Official Contest Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY, AND PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
Baltimore Homecoming’s Homecoming Hero Awards (the “Contest”) is sponsored by Baltimore Homecoming (“Sponsor”),1427 Clarkview Road, Baltimore, MD 21209. Contest nomination period begins on September 7 , 2021, at 9:00 a.m. ET and ends October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. ET (the “Nomination Period”). Contest voting period begins on November 1, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. ET and ends on December 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. ET (the “Voting Period”). Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for this Contest. The Contest is subject to these Official Rules, and by nominating or voting, all nominators and voters agree to abide by the terms and conditions herein and the decisions of the Sponsor.
To Nominate:
This Contest is open to any one doing work in Baltimore City who is 18 years of age or older and either a U.S. Citizen or legal resident of the United States.
To nominate candidates (each, a “Candidate”), visit (the “Contest Page”) to fully and accurately complete and submit the entry form during the Nomination Period. All entry fields designated as “required” must be completed. Nominations with incomplete or inaccurate entry information will be disqualified. All nominations are subject to Sponsor’s determination of eligibility and nominations determined to be ineligible.
Selection of finalists:
A Selection Committee (“Committee”) will review eligible nominations and select ten (10) finalists (“Finalists”) on the basis of three factors, which will be weighted equally:
i. Impact: What challenge(s) has the nominee sought to address? What progress have they made? Have they transformed the lives of individuals? Touched the lives of many?
ii. Inspiration and mobilization: Did the nominee inspire others to take action? Did they work to organize others within their neighborhood or across Baltimore?
iii. Creativity: Did the nominee’s work break new ground or create a new model for change?
Only Finalists will appear on the ballot (“Ballot”).
Voting:
You must be at least 13 years old at the time of Ballot submission to vote. All voters must be located in the United States at the time they cast their vote. Limit one Ballot per person and per hour. All Ballots from any person in excess of the limit, if detected by Sponsor, will be void, and Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify that voter and all votes submitted by that voter.
To vote, during the Voting Period visit bsun.md/heroes, and fill out and submit a Ballot. Vote totals will not be published.
Voters who fail to provide any required information, votes may be disqualified without further notification by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for Ballots or votes that are lost, misdirected, garbled, distorted, truncated, incomplete, illegible, incorrect or late for any reason, and all such Ballots and/or votes are void if detected by Sponsor. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. 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://baltimorehomecoming.com/privacy-policy/ and which may be updated from time to time.
Winner Selection and Notification:
Winners will be determined by popular vote. The five leading vote recipients will each be declared a winner (“Winner”). If there is a tie for fifth place, the tie will be broken by a vote by the Committee.
Sponsor will attempt to contact Winners using public contact information listed for each Candidate. If the potential Winner is determined to be ineligible, Sponsor in its discretion may disqualify that Candidate and select an alternate Winner applying the criteria set forth above as soon as reasonably practicable after such disqualification.
Prizes:
All finalists will be invited to participate in the Sponsor’s May 4-6, 2022, Homecoming event (“Event”) and be given an opportunity to present.
Winners will have an opportunity to present on stage at the Event and will receive a cash award of $3,000 each. Winners can choose to receive their $3,000 cash prize as an unrestricted individual gift or to donate to a non-profit organization or charity of their choice.
Participating in or speaking at the Event has no retail value, and if, for any reason, a Winner is not able to participate in or speak at the event, no alternate prize will be awarded.
General Terms:
Entries, Ballots and/or votes generated by a script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified. Proxy voting is not allowed. No one may purchase or otherwise provide incentives for 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. If Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that any Candidate or Voter has engaged in, participated in or encouraged any Prohibited Activity otherwise violated these Official Rules, whether directly or indirectly, Sponsor may disqualify that Candidate or voter from further participation.
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any voter or Candidate from further participation in the Contest if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such voter or Candidate: (a) has attempted to tamper with the voting process or other operation of the Contest; (b) has violated or attempted to circumvent or violate these Official Rules; or (c) has acted toward Sponsor or any other Candidate or voter in an unfair, inequitable, deliberately annoying, threatening, disrupting or harassing manner. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules.
Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend, terminate or postpone this Contest or any part hereof, if Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the security, administration, fairness, integrity and/or operation of the Contest has been corrupted or impaired by any error, non-authorized intervention, network failure, information storage failure, telecommunications failure, malfunction, or any cause beyond Sponsor’s control. If Sponsor cancels or terminates the Contest or any part hereof, Sponsor will post notice of the same on the Contest webpage. In the event of such termination, Sponsor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to select Winners in each Category by applying the criteria set forth above to eligible, non-suspect votes received as of the termination date.