Hire Me Western Pitch Competition: Official Rules

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Please read these contest rules in their entirety before entering the Hire Me Western (further known as “the Contest”). Do not enter the Contest unless you agree to these Contest Rules. Participation in the Contest constitutes unconditional agreement and acceptance of these Contest Rules which are final in all matters relating to the Contest. By entering this Contest you agree to be bound by the decisions of contest judges which are final and binding in all respects.

1. CONTEST PERIOD:

Hire Me Western runs from February 16- April 1, 2022 (the “Contest Period”). From February 16- March 31st, contestants will be able to create a profile and upload their pitches to the Western Regional Enterprise Network (“Western REN”) website.  The top 10 candidates will be selected by an internal Western REN panel and from those top 10, first, second and third place will be selected by a panel of community judges. Winners will be announced live on a virtual platform on March 31st, 2022.

2. ELIGIBILITY:

Contestants must be skilled job seekers who are residents of the *Western Region who have a home address here (it includes students who are away for education and are planning on returning in 2022). They can be immigrants, newcomers, or underemployed local job seekers.

Skilled job seekers are those who have either:

Limit one entry per person. Employees of the Western REN and those with whom they are domiciled, its subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, advertising or promotional agencies or the independent contest organization are not eligible.

* Western Regional Enterprise Network covers the municipalities of Digby, Clare, Yarmouth, Argyle, Barrington as well as the towns of Digby and Yarmouth therefore only pitches from residents in these areas will be accepted.

3. HOW TO ENTER:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. To enter, contestants must:

A) Visit westernren.ca/hire-me-western during February 16- March 31, 2022 and follow the online instructions to create a profile and upload your video submission. Your submission will be pending until it is approved by a website admin from the Western REN. Your video will be uploaded to youtube under the Western REN’s youtube page before being posted on the website. Before entering the Contest, participants agree to these Contest Rules. All video submissions must comply with these Contest Rules and the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES stated in section 4.

B) In your video, tell us why an employer in the Western region should hire you. The maximum length of each submission is 60 seconds, ideal videos are between 30-60 seconds long . Contestants will have a maximum one (1) opportunity to complete the challenge.

Your pitch should include:

Pitch Criteria:

C) Create your online profile and submit your video either directly with your profile or from a youtube url (if you upload your video directly, it will be uploaded to youtube under the Western REN’s page before going on the website). Employers can also request a resume or more information from you based on your profile and video submission.

D) The top 10 finalist will be selected by internal members of the Western REN. A panel of community judges selected by the Western REN will select, in their sole and absolute discretion, the first, second and third place winners.

Winners from the Video Entry Phase based on the pitch criteria above and the following video qualities: Professionalism, Clarity, Poise, Imagination and Creativity. Three (3) prizes in the Contest will be awarded to the pitches, as deemed by the results of the panel of judges.

4. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submissions cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about any areas in the Western region or the Western REN and its services, products, or other people, products or companies or communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which the Western REN wishes to associate. The Western REN reserves the right to and will screen submissions prior to posting them to the website and its social media channels. Any submissions that are not in youtube format will be uploaded to youtube prior to being posted on the website. Submissions that are not in accordance with the guidelines as stated herein or are not received during February 16- March 4, 2022 will be ineligible. Submissions cannot: (a) be sexually explicit or suggestive, violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, contain nudity or any materially dangerous activity; (b) promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message; (c) be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group; (d) contain trademarks, logos or trade dress owned by others, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind without permission, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, email addresses or street addresses without permission; (e) contain copyrighted materials owned by third parties other than the submitters’ photographs, sculptures, paintings, music, and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without permission; (f) contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission; and (g) depict, and cannot itself be in, a violation of any law. By submitting a submission you warrant and represent that it: (a) does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity; (b) that publication of the submission via various media including online posting, will not infringe on the rights of any third party. Any such submitter will indemnify and hold harmless the Western REN and parties donating prizes from any claims to the contrary. Any submitter whose submission includes likenesses of third parties or contains elements not owned by the submitter (such as, but not limited to, depictions of persons, buildings, trademarks or logos) must be able to provide legal releases for such use, in the model/image release form provided on the contest website or another form satisfactory to the Western REN, upon request, prior to award of prize and/or naming of submitter as a finalist. Any submission that, in the sole opinion of the Western REN, is deemed to be inappropriate for publication is ineligible.

5. ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS IN VIDEO SUBMISSION AND USE OF VIDEO ENTRIES:

All Video Entries shall become the property of the Western REN and will not be returned nor copy provided to the contestant. By agreeing to submit a Video Entry, the entrant grants to the Western REN and/or its subsidiaries, and/or any of their licensees, agents and promotional agencies, the right to use the Video Entry including an entrant’s name, image, likeness or voice or any part thereof, for any purpose whatsoever, whether for internal or external communications in any marketing material whether in print, radio, television, interactive media, or any other media throughout the world in all languages, in perpetuity in connection with this contest.

Contestants agree that all rights to the Video Entry or other submissions, including copyright and moral rights, will be irrevocably assigned to the Western REN, to be used by the Western REN for any purpose it deems appropriate.

6. PRIZE(S):

Three (3) prizes will be awarded, consisting of 1st Prize: Lenovo Yoga 6 13.3”,Touchscreen 2-in-1, Laptop; 2nd Prize: Lenovo 81WX0001US 14″ Chromebook, and 3rd Prize: Apple Airpods- 3rd Generation . These prizes will be awarded to the top three pitches, as deemed by the results of the community panel of judges.

7. WINNING VIDEO SELECTION:

A panel of Western REN staff will select, from all Video Entries received and which meet the submission guideline, the top 10 video submissions. A panel of external community judges selected by the Western REN will select, from the top 10 video submissions, the top 3 Winners. Three (3) prizes in the Contest will be awarded to the pitches, as deemed by the results from the judges.

Judging of the Video Entries will be based on the candidate’s professional 30-60-second “elevator pitch” on why a company should hire them. The candidate is encouraged to speak to their educational and professional background and skills. The panel will be looking for professionalism, clarity, poise, imagination and creativity used in the video; as well as the “pitch criteria” stated in section 3.

Select videos will be visible online at the Western REN’s website and on its YouTube channel. The viewing of these videos will be facilitated and hosted on behalf of the Western REN and posted on all their social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter).

8. CONSENT TO MARKET TO ENTRANTS:

By entering this Contest, each entrant permits the Western REN, its agents, promotional agencies, representatives and contest judges to collect the information submitted with your entry and to use it to administer the Contest. The Western REN may communicate with you through various channels, including telephone, computer or mail, using the contact information you have provided. You acknowledge that as a result of such sharing they may advise us of those products or services provided. We will respect your preferences otherwise recorded with us. A valid mailing address must be given at the time of entry as that will be the address used to mail any prize won.

9. ADDITIONAL TERMS:

All entries become the property of the Western REN who assumes no responsibility for garbled, inaudible, lost, late, delayed, destroyed or misdirected mail, voice messages, e-mail or any computer errors or malfunctions. The Western REN does not assume any responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry information, technical malfunctions, human or technical error, seeding or printing errors, lost, delayed or garbled data or transmissions, omission, interruption, deletion, effect or failures of any telephone or computer line or network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof. Entry materials/data that have been tampered with or altered are void. In the event of a dispute over email entries, the winner will be deemed to be the holder of the email account.

If for any reason, in the opinion of the Western REN, in its/their sole discretion, the Contest, and/or the website functionality is not capable of running as originally planned, or if the administration, security, fairness, integrity or the property conduct of the Contest is corrupted or adversely affected, including but not limited to, by reason of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes, the Western REN reserves its/their right, without need of individual notice, to cancel, terminate, modify, amend, extend or suspend the Contest in whole or in part, including, without limitation, canceling any method of entry, and/or selecting a winner from previously received eligible entries. The Western REN reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest, or to be acting in violation of the Contest Rules or otherwise in a disruptive manner. Any attempts to deliberately damage any website, video or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such attempt be made the Western REN reserves its right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent of the law. The Western REN shall not be held responsible for any errors, malfunction, interruption, deletion or negligence that may arise or occur in connection with the Contest, including any damage to an entrant’s computer equipment, system software or any combination thereof, as a result of their participation in this Contest or from downloading any material from the Contest website, where applicable.

Western REN does not make any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to Facebook,  Facebook’s “Like” functionality, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and/or to comments or postings made on any of these platforms through this Contest, as applicable. The Western REN shall not be held liable or responsible for any modification, tampering or management of the video entries and/or on any outcomes that this may have on the Contest.

This contest is subject to all Federal, Provincial and Municipal laws and regulations applicable in Canada. This contest is void where prohibited or otherwise restricted by law.