OFFICIAL 2011 “SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT STORYTELLER” COMPETITION RULES


SPONSOR
Sponsors are Matador Ventures, LLC (“Matador”), 228 Park Ave S #40021, New York, NY 10003-1502, USA and National Geographic Traveler Magazine (“NGT”), 1145 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-4688, USA together (“Sponsors”).

TERM
The 2011 “Search for the Next Great Storyteller” Competition (the “Competition”) begins December 7, 2011 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (“PDT”) and ends March 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. All Entries must be received by March, 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. A fee of US$25 is required for each Entry. By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to have a Matador Community Account Created. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these official rules (“Official Rules”). By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. This is a skill-based competition and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

WHO MAY ENTER
Competition is open only to individuals who have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry and who do NOT reside in Arizona, New Jersey, Vermont, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, the Province of Quebec, Sudan, or Syria. Employees of Matador Ventures, LLC and National Geographic Society, and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether or not related are not eligible. Competition IS VOID IN ARIZONA, NEW JERSEY, VERMONT, CUBA, IRAN, NORTH KOREA, THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, SUDAN, SYRIA, AND WHERE PROHIBITED.

HOW TO ENTER

  • Each Entry consists of an entry form and an entry fee. The entry fee is US$25 per Entry.
  • To enter, visit www.MatadorU.com/StoryTellers/ complete an entry form with the required information, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, competition fee and original work in accordance with the instructions that follow.
  • Upon completing the entry form an account for the Matador Community Website will automatically be created for you. You can log into this account at: www.matadornetwork.com/community.
  • The categories for entries are: 1) Blog; (2) Magazine Article; (3) Video; and (4) Photo Essay (the “Categories”). There is no limit on the number of entries per person. Each entry must comply with the following requirements (the “Requirements”):
    • Original Work must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible.
    • All entries must be in English.
    • Blog entries must have a maximum of 300 words.
    • Magazine Article entries must have a maximum of 700 words.
    • Videos have a maximum limit of three (3) minutes. Video must be uploaded to Vimeo.com or Youtube.com.
    • Photo Essays entries have a maximum limit of five (5) images.
    • No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this Competition. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files must be 5 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or .jpg format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image).
    • Photographs or video must have been taken within two (2) years before the date of entry and may not previously have won an award in the National Geographic International Competition, the National Geographic Competition or any National Geographic Traveler Competition.
    • Minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable. Fisheye lenses are acceptable. Hand tinting and High dynamic range images (HDRI) are not acceptable. Stitched panoramas are acceptable only if the combined parts are all made around the same time. Any changes to the original Photograph not itemized here are unacceptable and will render the Photograph ineligible for a prize.
    • Photographs or Videos that include sculptures, statues, paintings, and other works of art will be accepted as long as they do not constitute copyright infringement or fraud; provided that entrants must be prepared to provide a release form as described below in “Release”. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close up of another person’s art.
    • The original work, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Competition entrant. By entering the Competition, entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that the submitted original work is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the original work does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the original work.
    • The original work must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsors, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.
    • The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below.
  • All entries must be submitted and received by March 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt.
  • Entries must be made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.
  • Sponsors reserves the right to examine the original work material in order to confirm compliance with these rules.

RELEASES

  • If the original work contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the original work, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the original work, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the original work in the manner set forth in these Official Rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any original work is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
  • Upon Sponsors’ request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within 7 calendar days of receipt of Sponsors’ request) a signed release from all persons who appear in the original work submitted, and/or from the owner of any material that appears in the original work entry, authorizing Sponsors and its licensees (“Authorized Parties”) to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Competition and promotion of the Competition, in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Sponsors. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification at any time during the Competition and selection of an alternate winner.
  • Similarly, upon Sponsors’ request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within 7 calendar days of receipt of Sponsors’ request) a signed written license from the copyright owner of any sculpture, artwork or other copyrighted material that appears in the original work entry, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Competition and promotion of the Competition, in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Sponsors. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.
  • Finally, upon Sponsors’ request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within 7 calendar days of receipt of Sponsors’ request) a signed written license from the owner of any private property included in the original work entry, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Competition and promotion of the Competition, in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Sponsors. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.
  • For the purposes of these Official Rules, the entrant will be deemed to be in receipt of Sponsors’ request or notification, (a) in the event that Sponsors sends the request by postal mail, five business days after the request was sent by Sponsors, or (b) in the event that Sponsors sends the request by e-mail, on the day that the e-mail was sent.

CONTEST PRIZES
First Prize: One First Prize will be awarded for each category (Blog, Magazine Article, Video, Photo Essay). The First Prize consists of:

  1. Winners will be invited to a “Storytellers’ Day” with the NG Traveler editorial staff at NGS headquarters in Washington, DC. Airfare from any location in the US and one night in a hotel will be paid for by NGS for each winner. (ARV $1000); and
  2. a one-year subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Second Prize: One Second Prize will be awarded. The second Prize consists of:

  1. A one-year subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Third Prize: One Third Prize will be awarded. The third prize consists of:

  1. A one-year subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.
  • Potential winners shall be required to sign and return within ten (10) days following an attempted notification, an Affidavit, Declaration or Certificate of Eligibility, Liability Release, and where legally permissible, a Publicity Release and Warranty of Ownership and License in which the entrant warrants that he/she is the owner of the original work (and all the intellectual property rights in the original work submitted) and grants to Sponsors and its licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entry (along with a name credit) in connection with the Competition and promotion of the Competition without additional compensation. Failure to execute and deliver any required documents to Sponsors by the specified deadline may result in disqualification from the Competition, and selection of an alternate potential winner.
  • No prize transfer, assignment or substitution by winners permitted. If a prize (or part of a prize) is unavailable, the Sponsors, in its discretion, reserves the right to substitute the original prize (or that part of the prize) with an alternative prize to the equal monetary value and/or specification, unless to do so would be prohibited by law.
    NONCOMPLIANCE OR RETURN OF PRIZE NOTIFICATION AS UNDELIVERABLE, WHETHER BY REGULAR MAIL OR BY E-MAIL, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION AND SELECTION OF AN ALTERNATE POTENTIAL WINNER.

    JUDGING

    • Competition consists of two (2) rounds of evaluation. In Round One, Matador judges (“Judges”) will select twenty (20) entries for each category from among all eligible entries based on the following criteria (“Judging Criteria”):

      For Photos and Videos:
      (1) Creativity 50%
      (2) Photographic quality 50%

      For Blog and Magazine Articles:
      (1) Storytelling creativity 50%
      (2) Ability to make travel / culture accessible to reader 50%

      The entries selected in Round One will proceed to Round Two. In Round Two, the National Geographic Traveler Judges will collectively select a Winner for each prize level based on the Judging Criteria.

      In the event of a tie, the tied entries will be re-submitted to the Judges for a re-judging between the tied entries alone. In the event that a tie remains after re-judging, the entry with the highest score in the creativity criteria will be declared the winner.

    • Winners will be chosen on or about April 30, 2012 and will be notified by e-mail.
    • Decisions of the Judges are final and binding.

    LICENSE
    By entering the Competition, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Competition and promotion of the Competition, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: Display at a potential exhibition of winners; publication of a book featuring select entries in the Competition; publication in National Geographic Traveler Magazine; publication on Matador Network website or online highlighting entries or winners of the Competition. Entrants consent to the Sponsors doing or omitting to do any act that would otherwise infringe the entrant’s “moral rights” in their entries. Display or publication of any entry on an Authorized Party’s website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to Authorized Parties the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Competition, and pictures or likenesses of Competition entrants, or choose not to do so, at their sole discretion. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

    LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
    By entering this Competition, all entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless Matador Ventures, LLC and National Geographic Travler and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Competition or any Competition-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.

    Matador Ventures, LLC and National Geographic Traveler assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Competition entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Matador and NGT are not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this Competition.

    In the case of entrants who are Australian or UK residents, the preceding two clauses do not operate in respect of any implied condition or warranty the exclusion of which from these Official Rules would contravene any Australian or UK statute or cause any part of these Official Rules to be void.

    CONDITIONS
    THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
    Entrants agree that this Competition shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the District of Columbia and the forum for any dispute shall be in the District of Columbia, United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Competition are hereby excluded and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries void if the Sponsors determines the original work to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

    By entering, entrants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the Competition; and (c) if the entrant wins, that Sponsors may use the winning original works and each winner’s name, original work, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertising relating to the Competition or future promotions without compensation or approval (except where prohibited by law). All federal, state/provincial/territorial and local taxes, fees and surcharges and taxes (whether foreign or domestic, and including income, sales, and import taxes) on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible, cannot be traced or do not respond within 10 days to a winner notification as required by the “Competition Prizes” Rules above, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and Sponsors, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.

    The Sponsors reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant’s identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by the Sponsors to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

    RIGHT TO CANCEL OR SUSPEND CONTEST
    If for any reason the Competition is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Matador or NGT that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Competition, Matador and NGT reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Competition. If Sponsors elects to cancel or terminate the Competition, Sponsors will not retain any rights in the submitted original works, and will return the fees submitted with each Entry.

    WINNERS LIST
    Entrants are responsible for complying with these Official Rules. Winners’ names will be available online at www.MatadorU.com/StoryTellers/ after April 30, 2012. Alternatively, for names of winners send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: 228 Park Ave S #40021, New York, NY 10003-1502, USA Attn: Matador/NatGeo Storytellers Contest. (Residents of Vermont and Canada need not include return postage.)

    DATA PRIVACY
    Entrants agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be processed, shared and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the Competition and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules. The data may also be used by the Sponsors in order to verify the participant’s identity, postal address and telephone number or to otherwise verify the participant’s eligibility to participate in the Competition. Participants have the right to access, review, rectify or cancel any personal data held by Sponsors by writing to Sponsors at: 228 Park Ave S #40021, New York, NY 10003-1502, USA. Personal data will be used by Sponsors and its affiliates exclusively for the purposes stated herein.

    NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS: REMOVAL FROM MAILING LIST: Any individual (or other duly authorized person) may elect to exclude the name and address of that individual from all lists used by Matador Ventures, LLC or National Geographic Traveler to mail skill contests. To elect to have an individual’s name excluded from all such lists, submit a removal request in writing to: Attn: Matador/NatGeo Storytellers Contest: 228 Park Ave S #40021, New York, NY 10003-1502. This notification system may be used to prohibit mailing of all skill contests by Matador Ventures, LLC and Geographic Traveler to such individual.

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