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2013 Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence Official Rules
ELIGIBILITY: The Medela Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence 2013 Program (“Program”) is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who are 18 years or older and have reached the age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry, and have internet access. Program begins on March 26, 2013, when nominations are first accepted, and concludes on August 1, 2013, when Winners are notified. Program sponsored by Medela, Inc., 1101 Corporate Dr., McHenry, IL 60051 (“Sponsor”). Employees of Sponsor or its affiliates, retailers, licensees, subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of each, are not eligible. This Program is void where prohibited by law and subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Participation constitutes full and unconditional agreement and acceptance of these Official Guidelines.
NOMINATION PROCESS: To nominate an individual for the Program, visit the Medela web site at www.breastfeedinghallofexcellence.com (“Site”) to complete the nomination process. The nominator must provide the following information for the nomination process: (1) complete an entry form; (2) answer a series of short questions about the nominee; and (3) provide a Letter of Support. Details on these requirements are provided below.
The nomination form will require nominators to identify the individual they wish to nominate (the “Nominee”) for the Program and indicate the nomination category of the Nominee. Nominee must be classified in one of three categories: (1) a certified lactation consultant; (2) a professional breastfeeding advocate (one who supports breastfeeding as part of their job); (3) a community breastfeeding advocate (including social media breastfeeding advocates) (one who is passionate and actively working to advance breastfeeding in the community and whose profession and/or income is not derived from breastfeeding support and equipment); (the “Categories,” each a “Category”). Each Nominee must be nominated in one of the Categories. As part of the nomination process, nominators must provide their contact information and answer a series of short questions about the Nominee. Nominator must also provide a one-page letter describing their Nominee and how the Nominee positively influenced the lives of moms and babies (the “Letter of Support”). This Letter of Support must come from a past or current client of the Nominee (if Nominee is in Category 1, a certified lactation consultant) or a past or current breastfeeding mother. Phase 1 of the judging will be based on these submissions. Incomplete nominations may not be accepted.
Nominees must be legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who are 18 years or older and have reached the age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry. All information submitted and collected in connection with this Program and the nomination process is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy accessible at http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/privacy-policy. Nomination forms will be accepted beginning on March 26, 2013, and all nomination forms must be received by 11:59 p.m. CT on April 30, 2013. Incomplete nomination forms may not be accepted. Nomination forms may not be offensive or defamatory, which shall be determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor. All nominations must conform to the standards and rules set forth on the Site and in the nomination form instructions. All nominations must be submitted online and become property of Sponsor. There are no limits on the number of nominations per nominator, however, a separate nomination form must be submitted for each Nominee, and each Nominee can only be nominated in one Category.
SELECTION PROCESS:
PHASE 1: In Phase 1 of the selection process, each Nominee will be judged by a panel of independent experts consisting of three experts selected by Sponsor (“Panel”). The answers given by the nominators to the series of short questions, as well as the Letter of Support, will be evaluated on a scale of 1-135 (135 being the highest) for the certified lactation consultant and professional breastfeeding advocate categories, and a scale of 1-110 (110 being the highest) for the community breastfeeding advocate category, according to the following criteria: certified lactation consultants and professional breastfeeding advocates will be judged on (1) professional credentials and prominence in their field (20%); (2) academic contribution, volunteer, charitable or community outreach/advocacy impact (35%); and (3) impact on breastfeeding mothers (45%) ; community/social media breastfeeding advocates will be judged on (1) volunteer, charitable or community outreach/advocacy impact (50%); and (2) impact on breastfeeding mothers (50%) . The top three (3) Nominees with the highest overall scores in each Category will be deemed “Finalists” and will proceed to Phase 2 of the selection process. There will be nine (9) total Finalists, three (3) from each Category. In the event of a tie in any Category, Finalists will be selected based on the highest score from the Letter of Support submitted for their application. Phase 1 will be completed, and the Finalists will be contacted, no later than May 10, 2013.
PHASE 2:
In Phase 2 of the selection process, each of the Finalists will be asked to submit a written statement (“Testimonial”) of no more than 750 words regarding their commitment to breastfeeding. The Testimonial must be received by Sponsor by May 30, 2013. If a Testimonial is not received from a Finalist by this date, an alternate Finalist may be selected, which will be the Nominee with the next highest score in the Category. Testimonials will be judged by the Panel on a scale of 1-30 based on the Selection Criteria described above.
The Finalist with the highest score in each Category in Phase 2 of the judging will be deemed the Inductee, such that there will be three (3) total Inductees, one from each Category. In the event of a tie in any Category, a conference call will be held on or about June 15, 2013, during which the tied Finalists will be further evaluated based on the Selection Criteria, with the tied Finalist receiving the highest evaluation being deemed the Inductee. Inductees will be announced to the individual who nominated them on June 20, 2013. Inductees will be publicly announced on or about August 1, 2013.
All reviews by Sponsor and the Panel will be conducted anonymously, so that Sponsor and Panel will only know an entrant or nominator by a designated ID number. Sponsor and the Panel’s decisions regarding the selection of Finalists and Inductees are final. As this is a program that depends upon the selection from amongst other nominees, the odds of selection are dependent on the number and quality of nominations received.
AWARDS: Three (3) Inductees will receive a five thousand dollar ($5,000.00) grant to fund research, continuing education, the purchase of equipment for use in their practice or a donation to the charity of their choice (ARV: $5,000.00) to support a breastfeeding program or initiative. All awards will be provided. No alternative awards or substitution is permitted, expect by Sponsor in its sole discretion in the event of unavailability. Awards are non-transferable. Taxes of any kind, including all federal, state, and/or local taxes, are the sole responsibility of each Inductee. Inductees will be notified of their award on or about August 1, 2013. In the event an Inductee cannot be contacted or reached after Sponsor’s reasonable efforts, an alternate Inductee may be selected.
CONDITIONS: Except where prohibited by law, by being a nominator or Finalist, individual grants to Sponsor the right to use and publish their name, likeness, state of residence, Letter of Support and Testimonial in any and all media worldwide, in connection with the Program or Sponsor’s advertising or promotional purposes, without additional compensation. Sponsor has the right to make minor edits to the Letter of Support or Testimonial for publication purposes. Nominators and Finalists may be required to sign a liability and publicity release and/or copyright release document attesting to the originality of the Letter of Support and/or Testimonial.
By participating in the Program, each nominator and Finalist without limitation (i) releases and holds harmless Sponsor and its parent(s), licensees, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents from any and all liability for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind in connection with the Program or the acceptance, use or misuse of any prize awarded, and (ii) waives any and all rights to claim ambiguity or error in these Official Guidelines or in the Program itself.
Sponsor assumes no responsibility for, and each nominator and Finalist waives all claims in connection with, any lost, late or misdirected entries or for any problems of technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry received by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion online, through the Internet, the Site or any combination thereof, including without limitation any injury or damage to nominator's or any other person's computer resulting from any cause, including without limitation downloading any materials related to the Program or Sponsor.
Sponsor reserves the right to cancel the Program or change any element thereof, with or without notice at any time, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, printing errors, or any other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Program. Sponsor also reserves the right to disqualify in its sole discretion any individual who tampers with the entry process, the Program, or who violates these Official Guidelines.
LIST OF INDUCTEES: For a complete list of inductees, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (VT residents may omit return postage) to List of Inductees for Medela Hall of Excellence 2013 Program, C/O Medela, Inc., 1101 Corporate Dr., McHenry, IL 60051. All requests must be received no later than October 30, 2013.
