PITCH COMPETITION RULES

Boss Women Media x Amazon's BBA Propel Competition OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW AND OUTSIDE THE 50 UNITED STATES.   Contest begins at 12:01:01 PM Eastern Time (“ET”) on June 12, 2023 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on July 12, 2023 Sponsor’s computer is the official time keeping device for this Contest. 

BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS CONTEST, YOU AGREE TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES, WHICH ARE A CONTRACT, SO READ THEM CAREFULLY BEFORE PARTICIPATING. WITHOUT LIMITATION, THIS CONTRACT PROVIDES FOR INDEMNIFICATION OF THE SPONSOR AND OTHER CONTEST ENTITIES BY YOU, A CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER, A REQUIREMENT THAT MOST DISPUTES BE SETTLED BY MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION, AND A LIMITATION OF YOUR RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.

1.   SPONSOR: The Sponsor for this Contest is Boss Women Media, [2121 N Pearl St, Dallas, TX 75201] (“Sponsor”).

2.   ELIGIBILITY:  Boss Women Media x Amazon's BBA Propel (the “program”) is open only to registered attendees of the Boss Women Media x Amazon's BBA Propel who meet the following criteria as of the first date of the Contest to Black women who own product based businesses.

Representatives who submit on behalf of a Qualifying Organization, must, as of the first day of the Contest Period, be: (a) an authorized representative and business owner at leading executive level or higher (i.e., Founder and/or President, CEO, CFO, COO, or any such other similar title) of the Qualifying Organization, who has the authority to bind the Qualifying Organization to these Official Rules and all other requirements set forth by Sponsor (“Officer”); (b) a legal U.S. resident of one of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Colombia; and (c) at least the age of majority in their state of residence (19 years of age in Alabama and Nebraska, 21 years of age in Mississippi)  Employees, officers, directors and agents of Sponsor, Amazon.com Services LLC (“Amazon”), and any other company involved in the presentation, administration or fulfillment of the Contest, and/or their respective subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and divisions (collectively, the “Program Entities''), and each of their immediate family members (defined as any spouse, partner, parent, legal guardian, sibling, child, legal ward, grandparent, or grandchild, regardless of where they reside) and/or those living in the same household are not eligible to enter or win.  Sponsor reserves the right to verify the eligibility of winners.  Participation constitutes Officer’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and to Sponsor’s decisions on behalf of themselves and the Qualifying Organization, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. The Contest is void in U.S. territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law. Distribution of Awards are contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Potential Award Recipients are subject to verification of eligibility by Sponsor, including enrollment in Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator.

     HOW TO ENTER: BY SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION, OFFICER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THEIR IDENTITY AND BUSINESS NAME MAY BE POSTED ON SPONSOR’S WEBSITE OR ELSEWHERE ON THE INTERNET AS AUTHORIZED BY SPONSOR, IN SPONSOR’S DISCRETION.  CONTENT POSTED TO THE WEBSITE IS NOT EDITED BY SPONSOR AND IS THE VIEWS/OPINIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL OFFICER AND DOES NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF SPONSOR IN ANY MANNER. RELEASED PARTIES MAKE NO GUARANTEE THAT ANY APPLICATION WILL BE USED BY ANY RELEASED PARTY.

Any Application Officer submits must conform to the additional submission requirements as set forth herein, as determined within Sponsor’s and Amazon’s final sole discretion:

•       Content must be the Officer’s original idea (modification of an original work is not an original idea).  Officer must not copy or otherwise plagiarize from any source.

•       The Application must be based on a business that sells a consumer product good.

•       Content must not contain material that is (or promote activities that are) in Sponsor’s sole judgment and discretion, hateful, slanderous, libelous, tortious, sexually explicit, obscene, pornographic, inappropriate, violent (e.g., self-mutilating, relating to murder, the sales of weapons, cruelty, abuse, etc.), discriminatory (e.g., based on race, sex, religion, natural origin, physical disability, sexual orientation or age), illegal (e.g., underage drinking, substance abuse, computer hacking, etc.), offensive, threatening, profane or harassing; or contain material that is threatening to any person, place, business, group or world peace; or contain words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group; or contain images, words or text portraying nudity, acts of violence, or acts that are or appear to be unlawful or dangerous or in violation of, or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where the entry is created in their application.

• Content must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to material that violates privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement. 
• Without limiting the foregoing, Content must not include third-party trademarks, logos, insignia, location signage, photographs, artwork or sculptures., except those of Sponsor made available to Potential Award Recipients in connection with this Contest.
• Content must not include mention or performance of any copyrighted media production, including, but not limited to, books, articles, photographs, artwork, music, etc., or identifying descriptions of any media property.   Content must not include commercial music.
• Content must not include third parties, including, but not limited to, minors, celebrities, and friends, who have not expressly authorized Officer/Qualifying Organization to display their image or likeness in any submitted application or otherwise use such images or likenesses in accordance with these Official Rules.  Officer must be prepared to provide signed third-party authorizations upon request.
• Content must not contain disparaging remarks, defame, misrepresent, invade the publicity, third party rights and/or the privacy rights of Sponsor and/or Released Parties, their products or any trademarks or other intellectual property they own, other products or companies, or any person, living or deceased;
• Content must not communicate messages inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which the Released Parties associated; and
• Content must not be in violation of any law, statute, regulation, or ordinance.
  
  

By entering, each Officer warrants and represents that the Application is original, does not contain any material that would defame or otherwise violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including patents, copyrights, trademarks or rights of privacy or publicity, and will not violate any federal, state or local laws or ordinances.  Officers further warrant and represent that they have secured the requisite consent from any third party referenced in their Application.  Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify any Application that it believes contains obscene, offensive or inappropriate content, that does not comply with these Official Rules or that is not consistent with the spirit or theme of the Contest.  As applicable, Officers represent and warrant that their Content is the original work of such Officer, it has not been copied from others, it does not violate the rights of any other person or entity, and publication of the Content via various media including Web posting will not infringe on the rights of any third party. Any such Officer will indemnify and hold harmless Released Parties (defined in Section 8 below) from any claims to the contrary.

Any attempt by any Officer to obtain more than the permitted number of Applications by using multiple and/or different identities, forms, registrations, addresses or any other method will void all of that Officer’s and/or Qualifying Organization’s Applications and that Officer and/or Qualifying Organization may be disqualified at Sponsor’s discretion.  Multiple Applications are not permitted to be submitted under the same email address.  Normal Internet, phone and usage charges imposed by your online or phone service may apply.  Incomplete, illegible, corrupted, or untimely Applications are void and will be disqualified.  Sponsor and its agencies are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, stolen, misdirected or illegible Applications; lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server or other connections; or miscommunications, computer or software malfunctions, telephone transmission problems, technical failures, garbled transmissions, damage to a user’s computer equipment (software or hardware), or other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether human, mechanical, electronic or otherwise.  Proof of sending or submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.  In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an Officer and/or Qualifying Organization associated with an Application, the authorized account holder of the email address used to enter will be deemed to be the Officer.  The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, Internet service provider or other organization (which may include an employer) responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address.  Potential Award Recipients may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder.  Applications specifying and does not adequately disclose their participation in this Contest while engaging in any online social sharing interaction during the Contest Period.

1.     SELECTION OF PROGRAM RECIPIENT AND NOTIFICATION: The five (5) Potential Program Recipients  will be chosen by, and at the sole discretion of, Sponsor, on or about the conclusion of each Contest Period from all eligible Applications received for that location (“Program Recipients”). All Applications will be reviewed, consisting of Sponsor, Amazon, and/or their agents or designees,  to make certain the content falls within the parameters under the Entry Requirements.These decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest. Based on the Application, the Panel will select five (5) Recipients at their sole discretion (“Recipients”) Recipients will be notified at the email and phone number provided in the Application. If a Potential Program Recipient cannot be contacted within 24 hours, their selection will be forfeited and an alternate finalist will be selected from the remaining eligible Applications, by and at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Recipients may be featured on Sponsor’s and/or Amazon’s website, and their respective social media pages.

All eligible Applications received throughout the Program Period will be evaluated by the Panel based on the below criteria and selected in such Panel’s sole discretion:

• Written Application, scored based on: viability and strength of the business and potential for business growth (50% of overall  score); and
• Live Virtual Business pitch, scored based on: presentation; a plan on how the Qualifying Organization intends to maximize the opportunity to sell and grow their business in Amazon’s store (50% of overall score).

2.  Except where legally prohibited, each Potential Award Recipient may be required to complete and return, within 24 hours of being notified, an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability & Publicity Release (“Affidavit”) in order to claim the Award. Failure by any Potential Award Recipient to respond to Sponsor and/or Sponsor’s notification email or return the Affidavit in a timely manner, or if any message or mail intended for a Potential Award Recipient is returned as undeliverable, then the applicable Award may be forfeited. If Sponsor is unable to determine and verify a Potential Award Recipient after repeated alternate attempts or if Sponsor fails to receive a sufficient number of Entries to correspond to the number of Award(s) available to be awarded, Sponsor reserves the right not to award all the all Award.  Sponsor is not responsible for any change of email address and/or mailing address of Officer/Qualifying Organization, nor is Sponsor responsible for any lost or damaged mail, or for any mail intended for Officer/Qualifying Organization that is returned as undeliverable. 

ALL POTENTIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSOR, WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE CONTEST.  A QUALIFYING ORGANIZATION IS NOT AN AWARD RECIPIENT FOR ANY AWARD UNLESS AND UNTIL OFFICER’S AND QUALIFYING ORGANIZATION’S ELIGIBILITY HAS BEEN VERIFIED AND HAS BEEN NOTIFIED THAT VERIFICATION IS COMPLETE.

3.   GENERAL CONDITIONS:  By participating in the Contest, Officers agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final in all respects. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements (in any and all media) contained in any Contest materials and the terms and conditions of the Official Rules, the Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control.  Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.  By participating, each Officer of the Qualifying Organization agrees on their own behalf and on behalf of the Qualifying Organization: (a) to abide by these Application requirements and decisions of Sponsor and the Judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest; (b) to release, discharge, and hold harmless Sponsor, Amazon and each of their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and funding partners, and the shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, and representatives of the foregoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from Qualifying Organization’s participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded Award; and (c) to the use of their name, photograph, image, and/or likeness and the name of the Qualifying Organization for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, in perpetuity by Sponsor, Amazon, and their designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from Qualifying Organization or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.

4.   WARNING:  ANY ATTEMPT BY AN OFFICER OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONTEST OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW, AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PROSECUTE AND SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be attempting to tamper with or undermine the entry process, any website associated with the Contest, and/or the legitimate operation of the Contest; to violate the Official Rules; or to act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.  Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.  

    Sponsor and its agents are not responsible for (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Officers, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to, malfunctions, interruptions or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error that may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property that may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Officer’s and/or Qualifying Organization‘s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any Award.  Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor. If, for any reason, the Contest cannot be run as planned, Sponsor may disqualify any suspect Applications and suspend and/or modify the Contest to address the impairment, then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules.           

5.  PUBLICITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELEASE: EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW, PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST CONSTITUTES WINNER’S PERMISSION AND GRANT TO SPONSOR (WHICH GRANT WILL BE CONFIRMED IN WRITING ON REQUEST OF SPONSOR) AND ITS DESIGNEES THE RIGHT AND PERMISSION TO PRINT, PUBLISH, BROADCAST AND USE, WORLDWIDE IN ANY MEDIA NOW KNOWN OR HEREAFTER DEVELOPED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE WORLD WIDE WEB, AT ANY TIME OR TIMES, THE WINNER’S ENTRY, NAME, PORTRAIT, PICTURE, VOICE, LIKENESS, OPINIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, HOMETOWN AND STATE), PRIZE INFORMATION, QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE TO WINNER, AND ANY OTHER ELEMENTS OF OFFICER’S PERSONA FOR ADVERTISING, TRADE AND PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES (INCLUDING THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS OR HER NAME ON TELEVISION OR RADIO BROADCAST) WITHOUT ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION, COMPENSATION, PERMISSION OR NOTIFICATION, INCLUDING IN A LIST TO BE USED BY SPONSOR AND ITS DESIGNEES AND ITS PARTNERS TO RE-TARGET ENTRANTS VIA EMAIL OR ANY SPONSOR APP, UNLESS PROHIBITED BY LAW. 

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING REGARDING THIS CONTEST, INCLUDING EACH WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONTEST AND ALL PRIZES, IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.  SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY.  CHECK LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.

6.  DISPUTES:  Except where prohibited, as a condition of participating in this Contest, Officer agrees, on their own behalf on behalf of the Qualifying Organization, that Sponsor and Amazon each consent that any dispute between Officer or Qualifying organization, on the one hand, and Sponsor, Amazon, or their Affiliates, on the other hand, or claim relating in any way to this Contest or Officer’s/Qualifying Organization’s participation in this Contest will be resolved by binding arbitration as described in this paragraph, rather than in court, except that (i) Officer/Qualifying Organization may assert claims in a small claims court that is a governing court if the claims qualify; and (ii) Officer/Qualifying Organization, Sponsor or Amazon may bring suit in the governing courts, submitting to the jurisdiction of the governing courts and waiving their respective rights to any other jurisdiction, to enjoin infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights. There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. However, an arbitrator can award on an individual basis the same damages and relief as a court (including injunctive and declaratory relief or statutory damages), and must follow the terms of this Agreement, as a court would. Before Officer/Qualifying Organization may begin an arbitration proceeding, Officer/Qualifying Organization must send a letter requesting arbitration and describing the claim to: 419 Valencia St. Dallas, TX 75223; and Amazon’s registered agent, CSC Services of Nevada, Inc., 112 N Curry Street, Carson City, NV 89703. The arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its commercial rules. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by AAA’s rules. Sponsor and Amazon will reimburse those fees for claims totaling less than $10,000 unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. The expedited procedures of the AAA’s rules will apply only in cases seeking exclusively monetary relief under $50,000, and in such cases the hearing will be scheduled to take place within 90 days of the arbitrator’s appointment. Likewise, Sponsor and Amazon will not seek attorneys’ fees and costs from the Officer/Qualifying Organization in arbitration unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. Officer/Qualifying Organization may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, based on written submissions, or in person at a mutually agreed location. Sponsor, Amazon, and Officer/Qualifying Organization each agree that any dispute resolution will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, Sponsor, Amazon, and Officer/Qualifying Organization each waive any right to a jury trial.

7.  CHOICE OF LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Entry requirements, or the rights and obligations of Officer/Qualifying Organization, Sponsor, and Amazon in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflicts of law principles.

8.  USE OF DATA: By participating in the Contest, each Officer acknowledges on behalf of itself and its Qualifying Organization that Sponsor may collect private or personal data about the Officer and/or Qualifying Organization in the Application (the “Private Information”). Sponsor may collect and use the Private Information for purposes of this Contest as authorized under its Privacy Policy. Sponsor may share this Private Information with Amazon.com, which may collect and use such Private Information in accordance with its Private Notice, https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GX7NJQ4ZB8MHFRNJ.

9.  SEVERABILITY:  If any term of provision of these Official Rules is found under the law to be invalid or unenforceable, then such specific term or provision shall be of no force and effect and shall be severed and the remainder of these Official Rules shall continue in full force and effect.

APPLICATION PRIVACY POLICY

“By completing this application, I understand that my application responses will be collected and stored in accordance with Boss Women Media’s Privacy Policy, and may also be shared with Amazon, who will treat the responses in accordance with its Privacy Notice.”

PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST IS RESTRICTED TO BUSINESSESS THAT ARE AMAZON’S BLACK BUSINESS ACCELERATOR MENTEES

BY ENTERING THIS CONTEST, YOU AGREE TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES (HYPERLINK TO OFFICIAL RULES), WHICH ARE A CONTRACT, SO READ THEM CAREFULLY BEFORE ENTERING.