Pet Pix Contest Official Rules

The News Tribune & The Olympian

2010 Pet Pix Contest

ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED

1. Eligibility. Subject to the additional restrictions below, The Pet Pix Contest (the "Contest") is sponsored by The News Tribune. The Olympian and The NIE Literacy Fund ("Sponsor"), and is open to residents of the State of Washington, 18 years or older at the time of entry. Employees, officers, directors and representatives of Sponsors, and their immediate family members and those living in their household, as well as each person or entity connected with the production or administration of the contest, are not eligible to enter the contest or win.
2. Contest Period. Contest Period begins at 12:01a.m. (P.D.T.) September 13, 2010 and ends at 11:59pm (P.D.T.) November 6, 2010.
3. How to Enter: Beginning at 12:01a.m. (P.D.T.) September 13, 2010 and ending at 11:59 p.m. (P.D.T.) October 8, 2010, enter by submitting a completed Entry Form, a photo of your pet and $15 entry donation (cash, check, money order, credit card). Entries may be submitted by the owner or adult who is 18 years or older at the time of submission. Photo must be 3" wide or larger and digital photos should in JPG or tif format with 250 DPI resolution. Most digital pictures taken in the mid-to-high quality camera setting will be fine. Poor quality photos of either type will not be accepted. Only one photo, per pet, per entry will be accepted. Owner's name, phone number and pet's name must be included with all entries as well as written on the back of each photo. Entries with incomplete or incorrect information will not be accepted. Sponsor reserves the right to refuse any photograph it determines to be unacceptable. By submitting this information, the photo and entry form serves as a release for the NIE Literacy Fund and The News Tribune and The Olympian, to use your pet's name and photo in The News Tribune and The Olympian and on their web sites. Checks and money orders for entry fee must be made payable to The NIE Literacy Fund. All photos become the property of The NIE Literacy Fund, and will not be returned. Copyrighted photos must be accompanied by a photographer's release.
4. Online Entry: Visit the Pet Pix Contest official registration page on The News Tribune website (www.thenewstribune.com) and on The Olympian website (www.theolympian.com) and scroll down and click on the Pet Pix Icon. Register for the contest, and complete the required information, upload photo, submit the entry donation, any other required fields, and then submit your entry by clicking on the "SUBMIT" button. Your computer must access cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking. Online submissions must be received by 11:59p.m. (P.D.T), October 8, 2010.
5. Mail or In-person Entry: Complete the entry form available in The News Tribune and The Olympian during the entry period and available each business day at The News Tribune office located at 1950 South State Street, Tacoma WA 98405; and at The Olympian, 111 Bethel St NE, Olympia, WA 98506. The entry form with the photo and entry donation can be mailed to Pet Pix Contest, The News Tribune, PO Box 11000, Tacoma WA 98411, or delivered to The News Tribune at 1950 South State Street, Tacoma WA 98405, and can be mailed to Pet Pix Contest, The Olympian, PO Box 407, Olympia WA 98507. Checks can be made payable to the NIE Literacy Fund. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at both newspapers. In-person entries must be received no later than 4:00pm, P.D.T. October 8, 2010. Mailed entries must be received no later than October 8, 2010. Sponsor reserves the right to verify proof of age. Entries from photocopies are not permitted. Photos will be published in a special 'Pet Pix Contest' special section to be published in The News Tribune and in The Olympian, on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Photos may appear a minimum of once in The News Tribune and in The Olympian, but will remain online even as new photos are posted, throughout the voting period, and as part of the Newspapers in Education website. Positioning of the photos will be determined solely by The News Tribune and The Olympian.
6. Voting Procedures and Rules. The voting period will begin at 12:01 a.m. (P.D.T.) October 23, 2010 and will conclude at 11:59 p.m. (P.D.T.) November 6, 2010. Votes may be made in person, by mail or submitted online. Voting totals will be posted online during the voting period.
   Voting is open to the general public. Online voting is limited to persons 13 years of age or older. Vote for your favorite pet by submitting a voting ballot along with a suggested $.25 cent donation per vote to The NIE Literacy Fund. Each $.25 cent donation will count as one vote. There is no limit on donation amounts. No donations will be refunded. Voting ballots will be available in The News Tribune and at The News Tribune lobby, 1950 South State Street, Tacoma WA; and in The Olympian and 111 Bethel St NE, Olympia WA 98506 during the voting period. No facsimiles or mechanical reproductions of Voting Ballots permitted – only original newsprint ballot.
   Online voting: To vote online go to www.thenewstribune.com and www.theolympian.com and scroll down and click on the Pet Pix Icon. Online voting will begin at 12:01am (P.D.T.) October 23, 2010 and end at 11:59 p.m. (P.D.T.) on November 6, 2010. Online voting is limited to persons 13 years of age or older. Minimum contribution suggested for online voting is $5.00 (twenty votes) for each submitted ballot. Your computer must accept cookies, or any successor or similar technology, which may be used for the purpose of entry tracking. Ad blocking software on your computer needs to be disabled so that it doesn't interfere with processing your entry.
   Mail/In person voting: Mail or bring the completed ballot to Pet Pix Contest, The News Tribune, 1950 South State Street, Tacoma WA 98405; or Pet Pix Contest, The Olympian, 111 Bethel St NE, Olympia WA 98506. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at both newspapers. No facsimiles or mechanical reproductions permitted or accepted – ORIGINAL NEWSPRINT BALLOT ONLY. Mailed votes must be received on or before November 8, 2010. In person votes must be received by 4:00 p.m. Friday, November 5, 2010.
   You can vote without making a donation by submitting an 'original newsprint ballot' only, or by coming into The News Tribune or The Olympian and filling out a special ballot in the lobby during business hours of 9:00am to 4:00pm, and during business days of Monday to Friday. Photocopies of ballots are not allowed and will not be accepted. Each ballot is counted as one vote. Ballots without a donation are limited to one vote, per ballot per day, per envelope. ONLY ONE ORIGINAL NEWSPRINT BALLLOT/PER PERSON/PER DAY/PER ENVELOPE. Sponsor will not accept more than 1 Original Ballot in one day from any individual. The News Tribune, The Olympian or Pet Pix sponsors will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage-due, misdirected or illegible entries, or for failure to receive entries, due to transmission failures or technical failures, of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or sponsor. In the event of a dispute, all online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated with such ISP account. All entries become the property of The News Tribune and none will be returned.
   Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted or the owner of an ISP account shall be determined by The News Tribune or The Olympian in its sole discretion and The News Tribune or The Olympian reserves the right to disqualify any entries by persons determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the contest.
7. Winner Selection. One 'First Place' winner will receive $500, one 'Second Place' winner will receive $300, and one 'Third Place' winner will receive $200. Winners will be determined by total number of votes received. The entrant with the highest number of voters will be the first place winner; and the entrant with the second highest number of votes will be the second place winner; and the entrant with the third highest number of votes will be the third place winner. In the event of a tie for any of these prizes, Sponsor will randomly pick the winner from the tied entries. Winners will be selected by November 16, 2010 and the winners will be published in The News Tribune and The Olympian on November 26, 2010.
8. Participation. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the sponsor, and to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the contest or these Official Rules. Entrants also agree to, and sponsor reserves the right, to use of the Contest for publicity purposes in any media, and to the use of the name, likeness, and hometown name and/or prize information of selected entrants as part of that publicity, without any compensation or prior review unless prohibited by law. All entry information collected in connection with this contest shall be accessible by Sponsors. Such information may be used by Sponsors to contact each entrant directly with marketing, sale or other information. By participating in this contest, each entrant hereby consents to such use. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest, by cheating, hacking, deception or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or sponsor's representative. Disputes regarding these Official Rules and/or this contest will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington. Any and all legal actions or claims arising in connection with this Contest must be brought in state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Tacoma, Washington. Should the contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date.
9. Construction. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be constructed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.
10. Sponsor. The Pet Pix Contest is sponsored by The NIE Literacy Fund for the benefit of the Newspapers in Education Program at The News Tribune and The Olympian. The decisions of sponsors regarding the selection of winner and all other aspects of the contest shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the contest. For a copy of these Official Rules, visit our website at www.thenewstribune.com or www.theolympian.com and scroll down and click on the Pet Pix Icon, or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to 'Winners List/Official Rules', Pet Pix Contest, The News Tribune, PO Box 11000, Tacoma WA 9841; or 'Winners List/Official Rules', Pet Pix Contest, The Olympian, PO Box 407, Olympia WA 98507. If you have any questions regarding this contest, please contact Jim Henderson at 253-597-8791/800-955-8742, ext 8791