Split the Pot Recipe Contest Rules

Split-the-Pot Official Contest  Rules:


NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. CONTEST STARTS 12:00:01 AM (ET) ON OCTOBER 21, 2013 AND ENDS AT 11:59:59 PM (ET) ON DECEMBER 2, 2013 ("CONTEST PERIOD"). THIS PROMOTION IS INTENDED FOR VIEWING IN THE UNITED STATES ONLY AND SHALL ONLY BE CONSTRUED AND EVALUATED ACCORDING TO UNITED STATES LAW. OPEN ONLY TO U.S. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT TIME OF ENTRY AND WHO HAVE A VALID EMAIL ACCOUNT. YOU MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS SWEEPSTAKES IF YOU ARE NOT LOCATED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES. SPARKPEOPLE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY ANY ENTRY MADE BY A PERSON THAT WE DETERMINEIS NOT ELIGIBLE UNDER THESE RULES TO ENTER THE CONTEST.

Objective:   
Create a recipe that must be made in a slow cooker from ingredients that are easily obtainable.

 

Recipes must include:

  • Recipe name
  • Number of servings that the recipe yields
  • Prep and cook times
  • A list of ingredients with measurements in order of use
  • Complete nutrition information, determined using our Recipe Calculator
  • Step-by-step preparation and cooking directions
  • An image of the final, prepared dish
  • The maximum size for photo file uploaded to the website is 5MB.

Timing and Dates:
October 21-November 6: Contest open for Recipe Submissions
October 21th-November 18: Voting Round
November 18: Finalists announced.
November 19-27: SparkPeople Judging Period
December 2: Grand Prize Winner announced. Prizes sent to Grand Prize Winner and Runners-Up.

Prizes:
(1) Grand Prize $5,000 directly to the Grand Prize winner, and $5,000 sent by SparkPeople to the soup kitchen or food non-profit of the Grand Prize Winner’s choice. (Non-profit is subject to SparkPeople’s approval.)

(14) Runners-Up Prizes: $100 gift card to Amazon for each runner-up.

Submission Period:
The Split-the-Pot Recipe Contest submission period begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 21, 2013, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on November 6, 2013; entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 6, 2013. During this period, visitors to SparkRecipes are encouraged to submit their favorite slow cooker recipe to our contest. You must enter online at SparkRecipes.com following the instructions in these rules.

To Enter:
In order to submit a recipe to our contest, all contestants must be or become members of SparkRecipes.com; if visitors are not currently SparkRecipes members, they can join our recipe community here. There is no charge to join. Each person may only enter one (1) recipe during the submission period of the contest, and all recipes must be submitted through our Recipe Calculator. Once the visitor has entered his or her recipe into our Recipe Calculator, they must click the “Enter this Recipe into the Split-the-Pot” Contest checkbox at the bottom of the Recipe Calculator page and then click the “Save Recipe” button. Once the recipe has been uploaded to our database, we will consider the recipe entered into our contest. After their recipes have been submitted, contestants are encouraged to share the link to their recipe with family and friends via email or social networks; only recipes with the most votes during the voting period will be moved on to the final judging period. Those promoting recipes must abide by SparkPeople.com’s terms and conditions and community guidelines.

Voting Period:
During the voting period, any visitor to SparkRecipes.com can vote for any recipe that has been submitted to our contest; visitors can also share their favorite recipes to their social channels. At the end of the voting period, we will tally up all on-site votes for each submitted recipe and all social engagement for each recipe. We will move 15 recipes on to the judging round of the contest. These 15 recipes will include: (5) recipes with the most on-page votes, (5) recipes with the most social engagement (likes, shares, tweets, comments, etc.), and (5) wildcard recipes chosen by our editorial staff as best fitting the “Eat Better” tagline of our site. If a recipe advances to the final judging period in one category, that recipe is not eligble to advance to the final judging round in another category; the 15 finalist recipes will have no duplication. Visitors may vote for one recipe per day throughout the voting period.

Judging Period:
During this period, SparkPeople will take the (15) finalist recipes from the Voting Period and will divide the recipes between SparkPeople employees; these employees will prepare the 15 finalist recipes, in house.

Judging Criteria:
Each recipe will be made by a SparkPeople employee, following the instructions exactly as they were submitted during the submission period; this employee will rate the recipe based on ease of preparation & the ready availability of ingredients. SparkPeople employees will eat each dish and will rate it based on appearance and taste. The taste test rankings will be combined with the preparation rankings to determine the overall ranking of each recipe. The final judgment will take into account: ease of preparation, taste, final appearance, general healthiness and the on-site reviews of the recipe. Once the Grand Prize Winner has been chosen, SparkPeople will notify the winner via email. If we do not receive a response within (3) days, we will name the first runner up as the new Grand Prize winner and will contact that contestant via email. If the first runner up does not respond, we will move down our runners up list, contestant by contestant, until we receive a response. When the Grand Prize Winner has been chosen and is in contact with SparkPeople, we will email all runners-up and will arrange to send them their gift cards. The decision of the SparkPeople judges will be final on all matters relating to the contest.

General Terms:

  • The official clock for purposes of the submission portion of the Contest is the computer of the Sponsor. Only entries received during the Contest Entry Period and which are otherwise fully compliant with these Official Rules are “Valid Entries.” Entries are deemed to be received at the time they are received by the Sponsor's database and not at the time of submission by the Contestant.
  • All Contestants assume full responsibility of knowing their local laws in regard to Contests and are subject to any local, state or national restrictions. This Contest is void wherever prohibited by law. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. This promotion is intended for viewing in the United States only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to the United States law. Contestants must be 18 or older and reside in the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia.
  • All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. You grant SparkPeople a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, store, display, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, perform, and distribute the andy content you have submitted into this contest.
  • By submitting a Contest Entry, the contestant warrants and represents that: (a) it is the Contestant’s original work and has been legally created; (b) it has not been previously published or distributed in any print media including Cookbooks, excluding digital media and blogs; (c) it has not been entered in or won previous contests or awards; (d) it does not, nor will its publication on any media, infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other legal or moral rights of any person or entity.
  • The Grand Prize Winnings will be distributed as follows: $5,000 will be sent directly to the Grand Prize Winner, from SparkPeople. The $5,000 designated for the soup kitchen or food charity will be paid directly to the soup kitchen or food charity, as a charitable contribution from SparkPeople. The hunger-relief charity must be a registered nonprofit with full tax exempt status and must have no affiliation with any political party or cause. SparkPeople reserves the right to refuse the eligibility of the hunger-relief charity should we decide to do so; this choice is purely at the discretion of SparkPeople and its employees. If SparkPeople refuses the first-choice hunger-relief charity, the Grand Prize Winner can provide a second choice. If the Grand Prize Winner's second choice hunger-relief charity is also deemed not acceptable by SparkPeople, SparkPeople will the give the $5,000 donation to our default food nonprofit; the Grand Prize Winner will still receive $5,000. For the term of this contest, SparkPeople's default hunger-relief charity will be the Freestore Foodbank, 1141 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Prizes are not transferable; no substitutions allowed. All winners will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility (including information required for issuance of IRS Form 1099) and Liability and Publicity Release within seven (7) days of notification or prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner.
  • You will be asked to provide your details including name, phone, address and email. Limit one entry per person per category.
  • By participating in our contest, Contestant grants Sponsor permission to use his/her name, recipe, hometown, photograph or image for future advertising and publicity purposes in connection with the Contest in any and all media without additional compensation, notification or permission.
  • Neither Sponsor, nor advertising or promotion agencies are responsible for: (i) error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor.
  • If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion to cancel, modify or terminate the Contest.
  • All entries become the property of SparkPeople, Inc. and will not be returned. Winners will be required to grant to SparkPeople, Inc. all rights, titles and interest in the submitted entry. We reserve the right to use your entry in all print and electronic media, and to edit it for brevity and clarity.
  • All taxes, if any, are the winners' responsibility. Sponsor will not be responsible for any loss, liability or damage arising out of the winners' acceptance or use of the prize(s). An IRS Form 1099 will be issued to all affected winners as required by law.
  • All prizes are guaranteed to be awarded. 
  • Sponsor shall have no liability for any potential Contestant notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by any potential Contestant for any reason.  If, despite reasonable efforts, any potential Contestant does not respond within (2) days of the first notification attempt, or if the prize notification is returned as unclaimed or undeliverable to such potential Contestant, such potential Contestant will forfeit his or her prize and an alternate winner may be selected.  Alternate winner will be defined as the next runner-up as determined by SparkPeople.  If any potential Contestant is found to be ineligible, or if he or she has not complied with these Official Rules or declines a prize for any reason prior to award, such potential Contestant will be disqualified and an alternate prize winner may be selected.  
  • Force Majeure: In the event that Sponsor is prevented from awarding prizes or continuing with the Contest as contemplated herein by any event beyond its control, including but not limited to fire, flood, natural or man-made epidemic of health of other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis, order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Sponsor’s control (each a “Force Majeure” event or occurrence), then Sponsor shall have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Contest.
  • The maximum file size for photo file uploaded to the website is 5MB.
  • Only entries submitted via the recipe calculator form provided on the SparkRecipes website  will be accepted. Entries submitted via any other method, including but not limited to U.S. Postal Service, facsimile or other express delivery services, will NOT be accepted.
  • SparkPeople will be the sole judge of which entries are considered Valid Entries.
  • Any Winner that accepts a Prize agrees, at the Sponsor’s request, to participate in any and all promotional activity (such as publicity and photography) involved in the winning of any Prize, and they consent to the Sponsor using their name, image and recipe in promotional material relating to the Contest.
  • CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY'S FEES) FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
  • Disputes: Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Sweepstakes, or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. Any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred but in no event attorney's fees.
  • To be notified of the Prize Winner: please your request with a self-addressed, stamped #10 business size envelope postmarked by December 31, 2013 to:
    SparkPeople
    Attention: SparkRecipe Contest Results 2013
    310 Culvert Street
    Cincinnati, OH     45202

Disqualifications:

  • Employees of SparkPeople, immediate family members of employees, or friend of employee are not eligible to win this contest.
  • Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.
  • Content cannot contain material that is irrelevant to the purpose of the Contest.
  • Content cannot depict illegal activity and cannot itself be in violation of any law.
  • Sponsor reserves the right in their sole and absolute discretion to reject, disqualify and/or remove any Recipe Entry that violates these Official Rules without any notification or warning.
  • In the event of any non-compliance with these Official Rules, the potential Winner will be disqualified and an alternate Winner will be selected. Sponsor is not responsible for unsuccessful efforts to notify any potential Winner.
  • Entry materials that have been tampered with or altered, or mass entries or entries generated automatically or robotically, or by a script, macro or use of any automated device(s) are void.