Rand McNally’s Best of the Road Contest
Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
1. Eligibility: Rand McNally’s Best of the Road Contest (the “Contest”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who are at least twenty-five (25) years old, are licensed to drive in the United States at the time of entry, have automobile insurance valid through August 2012, and who did not purchase any equipment for the purposes of entering this Contest. Employees of RM Acquisition, LLC. d/b/a Rand McNally (“Sponsor”), ePrize, LLC, USA TODAY, and any of their parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited.
2. Sponsor: RM Acquisition, LLC. d/b/a Rand McNally, 9855 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL 60077. Administrator: ePrize, LLC, One ePrize Drive, Pleasant Ridge, MI 48069.
3. Agreement to Official Rules: Participation in this Contest constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor’s and Administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to this Contest. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
4. Timing: The Contest begins on April 23, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”), ends on July 16, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET (the “Contest Period”) and consists of three (3) phases as set forth in the chart below.
|
Phase |
Start Date (at 12:00 a.m. ET) |
End Date (at 11:59 p.m. ET) |
|
Submission |
April 23, 2012 |
May 15, 2012 |
|
Finalist Team Determination |
May 16, 2012 |
May 23, 2012 |
|
Road Rally Competition |
June 15, 2012 |
July 16, 2012 |
Sponsor’s computer Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Contest.
5. How to Enter: During the Submission Phase, visit www.bestoftheroad.com and follow the links and instructions to complete and submit the registration form, including a valid email address. As part of the registration form, include your full name (the “Team Captain”) and the full name of your one (1) teammate (collectively your “Team”). Each Team may only consist of two (2) people. You may not be a member of more than one (1) Team. Upon completion of the registration form, follow the directions to upload one (1) video showcasing why your Team should be included in the Rand McNally Best of the Road Rally, hereafter referred to as your submission (“Submission”). By uploading your Submission, you agree that your Submission conforms to the Video Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may remove your Submission and disqualify you from the Promotion if it believes, in its sole discretion, that your Submission fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions.
Video Guidelines:
- The Submission must be in avi, dv, mov, qt, mpg, mpg2, mpg4, 3gp, 3g2, asf, or wmv format;
- The Submission must not exceed one (1) minute in length;
- The Submission must not exceed thirty (30) MB in size; and
- The Submission cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means.
Content Restrictions:
- The Submission must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement;
- The Submission must not disparage Sponsor, Administrator or any other person or party affiliated with the Promotion;
- The Submission must not contain brand names or trademarks other than those owned by Sponsor, which entrant has a limited license to use to incorporate in his/her Submission in this Contest;
- The Submission must not contain images or artwork not created by entrant;
- The Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
- The Submission must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; and
- The Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where Submission is created.
Limit: Each Team may upload one (1) Submission during the Submission Phase. Submissions received from any person, Team, or email address in excess of the stated limit will be void. Submissions generated by script, macro or other automated means are void. Team (and person who uploads Submission) must have permission from all individuals that appear in the Submission (if any) to use their name and likeness in the Submission and to grant the rights set forth herein. If requested, entrant must be able to provide such permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor. Uploading a Submission constitutes entrants consent to give Sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display such submissions in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate it into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes. If requested, entrants will sign any documentation that may be required for Sponsor or its designees to make use of the non-exclusive rights entrant is granting to use the Submission. Released Parties (as defined in Section 9, below) are not responsible for lost, late, stolen, damaged, incomplete, invalid, un-intelligible, garbled, delayed or misdirected Submissions; all of which may be void.
In the event of a dispute as to any Submission, the authorized account holder of the email address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Each entrant may be required to show proof of being an authorized account holder.
6. Winner and Finalist Teams Selection: Grand Prize Winner and Finalist Teams will be determined according to the process set forth below.
a. Finalist Team Determination: During the Finalist Team Determination Phase the general public will be invited to comment on Submissions and vote for the Submission they believe has the most public appeal on www.bestoftheroad.com. The general public will also have the opportunity to “Like” a Facebook page any Team creates in conjunction with the Contest, and “follow” a Twitter account any Team creates in conjunction with the Contest. All comments, votes, number of “Like” votes on Facebook, and number of followers on Twitter a Team receives during the Finalist Determination Phase will be considered as part of the Public Appeal portion of the overall judging criteria (“Judging Criteria”) as listed below. Teams are prohibited from obtaining comments, votes, “Like” votes, and number of followers by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. During the Finalist Team Determination Phase, a panel of qualified judges determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion will score all eligible Submissions based on the following Judging Criteria:
- Creativity/Originality (30%);
- Quality of Submission (30%);
- Fit to Contest Theme (30%); and
- Public Appeal (10%)
The five (5) Teams with the highest-scoring Submissions will be deemed the potential Finalist Teams (each a “Finalist Team”). In the event of a tie, the Team whose Submission received the highest score for Creativity/Originality, as determined by the qualified judges, in their sole discretion, will be deemed the applicable Finalist. Sponsor reserves the right to select fewer than five (5) Finalist Teams, if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Submissions. Finalist Teams will be notified on or around May 24, 2012 and each Finalist Team will be named a potential Finalist Prize winner, pending confirmation and compliance with these Official Rules. All Finalist Teams must be available to compete in and complete the Road Rally Competition. Upon notification of selection by Sponsor, the Finalist Teams will be required to attend an organizational meeting on a date and at a location to be determined by Sponsor. At the meeting, the Finalist Teams will be provided with guidelines and instructions and other pertinent information regarding the Road Rally Competition. Any Finalist Team that is not able to attend the organizational meeting or that is not able to complete the Road Rally Competition will be disqualified and alternate Team may be selected by Sponsor in its sole discretion.
b. Road Rally Competition: During the Road Rally Competition, confirmed Finalist Teams will be invited to participate in the Rand McNally Best of the Road Rally for the opportunity to compete for the Grand Prize. All Finalist Teams must be present at the Best of the Road Rally opening ceremony in or near Washington D.C. on June 15, 2012 (the “Road Rally Opening Ceremony”) where each Finalist Team will receive their Finalist Prize. Finalist Teams are required to attend the Road Rally Opening Ceremony; any Team that does not attend the Road Rally Opening Ceremony may be immediately disqualified from the Contest and may not receive their Finalist Prize. Immediately following the Road Rally Opening Ceremony, Finalist Teams will begin the Road Rally. As part of the Road Rally, each Finalist Team will be assigned a selection of destinations to visit in the United States (each a “Destination”), determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and a category to research and report on (each a “Category”) in each Destination and during the Road Rally (e.g., culinary experience). Each Destination will also include specific lodging and locations each Finalist Team must visit. All Finalists Teams must complete Road Rally by and report to the Best of the Road Rally closing ceremony in Seattle, WA on July 16, 2012 (the “Road Rally Closing Ceremony”). Road Rally Opening and Closing Ceremony dates, time, and location subject to change in Sponsors sole discretion. Teams are responsible for securing their own transportation to the Road Rally Opening Ceremony and from the Road Rally Closing Ceremony. Teams must follow all local, state, and national laws including, but not limited to, speed limits at all time during the Road Rally. Any reported and confirmed violation of any law may be grounds for immediate disqualification of Team in question and dismissal from the Road Rally.
Finalist Teams are expected to keep an online Road Rally journal (e.g., blog, Facebook page, Twitter account) outlining their Road Rally experiences, and video footage using the video camera provided as part of the Finalist Prize package. Following the Road Rally Closing Ceremony each Finalist Team’s online Road Rally journal content and video footage (collectively the “Grand Prize Submission”) will be evaluated and scored by the panel of qualified judges determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion based on the following Judging Criteria:
- Creativity/Originality of Grand Prize Submission, specifically quality and amount of video footage (40%);
- Number of Destinations and Sponsor-designated lodging and locations visited (30%); and
- Quality of Category Descriptions (30%);
Subject to the Finalist Teams compliance with these Official Rules and the above criteria, the Finalist Team whose Submission receives the highest score determined by the panel of judges and the Sponsor in their sole discretion will be deemed as the potential Grand Prize winner. In the event of a tie, the entrant whose Submission received the highest score for Creativity/Originality, as determined by the qualified judges in their sole discretion, will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner from amongst the tied Finalist Teams. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to select an alternate Grand Prize winner should the Road Rally Competition appear to have been tampered with, abused, violated, or manipulated in any way.
7. Finalist Teams and Grand Prize Winner Notification & Requirements: Potential Finalist Prize winners will be notified by email on or around May 24, 2012, and the potential Grand Prize winners will be notified by email on or around July 16, 2012. Each potential Finalist Prize Team Captain and the Grand Prize Team Captain will be required to complete, sign, and submit a Declaration of Compliance (“Declaration”) within five (5) days of the date notice or attempted notice is sent, in order to claim the prize. Each potential Finalist Prize Team will also be subject to a background check to confirm their appropriateness (as solely determined by Sponsor) to represent Sponsor’s brand and placement as a Finalist Prize winner. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify a potential Finalist Prize Team based on the results of this background check. Each potential Finalist Prize Team member may also be required to sign and return any additional releases and documents required for a video crew to film and accompany Finalist Prize Teams during all or part of the Road Rally Competition. Refusal to participate in the video crew portion of the Road Rally Competition will result in disqualification of the Finalist Prize Team and forfeiture of the Finalist Prize. Unless otherwise specified within these Official Rules, the Team Captain will be relied on to split the Finalist Prize equally between him/herself and his/her teammate. If a potential winning Team cannot be contacted, fails to execute and return the Declaration or any video crew releases and documents within the required time period, does not comply with these Official Rules, or prize is returned as undeliverable (if applicable), potentially winning Team forfeits the prize. If a potentially winning Team is disqualified for any reason, the applicable prize may be awarded to a runner-up Team, if any, in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Only three (3) alternate winning Teams may be determined, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, after which the applicable prize may remain unawarded. Acceptance of any prize shall constitute and signify the winning Teams agreement and consent that Sponsor and its designees may use the Teammates name, city, state, likeness, Submission and/or prize information in connection with the Contest for promotional, advertising or other purposes, worldwide, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, including the Internet, without limitation and without further payment, notification, permission or other consideration, except where prohibited by law. Without limiting the generality of these Official Rules, each winning Team shall irrevocably grant, transfer, convey and assign to Sponsor the entirety of the rights in and to the Submission and all renewals and extensions of copyright, and the right to secure copyright registrations thereto in perpetuity including, without limitation, the rights to use the Submission for any and all purposes in any and all media whether now known or hereafter developed, on a worldwide basis, in perpetuity. Each winning Team accepts and acknowledges that Sponsor shall not be obligated to use the Submission and that Sponsor in its sole discretion shall have the right to refrain from using the Submission. Sponsor shall not incur any liability whatsoever to the extent Sponsor chooses to refrain from any exploitation of its rights hereunder. Each winning Team will indemnify Sponsor, Released Parties (as defined in Section 9, below) and any licensee of Sponsor against all claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable counsel fees and legal expenses) arising out of any breach of these terms. Grand Prize will be fulfilled 8 – 10 weeks after end of Contest.
8. Prizes:
ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: A Best of the Road prize of $10,000 ($5,000 in the form of a check for each Team member).
FIVE (5) FINALIST PRIZES: Road Rally prize package. Package includes a $2,500 allowance for full-size rental car; $2,250 worth of vouchers for various hotels (specific hotel/s determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion); a $1,250 gas gift card (specific gas station determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion); a video camera or smartphone device or similar; and $1,000 spending money. Approximate Retail Value: $7,500. All expenses and incidental travel costs not expressly stated in the package description above, including but not limited to, ground transportation, gas, meals, incidentals, tariffs, tolls, or duties, service charges or facility charges, personal charges at lodging, security fees, taxes or other expenses are the responsibility solely of winner.
For all Prizes: Prizes are non-transferable and no substitution will be made except as provided herein at the Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or prize component) for one of equal or greater value for any reason. Winners are responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use.
9. Release: By participation in the Contest, all entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor, Administrator, USA TODAY, and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize.
10. General Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. If terminated Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, determine the winners from among all non-suspect, eligible Submissions received up to time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the Submission process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of the Official Rules of this or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated Submissions. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
11. Limitations of Liability: Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrant, printing, typographical or other errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Submission process or the Contest; (4) printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the uploading, the processing or judging of Submissions or votes or the tabulating of votes, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials; (5) late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail; or (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize (including any travel/activity related thereto). Released Parties are not responsible for misdirected or undeliverable Submissions or for any technical problems, malfunctions of computer systems, servers, providers, hardware/software, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission or any combination thereof. Released Parties are not responsible for any unauthorized third party use of any Submission.
12. Disputes: Except where prohibited, entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division) or the appropriate Michigan State Court located in Oakland County, Michigan; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (3) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Michigan without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Michigan or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Michigan.
13. Entrant’s Personal Information: Information collected from entrant is subject to ePrize, LLC’s Privacy Policy http://www.eprize.com/privacy-policy and Sponsor’s Privacy Policy http://www.randmcnally.com/privacyPolicy.do.
14. Winner List: For a winner list, visit http://bit.ly/HEEuVa. The winner list will be posted after winner confirmation is complete.
© 2012 ePrize, LLC. All rights reserved.
