“Embracing the Moment” Photo Contest Official Rules
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
1. Eligibility. Subject to the restrictions below, “Embracing the Moment” Photo Contest (the “Contest”) is open to all legal U.S. residents (excluding Puerto Rico) who are at least 18 years of age at time of entry. Employees of State Farm Insurance (“Sponsor”), Air Supply communications Inc. (“Organizer”), all of the companies providing the Contest prizes, their respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees, are not eligible to enter or to win.
2. Contest Period. The Contest will officially begin at 8:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) on September 1, 2009 and end at 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T) on November 1, 2009 (the “Contest Period”).
3. How to Enter. Entries can be uploaded starting at 8:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) on September 1, 2009 and ending at 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on November 1, 2009, (the “Entry Period”). To avoid any uploading delays, please do not wait until the final days of the Contest to enter.
In order to upload entries, all entrants first need to provide their contact information. Entries with incomplete or incorrect information or photos submitted by email will not be accepted. Entries must be submitted by contestants who are 18 years or older at the time of submission. A maximum of 3 photos per entrant can be uploaded at any time during the Contest. All images must be digitally uploaded. We do not accept mailed or shipped entries. To successfully upload your photos, it is highly recommended that you disable any ad blocking software on your computer. Your computer must also accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking. Please contact support@embracingthemoment.com when encountering any technical problems.
Digital camera images or scans of slides or prints must be uploaded as TIF or JPG format. Poor quality photos will not be accepted. Photos are recommended to be no smaller than 11 inches x 10 inches at 150 pixels/inch or 1650 pixels x 1500 pixels. Original files of digital camera photos must be 3 megapixels or larger. Original slides or negatives for scanned photographs must be available on request, but do not send them unless requested by Organizer.
4. Legal Conditions. By entering this competition and/or sweepstake, participants agree to these entry rules and the following legal conditions:
Entrants warrant that his or her entry materials are original, do not infringe on any third party’s rights, and that entrant has obtained any necessarypermissions from any third party if a third party or third party’s property appears in the photograph. The Organizer reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it finds in its sole discretion that any of the foregoing warranties are not true. Decisions of the Organizer shall be final and binding.
Entrants release and hold harmless the Organizer, the sponsors, all of the companies providing the Contest prizes, their respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and each of their directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives (collectively, the "Companies") from any and all liability for any loss, claim, action, injuries, demand or damage of any kind arising from or related to the photo contest, any prize won, any use of the entry materials by the Organizer, the warranties entrants make, any misuse or malfunction of any prize awarded, participation in any photo contest-related activity, or participation in the photo contest.
The contest is governed by the laws of the United States and is subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Entrant agrees that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved with the Companies, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the photo contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, before a court of competent jurisdiction located in Los Angeles County, California, which court shall apply the laws of the State of California without regard for rules of conflicts of law. In any such dispute, entrant shall, under no circumstances, be entitled to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than entrant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (if any) associated with participating in the photo contest. Entrant hereby waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
By entering the contest, entrants agree to receive e-mails from the Sponsors. You can opt-out of the receipt of such e-mails by following the directions in any email received from Sponsors. As organizers, we will not email participants unless for the purpose of winning notification. All entries become the property of Organizer and may be used by the Organizer and/or given the right of usage to Sponsors by the Organizer for future advertising purposes. Copyrighted photos must be accompanied by photographer’s release. The Organizer reserves the right to refuse any photograph they determine to be unacceptable. Contestant photos will be displayed at www.embracingthemoment.com within 24 hours on normal business working days. Submitting the photo and entry serves as a release and permission for the Organizer, media, advertising and promotional agencies to publish your photo in the newspaper and online at www.embracingthemoment.com.
5. Digital Alterations. All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization will be disqualified. Acceptable are adjustments to color, contrast, brightness and sharpness; removal of dust and scratches; cropping; black and white conversions; and use of HDMI (high dynamic range imaging), where multiple exposures of the same scene are combined for a greater tonal range. Not acceptable are photo composites (combination of two or more photos, not of the same scene); the addition, duplication, deletion or moving of objects in the photos; or the use of artistic digital filters and effects. Examples of artistic filters and effects are watercolor, neon glow, posterizing, stained glass, and others which do not show the scene in its natural way.
6. Voting Procedures. Online voting is available at www.embracingthemoment.com and online votes must be received by 12:00 a.m. (E.S.T) on November 1, 2009. Voting is limited to persons 16 years and older. When voting online, select all of your favorite photos and submit your vote by clicking on the “SUBMIT” button. A user can vote for an unlimited number of photos but can vote only once for the same photo within a 24 hour period. Your computer must accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of voting ballot tracking. All voters are eligible but not required to enter our voter’s sweepstake. Please follow directions prompted on the website. Ad blocking software on your computer may be asked to be disabled so that it does not interfere with processing your voting ballot.
7. Judging. Exclusive Category Photo Winners will be judged on creativity, technical excellence, interest, overall impact and most importantly, the ability to capture the essence to that particular category.
8. Winner Selection. Exclusive Category winners will be determined by a panel of media sponsors. In the event of a tie, Sponsors and Organizer will randomly pick the winner from the tied entries. Top three Highest Voted entries are determined by the total number of votes submitted by online voters. Sweepstakes winners are randomly picked from all sweepstake entries. All decisions by the judges will be final and binding. Winners will be selected on or about November 9, 2009 and will be acknowledged in print and contest website on or about November 27, 2009.
9. Prizes and Odds: Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries and votes received.
Prizes include: One (1) “By Your Side” $2,000 Grand Prize sponsored by State Farm Insurance. Top three (3) “Highest Voted” gift cards valued at $500, $300 and $200 sponsored by JCPenney. Ten (10) “Voter’s Sweepstake” gift cards valued at $100 each sponsored by JCPenney.
The contest does not withhold any taxes but is required to report any prize winnings over $600 to the IRS and California Department of Treasury. The winner will then be required to report the income in the tax year it is won. Winner of the Grand Prize is required to fill out a 1099 with the organizer at the end of the contest.
10. Winner Notification and Acceptance. Winners will be notified on or about November 10, 2009 at the telephone number or email address provided on winner’s entry form. The Organizer will contact by email and call during regular business hours at number provided on entry form. Failure to reach winner by phone or by email may result in disqualification of winner, forfeiture of his or her interest in all prizes, and selection of a substitute winner from among all remaining eligible entries. To claim prizes, winners must reply within 72 hours after notification between the hours of 1:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) and 8:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on normal business days. Valid photo identification may be required. Winners may waive their right to receive prizes. Prizes are non-assignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes are subject to availability and Sponsors and Organizer reserve 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 and publicity release (except where prohibited by law) which must be returned as directed by Organizer. 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 Sponsors and Organizer.
11. Participation. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsors/Organizer. The Organizer reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this Contest as solely determined by Sponsors/Organizer. In the event the Contest is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of the Organizer, which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the Contest, Sponsors/Organizer 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, the Sponsor and Organizers reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date.
12. 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.
13. Sponsor. “Embracing the Moment” Photo Shooting Contest is sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The Organizer of the Contest is Air Supply Communications Inc. The decisions of Sponsors and Organizer regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the Contest shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsors and Organizer 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 on or about November 27, 2009, please re-visit our photo Contest website at www.embracingthemoment.com or Sing Tao Daily Newspaper. If you have any questions regarding this Contest, please e-mail us at info@embracingthemoment.com. |
