The Rules
2011 MARKHAM VINEYARDS MARK OF DISTINCTION CONTEST
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
1. HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: You (“Nominator”) are invited to nominate a community-based philanthropic activity/organization (“Nominee”). Nominator must submit a 300-word-or-fewer essay explaining why the philanthropic activity/organization (“Nominee”) should be awarded the $25,000 prize money to help implement and/or expand and/or complete a community-based project. Note: Philanthropic activity/organization indicated in essay must be an approved IRS Non-Profit/tax exempt organization. Your essay must be accompanied by a brief budget outlining how the $25,000 in prize money would be used to accomplish the ideas expressed in your essay. Up to ten Finalists’ essays/budgets will be posted online. Website visitors will be invited to vote for the project they believe to be most impactful and most feasible. The Nominees (philanthropic activity/organization) indicated in the two (2) Finalists’ essays who receive the most votes will be deemed the Grand Prize Winners. The philanthropic activity/organizations indicated in the winning essays will receive the prize money as described in Rule #5. See below for further details.
2. ELIGIBILITY: Nominators must be residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are 21 years of age or older at time of entry. Nominees must be approved IRS non-profit/tax exempt organizations. Employees of Markham Vineyards, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law.
3. TWO WAYS TO ENTER:
ONLINE: Beginning 12:01 a.m. (ET) on 4/18/11 visit www.MarkhamMarkofDistinction.com and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the entry form and submit your entry including budget. Budget will be judged but will not count toward 300-word essay limit. Submissions must be in English. Entries must be received by 12:01 a.m. (ET) on 7/31/11. All material submitted becomes property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Enter as often as you like but each entry must be different and must be submitted separately.
4. WINNER DETERMINATION:
JUDGING: All eligible entries will be preliminarily judged by representatives of the Sponsor to determine up to 10 Finalists, based on the following criteria: originality & creativity of essay – 50%; appropriateness of essay to theme – 30%; feasibility of bringing project to fruition as evidenced by budget – 20%. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score for originality & creativity of essay.
ONLINE VOTING TO DETERMINE GRAND PRIZE WINNERS: Beginning 12:01 a.m. (ET) on 8/29/11 through 12:01 a.m. (ET) on 10/3/11 the essays and budgets of the 10 Finalists entries will be posted on www.MarkhamMarkofDistinction.com. Website visitors will be given the opportunity to vote for their favorite entry based on the project they feel is most impactful as evidenced in the essay and most feasible for execution as evidenced in the budget. Limit one vote per e-mail address per day. If more than one vote is received per person per day, only the first vote received will be counted. The philanthropic activity/organizations indicated in the two Finalists’ entries that receive the most votes will be deemed the Grand Prize Winners. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score for originality & creativity of essay as determined by representatives of the Sponsor.
5. PRIZES AND VALUE: 2 Grand Prizes are available to be won as follows:
The philanthropic activity/organization indicated in winning essays (“Nominees”) will be deemed the Grand Prize Winners. Grand Prize Winners (philanthropic activity/organizations) will receive $25,000 for use in the execution of the project outlined in the winning essays. The philanthropic activity/organization winner will receive an initial $5,000 upon winning. The remaining prize monies will be awarded by the Sponsor to the philanthropic activity/organizationas work progresses, and Sponsor may request receipts/contracts to confirm prize is being utilized as noted in the essay. If project is not completed or philanthropic activity/organization no longer participates in the project, the remaining portion of the prize will not be awarded. In the event that work on the project does not take place in accordance with the submitted schedule/timeline, philanthropic activity/organization may be required to return the advance payment of $5,000. Activity/organization must adhere to all applicable laws and regulations pertaining to permits, approvals and codes. Sponsor is not liable for activity components not meeting the aforesaid requirements. Sponsor reserves the right to alter/amend activities for feasibility, thematic appropriateness and other purposes. Construction, plumbing and electrical contractors associated with the project must be licensed. Limit one prize per philanthropic activity/organization. In the event there are less than 2 eligible entries, prize(s) will be awarded only for the actual number of eligible entries received. The remaining prize(s) will not be awarded.
NOTE: In addition, beginning in Fall 2012, Markham Vineyards will designate an Estate Grown, limited edition Cabernet Sauvignon as “honorary” bottles of wine to be sold in honor of the Nominators of the winning essays. For each honorary bottle of wine purchased, $1 of sales will be donated to the philanthropic activity/organizationof the named Nominator’s choice with a maximum donation of an additional $3,600 to each charity. Nominators do not receive any compensation.
6. GENERAL RULES: Potential Finalists (“Nominators”) will be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility certifying that the submission is his/her own original work and he/she holds all rights to the submission, that the submission has not been previously published prior to the start date of this program, has not won a previous prize or award and that he/she followed the Official Rules of the Contest and that he/she grants permission to post the entry submission online for the duration of the online voting period. Additionally, potential Finalists (Nominators) will be required to complete a Release of Liability and, if legally permissible, a Publicity Release. All documents must be completed and returned within seven (7) days of attempted delivery of same. Noncompliance within this time period or return of any notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification without further notice and the Finalist that submitted the essay that garnered the next greatest number of online votes will be contacted as a potential Finalist. Additionally, the two (2) Grand Prize Winners (Nominees; philanthropic activity/organizations indicated in the winning essays) will be required to complete a Release of Liability by a Director or Officer of the philanthropic activity/organization under whose auspices the project will fall. Prize funds will be awarded only for project outlined on the winning submissions. The two (2) Grand Prize Winners (philanthropic activity/organizations) will be required to provide a project timeline and schedule along with the plan of action. Finalists/Grand Prize Winners will be notified by mail. No substitution or transfer of prize by Winner permitted. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prize of equal or greater value.
IMPORTANT: Any applicable federal, state, and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winning community-based philanthropic activity/organizations.
By accepting prize, Nominees agree to release and hold Sponsor, its respective directors, officers, employees and assigns, harmless from and against any and all claims and liability arising out of use of prize. Nominees assume all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused, by participation in this promotion or use or redemption of any prize. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for the Sponsor and its agencies to use Nominees’ names and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising and trade including possible use on product packaging, without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, its respective directors, officers, employees and assigns, from and against any and all liability and damages. By participating in this promotion, entrants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the judges’ decisions which are final. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any contest materials and the terms and conditions of the Official Rules,the Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control. All material submitted becomes the sole property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Sponsor not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the contest or in the announcement of the prize. In no event will more than the stated number of prizes be awarded.
7. For the names of the Nominators/Grand Prize winning philanthropic activity/organizations, visit www.MarkhamMarkofDistinction.com beginning 10/10/11.
SPONSOR: Markham Vineyards, 2812 Saint Helena Hwy N., St. Helena, CA 94574.
NOTICE TO ONLINE ENTRANTS/VOTERS: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION 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 INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. Not responsible for faulty, incorrect or mistranscribed phone/email transmissions, incorrect announcements of any kind, technical hardware or software failures of any kind including any injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in or experiencing any materials in connection with the promotion, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission that may limit a user's ability to participate in the promotion. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the promotion if fraud, misconduct or technical failures destroy the integrity of the program; or if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration or security of the program as determined by Sponsor/judging agency/administrator, in their sole discretion. If technical malfunctions or suspect voting/irregularities corrupt the voting process, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to award prizes based solely on the finalist judging scores or non-suspect votes. In the event of termination, a notice will be posted online and entries will be judged from among all eligible on-line entries received prior to termination. Any damage made to the web site will be the responsibility of the authorized e-mail account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. IMPORTANT: Proof of submitting entries/votes will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor. Any use of robotic, automatic, programmed or the like methods of participation/voting will void all such submissions/votes by such methods. Sponsor reserves the right to prohibit the participation of an individual if fraud or tampering is suspected or if the account holder fails to comply with any requirement of participation/voting as stated herein or with any provision in these Official Rules.
