- The Howard Magazine Best of Dining Contest (the “Contest”) is sponsored by Howard Magazine (“Sponsor”), 501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. Contest begins on June 4, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. ET and ends June 30, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. ET (the “Contest Period”). Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for this Contest.
- The Contest is divided into 42 categories (each, a “Category”) and restaurants will be placed in the Categories.
- Awards will be determined by popular vote. To fill out a ballot (“Ballot”) and vote, visit www.howardmagazine.com. Select your favorite restaurant from the options provided. Repeat the process for as many Categories as desired. You may also, instead of selecting one of the restaurant options provided for each Category, submit a write-in candidate. All write-in candidates must have a physical location in Howard County. Complete your ballot, then click “Submit my Ballot.” Limit one Ballot per person and per device. All subsequent Ballots from any person or email address will be considered void. Ballots must be submitted during the Contest Period.
- You may, but are not required to, submit a comment (“Comment”) in connection with your Ballot. The Comment must not contain material that: (a) violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement; (b) disparages Sponsor or any other person or party affiliated with the promotion and administration of this Contest; (c) was not created by entrant; (d) is inappropriate, indecent, obscene hateful, tortious, or defamatory; (e) promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or (f) is unlawful. Uploading a Comment constitutes voter’s grant to Sponsor of a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display the Comment in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate it into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes.
- Voters who fail to provide any required information may be disqualified without further notification by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for votes that are lost, misdirected, garbled, distorted, truncated, incomplete, illegible, incorrect or late for any reason, and all such votes are void. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any voter and vote at any time that in its opinion does not comply with these Official Rules. Information received from voters becomes the property of Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged. The information that you provide in connection with the Contest will be used by Sponsor in accordance with its Privacy Policy, which is found at http://www.tribpub.com/privacy-policy-and-your-privacy-rights/ and which may be updated from time to time.
- If a voter writes in the name of a restaurant already listed in a Category, that write-in vote is added to the restaurant’s overall total. Because of spelling errors and variations on names, Sponsor will attempt to standardize the write-in votes to match the vote to the correct restaurant, and such decisions are in the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to refuse votes for restaurants that are deemed not appropriate for the Category for which they were cast. Vote totals will not be published.
- The leading vote recipients in each Category will be declared the winners, and the next three leading vote recipients in each Category will be declared honorable mention recipients. If there is a tie at any level, the tied entries will each receive the award at that level. A restaurant may be honored in more than one Category, but votes will not be combined across Categories.
- Sponsor will attempt to contact winners, in accordance with public contact information listed for each restaurant. If potential winner does not have a physical location in Howard County or is otherwise determined to be ineligible, Sponsor in its discretion may disqualify that restaurant and an alternate winner will be chosen applying the criteria set forth above as soon as reasonably practicable after such disqualification.
- The first-place winner in each Category will receive the “Best of Dining 2015” Logo for use in the winner’s promotional material, subject to conditions to be provided by the Sponsor, as well as “Best of Dining 2015” certificates and window clings. The approximate retail value of each logo is less than $5. The honorable mentions (and winners) will be listed in the November, 2015 edition of Howard Magazine. Public recognition has no retail value, and if, for any reason, a winner or honorable mention restaurant is not listed in the magazine, no alternate prize will be awarded.
- It is the intention of Sponsor to honor a winner and three honorable mentions in each Category, provided a sufficient number of eligible restaurants receive votes.
- Votes generated by a script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified. You must be at least 18 years old and a legal resident of the United States to vote. All voters must be located in the United States at the time they cast their vote. Proxy voting is not allowed. No one may purchase votes. Any use of robotic, repetitive, automatic, programmed, script, macro, or any other automated means or similar entry methods or agents, vote exchange websites, vote “farming” or other method to vote or unfairly increase votes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, is prohibited and will void all votes submitted by that voter. Moreover, if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that any restaurant has colluded with any voter to violate these rules or has participated in or actively encouraged such activity, whether directly or indirectly, Sponsor may disqualify that restaurant from further participation in the Contest and or eligibility for the prize. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any vote at any time that in its opinion does not comply with these Official Rules.
- Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any voter or restaurant from further participation in the Contest if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process, voting process, or other operation of the Contest; (b) has disregarded or has attempted to circumvent these rules; or (c) has acted toward Sponsor or any other restaurant or voter in an unfair, inequitable, deliberately annoying, threatening, disrupting or harassing manner. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these rules will not constitute a waiver of such rules
- Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend or terminate this Contest or any part thereof, if Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the security, administration, fairness and/or operation of the Contest has been corrupted or impaired by any non-authorized intervention, network failure, information storage failure, telecommunications failure, malfunction, or any other cause beyond Sponsor’s control. If Sponsor terminates the Contest, Sponsor will post notice of same on the Contest webpage and selects the winners and honorable mentions in each Category by applying the criteria set forth above to eligible, non-suspect votes received as of the termination date. If Sponsor terminates the Contest, Sponsor will post notice of its action on the Contest webpage.
- By voting, the voter acknowledges the understanding of and agreement with these rules and regulations.