How We Beat the Boss Official Rules

Details

• Length: Your video must be at least 30 seconds long and not more than 3 minutes long.
• Style/Genre: Anything goes--animation, drama, still art, comedy, documentary, to name a few.
• Personal introduction: Your video must begin with a personal introduction, "How we beat the boss..."
• Branding: You must make clear mention of the Energy Smackdown. If you wish, you can include the logo and Web site address for the Energy Smackdown:
• Web site address is: http://www.energysmackdown.com
• Logos can be found at: Logos
• Format: As long as you can upload your video to Votigo, you can shoot it any way you want--digital video, Webcam, avi, mov, mpg or wmv format. File size should not exceed 30 MB.
• Number: You can submit as many entries as you like.

Judging Criteria

• Entertainment value (originality, creativity, etc.)
• Education value (information presented, relevance, impact).

Eligibility

Restrictions

• Your submission may not contain materials that are copyrighted or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you own those rights or have permission from their rightful owner to use the content.
• In cases where there is a question, the BrainShift Foundation, Inc. will require written documentation to show that you have obtained lawful permission to incorporate names, voices, signatures, photographs, likenesses, identities, persons or materials (including music) used in your submission or that the same are in the public domain.
• We also won't accept anything that's false, misleading, unlawful, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, hateful, or offensive to any racial, ethnic or other group. Participants in videos will be required to sign release forms.

Timeline

• The contest begins on February 13, 2009.
• Deadline for submissions: The end of the day (11:59 p.m. ET) on May 3, 2009.

Prizes

• Winners will be announced on or around May 17, 2009.
• The winner and runners up will receive prizes TBD.

The do's

• Begin your video with "How We Beat the Boss".
• Have your parents' permission if you are under 18.
• Have permission of the owner if you are on private property.
• Submit your video no later than Sunday, May 3, 2009.

The don'ts

• Promote or disparage any organization or brand.
• Involve illegal activities.
• Take risks that could cause personal injury or destruction of property.
• Use inappropriate language or activities.

Resources

How to Enter

• Step 1: Pick your topic, then get creative
You do not need to be a slick movie producer or energy wonk to win this contest. The best videos will simply tell a good story creatively. It may help to incorporate some or all of the following:
• The obstacles you faced (the boss of business-as-usual is not to be underestimated!)
• The boss CAN be beat at his own game (how you beat the boss).
• What the result has been (more impressive if you include stats such as number of gallons/kilowatts/dollars/etc. that you're saving as a result.)
• Be sure to verify any data or facts you present. You need to be reasonably accurate.
• Step 2: Upload your video to Votigo
• Click on the Submit Your Entry link that will take you to the Votigo Submit Entry page.
• Create a Votigo account and upload your video.
• We will screen your video to confirm that it complies with the rules of the contest, after which it will appear online for public viewing and commenting. This process may take several days.
• Step 3: Tell your friends
• Encourage your friends and family to watch your video, submit comments, and mark their favorites.

Fine Print

Sponsor

Restrictions

• Your submission may not contain materials that are copyrighted or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you own those rights or have permission from their rightful owner to use the content.
• In cases where there is a question, the BrainShift Foundation, Inc. will require written documentation to show that you have obtained lawful permission to incorporate names, voices, signatures, photographs, likenesses, identities, persons or materials (including music) used in your submission or that the same are in the public domain.
• We also won't accept anything that's false, misleading, unlawful, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, libelous, threatening, harassing, hateful, or offensive to any racial, ethnic or other group. Participants in videos will be required to sign release forms.

Additional Restrictions

• Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage the Energy Smackdown or Votigo Web sites, tamper with the judging process, or otherwise 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 and/or other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• Failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. If for any reason the Contest is not capable of being executed as planned, or infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, action of entrants, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any suspect entry or entrant and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and/or award the prizes from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the termination, as Sponsor determines in its sole discretion. Entries not complying with all rules are subject to disqualification.

Release

• By participating in the Contest and/or by accepting any prize, entrant agrees to release the Sponsor and any of its respective licensees, assigns, or affiliated entities and each of their respective employees, agents, officers and directors (collectively, the "Released Parties") from any and all actions, claims, injury, loss or damage arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, from use of the Web site, participation in this Contest and/or acceptance or use of a prize.
• Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with this Contest, and reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the Contest should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond its control corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Program. Sponsor may prohibit you from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in their sole discretion, they determine you are attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other players or Sponsor's representatives.

Use of Materials

• By entering the Contest, each entrant licenses all rights to the content of his/her entry and the ideas/concepts embodied therein. Sponsor shall have the right to modify, use, assign or dispose of such entries however they see fit without approval of entrants or any third party.
• Entrants grant Sponsor the right to use their names, images, likenesses, photographs, voices and biographical materials, and video submissions, for advertising, publicity and promotion purposes including posting the videos or screen names online for any purpose or on a winner's list and other online announcements, and for sharing the videos with the media for viewing, whether TV or print, without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law. Neither entrants nor winner shall receive any compensation or credit for use of entries, other than that disclosed in these rules.
• By accepting the prize, winners consent to the use of their name, video entry, biographical information, photographs and or likenesses for advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation (except where prohibited) by Sponsor for editorial purposes concerning this contest or succeeding contests and for editorial publicity, special events and advertising purposes in connection with promoting Energy Smackdown, its Web site and/or this contest or succeeding contests.