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Weekend Renovation ContestThe Weekend Renovation Contest Ended on December 1st, 2009 GE Weekend Renovation Contest RulesGENERAL ELECTRIC WEEKEND RENOVATION CONTEST OPEN ONLY TO INDIVIDUAL LEGAL RESIDENTS OF AND LIVING WITHIN THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE 18 AND OLDER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY. BE SURE TO CAREFULLY READ THESE RULES BEFORE YOU ENTER. 1. ELIGIBILITY: General Electric® Weekend Renovation Contest ("Contest") is open only to individuals who are living within, and residents of, the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and are 18 years of age or older at time of entry, except officers, directors and employees (and members of their household and their immediate family, i.e., parents, children, spouse, siblings and the "steps" of each and persons residing in the same household of such immediate family members) of General Electric Inc., ("Sponsor"), its subsidiaries, affiliates, sales representatives, distributors, retailers, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, fulfillment agencies and web design agencies, including Mercury Promotions & Fulfillment ("Mercury"), their respective affiliates, assigns or representatives (hereinafter all of the aforementioned referred to collectively as "Sponsor & Others"); and all other persons or entities associated with the development, administration, promotion, execution of, or supply to this Contest are not eligible to enter or win. 2. BRIEF CONTEST OVERVIEW: Entrants submit (A) a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eight (8) colored photographs of their kitchen before a kitchen makeover and a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eight (8) either colored photographs or depictions, as described below, of their dream kitchen after a kitchen redesign or renovation displaying either GE, GE Profile or GE Café brand appliances (all collectively referred to as "GE appliances" and (B) an essay of between 250-500 words describing the reasons for the kitchen makeover and selection of GE appliances. Essays will be judged according to the criteria stated in Rule 6 below and one (1) Grand Prize Winner will be selected by a panel of six (6) qualified judges selected by Sponsor. 3. IMPORTANT CONTEST DATES: 4. HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST: During the Contest Entry Period: you must follow the instructions to submit a "Before Visual Submission" and an "After Visual Submission" (both of which will be collectively referred to as "Visual Submissions") and an Essay (all of the aforementioned will be collectively referred to as "the Contest Entry"). (A) "Before Visual Submission" You must submit a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eight (8) color photographs of your kitchen showing what it looks like before its redesign or renovation; (B) "After Visual Submission": You must also submit a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eight (8) color photographs of your kitchen after its redesign or renovation. However, to enter the Contest without a purchase of GE appliances, in lieu of submitting the color photographs, you may submit any combination of hand-drawn pictures, pictures cut from magazine, and/or pictures downloaded and printed from www.geappliances.com ("Website") showing what your dream kitchen looks or would look like featuring all GE appliances after its redesign or renovation. If in fact, your redesigned or renovated kitchen contains other than GE appliances and you are submitting color photographs as your "After Visual Submission", you may insert, as necessary, a hand-drawn picture, a picture(s) cut from a magazine or a picture(s) downloaded and printed from the Website of a GE appliance instead. If your "After Visual Submission" consists of photographs of your redesigned or renovated kitchen showing GE appliances you have purchased, you must attach a copy of the purchase receipt, indicating your name, address, name and address of GE retailer, and the price paid for each GE appliance shown in the photographs. NOTE: Be sure to legibly print in black ink your name, complete address, valid email address, telephone number and whether it is a "Before" or "After" Submission on the back of each Visual Submission. Securely paper clip your Visual Submissions and copies of purchase receipts to your Essay. IMPORTANT: Whether your Visual Submissions contain color photographs of GE appliances you have purchased or hand-drawn pictures, pictures of GE appliances cut from a magazine and/or pictures of GE appliances downloaded and printed from a GE website will NOT influence or effect your chances of winning the Contest. (C) Essay: Type or legibly print in black ink your name, complete street address (No P.O. Boxes allowed), telephone number and valid email address on an 8½" by 11" sheet of paper and legibly print in black ink or type an essay of between two hundred fifty (250) and five hundred (500) words that states why you are redesigning or renovating your kitchen; what expectations you have for your newly re-designed or renovated dream kitchen and why you chose or would choose GE appliances. VERY IMPORTANT: Your name, complete address, and telephone number should appear on the back of all your Visual Submissions and on your Essay. Do not place or mail your Contest Entry in a binder or portfolio. All Contest Entries must be mailed in a properly stamped flat envelope; Contest Entries mailed in tubes or other than a flat envelope will not be accepted. Your Contest Entry must be mailed in a properly stamped flat envelope to: GE Weekend Renovation Contest, 35610 Mound Road, Dept.2020, Sterling Heights, MI 48310-4725. Only one Contest Entry may be submitted per person or household. Contest Entries not meeting the Contest's requirement will be deemed ineligible and will not be judged. Contest Entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. 5. CONTEST ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: The Contest Entry must be totally your own original creation, not infringe or in any way violate any third-party intellectual property or privacy rights, and be one in which you (or your parent/legal guardian if you are a minor in your state of residence) agree to transfer and assign all rights and title to Sponsor. (A) VISUAL SUBMISSIONS: The Visual Submission must be of a kitchen in a home of which you are an owner. Sponsor may require the potential Grand Prize Winner to submit satisfactory proof of home ownership, e.g. a copy of a property tax bill, evidencing ownership of home ownership. Visual Submissions may not exceed 8"x10" in size and must be in color. The Visual Submission: (1) must not contain, show, mention, refer or otherwise allude to the name, trademark or logo of any manufacturer, business, brand, product, company or character not owned by Sponsor; (2) cannot show or depict any unsafe or dangerous behavior or the use of any appliance in a potentially, unsafe or dangerous manner; (3) cannot show any person; (4) cannot show or depict any sexually explicit or suggestive, obscene, lewd, violent, illegal, offensive, disparaging or inappropriate words, abbreviations, language, signs, products, symbols, political, personal and/or religious references or references or symbols (including but not limited to those that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group; (5) cannot show or depict alcohol, illegal drugs or tobacco, firearms/weapons (6) cannot in any manner defame or disparage Sponsor, its products or other companies or their products, or in any way reflect negatively upon such parties; (7) cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without permission; (8) cannot contain materials embodying the names, likenesses photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead.; and (9) cannot itself, be in violation of any law. (B) ESSAY: As stated above, your Essay must either be legibly printed in black ink or typed on an 8½" x 11" sheet of paper and state in 250-500 words your reasons for your kitchen redesign or renovation and what expectations you have for your newly re-designed or renovated dream kitchen and why you chose or would choose GE appliances. Your Essay must not mention, refer or otherwise allude to the name, trademark or logo of any manufacturer, business, brand, product, company or character not owned by Sponsor; (4) cannot mention include any sexually explicit or suggestive, obscene, lewd, violent, illegal, offensive, disparaging or inappropriate words, abbreviations, language, signs, products, symbols, political, personal and/or religious references or references or symbols (including but not limited to those that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group; (3) cannot in any manner defame or disparage Sponsor, its products or other companies or their products, or in any way reflect negatively upon such parties; (4) cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by without permission; (5) cannot contain materials embodying the names or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead,; and (6) cannot be in violation of any law. 6. CONTEST JUDGING CRITERIA & SELECTION OF WINNER The judging will be conducted in two rounds. (A) ROUND ONE - SELECTION OF TEN (10) SEMI-FINALIST CONTEST ENTRIES BY A PANEL OF QUALIFIED JUDGES: By 12/8/09, a panel of qualified judges consisting of six (6) employees from Sponsor's Marketing, Brand and Advertising Departments ("Contest Judges") will have reviewed all of the eligible Contest Entries, and, assuming a sufficient number of eligible Contest Entries, will have selected the ten (10) the highest scoring Contest Entries ("Semi-Finalist Contest Entries") according to the following three (3) criteria: (i) Worst Before Visual Submission - 30%. The Contest Judges will take the following factors into account in scoring: (a) Lack of time saving appliances; (b) Poor space planning; (c) Outdated or mismatched colors or styles; (d) Not well maintained appliances; (e) Overall lack of appeal; (ii) Best After Visual Submission - 40%. The Contest Judges will take the following factors into account in scoring: (a) Overall kitchen and appliance layout and workflow; (b) Best use and integration of appliances; (c) Creativity and innovation in kitchen and appliances layout; (d) Overall visual appeal; and (iii) Essay - 30%. The Contest Judges will take the following factors into account in scoring: (i) Most interesting and convincing statement as to reasons for and expectations of your redesigned or renovated kitchen; (ii) Knowledge and appreciation of GE appliances and their features; and (iii) Grammar and clarity of expression. The ten (10) Contest Entries that received the highest scores will be deemed the potential Semi-Finalist Contest Entries. In the event of a tied score, the Contest Entry that received the highest score for "Criteria (ii) - Best After Visual Submission" will be deemed the Winner of the tie. In the event the tie still remains unbroken, the Contest Judges will break the tie by re-evaluating and re-rating the Contest Entries based on Criteria (iii) - Essay. (B) ROUND TWO - SELECTION OF ONE (1) FINALIST ENTRY: By 12/11/09, the Contest Judges will have reviewed the Semi-Finalist Contest Entries according to the same criteria stated in (A) above in order to select the Finalist Contest Entry. The Semi-Finalist Contest Entry that received the highest score in Round Two judging will be deemed to be the potential Finalist Contest Entry ("Grand Prize Winner"). In the event of a tied score, the same criteria will be used as stated in (A) above to break the tie The potential Grand Prize Contest Winner (and Semi-Finalist Winners) will be notified by e-mail, phone and/or postal mail on or about 12/18/09. The potential Grand Prize Contest Winner will be required to sign and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility/Compliance & Liability/Publicity Release, as allowed by law, and such other documents as may be requested by Sponsor, within the time period stated in the notification, or the Prize may be forfeited and awarded to the submitter of the next highest scoring Semi-Finalist Contest Entry. All Contest Entry submitters agree that Sponsor has the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising from this Contest and that its decisions shall be final and binding in all matters pertaining to this Contest. 7. TERMS OF CONTEST ENTRY SUBMISSION: By submitting a Contest Entry, an entrant (or if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian) represents and warrants that s/he has carefully read these Official Rules, including the language contained in this Rule 7. If an entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence, all representations, acknowledgments, warranties, grants and waivers will be deemed to have been made by/his her parent or legal guardian,. (A) Entrant Representations & Warranties: By submitting a Contest Entry, an entrant represents and warrants that (i) his/her Contest Entry is his/her own original and that s/he has not copied or used other works of others in his/her Contest Entry without permission or right to do so; (ii) no person other than entrant has any right, title or interest in any part of the Contest Entry; (iii) his/her Contest Entry will not infringe or violate any rights of any third party or entity, including, without limitation, trade secret, copyright and trademark, defamation, privacy and publicity, false light, idea misappropriation or any contractual rights; and (iv) s/he has all the rights, licenses, permissions and consents necessary to submit the Contest Entry in accordance with these Official Rules. (B) Sponsor's Property: By submitting a Contest Entry, an entrant agrees that: (i) his/her Contest Entry will become Sponsor's property and that it will not be returned; (ii) Sponsor has the right to alter and/or edit the Contest Entry or any part or element thereof; and (iii) Sponsor and its designees have the right to use (or not use) any and all Contest Entries, and any and all elements appearing in the Contest Entry including images, symbols and likenesses of any kind for future advertising, marketing, manufacture and/or sale, commercial, promotion and publicity in any manner and in any medium now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity without compensation or notice to entrant. (C) Grant of Rights/Waivers: By submitting a Contest Entry, entrant grants and assigns to Sponsor all title to the Contest Entry, including all its copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights, and grants and assigns to Sponsor and its designees a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, unrestricted, irrevocable and fully sub-licensable right and license to consider, disclose, use, re-use, reproduce, modify, digitize or enhance, adapt, change, edit, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, redistribute, and/or display his/her Contest Entry (in whole or in part) including any and all images or likenesses that appear in his/her Contest Entry and/or incorporate all or part of his/her Contest Entry in other works, all in any manner and in any form, format, or media anywhere in the world at any time, as well as in connection with any distribution or syndication arrangement with third parties or third-party sites, in any media format or medium and through any media channels and for any purpose, without further notice or compensation to entrant. Entrant waives any and all "moral rights" s/he may have in the Contest Entry. Entrant grants Sponsor these rights whether or not entrant's Contest Entry is selected as a Winner. SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO POST ALL SEMI-FINALIST CONTEST ENTRIES, INCLUDING THE GRAND PRIZE ENTRY, OR PORTIONS THEREOF ON WWW.GEAPPLIANCES.COM, IN THE GENERAL ELECTRIC APPLIANCES ENEWSLETTER, OR ON GE APPLIANCES FLICKR. ENTRANTS, INCLUDING SEMI-FINALISTS, UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ENTRANTS, INCLUDING SEMI-FINALISTS, WILL NOT BE PAID FOR OR RECEIVE ANY FORM OF COMPENSATION FOR THEIR CONSENT ENTRY OR FOR GRANTING SPONSOR THESE RIGHTS OTHER THAN THE PRIZES THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED DUE TO BEING SELECTED AS A SEMI-FINALIST OR THE GRAND PRIZE CONTEST WINNER. Sponsor is in no way obligated to use any Contest Entry and entrant may or may not be given any credit or attribution if his/her Contest Entry is subsequently used. Entrant agrees to waive all claims to receive any royalties of any kind now or in the future from Sponsor or its designees for any use of his/her Contest Entry, including copyright or trademark royalties, and entrant represents, warrants and agrees that no other party is entitled to claim any royalties from the use of the Design Entry as set forth in these Official Rules. Entrant also acknowledges that other individuals may have submitted similar or identical Contest Entries which Sponsor may have the right to use. 8. CONTEST PRIZES: GRAND PRIZE (1): The Grand Prize Winner of the Contest will receive as the Grand Prize a check in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000). The Grand Prize Winner will be required to sign and return by the date stated in the notification or attempted notification of being the potential Grand Prize Winner, an Affidavit of Eligibility/Compliance (including Social Security Number as required for tax reporting purposes) & Publicity/Liability Release (where permitted by law), and such other documents as may be requested by Sponsor or an alternate potential Grand Prize Winner will be selected. The Grand Prize Winner will also receive a Form 1099, as required by law. If the Grand Prize is won by a minor in his/her state of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian must sign and return all required documents. Federal, state and local taxes are solely the responsibility of the Grand Prize Winner. Grand Prize Winner will be issued a Form 1099 for tax purposes in the amount of the actual retail value of the Prize and must submit his/her Social Security Number, as required by law. Neither the Grand Prize nor any portion of the Grand Prize is transferable or substitutable except by Sponsor with one of equal or greater value. SEMI-FINALIST PRIZES (9): Other than the Grand Prize Winner, the nine (9) Semi-Finalist Winners will each receive a Ten Dollar ($10) Home Depot® Gift Card which must be used in compliance with its terms and conditions and as allowed by law. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, stolen or misplaced Gift Cards. Gift Cards are not redeemable for cash, transferable or substitutable except by Sponsor with one of equal or greater value. 9. INTERNET: Sponsor & Others are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections, miscommunications, failed telephone or computer transmissions, or jumbled, scrambled or misdirected entries or transmissions, or for phone, electrical, network, computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or for other errors, omissions, interruptions or deletions of any kind, whether human, mechanical or electronic or for any damage to any person's computer related to participating in the Contest. Sponsor & Others are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen entries or incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical, typographical or human errors which may occur in the processing of any entries in this Contest. Persons found tampering with, abusing any aspect of this Contest or otherwise engaging in unsportsmanlike behavior, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. Any person who attempts to participate with multiple email addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device or artifice to participate multiple times, or to interfere with the proper play of this Contest, will be disqualified from participation in the Contest. If, in the judgment of Sponsor, the Contest is compromised by virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes beyond the control of Mercury and/or Sponsor, which corrupts or compromises the administration, security, fairness, proper play or integrity of the Contest and Sponsor reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to discontinue, suspend, terminate or modify the Contest in such manner as they deem reasonable. In the event of any such discontinuation, suspension, termination, modification or unforeseen circumstance, the winners of any remaining prizes not yet won will be determined by Mercury and Sponsor in such a manner as they deem fair and reasonable. The decisions of Mercury and Sponsor will be final in all matters pertaining to this Contest. Any personally identifiable information collected during an entrant's participation in this Contest will be collected by Sponsor and used by Sponsor, its affiliates, agents and marketers, for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of the Contest as described in these Official Rules and in accordance with Sponsor's Privacy Policy as stated at www.geappliances.com/privacy/privacy.policy.htm. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON (S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared submitted by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. 10. RELEASES: In addition to the Grants and Waivers agreed to in Rule 7 above, by accepting the Grand Prize, the Grand Prize Winner (or his/her parent or legal guardian if the Grand Prize Winner is a minor in his/her state of residence) releases the Sponsor & Others, from and against any and all liability and claims or causes of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property with respect to all aspects of this Contest, including those arising out of participation in this Contest, any Grand Prize related activity or the acceptance or possession or use/misuse of the Prize or any component of the Grand Prize. Sponsor & Others are not responsible for any damaged, incomplete, misdirected, non-received, lost or postage-due Contest Entries, or mail, or any typographical or other error in the printing or administration of the Contest. 11. GENERAL RULES: By entering the Contest, entrant (or his/her parent if entrant is a minor in his/her state of residence) accepts and agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Mercury and Sponsor, which shall be final in all matters pertaining to this Contest. The potential Grand Prize Winner may be subject to a background investigation, including but not limited to, criminal record information. A potential Grand Prize Winner who refuses to agree to a background investigation, or who has been convicted of a felony, or whose information discovered during the verification process is deemed to be potentially harmful to the image of the Sponsor (as deemed by Sponsor in its sole discretion), will be disqualified, and time allowing, the Semi-Finalist with the next highest scoring Contest Entry will be selected as the potential Grand Prize Winner. The Grand Prize Winner and the Semi-Finalists (or their respective parent/legal guardian if they are is a minor in their state of residence) agree that their names, photographs, likenesses or statements may be used for advertising and publicity purposes in any media including the Internet worldwide, as Sponsor and its agents so determine without any further compensation or notice, except where prohibited by law. Contest is void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. All federal, state and local laws apply. 12. DISPUTES: Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be governed by the laws of the State of Michigan. All disputes arising out of or connected with this Sweepstakes will be resolved individually, and without resort to class action, exclusively by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division) of the appropriate Michigan State Court located in Macomb County, Michigan. Should there be a conflict between the laws of the State of Michigan and any other laws, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the laws of the State of Michigan. All judgments or awards shall be limited to actual incurred out-of-pocket expenses (excluding attorneys' fees) associated with participation in this Contest and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages. 13. WINNER LIST: For the name of the Grand Prize Winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope, postmarked by 12/11/09, to: SPONSOR: General Electric Company, 307 N. Hurstbourne Parkway, Louisville, KY 40222 Copyright 2009 General Electric Company. The General Electric Weekend Renovation Contest Rules may not be reprinted or republished in whole or in part without the prior written permission of General Electric Company. |