Smith.ai Official Contest Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

YOU MUST HAVE INTERNET ACCESS AND A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS TO PARTICIPATE.

To enter this Contest (defined below), you (on behalf of yourself and your business) agree to the rules below (the “Official Rules”) and agree to abide by them. In the Official Rules below, you may be referred to as “Entrant,” “you,” “your,” or “Small Business.”

Your submission of an entry in this Contest is your full and unconditional agreement to the Official Rules, Smith.ai’s Privacy Policy, which governs all information and data you submit to Smith.ai, and the Sponsor’s and judges’ decisions and interpretations of the Official Rules, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. To win a prize, a Small Business must fulfill all requirements set forth below.

1. Sponsor: Smith.ai, 790 Sunshine Drive, Los Altos, CA 94024 
2. Eligibility:
   1. For purposes of these Official Rules:
      1. The “Contest” is the Smith.ai contest that has been announced by Smith.ai and has been linked to these Official Rules.
      2. “Entrant,” “you,” “your,” or “Small Business” means the small business submitting an entry in this Contest and/or the individual submitting an entry in the Contest on behalf of a small business.
      3. A “Franchisee” is any business operating under license from a franchisor and governed by a franchise agreement, such as McDonald’s, The UPS Store, or Ace Hardware.
      4. A “Small Business” is a business with no more than 75 employees located and operating in the United States with average annual receipts of under $20MM, excluding Franchisees (defined below), licensees, and independent owner/operators of larger business entities.
   2. Subject to the additional rules and restrictions below, the Contest is open to Small Businesses located in the United States that have been in operation for at least 12 months prior to entering the contest, and legal residents of the United States who own or operate such a Small Business and: 
      1. if an individual, are at least 18 years of age;
      2. are not a Franchisee; 
      3. have a bank account capable of accepting receipt of funds via ACH or similar; 
      4. have a Valid e-mail account and Internet access; 
      5. are in good standing with the jurisdiction under whose law the Small Business is incorporated/organized at all times during the Contest;
      6. are NOT a party to any existing or pending litigation;
      7. are in full compliance with the Content Guidelines in Section 6;
      8. sign any additional forms reasonably required by Smith.ai;
      9. have not committed any act which brings Small Business or Sponsor into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, or ridicule, or which reflects unfavorably upon the reputation of Sponsor;
      10. have not taken any action against Sponsor or made any public statements in derogation of Sponsor and/or its products or services; and
      11. have not committed or been charged with a felony or a crime of moral turpitude.
   3. Entrants have no obligation to purchase any services of any kind from Sponsor or affiliates of Sponsor to participate in the Contest or to win it.
   4. All other persons (i.e., members of the general public) are NOT eligible.
   5. Employees, officers and directors of the Sponsor or any entity supplying a prize, and/or their respective parent companies, or subsidiary, affiliated and successor companies (collectively, the “Promotion Entities”), and the immediate family and household members of any of the foregoing individuals, are not eligible to enter a business in the Contest. “Immediate family members” shall mean parents, legal guardians, step-parents, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses, regardless of where they live. “Household members” shall mean people who share the same residence at least three (3) months a year, whether legally related or not.
   6. Potential Small Business winners may be required to provide proof of eligibility in order to receive a prize.
   7. If an individual submitting an entry in the Contest is not the owner or an officer of the Small Business, proof of eligibility will include written authorization from the Small Business owner or officer authorizing the entry and agreeing to the Official Rules.
   8. This Contest is not open to individuals and/or Small Businesses outside the United States and/or where the Contest is prohibited by law.
   9. The Entrant understands and agrees that, if the Small Business is determined a potential finalist, it may be subject to due diligence by Sponsor; and, failure to furnish all requested information or complete requested documents or processes within the time required by Sponsor may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, result in disqualification.
   10. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to disqualify a potential winner if the potential winner (or individual Small Business owner, personally) is not eligible to participate in the Contest or has engaged in conduct prohibited by these Official Rules, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Smith.ai also reserves the right to disqualify a potential winner for any or no reason.
3. Contest Entry Period: The Contest begins and ends on the dates announced by Sponsor in the announcements linked to these Official Rules. Days run from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time. All submissions must be received by the announced last day of the contest at 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time. Sponsor's computer is the official clock for this Contest. Sponsor has the right to terminate the Contest at any point in its discretion.
4. How to Enter: Eligible Entrants may enter the Contest during the contest entry period by submitting a video, image(s) with caption, or a written response detailing your latest business improvement and tagging Smith.ai’s social media handle (handle info below) in a post on any of the platforms identified below, using the tags set out below:
   1. Platform requirements:
      1. Instagram: use the hashtag #SmithBusinessBoost. Instagram handle: @Smith.ai
      2. Facebook: Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists (@Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists), #SmithBusinessBoost
      3. X: Smith.ai (@smithdotai), #SmithBusinessBoost
      4. LinkedIn: Smith.ai; #SmithBusinessBoost
      5. TikTok: the hashtag #SmithBusinessBoost
   2. You may enter / post as many times as you like but can only win once in any Contest.
   3. Your account must be public so that Smith.ai is able to see your submission;
5. Ownership; License. By entering the Contest, Entrant:
   1. Represents and warrants that Entrant is the sole and exclusive owner of, or permitted licensee of, all right, title, and interest throughout the world in and to all patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual property rights in, to, arising out of, and related to the Contest entry; and 
   2. Represents and warrants that Entrant has a perpetual and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, create derivative works of, distribute, share, and exploit the name, image, likeness, voice, video, and photograph of every person who can be seen or heard in the Contest entry;  and
   3. Hereby grants to Smith.ai a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, compensation free, transferable, irrevocable, worldwide license (with rights to sublicense through multiple tiers of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, create derivative works of, distribute, share, practice and otherwise exploit the Contest entry and all patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual property rights in, to, arising out of, and related to the Contest entry, including without limitation those rights in, to, arising out of, and related to the name, image, likeness, voice, video, and photograph of the business, the Entrant, and every person who can be seen or heard in the Contest entry, in all cases in whole or in part, in any manner, on any media, and through any means now known or hereafter devised, including without limitation online; and
   4. Without limiting any of the foregoing, agrees Sponsor will have the right to use the Contest entries and exercise the foregoing license rights in any advertising, marketing, promotion, or for any other commercial or non-commercial purpose, without the requirement of any compensation to Entrant; and
   5. Hereby waives any claim or right under the doctrine of “droit moral” (moral right) to object to Smith.ai’s licensed use of the Contest entry; and 
   6. Further agrees to execute, at Company’s request, all documents and other instruments necessary to confirm all and any of the foregoing representations, grants, and agreements.
6. Content Guidelines: In addition to complying with all other requirements of these Official Rules; each entry must comply with the following content guidelines (“Content Guidelines”). Any Entry that Sponsor/Administrator, in their sole discretion, determines is in violation of any Content Guideline may be disqualified from the Contest. Each Entry must:
   • Be an original work of the Entrant created solely for the purpose of this Contest;
   • Not include inappropriate language or images;
   • Be appropriate for a business audience;
   • Be truthful and not exaggerated;
   • Not include any information that is confidential, proprietary or trade secret of the Small Business or any other individual or entity;
   • Relate and be relevant to the Contest prompt;
   • Not contain unauthorized content that violates or infringes any third-party rights of any kind, including, without limitation, any third-party privacy, publicity, trade secret and/or intellectual property rights, including third party registered and/or common law copyrights and trademarks;
   • Not disparage any individual or entity, including Sponsor (or any other person who endorses their products/services) and any other person or entity affiliated with the Contest or products, services or entities that are competitive with any of the foregoing;
   • Not contain brand names, trademarks or logos of any third party other than the relevant Small Business and the Sponsor, subject to the limited license granted by Sponsor above and solely in accordance with the terms of these Official Rules (including these Content Guidelines);
   • Not contain content or other creative elements not created by and original to Entrant;
   • Not contain content or other material that is misleading, inappropriate, indecent, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
   • Not contain content or other material that includes explicit language or content, images of violence, or promotion of illegal activities, tobacco, alcohol, drugs or other controlled substances, dangerous stunts, real weapons of any kind including, but not limited to, guns, knives or projectiles;
   • Not contain content or other material that relates to lotteries or gambling;
   • Not contain content or other material that reflects, advocates or promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, harm or exploitation of or against any class, group or individual, discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age, or actions or activities that are restricted, prohibited, illegal or unlawful;
   • Not contain content, images or other material that is unlawful or in violation of or contrary to any applicable federal or state laws or regulations;
   • Not have been previously submitted in a promotion of any kind, or published, posted, exhibited or displayed publicly for commercial use by any means and in any form or media.
7. Contest Judging: Each submitted eligible Contest entry will be judged according to the equally weighted judging criteria in Table 1, below, by a panel of judges from Smith.ai. The Contest entry scoring the highest average total score will be declared the winner. If a potential winner is deemed ineligible or subject to disqualification for any reason, the Entrant will be disqualified and the eligible Contest entry that garnered the next highest score will be declared the new potential winner. In the case of a tie, the judges will make the final decisions. Should the pool of Entrants be deemed ineligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, decide there is no winner.  All decisions of the judges and Smith.ai are final.
   ‍
   Table 1

   #1 - Strength of story and the extent to which the story addresses the prompt provided by Smith.ai	0-50 points
   #2 - Submission Format Type: 30 points for a video, 20 points for a photo and caption, 10 points for text only.	0-30 points
   #3 - Engagement on your post (likes/comments/replies). This includes comments by third parties on your posts and your engagement with commenters (replies and similar).	0-20 points

   ‍Scoring will be averaged among the participating judges. No Entrant receiving a total average score of less than 75 points will be eligible to win or place in the Contest.
   

8. Feedback and Communication: Please make sure your contact information is accurate in your bio or account, or that you have your direct messages open, so that we can reach you if you are selected as a winner.
9. Prize Winner Notification. Potential winners will be notified by Sponsor via direct message and/or other contact information provided by the Entrant in the Entrant’s social media account. Potential winners must respond back to Sponsor within two business days of notification issuance, verifying their eligibility and willingness to accept the prize as described in these Official Rules. In addition:
   1. Potential winners submitting video must be able to provide Sponsor with an Mp4 or mov file of the video so that Sponsor may share the submission across Sponsor’s social media platforms. Potential winners submitting a photo must be able to provide Sponsor with a high-resolution jpeg or png file so that Sponsor may share the submission across Sponsor’s social media platforms.
   2. Failure to respond within the deadline or comply in any way with the stated requirements may result in forfeiture of the Contest and the prize at the sole discretion of Sponsor.
   3. Sponsor or its designee will require winners to provide a completed and executed IRS form W-9 to receive their prize.
   4. Sponsor may also require winners to provide an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release to receive their prize.
10. Announcement of Winners: First Prize winners will be announced on Smith.ai’s social media channels, including but not limited to Smith.ai’s Instagram channel. 2nd and 3rd place winners may be mentioned on social media and as otherwise determined by Smith.ai at its sole discretion.
11. Prizes and Taxes:
    1. First Prize (1 prize): USD $1,000 Visa prepaid gift card and USD $1,000 Smith.ai account credit prizes for best overall submission (per Contest).
    2. Runners-Up (up to 5 prizes): USD $500 Visa prepaid gift card and USD $500 Smith.ai account credit prizes for each runner-up Contest entry.
    3. All Participants: USD $300 Smith.ai account credit prize for each video, photo-and-caption submission, or written submission (per Contest Entry Period).
    4. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of winners that receive a prize. By accepting the prize, Entrant agrees that Entrant is responsible for all federal, state, and local income tax liability arising from receiving the prize and all other obligations and expenses that are associated with receipt and use of the prize regardless of the value.
12. Release and Indemnification. By participating in this Contest, Entrant (on behalf of him/her/themselves, the corresponding Small Business, and all successors and assigns) agrees to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsor, its affiliates and their successor companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives and employees, from and against any and all actions, claims, costs (including attorneys’ fees), injury, loss or damage, including, without limitation, death and bodily injury, arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, out of or related to: (1) Entrant’s participation in the Contest; (2) any violation of rights of publicity or privacy, claims of defamation or portrayal in a false light or based on any claim of infringement of intellectual property related to or arising from any use of Entrant’s entry or related data or information; (3) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to, malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, websites, network hardware or software beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of Entries; (6) claims resulting from the impairment, cancellation or modification of the Contest; (7) claims related to tax liability associated with receiving a prize; and/or (8) any acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize (including, without limitation, losses, damages or injuries to Entrant’s or any other person’s equipment or other property, or to their persons or activity and any products liability claims alleging tangible property damage, bodily injury or death).
13. Limitations of Liability. SPONSOR IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO  ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS) ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO A CONTEST, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES IN ADVANCE.
    EXCEPT FOR LIABILITY ARISING UNDER SECTION 13 ("RELEASE AND INDEMNIFICATION"), BUT NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, SPONSOR’S ENTIRE LIABILITY TO ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER ENTITY OR PERSON RELATED TO OR ARISING FROM A CONTEST WILL NOT EXCEED $1,000.00.
    THE PRECEDING LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY DO NOT APPLY TO LIABILITIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED BY APPLICABLE LAWS.
14. Miscellaneous.
    1. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, inaccessible/blocked, incomplete or misdirected entries. Proof of submission of Entry does not constitute proof of receipt of the same. All Entries must be submitted correctly prior to expiration of the Contest period.
    2. If you opt to access the Contest via your wireless mobile device, data rates or other charges (such as normal airtime and carrier charges as well as charges for wireless Internet access) may apply according to the terms and conditions of your service agreement with your wireless carrier. Wireless carriers’ rate plans may vary, and you should contact your wireless carrier for more information on messaging rate plans and charges relating to your participation in this Contest. Mobile device service may not be available in all areas. Check your phone’s capabilities for specific instructions.
    3. Entry in the Contest does not create an employment, partnership, or other legal relationship between Entrant and Smith.ai. Notwithstanding any custom and practice to pay an individual or business for an idea (if any), nothing herein shall create an implied or express contract to compensate Entrants for their entries.(d) All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of wi
    4. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of winners that receive a prize.
    5. With respect to all waivers and releases in these Official Rules, Entrant hereby waives California Civil Code Section 1542 (and any analogous law in any other applicable jurisdiction) which says:
       "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor."