official Rules, and the Privacy Policies of YouTube and the Sponsor.

EACH CONTESTANT ACCEPTS ALL THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND WARRANTS THAT THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST.

Each Contestant hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between the Contestant and the Sponsor is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that the Contestant’s decision to provide the Video and/or Essay Entry to Sponsor for purposes of the Contest does not place the Sponsor in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the Video or Essay Entry, other than as set forth in the Official Rules in their entirety.  Each Contestant understands and acknowledges that the Sponsor has wide access to ideas, stories, designs, and other literary materials, and that new ideas are constantly being submitted to it or being developed by its own employees.  Each Contestant also acknowledges that many ideas or stories may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to the Video or Essay Entry, and/or each other in theme, plot, format or other respects.  Each Contestant acknowledges and agrees that such Contestant will not be entitled to any compensation as a result Sponsor’s use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Sponsor from other sources.

The Contest is governed, interpreted and enforced by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without regard to its conflict of laws principals.  Any and all legal actions, claims or proceedings arising out of or in connection with this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  The Contestant and all persons making claim through or on account of Contestant, hereby agrees to and irrevocably consents to the venue of the applicable state or federal courts sitting in Massachusetts and submits to the jurisdiction of said courts.  Contestants shall be responsible for Sponsor’s attorneys fees and cost of suit.  If, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering with any portion of the Contest, or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Contest, YouTube or Sponsor reserves the right to void suspect entries and/ or votes and to award the prizes at its sole discretion.  Alternately, the Sponsor reserves the right to terminate the Contest if in Sponsor’s sole discretion the Contest has been so compromised that continuing would compromise the integrity of the Contest.  Doing so will forfeit your $50 Contest Entry Fee.  The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other mechanical or electronic means that permits that participant to automatically enter or vote repeatedly is prohibited.  In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an Contestant based on an email address, the entry in question may be disqualified subject to the judges’ and/ or Sponsor’s sole discretion.  In addition, the disqualified Contestant’s $50 Contest Entry Fee will be forfeited.

ALL PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED “AS-IS” WITH NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND BY SPONSOR, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.  WINNERS MAY NOT SUBSTITUTE, ASSIGN OR TRANSFER THE PRIZES OR REDEEM THE PRIZES FOR CASH; provided, however, that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or a prize component) for an item of equal or greater value at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Sponsor:  The Sponsor of the Contest is The Condo Contest, LLC Boston, MA.