Forbes Main Street Awards (2017) presented by Canon MAXIFY

ABOUT THE FORBES MAIN STREET AWARDS (2017) PRESENTED BY CANON MAXIFY

The Forbes Main Street Awards celebrates small businesses and entrepreneurs who are driving positive change for their business and the local communities they serve. Awards will be given for the Best Social Media, Best Paid Marketing, Best Brick and Mortar Adoption of E-commerce, Best Community Engagement, and Audience Choice.

• Best Social Media: Focused on small businesses that have done something smart, different, and effective in social media.
• Best Paid Marketing: Focused on small businesses that have done something smart, different, and effective in marketing.
• Best Brick and Mortar Adoption of E-commerce: Focused on small businesses that have embraced the web.
• Best Community Engagement: Focused on small businesses that are making a difference in a community, beyond writing a check or sponsoring philanthropic activities.
• Audience Choice: Determined by audience voting, as described in the Official Rules below.

Official Rules

By entering the Forbes Main Street Awards (2017) presented by Canon MAXIFY (the “Contest”), you (“Entrant” “you” “your”) hereby agree to the Official Rules provided below. Your participation in the Contest and use of the Forbes.com website (the “Website”) operated by Forbes Media LLC (“Forbes” “we” “us” “our”) is also conditioned upon your agreement to abide by our Terms and Conditions (available at: https://www.forbes.com/terms). Please review our Terms and Conditions, in addition to these Official Rules, before participating in the Contest.

1. Overview. No Purchase Necessary. To Enter: Complete and submit the questionnaire located on the dedicated Contest page on the Website, located at: https://mainstreetawards.forbes.com (the “Contest Page”). The questionnaire will ask you to: (a) select the Contest category or categories for which you wish to be considered (i.e., Best Social, Best Paid Marketing, Best Brick and Mortar Adoption of E-commerce, and Best Community Engagement) (each, a “Category”); (b) provide background information about the business on behalf of which you are entering (your “Business”); and (c) answer a Category-specific question for each Category that you selected, addressing why your Business should win an award in the Contest (an “Award”).

You may also, but are not required to, create and upload an original video in which you and/or your Team Members (defined below) describe your Business and explain why your Business deserves to win an Award for a particular Category or Categories (an Entrant’s submitted questionnaire and any submitted video or other content is collectively referred to as a “Submission”).

Submit your Submission by uploading it to, and following any directions on, the Contest Page during the period of 12:00 AM ET on 7/17/2017 – 11:59 PM ET on 8/17/2017 (the “Entry Window”). You are responsible for determining the corresponding time zone in your respective location for entry. Submissions may not be returned or acknowledged. Limit one (1) entry per Business (e.g., you and your Team Members may only collectively submit a single Submission). This is a skill-based contest and, therefore, the element of chance will not be present in any phase of the Contest.

2. Submission Guidelines; Representations and Warranties. All Submissions must adhere to the guidelines outlined below. Please review these guidelines and the terms and conditions of these Official Rules carefully, as incomplete and/or improper Submissions (e.g., Submissions which may not comply with these Official Rules) may be disqualified in our and/or our Administrator’s sole discretion.

1. Questionnaire: You must complete all portions of the questionnaire, unless otherwise indicated in the questionnaire. Your responses to the Category-specific questions may not exceed 400 words in total.
2. Video Submissions, Size and Format: Video Submissions are optional. If you decide to submit a video in your Submission, it will be considered with your questionnaire during the Judging Process (described in Section 4 below). Videos must be no longer than sixty (60) seconds in length and in .mp4 or .mov format only.
3. Participants: The Submission may not depict, include, or require the rights or permission of any individuals, except for yourself and your Team Members. Your “Team Members” mean any partners, co-founders, co-owners, employees, collaborators, or other team members involved in your Business whose authorization or consent may be required by you to enter the Contest on behalf of your Business. Before you submit your Submission, you must confirm with each Team Member (if any) that such Team Member has: (1) read and agreed to abide by these Official Rules; (2) authorized you to submit your Submission to the Contest on behalf of your Business; and (3) if applicable, authorized the recording and inclusion in your Submission of their name, likeness, image, voice, and/or other traits or depictions. Written confirmation of the foregoing may be requested or required should your Business be determined a Finalist or Winner.
4. Originality: Your Submission must be original to you and not based upon any other material or source (except those for which you have obtained all necessary rights in writing), unpublished prior to entry, conceived and created entirely by you, and not previously or currently submitted for consideration in any other promotion. Modifying, enhancing, or altering a third party’s preexisting work does not qualify as an original creation.
5. Content: By submitting your Submission to the Contest, you represent and warrant to Forbes and Canon U.S.A. Inc. (“Canon”) that: (1) you are the sole creator and owner of all right, title, and interest in and to the content submitted by you hereunder (e.g., your Submission); and (2) no content submitted by you hereunder will (i) be false or inaccurate, defamatory, obscene, objectionable, lewd, lascivious, scandalous, offensive, fabricated, or promote, depict, or endorse any activities that involve alcohol, illegal drugs, or weapons of any kind, or which may be unsafe, dangerous, illegal, contain nudity, inconsistent with the positive goodwill associated with Forbes and Canon, or otherwise in poor taste in the eyes of Forbes, Canon, or Administrator, (ii) violate the rights of privacy, intellectual property or any other rights of any person or entity (including any Team Members), (iii) misappropriate any trade secret, (iv) disclose any confidential information of any third party, (v) depict any person who is considered a minor in the jurisdiction in which he/she resides without the written permission of such minor’s parent or guardian, (vi) contain copyrights or trademarks owned by a third party (except to reference Forbes or Canon), (vii) depict or promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, or weapons of any kind, or (vii) violate any applicable laws, rules, or regulations. You further represent and warrant that your Business is in good legal standing and neither you, your Team Members, nor your Business have any actual, pending, or anticipated adverse legal actions, proceedings, claims, or judgments against you. You will indemnify and hold harmless the Releasees (defined below) from and against any claims arising from or relating to your breach of your representations and warranties herein or the use of your Submission by Forbes or Canon as provided herein.
6. Credit; Similarity. You represent and warrant that: (1) you will not receive any compensation or credit for submitting your Submission for consideration; (2) you recognize that your Submission (inclusive of any ideas, concepts, plans, or other elements contained or described therein) may be identical or similar to other submissions or materials already known to the parties which may receive or review your Submission at any phase of the Contest (“Recipients”) and, accordingly, you represent and warrant that you have submitted your Submission voluntarily and not in confidence and that no fiduciary or confidential relationship is intended or created between you and any Recipients; (3) you understand that the Recipients’ use of any materials which are identical or similar to your Submission will not entitle you to any compensation or other entitlement if the Recipients determine that they have an independent legal right to use such material (for example, because elements were not novel or original, or were independently created by the Recipients or a third party); and (4) by receiving or reviewing your Submission, the Recipients assume no obligation of any kind (including, without limitation, an obligation to pay money for an “idea submission”).

3. Use of Your Submission by Forbes and Canon. By making a Submission, you hereby grant Forbes and Canon a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid-up and royalty-free, sub-licensable, transferable right to exploit the copyright in the Submission and any and all ancillary rights therein in any and all media now known or hereafter devised including, without limitation, the right to use, publish, distribute, copy, edit, adapt, and perform your Submission or any elements thereof (including any supplemental information or materials provided by you in connection with the Contest, such as the names and likeness of you or any Team Members) online, in print, or in any other format, for any commercial or noncommercial purposes (e.g., marketing; advertising or native advertising; promotion; editorial coverage), whether related or unrelated to the Contest, and whether or not you are selected as a Finalist or Winner. Forbes and Canon are under no obligation to use your Submission in any manner, and use of your Submission is not indicative of whether you are entitled to any Award. Forbes and Canon are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your Submission by a third party. Forbes and Canon may use third-party platforms including, but not limited to, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote the Contest and/or your Submission. You acknowledge that no such promotions featured on the social media channels of Forbes or Canon, or other assets owned, controlled, or engaged by such parties, are sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with any such social media sites, and hereby release such social media sites from any and all matters relating to the Contest. You acknowledge and agree that your participation in the Contest and/or potential selection as a Finalist or Winner will not constitute a sponsorship or endorsement of you or your Business by Forbes, Canon, or Administrator.

4. Judging Process.

1. Initial Applications. After the Entry Window, Promosis, Inc. (“Administrator”), an independent judging organization whose decisions in all matters relating to this Contest are final, will compile all Submissions and evaluate the Submissions for compliance with Sections 2(a), 2(b), and 2(e) above. Submissions which are not complaint with such Sections will be disqualified in Administrator’s sole discretion. All remaining Submissions (“Eligible Submissions”) will be delivered to Forbes for the Scoring Phase described below.
2. Scoring Phase. All Eligible Submissions will be judged by Forbes Senior Editor, Loren Feldman, and/or Forbes editorial staff members (collectively, “Forbes Editorial Staff”), in their sole and independent professional judgment, based on the criteria and methodology described herein (collectively, the “Judging Criteria”). All Eligible Submissions will be judged by the Forbes Editorial Staff across the following three equally-weighted criteria, scored on a scale of 1 to 10 per criterion (10 being the best score available): (1) Fit to the Applicable Category or Categories; (2) Entrant’s “Story” (Description and Persuasiveness); and (3) Originality. The sum of such scores (ranging between 3 and 30) will comprise the Submission’s overall numerical score (a “Score”). Each Eligible Submission will be judged in its entirety based on the Judging Criteria (e.g., if your entire Submission comprises the questionnaire only, then your questionnaire will be judged based on the Judging Criteria; if your entire Submission comprises the questionnaire and a video, then your questionnaire and the video will collectively be judged based on the Judging Criteria).
3. Finalist Selection Phase. The Forbes Editorial Staff will select at least three (3) Entrants per Category, but no more than fifteen (15) Entrants in total, as Contest finalists (“Finalists”), based on the Submissions in each Category with the highest Scores (as determined by the Judging Criteria). In the event of a tie (i.e., multiple Submissions with the same Score), the following tie-breaking procedure will be followed (“Tie-Breaking Procedure”): (1) the Forbes Editorial Staff will re-judge each tied Submission based on the Judging Criteria; and (2) in the event of a tie among the re-judged Submissions, Loren Feldman will re-judge the applicable Submissions based on the Judging Criteria. Finalists will be determined and notified by 11:59 PM ET on August 25, 2017 by Forbes by email. If a Finalist submitted a video in its Submission, that video will be used in the Voting Phase (as described below), unless otherwise determined by Forbes and the Finalist. If a Finalist did not submit a video in its Submission (or will not be including its video Submission in the Voting Phase), then the Finalist may be required to provide a photograph for use in the Voting Phase (such photograph will be deemed part of its Submission).
4. Voting Phase. All Finalists will be displayed alongside selections from their respective Submissions determined by Forbes (e.g., questionnaire responses; video or photograph) on the Contest Page for public viewing and voting during the Voting Window. Voting will open at 12:00 AM ET on 8/31/2017 and close at 11:59 PM ET on 9/22/2017 (the “Voting Window”). Voters will be instructed to select the one (1) Finalist that they believe is the best overall (among the Finalists), based on the particular Category or Categories which the Finalist selected. Voters may cast multiple votes during the Voting Window, up to one (1) vote per day. All members of the public may vote, but may not cast votes on behalf of others. Finalists, and any third parties, are strictly prohibited from attempting to obtain votes by any improper, inappropriate, or fraudulent means including, without limitation, by offering payment or other consideration in exchange for votes, using a script or any other automated system to vote with the intent of “gaming”, circumventing, or impairing the integrity of the voting system, or as reasonably determined by Forbes, Canon, or Administrator in its sole discretion. Any votes improperly made per above as reasonably determined by Forbes, Canon, or Administrator in its sole discretion may be removed from the voting total. Finalists are welcome, and encouraged, to promote their Submission to the Contest on social media.
5. Winner Selection Phase – Category Winners. During the Voting Window, the Forbes Editorial Staff will re-judge all Finalist Submissions based on the Judging Criteria and, as needed, the Tie-Breaking Procedure (the re-judged Scores are referred to as the “Final Scores”). Subject to winner verification of eligibility (such verification to be performed by Administrator as described below) and compliance with these Official Rules, an Award will be offered for each of the four (4) Categories, to the Finalist that received the highest Final Score in its respective Category (4 total recipients) (collectively, the “Category Winners”). No Finalist may receive more than one (1) Award. In the event that a Finalist possesses the highest Final Score in more than one Category, the Forbes Editorial Team will select the Category for which the Finalist will be offered an Award and, for any other applicable Category in which such Finalist possessed the highest Final Score, an Award will be offered to the Finalist with the next-highest Final Score in such Category. Category Winners will be selected by the end of the Voting Window. Finalists which are not Category Winners are referred to collectively as “Remaining Finalists”.
6. Winner Selection Phase – Audience Choice. At the end of the Voting Window, Administrator will tabulate and verify the voting results. Subject to winner verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules, an “Audience Choice” Award will be offered to the Finalist that, among Remaining Finalists, received the most votes (the “Audience Choice Winner”). In the event of a tie for such Award, the Audience Choice Winner will be selected among the tied Remaining Finalists by the Forbes Editorial Staff, based on the Judging Criteria and, as needed, the Tie-Breaking Procedure (the “Audience Tie-Breaking Procedure”).
7. Winner Announcements. Subject to winner verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules, all Category Winners and the Audience Choice Winner will be announced simultaneously between 9/25/2017 and 9/29/2017.
8. Winner Verification. The Potential Category Winners and Audience Choice Winner will be notified by Administrator via the email address provided with the applicable Submission, to verify eligibility. Potential winners must respond to Administrator within forty-eight (48) hours or the Award may be forfeited, and an alternate winner may be selected from the remaining pool of Eligible Submissions (alternate Category Winners will be selected by the Forbes Editorial Staff based on the Judging Criteria and, as needed, Tie-Breaking Procedure; alternate Audience Choice Winner will be determined by Administrator based on the most votes received among the other Remaining Finalists and, as needed, the Audience Tie-Breaking Procedure). Potential winners will be required to complete a Winner Verification Form and liability/publicity release that must be returned and received within three (3) days after the date that the initial notification is sent to the potential winner, or Award may be forfeited, and an alternate winner may be selected from the remaining pool of eligible participants in the manner set forth in this Section above. If a potential winner cannot be contacted for any reason (e.g., no response to Award notification within prescribed time period) or is determined to be ineligible or in violation of these Official Rules, the Award will be forfeited without compensation of any kind.

5. Award (5 recipients). Five (5) Awards: four (4) to Category Winners and one (1) to the Audience Choice Winner (collectively, “Winners”), consisting of the below. In no event will Forbes or Canon be obligated to award more than the number of prizes stated in these Official Rules.

1. One (1) congratulatory letter from Loren Feldman (to be delivered by Forbes).
2. One (1) engraved physical award (to be delivered by Forbes).
3. One (1) Canon MAXIFY MB5420 Wireless Small Office All-In-One printer (ARV: $399.99) (to be delivered by or on behalf of Canon).
4. One (1) custom digital winner logo (“Winner Logo”) (to be delivered by Forbes), the usage of which will be subject to the license grant herein. Forbes and Canon will grant to the recipient of a Winner Logo (i.e., a Winner) the non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid-up and royalty-free, but revocable (in Forbes or Canon’s sole discretion), non-transferable, and non-sublicenseable, right to use the Winner Logo only, solely for the purpose of indicating that Winner received an Award, in connection with the following uses: (1) Winner’s legitimate marketing and promotion of its Business on its official websites and social media channels; and (2) Winner’s physical sales and marketing materials. The foregoing license grant will automatically terminate without notice if the Winner breaches these Official Rules, violates the terms of the foregoing license grant, ceases its Business, or engages in any activity or conduct which is morally wrong or objectionable, offensive, illegal, deceptive or fraudulent, which causes the Winner, its Business, or any Team Members to fall into public disrepute, or which may disparage, defame, or harm Forbes, Canon, of the goodwill or reputation of such parties, in such parties sole discretion.

6. Eligibility. You represent and warrant that your Business: (1) is independently owned and operated; (2) has a principal place of business in the United States; (3) is organized for profit; (4) has no more than five hundred (500) employees; and (5) does not occupy a substantial national market share in its industry. You further represent and warrant that (a) you are a legal resident of the United States who is at least eighteen (18) years of age; and (b) neither you, your Team Members, nor your Business have been convicted of a felony or been the subject of any criminal or civil investigation. This Contest is not open to employees, immediate family members of employees (spouses, parents, children, siblings and their respective spouses), or those living in the same household of employees, of any of the following parties: Forbes, Canon, their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, assigns, shareholders, officers, employees, agents, or advertising or marketing agencies, or Administrator (collectively with Forbes and Canon, the “Releasees”). Entrants consent to the use of their registration information in accordance with the Forbes.com privacy statement, available at: https://www.forbes.com/fdc/privacy.html. Contest is void where prohibited by law or regulation. All Federal, State, and local laws and regulations apply.

7. Limitation of Liability. Forbes, Canon, and Administrator are not responsible for typographical errors in any Contest-related materials, or for any individual's inability to enter the Contest, including but not limited to unavailable network, server, or other connections; failed software or hardware transmissions; other errors of any kind, whether human, mechanical, or electronic, including lost, late, incomplete, damaged, or misdirected subscriptions/entries; or for any damage to any computer related to or resulting from participation. Multiple entries and those generated by script, macro, or other automated entry devices are not valid and will be disqualified. Forbes reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel or suspend the Contest should any of the foregoing occurrences corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of the Contest. If the Contest is canceled for any reason, including but not limited to those listed above, Winners will be determined from entries received up to the time of cancellation in accordance with the Judging Criteria and, as needed, the Tie-Breaking Procedure, unless otherwise indicated by Forbes. Entrants agree that the Forbes, Canon, Administrator, and the other Releasees shall not be liable for, and are hereby released from any claims relating to, 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.

8. Dispute Resolution. THIS CONTEST IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE STATE OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT RESPECT TO CONFLICT OF LAW DOCTRINES. As a condition of participating in this Contest, participant agrees that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in New York having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorneys' fees, other than participants' actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this Contest), and participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

9. Winners List: For the names of the winners, send a standard-size postcard, only, with your return address to: Forbes Main Street Awards (2017) presented by Canon MAXIFY Winners List, P.O. Box 38, Marblehead, MA 01945. Requests must be received by December 31, 2017. Please do not send any other correspondence to this address.

10. Provided by: Forbes Media LLC, 499 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310.

11. Presented by: Canon U.S.A., Inc., One Canon Park, Melville, NY 11747.

12. Administered by: Promosis, Inc., 18 Prospect Street, Marblehead, MA 01945.