Blogger Contest Rules

“Old House Blogger Contest” Official Rules

Introduction:
OldHouseWeb.com is offering the “Old House Blogger Contest” Online Contest (”Contest”).

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  MAKING A PURCHASE OR PARTICULAR RESPONSE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.  CONTEST VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Eligibility:
Contestants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of entry and legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia. Void in Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law or regulation.  All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.  Any entries not eligible for any reason will be disqualified from winning any award or prize and ineligible entries will be deleted from the OldHouseWeb.com website.  Any entry that is awarded a prize and is later determined to have been ineligible, will be required to return any prize of monetary or material value within 7 days upon notification of disqualification and ineligibility.  All entries become the property of OldHouseWeb.com and its affiliates and will not be returned.

Employees of QuinStreet, Inc. and OldHouseWeb.com and their subsidiaries, affiliated companies, agents, and their immediate family (defined as parents, spouse, children, siblings, grandparents), and all those with whom such employees are domiciled, are NOT eligible to participate in the Contest.
Timing:
The Contest begins at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (”EST”) on September 21, 2009, and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. EST on November 18, 2009.  Contest winners will be announced on December 2, 2009.

How to Enter:
1. Leave a comment on the contest page at http://www.oldhouseweb.com/blog/Announcing-Old-House-Blogger-Contest with a link to your home improvement story (published on your own blog).
2. Write a post about your home improvement on your blog, including a link to the contest page at http://www.oldhouseweb.com/blog/ and invite your friends to vote in the contest.
3. Subscribe to the OldHouseWeb.com blog RSS feed.
4. Click on the “share” button below the post about the blog contest and share via your preferred social media outlet (facebook, stumble, Del.icio.us, technorati favorites, etc.)
5. If there is no contact information on the url containing your entry, please email the url to your entry along with your contact email so that we can notify you if you’re a finalist (or winner). Tina Broadhust at editorial@oldhouseweb.com.
6. If you do not have a blog that you contribute to you may still enter by emailing us an original home-related blog post which the judges may choose to publish on OldHouseWeb.com. Send an email to Tina Broadhust at editorial@oldhouseweb.com with the subject line: “Old House Web Blogger Contest Submission.”

Judging Criteria and Prizes:
Each entrant selected as a potential winner must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all such requirements.

The judging panel will be selected by OldHouseWeb.com or its affiliates.

Winning entries will be judged on all of the following criteria (in no particular order of importance):
1. Is your blog entry captivating and easy to read?
2. Is your blog entry appropriate for an audience of old house enthusiasts?
3. Was your post inspiring, helpful, or informative?
4. Did you link to and explain relevant online media?
5. Did you provide any other funny or engaging anecdotes?
6. Has your post generated a lot of traffic or earned links from other Web sites?

Best Blog Award - $250 Gift Certificate to Lowes
Five finalists will be selected by our judging panel and their posts will be published on the OldHouseWeb.com website. Visitors to the OldHouseWeb.com will be able to rate and comment on the finalists.  The judging panel will then select a winner based on the highest ratings and the above the criteria.  The winner will be awarded $250 and an opportunity to discuss with QuinStreet the possibility of becoming a paid contributing blogger on OldHouseWeb.com.  The foregoing is not an offer of or guarantee of employment or any freelancing opportunity with QuinStreet.

OldHouseWeb.com will supervise the judging.  Contestants agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the judges, whose decisions are final. OldHouseWeb.com reserves the right to determine the validity of any visitor ratings and comments and disqualify any votes OldHouseWeb.com deems invalid.

The total retail value of all prizes is $250.  Prizes are nontransferable and must be accepted as awarded. No substitution may be made, except by OldHouseWeb.com in the event that the prize cannot be awarded for any reason, in which case, OldHouseWeb.com will award a prize of equal or greater value. All taxes, fees and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of winner.

Copyrights:
By entering into the Contest, each contestant agrees to grant OldHouseWeb.com and its owners/operators permission to copy and publish to OldHouseWeb.com any and all copyrighted or uncopyrighted images, writings, texts, and/or graphics submitted by the contestant.

The contestant certifies that he or she either (a) owns the images, writings, texts, and/or graphics submitted to OldHouseWeb.com; or (b) has obtained the necessary permissions or licenses from the owners of such content before submitting such content.  The contestant further certifies that, by entering into the Contest, the contestant is not contravening any provisions of the Copyright Act, including the educational fair use provision.

Other Terms and Conditions:
Potential prize winners will be notified by e-mail to the address provided during entry, with follow-up documentation, including an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release, sent by regular mail.  Potential winners must respond to their e-mail notifications within 7 days of receipt, or they will be disqualified.  The follow-up documentation must be completed, notarized, returned, and received by OldHouseWeb.com, within 14 days of the date mailed to the potential winner. If the completed documentation is not received within those 14 days, an alternate winner will be selected.  Entering an incorrect or incomplete e-mail address in the registration process, or failing to meet the eligibility requirements above, will result in contest disqualification.  By accepting any prize, the winner grants OldHouseWeb.com the right to use his/her entry, name, likeness and biographical information in any and all media for advertising/promotional purposes.

Limitation of Liability:
OldHouseWeb.com and its affiliates will not be responsible for late, lost, stolen, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, or illegible entries; or entries that are lost due to computer, Internet, or electronic malfunction.  OldHouseWeb.com reserves the right to cancel or modify contest and award the prize through an alternate means if fraud or technical failure compromises the integrity of the contest, as determined by it in its sole discretion.  Contestants agree that OldHouseWeb.com, its promotion partners, affiliates, agencies, and their respective employees or officers shall not be liable for injury, losses, damages, or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this contest or acceptance of or use or misuse of a prize or parts thereof.  By entering, participants agree to be bound by these Official Rules.  In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an electronic entry, the entry will be deemed to be submitted by the person in whose name the e-mail account is registered.

Winners List:
The winner shall be announced at http://www.oldhouseweb.com/blog/Announcing-Old-House-Blogger-Contest on December 2, 2009.  If a winner requests confidentiality, only a first name and state will be provided.

Governing Law; Venue:
This Contest will be governed by the laws of the State of California without reference to its choice of law principles.  The contestants agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts located in San Mateo County in the State of California and the federal courts located in the Northern District of California, with respect to disputes hereunder.

Sponsor:
The Sponsor of this Contest is OldHouseWeb.com, owned and operated by QuinStreet, Inc., and can be contacted at editorial@OldHouseWeb.com or by regular mail c/o OldHouseWeb.com “Old House Blogger Contest”, 1051 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 800, Foster City, CA 94404.