MICROSOFT CLUBHOUSE CHOICE AWARDS PROMOTION OFFICIAL RULES

COMMON TERMS USED IN THESE RULES:

These are the official rules that govern how the Microsoft Clubhouse Choice Awards promotion will operate (“Promotion”). In these rules, “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Microsoft Corporation, the sponsor of this Promotion.  “You” refers to an eligible entrant. 

WHAT ARE THE START AND END DATES? 

This promotion starts at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on July 20, 2009, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on July 31, 2009 (“Entry Period”). During the dates listed above, visitors will be invited to visit http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/154734/clubhouse-choice-awards and vote on their favorite blog posting.

CAN I ENTER?

This is a trade promotion not open to the general public. To participate, you must meet the following criteria:

·         You are a member of the Microsoft Clubhouse Community 18 years of age or older who has been selected as a nominee to participate;

o   If you are 18 of age or older, but are considered a minor in your place of residence, you should ask your parent’s or legal guardian’s permission prior to submitting an entry into this Promotion; and

§        You are NOT a resident of the province of Quebec; and

§         You are NOT a resident of any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria; and

·         You are NOT an employee of Microsoft Corporation or an employee of a Microsoft subsidiary; and

·         You are NOT involved in any part of the administration and execution of this Promotion; and

·         You are NOT an immediate family (parent, sibling, spouse, child) or household member of a Microsoft employee, an employee of a Microsoft subsidiary, or a person involved in any part of the administration and execution of this Promotion.

This Promotion is void outside the geographic area described above and wherever else prohibited by law.

HOW DO I ENTER?

To enter, you must have created a blog post about Windows or Windows Live during the 2008-2009 calendar year and tagged that post to be shared with the Clubhouse community. In addition, your blog post must have been nominated by the Clubhouse Community Management Team in order to be eligible. Once you have been notified regarding your nomination, no further action is needed on your part in order to participate in this promotion. 

To qualify,

Nominated blogs may NOT contain, as determined by us, in our sole and absolute discretion, any content that:

·         is sexually explicit, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; profane or pornographic;

·         promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing) or a particular political agenda;

·         is obscene or offensive;

·         defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies;

·         communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which we wish to associate; and/or violates any law;

We reserve the right to reject any blog, in our sole and absolute discretion, that we determine does not meet the above criteria.

HOW WILL MY ENTRY BE POTENTIALLY USED?

Other than what is set forth below, we are not claiming any ownership rights to your entry.  However, by submitting your entry, you:

·         are granting us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Contest; and (ii) feature your entry and all into content in connection with the promotion of this Contest in all media (now known or later developed); 

·         agree to sign any necessary documentation that may be required for us and our designees to make use of the rights you granted above;

·         understand and acknowledge that the Promotion Parties may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your submission and you waive any claims you may have resulting from any similarities to your entry; 

·         understand that we cannot control the incoming information you will disclose to our representatives in the course of entering, or what our representatives will remember about your entry. You also understand that we will not restrict work assignments of representatives who have had access to your entry.  By entering this Contest, you agree that use of information in our representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of our products or services does not create liability for us under this agreement or copyright or trade secret law; 

·         understand that you will not receive any compensation or credit for use of your entry, other than what is described in these Official Rules

Please note that following the end of this promotion your entry may be posted on a website selected by us for viewing by visitors to that website.  We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by visitors to this website.  While we reserve these rights, we are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry.

If you do not want to grant us these rights to your entry, please do not enter this promotion.

WINNER DETERMINATION AND PRIZES

The winners of this promotion will be determined by the public who will have an opportunity to view and vote on each nominated entry during the dates listed above.  We will only accept one vote per IP address per day. Voting will close at 11:59 pm PT on July 31, 2009.

At the close of the voting period, results will be reviewed and we will select twenty-one (21) winners of the prizes described below. In the event of a tie, the entry that reached their current number of votes first will be selected as the winner.

Prizes:

One (1) Grand Prize.  A Prize Package will be awarded to the winner of the Clubhouse Allstar consisting of the following items:

·         One (1) Backpack.  Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $100.00.

·         One (1) Digital Camera.  Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $150.00.

·         One (1) Digital Video Camera. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $200.00

·         One (1) Trophy.

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of this Package is $450.00

Six (6) First Prizes.  A Prize Package will be awarded to the winners of the remaining six categories consisting of the following items:

·         One (1) $100.00 Amazon Gift Card. 

·         One (1) Trophy. 

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of this Package is $100.

Fourteen (14) Runner Up Prizes.  A Prize Package consisting of the following items:

·         One (1) $25 Amazon Gift Card. 

·         One (1) Trophy. 

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of this Package is $25.

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of all prizes: $1,400.00

If you are a potential winner, we will notify you by sending a message to the e-mail address, the phone number, or mailing address (if any) provided at time of entry within seven (7) days following completion of judging.  If the notification that we send is returned as undeliverable, or you are otherwise unreachable for any reason, we may award to a runner-up.

If there is a dispute as to who is the potential winner, we will consider the potential winner to be the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to enter the Contest. If you are a potential winner, we may require you to sign an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability/Publicity Release and a W-9 tax form or W-8 BEN tax form within 10 days of notification. If you are a potential winner and you are 18 or older, but are considered a minor in your place of legal residence, we may require your parent or legal guardian to sign all required forms on your behalf.  If you do not complete the required forms as instructed and/or return the required forms within the time period listed on the winner notification message, we may disqualify you and select a runner-up.

If you are confirmed as a winner:

• You may not exchange your prize for cash or any other merchandise or services.  However, if for any reason an advertised prize is unavailable, we reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value; and

• You may not designate someone else as the winner.  If you are unable or unwilling to accept your prize, we may award it to a runner up; and

• If you accept a prize, you will be solely responsible for all applicable taxes related to accepting the prize; and

• If you are otherwise eligible for this promotion, but are considered a minor in your place of residence, we may award the prize to your parent/legal guardian on your behalf; and

• Unless otherwise noted, all prizes are subject to their manufacturer’s warranty and / or terms and conditions. 

We will award no more than two (2) prizes per person.

WHAT OTHER CONDITIONS AM I AGREEING TO BY ENTERING?

By entering this Promotion you agree:

·         To abide by these Official Rules; and

·         To release and hold harmless Microsoft and its respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this Contest, or any prize won; and

·         That Microsoft’s decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this Contest; and

·         That, by accepting a prize, Microsoft may use of your proper name and state of residence online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this Contest, without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law.

WHAT LAWS GOVERN THE WAY THIS PROMOTION IS EXECUTED AND ADMINISTRATED?

This Promotion will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Washington for any disputes arising out of this Promotion.  

WHAT IF SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS AND THE PROMOTION CAN’T RUN AS PLANNED?

If someone cheats, or a virus, bug, catastrophic event, or any other unforeseen or unexpected event that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled, (also referred to as force majeure) affects the fairness and / or integrity of this Contest, we reserve the right to cancel, change or suspend this Contest.  This right is reserved whether the event is due to human or technical error. If a solution cannot be found to restore the integrity of the Contest, we reserve the right to select winners from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change or suspend the Contest.

If you attempt to compromise the integrity or the legitimate operation of this Contest by hacking or by cheating or committing fraud in ANY way, we may seek damages from you to the fullest extent permitted by law.  Further, we may ban you from participating in any of our future Contest, so please play fairly.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHO WON?

If you send an email to club_house@live.com no later than August 31, 2009, we will provide you with a list of winners that receive a prize worth $25.00 or more.

WHO IS SPONSORING THIS CONTEST?

Microsoft Corporation

One Microsoft Way

Redmond, WA 98052