No purchase necessary. All Provincial, local and municipal laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited.
By entering this Contest, nominee affirms that he/she has reviewed these Official Rules & Regulations ("Official Rules") and hereby agrees and accepts all terms and conditions contained herein. The Contest begins on May 15, 2023, and ends on July 15, 2023, at 11:59 MDT (the "Contest Closing Date").
The Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award is designed to honour an individual or individuals in the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (“AWNA”) coverage area, who have made a significant contribution as a volunteer to their community. The awarding of the Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award will showcase the significant contribution that the spirit of volunteerism makes to our communities.
The award will consist of:
- a $5,000 donation (the “Prize”), made by Direct Energy Marketing Limited (“Direct Energy”), to the winner’s organization or cause of choice in their community;
- recognition of the winner’s achievement through a commemorative award, article, video interview, and photo to be published in AWNA newspapers across Alberta; and
- recognition of the four semi-finalists through a commemorative award, article, and photo/video to be published in their respective AWNA community papers and the Direct Energy website.
1. Eligibility: Nominations are open to any individual or group of individuals residing or working in a community served by a member newspaper of the AWNA. The nominee(s) must also be legal Canadian residents who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of nomination. The nominee(s) must support the community in a volunteer/unpaid capacity.
Employees of Direct Energy Marketing Limited or the AWNA (which, individually and collectively, are hereinafter referred to as the "Contest Sponsor"), and its respective parents, divisions, affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional or marketing agencies, and their immediate family members (parent, child, and spouse) and persons living in the same households of each such employee of the Contest Sponsor (whether related or not) are not eligible. Participation in the Contest constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Rules. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
2. Contest Entry: To nominate an individual or group of individuals, a nomination form must be completed. A nominee profile of 750 words or less, highlighting the nominee’s contribution to the community, must accompany any nomination form. Additionally, each nomination form must also include the name of a designated charity or community group (the “Designated Group”), selected by the nominee, as the potential recipient of the $5,000 donation. A Designated Group profile of 250 words or less, detailing the Designated Group’s contribution to the community and indicating how they would use the donation, must also accompany any nomination form.
Only those nomination forms which are fully completed, will be considered by the Contest Sponsor.
Nomination forms, and the additional information, must be RECEIVED by July 15, 2023, at 11:59 MDT.
Nomination forms will not be returned to nominating parties and will become the property of the Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award committee. Finalists will be contacted by our team by July 30, 2023, at 11:59 MDT.
3. Winner Selection: Potential winners of the Prize will be selected by a panel, composed of representatives designated by the Contest Sponsor. All nominations will be judged on the contribution made by the individual(s) being nominated, as well as the contribution made by the Designated Group by the nominee and their proposed use of the program donation. This panel’s decisions are final and binding.
If sufficient eligible nominations are received, a short list of five (5) semi-finalists will be identified by the panel at the conclusion of the first round of nomination review. From this short list, a single Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award winner (the “Winner”) will be selected by the panel.
4. Prizes: The five (5) semi-finalists will all receive a commemorative award acknowledging their efforts, accompanied by an article and photo in the AWNA paper serving their communities. The Designated Group selected by the Winner will be presented with a $5,000 donation from Direct Energy. The Winner, semi-finalists and Designated Group will also be profiled in promotional materials produced by Direct Energy and AWNA.
As a condition of receiving any prize/award, the winners must sign a Declaration and Release of Liability form along with a photo and testimonial release, which allows the Sponsor to use the winner’s name(s), face(s), likeness(es), voice(s), video recording(s), hometown(s), information contained in Connection with the Contest.
5. Winner Notification and Acceptance: The Winner will be announced at the AWNA awards banquet in September, 2023.
6. Limitations of Liability/Indemnification: By entering this Contest, entrants shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Sponsor, and its parent, its affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, governors, representatives, dealers, advertising and promotion agencies, judging organizations, employees, agents and partners (herein, the “Released Parties”), from and against any and all liability, damages or causes of action (however named or described) with respect to or arising out of either: (i) entrant’s participation in the Contest; or (ii) the receipt or use of the Prize awarded herein; or (iii) the administration of the Contest and distribution of the Prize awarded herein; and (iv) any and all claims, judgments, damages, liabilities, penalties and fines of any kind, stemming from participation in this Contest. Entrants hereby release, waive and discharge any and all claims of damage, loss or causes of action (including, negligence), including (but not limited to) death, personal injury or loss or damage to property, which the entrant or any of the entrant's representatives, heirs, next of kin or assignees ("Entrant's Representatives") may have or which may hereinafter accrue to the entrant or Entrant Representatives against the Released Parties as a result of the entrant's participation in the Contest or the receipt or use of the Prize(s) awarded herein.
7. Internet: If for any reason the Internet portion of the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor or its affiliates that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest. Sponsor, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest and to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process. If the Contest is cancelled for any reason before completion, all entries received up to the point of termination will be included in a random drawing to award the Prizes. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications-line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to or alteration of entries. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment or software, or for failure of any automatic entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Website, or any combination thereof - including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this Contest. The use of automated software or computer programs to register or to enter this Contest is prohibited and any individual who uses or attempts to use such methods to register or to enter will be disqualified. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with, this Contest.
8. Personal Information: Sponsor collects personal data about entrants, in accordance with its privacy policy. Please review the Direct Energy’s privacy policy at https://www.directenergy.com/privacy-policy/canada-privacy-policy. Each entrant hereby consents to: (i) the collection, use, and disclosure of the entrant’s personal information by the Sponsor and its affiliates for its and/or their marketing purposes; and (ii) the receipt of commercial electronic messages from the Sponsor and its affiliates for marketing purposes. All information collected from entrants is subject to Sponsor’s use by or on behalf of the Sponsor, in connection with the Contest, without compensation, unless prohibited by law, and I hereby release any and all claims I may have against the Sponsor for such use.
9. Governing Law: The Contest and these Official Rules shall be governed according to the laws of the province of Alberta, Canada, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws. All claims, actions or suits must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the province of Alberta, Canada.
10. Force Majeure: The failure of Sponsor to comply with any provision of these Official Rules due to an act of God, hurricane, war, fire, riot, earthquake, terrorism, act of public enemies, actions of governmental authorities outside of the control of the Sponsor (excepting compliance with applicable codes and regulations) or other force majeure event will not be considered a breach of these Official Rules.
11. Winners List: To obtain the list of winners of the Contest, or a copy of these Official Rules and Regulations, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Direct Energy, Attn: Direct Energy Marketing Limited, 2500, 530 Eighth Avenue, S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3S8
12. Severability: If any term and/or section in these Rules and Regulations is to any extent illegal, otherwise invalid, or incapable of being enforced, such term/section shall be excluded to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability; all other terms/sections hereof shall remain in full force and effect; and, to the extent permitted and possible, the invalid or unenforceable term/section shall be deemed replaced by a term/section that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of such invalid or unenforceable term/section.
The Sponsor of the Contest is Direct Energy Marketing Limited, 2500, 530 Eighth Avenue, S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3S8
Direct Energy Marketing Limited is not affiliated with Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association. Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association is not a sponsor of this contest.
© 2023 Direct Energy Marketing Limited. All Rights Reserved.
