gobiz

Official Contest Rules

the Visa® Small Business "Elevator Pitch" Contest ("Contest")

THIS CONTEST IS OPEN TO CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY AND IS GOVERNED BY CANADIAN LAW.

HOW TO ENTER:
No purchase necessary. The Contest begins on April 26, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and ends on June 20, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. ET (the "Contest Period"). To successfully enter the Contest, the entrant must complete the Contest registration page and Contest entry form. To enter, go to www.visa.ca/gobiz (the "Website"), click on the "enter" button and the Contest registration page will appear. Fully complete all required fields on the Contest registration page which include submitting your first name, last name, business name, email address, phone number, address, city, province, postal code, location of the Qualifying Business (see below under "Eligibility"), industry, number of employees, language preference and card type, . After completing the Contest registration page, you will then be required to submit your Contest entry form by writing your 1,000 character 'elevator pitch' (a short summary explaining your company's value proposition) (response not to exceed 1,000 characters), in English or French. Your response must be in accordance with the specific requirements listed below. When all required fields on the Contest registration page and Contest entry form are completed, click the "Submit" button to complete your entry (sometimes hereinafter referred to as an "Entry" or collectively as "Entries").

Limit of one (1) Entry per person and per Qualifying Business is permitted during the Contest Period. If it is discovered that you attempted to enter more than once during the Contest Period, then all your Entries will be void. Entries will be rejected if Contest Registration page and Contest entry form are not fully completed at the moment of submission, or if they do not conform to the specific requirements listed below. Visa Canada Corporation (the "Sponsor"), its advertising and promotion agencies and the contest judges (collectively the "Contest Parties") are not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, delayed, incomplete or incompatible Entries.

BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, THE ENTRANT AGREES THAT THE ENTRY COMPLIES WITH ALL CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE RULES. THE CONTEST PARTIES WILL BEAR NO LEGAL LIABILITY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE USE OF THE ENTRY BY THE CONTEST PARTIES AND THE CONTEST PARTIES SHALL BE HELD HARMLESS BY AN ENTRANT IN THE EVENT IT IS SUBSEQUENTLY DISCOVERED THAT THE ENTRANT HAS DEPARTED FROM OR NOT FULLY COMPLIED WITH ANY OF THE RULES.

REQUIREMENTS:
Your submitted Entry must never have been selected as a winner in any other contest.

By participating in the Contest, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules (the "Rules") and by the interpretation of these Rules by the Sponsor, and further warrants and represents that his/her Entry:

  1. is original to him/her and that the entrant has all necessary rights consents;
  2. does not and will not violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation;
  3. does not contain any reference to or likeness of any third parties, unless consent has been obtained from all such third parties;
  4. will not give rise to any claims of infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity, or infringe on any rights and/or interests of any third party, or give rise to any claims for payment whatsoever; and
  5. is not defamatory, trade libellous, or obscene, and further that it will not contain, depict, include, discuss or involve, without limitation, any of the following:
    • Obscenities;
    • Nudity;
    • Explicit, graphic or excessive sexual activity;
    • Crude, vulgar or offensive language and/or symbols;
    • Derogatory characterizations of any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious groups;
    • Content that endorses, condones or discusses any illegal, inappropriate or risky activity, behaviour or conduct;
    • Personal information of individuals, including without limitation, names and addresses (physical or e-mail);
    • Conduct or other activities in violation of these Official Rules;
    • Commercial messages, comparisons or solicitations for products or services, other than the business represented in the Entry;
    • Any reference to any-non Visa payment card, payment network or any other payment or financial institution;
    • Any identifiable third party products and/or trade-marks or brands, other than the business represented in the Entry or links to any websites; and
    • Any other content that is or could be considered inappropriate, unsuitable or offensive, all as determined by the Sponsor and/or the contest judges in their sole discretion.

Additionally, when submitting your Entry, you should be original, creative, appropriate, relevant and professional.

Any Entry that the Sponsor and/or the contest judges deem, in their sole discretion, to violate the terms and conditions set forth in these Rules will not be considered a valid Entry. By entering the Contest, entrant hereby: (i) grants to the Sponsor, in perpetuity, a world-wide, non-exclusive license to publish, display, reproduce, modify, edit or otherwise use the Entry, in whole or in part, on any website operated by or for the Sponsor, and/ or for advertising or promoting the Contest or for any other reason; (ii) waives all moral rights in and to his/her Photo/Essay in favour of the Sponsor ; and (iii) to release and hold harmless the Contest Parties and each of their respective agents, employees, directors, successors, and assigns (the "Releasees") from and against any and all claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trade-mark infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action; (iv) in consideration of being selected as a Finalist (see below) and receiving the prize described below, consents to the Sponsor or its designees' use of their name, Qualifying Business, city, province or territory of residence, and/or photograph for advertising or publicity purposes without compensation.

ELIGIBILITY:
To be eligible to win the Prize, an entrant must: (a) be a Canadian resident; (b) have reached the age of majority in the province or territory in which she/he resides as of April 26, 2011; (c) be the owner/operator of, or an employee who, at the time of entry, has received the prior written authorization of the owner/operator of, a Canadian headquartered small business (defined as having 1-50 employees) in respect of which a Visa Business card issued by a Sponsor-licensed Financial Institution ("FI") has been issued prior to April 26, 2011 and which Visa card is open and in good standing at the time of verification by the cardholder's FI, and which owner/operator/employee is duly authorized to enter this Contest on behalf of such a business (a "Qualifying Business"); (d) not be an employee of, or living with an employee of, the Sponsor, its affiliates, its or their licensed financial institutions, its advertising or promotional agencies, or the contest judges and (e) be able to travel to Toronto, Ontario the week of July 12th, 2011 for the live elevator pitch at One King West Hotel & Residence (see below).

PRIZES:
Finalist Prizes: There are five (5) Finalist Prizes available to be won, each consisting of a trip to Toronto for the selected entrant to give their business' elevator speech. Each Finalist Prize consists of trip for one (1) to Toronto, Ontario to attend the Visa® Small Business "Elevator Pitch" Contest Final judging on July 12, 2011 (exact time to be chosen by Sponsor in its sole discretion). The trip includes: one (1) round trip economy class airline tickets to Toronto, Ontario from a major Canadian airport nearest to the winner's residence; one (1) night of hotel accommodations at a hotel to be chosen by Sponsor in its sole discretion; and one (1) $250 CAD Visa Prepaid card. Approximate retail value of this qualifying prize is $1,500 CAD based on a Vancouver departure example, although the actual retail value may vary depending on the point of departure. Finalist Prizes will only be awarded to the person whose name and e-mail address appears on the entry form and who meet all eligibility requirements.

Grand Prize: There will be one (1) Grand Prize available to be awarded. The Grand Prize consists of a $10,000 CAN credit to the primary Qualifying Business cardholder's Visa account in respect of the applicable Qualifying Business (regardless of whether the individual entering the Contest on behalf of the business is the primary cardholder).

Prizes must be accepted as awarded. No substitutions except at Sponsor's option. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize or a prize component with one of equal or greater value.

FINALIST AND GRAND PRIZE WINNER SELECTION PROCESS:

Between April 26, 2011 to June 22, 2011, m marketing will judge all Entries received during the Contest Period on the basis of originality, creativity, appropriateness, relevance and professionalism, specifically including the following: is the product and/or service of the business clearly articulated; how creative and original is the entry; does the entrant provide specific examples of their relevant expertise for running their business; does the entry provide proof points of their knowledge of their market and industry; does the entry provide proof points of their knowledge of the business model; is there a competitive advantage; how financially viable is the business. The first five criteria will be weighted out of 5 points. The last two criteria will be weighted out of 10 points. In the event of a tie, the Entry with the highest score in the financial viability category from amongst the tied Entries will be deemed a potential finalist. The top twenty to twenty-five (20 to 25) Entries will be sent to a panel of judges appointed by the Sponsor.

On or about June 24, 2011, a panel of judges appointed by the Sponsor will judge the top twenty to twenty-five (20 to 25) Entries selected as described above, on the basis of originality, creativity, appropriateness, relevance and professionalism, specifically including the following: is the product and/or service of the business clearly articulated; how creative and original is the entry; does the entrant provide specific examples of their relevant expertise for running their business; does the entry provide proof points of their knowledge of their market and industry; does the entry provide proof points of their knowledge of the business model; is there a competitive advantage. All criteria will be weighted equally. In the event of a tie, the Entry with the highest score in the creativity category from amongst the tied Entries will be deemed a potential finalist. The top five (5) Entries (with the five (5) highest total scores) as determined by the Contest judges in their sole and absolute discretion in accordance with the above criteria will be selected as “Finalists”, and the entrants of such Entries selected as Finalists will each be eligible to win a Finalist Prize and have the chance to present their 1,000 character elevator pitch to a panel of judges on an elevator ride of approximately 60 seconds in Toronto, Ontario at One King West Hotel & Residence on July 12, 2011. The elevator pitch given must be based on the Finalists’ Entry, although it is not required to be given verbatim. Each judge will judge each Finalist on the above criteria, weighted equally. The Finalist with the highest total score from all of the judges will be deemed to be the Grand Prize selected entrant. In the event of a tie for highest total score, the Finalist with the highest overall score in creativity among the tied Finalists will be deemed the Grand Prize winner. Odds of your Entry being selected by the judging panel as a Finalist depend on the number and calibre of all Entries submitted during the Contest Period. The odds of a Finalist being selected as a Grand Prize winner are 1 in 5. All potential Finalists will be contacted by email or phone by June 28, 2011. If you have not been contacted by this date, you may assume that you are not one of the five (5) Finalists. Before being declared a Finalist or the Grand Prize Winner, the selected entrants must sign and return a declaration and release prepared by the Sponsor, which, among other things: (i) must be received by the Sponsor within 5 days of notification; (ii) confirms compliance with these Rules; (iii) acknowledges acceptance of the Finalist/Grand Prize (as applicable) as awarded; (iv) releases the Releasees from any liability in connection with this Contest, the Finalist/Grand Prize selected entrant’s participation therein and/or the awarding and use/misuse of the Finalist Prize/Grand Prize (as applicable) or any portion thereof; (v) assigns all intellectual property, including copyright, in and to his/her Entry and waives his/her moral rights therein in favour of the Sponsor; (vi) agrees to indemnify the Releasees against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses arising from use of his/her Entry, including without limitation, any claim that his/her Entry infringes a proprietary interest of any third party; If the selected entrant cannot be contacted by phone or email within five (5) days of selection or fails to return the contest documents within the specified time, he/she will forfeit their opportunity to be a Finalist/Grand Prize winner. In such an event, the Entry with the next highest score will be deemed to be the alternate selected Finalist/Grand Prize winner (as applicable), and follow the same administrative procedure as mentioned above for the selected entrant. If the alternate selected entrant cannot be contacted by phone or email by within five (5) days of selection or fails to return the contest documents within the specified time, he/she will forfeit their opportunity to be a Finalist/Grand Prize winner. There will be no additional alternative Finalists/Grand Prize winner (as applicable).

GENERAL CONDITIONS:

By entering the Contest, all entrants agree to the use of their name, the name of their Qualifying Business, address, statements about the Contest and/or photograph or other likeness without further compensation, in any publicity or advertisement carried out by the Sponsor in any manner whatsoever, including print, broadcast or the Internet. The Sponsor reserves the right to require confirmation from the Qualifying Business of the right to use the name and/or logos of the Qualifying Business as a condition of confirming the selection of an Entry as a Finalist, or the Grand Prize winner.

Without limitation, the Contest Parties will not be liable for any failure of the Website during the Contest; for any technical malfunction or other problems relating to the telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment or software; for the failure of any Entry to be received by the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies or the contest judges for any reason including, but not limited to, technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site; or any combination of the above. None of the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies or the contest judges shall be responsible for any errors or omissions in the advertising or administration of this Contest. Further, the Contest Parties will not be liable for any injury or damage to an entrant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading any material in the Contest. In the event of any conflict, inconsistency or discrepancy between any advertising relating to this Contest and the terms of these Official Rules, the terms of these Official Rules shall govern. In the event of any conflict, inconsistency or discrepancy between the French and English language versions of the Official Rules, the terms of the English version of these Official Rules shall govern.

The Sponsor reserves the right, subject to the approval of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux ("Régie") to the extent required, to withdraw or amend this contest in any way, in the event of an advertising or administrative error, omission, technical problem, computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Sponsor that interferes with the proper conduct of the Contest as contemplated by these Official Rules. Any attempt to deliberately damage any website or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.

This contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws. Void where prohibited by law. The decisions of the contest judges with respect to all aspects of this contest are final and binding on all entrants without right of appeal.

In the event of a dispute as to who submitted an Entry, online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the person who is assigned an email address by an internet provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institute, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. If the identity of an online entrant is disputed, the authorized account holder associated with the email account at the time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant. A selected entrant may be required to provide proof that he/she is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the selected Entry. The sole determinant of the time for the purposes of a valid online entry in this contest will be the contest server machine(s).

The Sponsor, with the consent of the Régie to the extent required, reserves the right to amend, cancel or suspend this Contest in the event of any accident, or any printing, administrative, or other error of any kind or nature whatsoever in connection with the Contest without prior notice or obligation.

For Quebec residents: Any litigation respecting the conduct or organization of a publicity contest may be submitted to the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux for a ruling. Any litigation respecting the awarding of the prize may be submitted to the Régie only for the purpose of helping the parties reach a settlement.

By entering this contest, each entrant expressly consents to the Sponsor, its agents and/or representatives, storing, sharing and using the personal information submitted with his/her entry only for the purpose of administering the contest and in accordance with Sponsor's Privacy Policy (available at: www.visa.ca/privacy), unless the entrant otherwise agrees.

Mini Rules

No purchase necessary. Enter online at visa.ca/gobiz and submit your complete entry between 12:01 a.m. ET, April 26th, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. ET, June 20, 2011. Open to Canadian residents, over the age of majority and who own/operate/employed by a Small Business (1-50 employees) in respect of which a Visa Business card has been issued prior to April 26, 2011. Judging of entry will be based on originality, creativity, appropriateness, relevance and professionalism. 5 Finalists must deliver pitch in Toronto on July 12, 2011. 1 Grand Prize valued at $10,000. 5 Finalist Prizes valued at $1,500 CDN each, based on Vancouver departure. Odds of being selected as a finalist depend on the number and calibre of eligible entries. Visit visa.ca/gobiz for full contest rules.