Yale Official IDEA Contest Rules

Sponsors

The Yale Innovation in Digital Environments Awards (IDEA) contest is sponsored by Yale University (“Yale” or the “Sponsor”) through its Office of Digital Content (ODC), Digital Media Center for the Arts (DMCA), Center for Media and Instructional Innovation (CMI2), Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) and the Yale Office of Sustainability. A portion of the prizes is being provided with the enthusiastic support of Microsoft and Electronic Arts.

Eligibility

The IDEA contest (“Contest”) is open to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in Yale University, and holding a valid NetID (“Yale Students”). Teams or organizations collaborating on a single contest entry must submit the work as a single entry. Employees (who are not Yale Students), independent contractors and officers and directors of the University and its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and legal advisors and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of such persons, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations; void where prohibited by law.

Submission Requirements

Projects must be designed for digital distribution as accessed by mobile device, computer, PDA, or other electronic device.

Material submitted may be submitted in any language, and does not have to be Yale-related, and/or directly support an educational initiative.

Some examples of possible works may include:
  • Blogs - A text or video online publication of self-created content
  • Personal websites - A text, video, or interactive media creation (excluding personal pages for social networking sites)
  • Multimedia distributed online through a personal website or through a 3rd party site, such as:
    • Podcasts created exclusively for digital distribution
    • Video created exclusively for digital distribution
    • Photojournalism and/or photo galleries created exclusively for digital distribution
    • Games and/or animations created exclusively for digital distribution

How to Enter

Submit your entry online with a completed Contest entry form in which you specify the URL from which your work can be viewed or downloaded. Submissions may be in any form of moving image or sound as limited by the technical requirements notice.
Submitting parties (“Entrants”) must satisfy one of the following conditions: 1) Entrants must be the sole creator(s) and copyright owner(s) of any and all portions of the work OR 2) Entrants must produce proof of permission (via license agreement or written acknowledgement signed by all applicable owners) to use any and all portions of submissions that incorporate material owned by third parties AND must clearly demarcate or otherwise identify such third-party material. If you are uncertain about your right to use third-party materials in your entry, please consult the copyright holder. Materials that infringe on the rights of any third party will be disqualified. Any submissions developed through the substantial use of third-party material may be ineligible for the competition. Incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries will not be considered. As further described in the liability clause below, Yale University, its employees, officers, trustees, agents, partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors will not be responsible for any errors that may occur in the transmission of any entry.

By submitting their work, all Entrants agree to have read and are deemed to have agreed to these Official Rules.

All fields designated as required on the page for submission must be completed before submitting an entry.

Judging

The contest will be judged by a panel of Yale University alumni, faculty and staff named by the ODC. Points will be awarded on an overall scale of 1 - 10 based upon the following criteria:

      • Success in meeting apparent purpose
      • Technical skill
      • Creativity and innovation
      • Aesthetic and practical design
      • Functionality for public users

Disqualification

Yale reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant that it determines, in its sole discretion, is ineligible. Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in an Entrant’s disqualification.

Additionally, any submissions containing any content deemed by Yale in its sole discretion to be obscene, vulgar, sexually explicit, lewd, derogatory, or otherwise inappropriate for a general Internet audience will be automatically disqualified.

Prizes

Winners will be announced on April 22nd. In the event that the winning entrant is disqualified or the author of the multimedia file withdraws from the competition, the first runner-up will become the winner of the Contest.

In the event that submissions received are insufficient in either number or quality, the Contest administrators reserve the right to deem no winners and to not award all prizes described.

Prizes for the contest include:
  • 1st place. Xbox 360 elite, 1 year Xbox live membership, assorted EA Games and $500 cash prize. (Total estimated value: $1,000)
  • 2nd Place: A $250 Gift Card to technology store of the winner’s choice. (Total estimated value: $250)
  • 3rd Place: A $150 Gift Card to technology store of the winner’s choice. (Total estimated value: $150)
  • Digital Art Award: An LCD ultra-portable projector. (Total estimated value: $400) (Note: The Digital Art Contest may not be judged by the same parameters as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes and may be awarded to an entry that is also named as a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner.)
  • Business & Entrepreneurship Contest Award: Up to $2500 toward software programming expenses, and introduction to candidate software programmers.(Note: The Business & Entrepreneurship Contest may not be judged by the same parameters as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes and may be awarded to an entry that is also named as a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner.)
  • Education Award:  The Yale CMI2 will work with the selected winner to identify faculty members who would be interested in integrating the winning idea into future course offerings of a Yale College course, and a 8GB iPod Nano. (Total estimated value: $150) (Note: The Education Contest may not be judged by the same parameters as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes and may be awarded to an entry that is also named as a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner.)
  • General Award: A 16GB iPod Touch. (Total estimated value: $299) (Note: The General Contest may not be judged by the same parameters as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes and may be awarded to an entry that is also named as a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner.)
  • Sustainability Award: The top three submissions will have their work incorporated into the Yale Peabody Museum’s upcoming Sustainable Solutions exhibit as well as featured on the Office of Sustainability’s website. (Note: The Sustainability Contest may not be judged by the same parameters as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes and may be awarded to an entry that is also named as a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner.)

All Contest entrants will be invited to a reception to meet and show their work to Bing Gordon, Branford ’72, former Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Electronic Arts.
The top three winners and other select Entrants will also be invited to meet with the ODC, CMI2, and DMCA at a time yet to be determined.
We reserve the right to acknowledge additional entries and award them special non-monetary recognition or prizes. No cash or other substitutions may be made, except by Sponsor, who reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute a prize with another prize of greater or equal value. Winners are solely responsible for any and all applicable fees and taxes associated with prize receipt and use.

Dates

The Contest begins at midnight (EST) January 1, 2009 and entries must be received by midnight (EST) on February 6, 2009. Judging of entries will begin February 7, 2008 and end on February 25, 2008. Winners will be announced at a reception on April 22 (the “Awards Reception").

Entries will not be considered for judgment if they are submitted after the final submission date of February 6, 2009.

Rights

Promotional Use:

The Sponsor agrees that Entrants shall retain the copyright to their works, except to the extent that the Entrants have voluntarily entered into a written contractual arrangement with the Sponsor.

By agreeing to participate in the Contest, you grant the Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to use your submission -- in its entirety, in part, or as part of one or more collective works -- in connection with the promotion of the Contest or Sponsor. This includes the right to use, reproduce, publicly or privately perform, display, broadcast and transmit your submission, digitally or otherwise in all media and formats that are known or hereafter devised. The above rights also include the right to revise, modify or edit your submission as is technically necessary to exercise the foregoing rights in other media or formats.

Use of Winners’ Name and Likeness

Winners who accept any prize agree to be identified as the creator of the material and attend the Awards Reception. Yale, at any time, has the right to use the Entrant’s name, voice, photograph and/or likeness in print, broadcast, or other forms of distribution now known or later developed without further payment or consideration.

Liability

If for any reason the Contest is not held as planned for any reason, including without limitation, incidents of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other factors that corrupt the or affect the administration, fairness, security, integrity, or proper conduct of this contest, the Sponsor reserves the right to suspend or cancel the Contest.

By participating in the Contest, Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor and waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules. Entrants also agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsor and all prize providers, and the officers, directors, trustees, employees and agents of each, from and against any claims, damages or liability due to any injuries, damages or losses to any person (including death) or property of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize or participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, including any claims relating to use misappropriation or disclosure of any materials submitted by such winner or Entrant. Decisions of Sponsor are final in all matters relating to the Contest.

Disputes

Except where prohibited, Entrant agrees that: Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively in the federal or state courts located in the County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, and the Entrant consents to the exercise of personal jurisdiction over them by any such courts for purposes of any such action or proceeding. Entrants will not be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. Entrants further agree that any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees.

All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligation of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Connecticut, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules, which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Connecticut.

Documentation

A copy of these Official Rules and a list of winners may be obtained by sending an email request to ideas@yale.edu or by writing directly to the Yale IDEA contest, 105 Wall Street, New Haven, CT 06511.