LAKE PLACID 2023 WINTER WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES MASCOT DESIGN COMPETITION OFFICIAL RULES

LAKE PLACID 2023 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES MASCOT DESIGN COMPETITION OFFICIAL RULES

HOW IT WORKS:  The LAKE PLACID 2023 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES MASCOT DESIGN COMPETITION (the “Contest”) is a competition sponsored by  Empire State Development and the Lake Placid 2023 Organizing Committee (“Sponsors”) that invites entrants to design a concept for a mascot for the games.  No purchase is necessary to enter the competition. Entrants are given the opportunity to submit a design concept, including a sketch or rendering, mascot name and description (“Entry”). Entries will be judged by marketing and creative professionals to determine up to ten (10) Finalists. Finalist Submissions will be judged by a panel of notable New Yorkers and experts to determine a winner to receive a $5,000 prize as described in Rule #5.  Entry into the contest does not create any vested right or interest for the Entrants or Finalists in the prizes offered for the contest.    

1. ELIGIBILITY:  The Contest is open to those who are aged 18 years or older and are 1) New York State residents OR 2) currently enrolled at a college or university located in New York State.  Employees of Sponsors, their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and internet agencies (collectively “Released Parties”) their immediate family members (spouse and children) and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Entrants must not be a member of any guild or union that would govern Entrant’s services.
2. Submission must include a visual design concept in the form of a graphic, sketch, or rendering, and a written component. Entrants will visit ILoveNY.com/Mascot (the “Website”) to upload their Submissions.  Website is governed by Sponsor’s privacy policy that can be found at https://www.iloveny.com/privacy/. Submissions must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on April 18, 2021, and adhere to the following Submission Guidelines. Entries that do not adhere to the Submission Guidelines may be disqualified at the discretion of Sponsors.
3. Entrants may submit a maximum of five (5) unique design concepts. Each design concept must be submitted as a separate entry.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Each entry must include:

• Visual Design Concept
  • Graphic, sketch or rendering submitted as a high-resolution AI, EPS,  PNG, or JPEG file up to 20MB in size
  • Character concepts based on an animal are preferred as human characters or "inanimate object" concepts are not ideal.   
  • Design should accommodate a human performer inside the mascot costume. 
• Written Component:
  • Character name
  • A short (100 words or less) explanation of the character’s story and why this design concept should be chosen to represent the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games and the spirit of New York State and its residents.

Additional requirements:

• All entrants represent and warrant that all content submitted is the original creative work of entrants.
• Modifying, enhancing or altering a third party’s preexisting work does not qualify as Entrant’s original creation and, therefore, a third party’s preexisting work may not be submitted and will be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole discretion.
• Submission may not contain/display any unacceptable clothing or adornments, or identifiable commercial/corporate advertising other than Sponsor’s (including but not limited to corporate logos, brand names and slogans). The determination of unacceptable clothing rests solely with Sponsors.
• Submission may include Sponsor’s brand names, logos and/or trademarks; the use of Sponsor’s brand names, logos and/or trademarks is permitted only for the purpose of entering in this Contest.  NOTE:  Use of Sponsor’s brand names, logos and/or trademarks is not required. 
  • Submission cannot contain any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers.
  • Submission must not contain any material embodying the names, likenesses, voices or other indicia identifying celebrities and/or other public figures, living or dead.
  • Submission must not contain offensive or defamatory statements (including words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic group). The determination of what a defamatory statement rest solely with the Sponsors.
  • Submission must not include threats to any person, place, business, or group; it must not invade privacy or other rights of any person, firm, entity, and it must not in any way violate any applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations.
  • Submission must not include or show any dangerous behavior or activity or contain content that promotes dangerous activities that may result in injury to oneself or others. The determination of dangerous activity rests solely with Sponsors.
  • Submission must not contain indecent behavior, profanities or obscenities, including but not limited to nudity, or pornography, and must not in any way disparage persons or organizations associated with Sponsor. The determination of what constitutes indecent behavior, profanity or obscenity rest solely with the Sponsors.
  • Submission must not refer, depict or in any way reflect negatively upon the Sponsor, the Contest or any other person or entity.
  • Submission must be suitable for presentation in a public forum. 
  • Submission must not contain the likeness or information of any person(s) other than the Entrant

By entering, Entrant certifies, represents and warrants that the Submission he/she submitted is his/her own original work and he/she holds all rights to the Submission, that the Submission has not previously published (including, but not limited to having been posted on any social media platform, blog or other website or having appeared in any other media) nor won a previous prize or award and that he/she has followed and complied with the Official Rules of the Contest. In the even that entrant’s submission violates the provisions of this paragraph Sponsors may disqualify it.

3. FINALIST JUDGING:    Submissions will be judged by a panel of notable New Yorkers.  

The Finalists and Winner will be determined based on the following criteria:  Creativity – 30%; Alignment with the Messaging of the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games – 30%, Production Feasibility – 20%, and Public Vote – 20%.  In the event of a tie, tied entries will be broken based on the highest score for Alignment with the Messaging of the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, with the highest score for Creativity serving as a secondary tie breaker if the scores for the primary tie breaker are also tied.

Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite contest entries a maximum of five votes per day per device OR five votes per day for multiple devices connected to the same Wifi starting at 3:00PM ET on April 21, 2021 through 3:00PM ET April 30, 2021. Voting will be through the Submittable platform, which voters can access through a link on iloveny.com/mascot. Winners will be selected on/about May 21, 2021.

4. PRIZE/APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUES (“ARV’s”): 

• $5,000 US Dollars (awarded as a $5,000 check made payable to the winner); ARV:  $5,000

Winning Submissions may also receive exposure through sponsor websites and social media properties, in addition to the potential of inspiring the final 2023 Winter World University Games mascot design, at Sponsor’s sole discretion.  No substitution or transfer of prize by winner permitted.  Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prize (or portion thereof) of equal or greater value. 

5. GENERAL RULES:  In order to receive the $5,000 stipend prize, potential Winner must complete an Affidavit of Eligibility certifying that the Submission will be his/her own original work and he/she holds all rights to the Submission, and that he/she followed the Official Rules of the Contest.  Additionally, potential Winner will be required to complete a Release of Liability, Prize Acceptance Form and, if legally permissible, a Publicity Release. All documents must be completed and returned within 5 days of attempted delivery of same.  Noncompliance within this time period or return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification without further notice and an alternate Winner may be selected, time permitting. All applicable federal, state and local taxes on prize and any expenses relating to the acceptance/use of prize not specified herein are the sole responsibility of winner.  In no event will more than the stated number of prizes be awarded. If Sponsor suspects that an Entrant attempted to obtain additional entries by using multiple email addresses, registrations, identities or any other method, all entries submitted by the Entrant may be declared null and void. 

By entering this contest, Entrant grants the Sponsor a royalty free license to: (a) use contestant’s name and likeness and reproduce/distribute all Entries submitted in any and all media throughout the world in perpetuity, (b) alter, amend, edit or change Entries prior to distribution and (c) use, distribute, reproduce, alter, amend and copyright Entries for purposes of advertising and trade, without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.  Entrants/winners agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the State of New York, NYS Dept of Economic Development and the Sponsors from and against any and all liability (including damages caused or claimed to be caused) arising out of participation and/or acceptance/use of prize, and agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the judges’ decisions, which are final.  Entry into the Contest and/or acceptance of prize constitutes permission for the Sponsor and its agencies to use Entrant’s/winner's name and/or likeness and/or Submission for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, including a winners’ list, unless prohibited by law.  Claims may not be resolved through any form of class action.  In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any Contest materials and the terms and conditions of the Official Rules, the Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control.  Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest or in the announcement of the prizes. 

NOTICE:  ANY ATTEMPT BY AN INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.  Sponsors are not responsible for faulty, incorrect, undeliverable or mistranscribed phone/email  transmissions, incorrect announcements of any kind, technical hardware or software failures of any kind including any injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in or experiencing any materials in connection with the promotion, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission that may limit a user's ability to participate in the promotion.  Sponsor assumes no responsibility for undeliverable emails resulting from any form of active or passive email filtering by a user's Internet service provider and/or email client or for insufficient space in user's email account to receive email. 

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the promotion if fraud, misconduct or technical failures destroy the integrity of the program; or if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration or security of the program as determined by Sponsor/judging agency/administrator, in their sole discretion.  In the event of termination, a notice will be posted online and all eligible entries received prior to termination will be included in the judging.  Any damage made to the Web Site by an Entrant will be the responsibility of the Entrant and/or the authorized email account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. Proof of submitting entries will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.  Any entries which are suspected of being fraudulent (including those using robotic, automatic, programmed or similar methods of participation) will be disqualified, based on determinations made solely by Sponsor.  Sponsor reserves the right to prohibit the participation of an individual if fraud or tampering is suspected or if the individual fails to comply with any requirement of participation as stated herein or with any provision in these Official Rules. 

This contest is void wherever restricted or prohibited by state or local laws.

6. WINNERS LIST:  Winner’s name will be available at iloveny.com.