Eligibility
To be eligible to win, your company must be a startup in business for fewer than 5 years, have a product/service that is currently available for sale, have at least 3 referencable customers and comply with these Official Rules. The Contest is open to businesses in the 48 contiguous United States, and is null and void wherever prohibited by law. Officers, directors, and employees of Sponsor and judges of the Contest and its affiliates, as well as those individuals’ immediate family members and the residents of their households are not eligible. Sponsor reserves the right, exercisable upon its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds has: (1) violated these Official Rules; (2) interfered with, or attempted to manipulate, the Contest or Contest results; (3) violated any law or regulation by participating in the Contest; or (4) provided false information to Sponsor.
By entering The Start-up the Conversation Contest (“Contest”), entrants consent to be bound by these Official Rules, which shall constitute a contract between entrants and Idiom Strategies (“Sponsor”). All decisions of Sponsor with respect to the Contest shall be final.
How to Enter:
Eligible individuals may enter the Contest by submitting a qualified entry to Sponsor during the Contest Period. Entries must be received during the Contest Period. Only one entry per company will be accepted. To qualify for entry into the Contest, all entries must include the following:
- Write a 100-word or less essay answering the question: “What is the number 1 conversation marketing benefit you'd like your company to achieve and why?”
- Contest entries must be submitted via email to conversation_marketing@idiomstrategies.com.
- Contest entries must include your name, title, company name, email, phone number, company website.
Judging
Idiom Strategies will appoint three (3) judges to evaluate the contest on thought, creativity and sincerity. This contest will not be judged on writing skills, spelling or punctuation. This is a Contest of “skill”, there are no “odds” of a particular entry being chosen by the judges.
Contest Period
The Contest shall begin June 10th, 2009 at 12:00 A.M. Pacific Time and shall continue until June 30th, 2009, at Midnight Pacific Time (“Contest Period”), unless extended or shortened by Sponsor in accordance with these rules. All essays must be time stamped on or before June 30th, 2009 and received no later than Midnight Western Time, June 30th, 2009. The Contest Period may be extended for a period of up to (6) additional months in the event that the end of the Contest Period does not meet the minimum Entrant Number Amount (50 entrants). Entries received after the Contest Period will not be considered. If the Entrant Number Amount is not met, the Sponsor may elect in its sole discretion to have all entries received judged (“Close the Contest”).
By entering the contest, you agree to rules and regulations of this contest. Once the Sponsor elects to close the Contest, the judges will choose the winning entry.
Prize
There will be one (1) winner chosen from the qualified entries received during the Contest Period who will be awarded the following prize.
The prize awarded to the winning entry is a Strategic Conversation Marketing Plan, Influencer Identification and Profiles and a Tactical Program Plan as outlined herein:
Strategic Conversation Marketing Plan
We work with you to understand your current marketing tactics and discover what is and isn't working. We’ll discuss goals and objectives and incorporate that into a conversation marketing strategy that complements your other efforts—if you already have established PR, analyst relations and advertising programs you don't need to abandon them to start a conversation marketing program. These programs may even see increased return from a conversation marketing program, but even better, you may find cost-saving opportunities once your program is in full swing.
You’ll receive a Conversation Marketing Strategic Plan that includes:Influencers Identification and Profiles
- Market Conversation Space Analysis
- SWOT Analysis for participation in the market conversation
Conversation Marketing Goals and Objectives- Influencer Relationship Development
- Conversation Messaging and Topic Initiation
- Analysis of conversation Participants and Listeners
Through extensive research and an understanding of online and offline social media and traditional media outlets we determine who is driving your market conversation. To determine what Influencers you need to build relationships with, we rate them on Market Conversation Reach, Quality of Content, Frequency of Participation and Level of Audience Involvement. You’ll receive profiles on each Influencer and guidance on best practices for communicating with them.Tactical Programs
- Contact details
- Bio
- How their influence is manifests itself in the conversation
- Their Conversation Locations and Tools
- Best practices for interacting with each Influencer
From the strategic plan and list of Influencers, we derive Tactical Programs that give you visibility online and offline in the Conversation Locations that are most important to your specific industry. You’ll not only receive recommendations on which social media outlets, and other online mediums, will be most beneficial to participate in, but we’ll also provide you with recommendations for offline activities and events, which can include, but are not limited to, face-to-face meetings, speaking proposals, user groups and event sponsorship. These recommendations will help you build relationships with the Influencers, get you in front of Conversation Participants and Listeners and position you as an Influencer.
Except where prohibited by law, the winner must execute and provide to Sponsor the following: (1) Affidavit of Eligibility, attesting to the winner’s eligibility and compliance with the Official Rules; (2) a Liability Release, releasing Sponsor from any liability arising out of the Contest; and (3) a Case Study Publicity Release, allowing Sponsor to use the winning company’s name; product/service name; corporate logo(s); winner-appointed executive quotes, participation, likeness and voice; and reasonable findings and process evaluation to be included in a case study for publicity purposes. Winner will also be required to provide any other information needed by Sponsor to comply with applicable laws and regulations. By accepting the prize, winner agrees to work with the Sponsor to accomplish all meetings, inquiries and processes to achieve completion of the prize services offered within the five (5) week work period. The winner agrees to allow both on and offline publication of the Case Study and Publicity Release.
Prize Notification
The Sponsor has made every effort to display the prize as accurately as possible.
Copyright Ownership and License
Sponsor from its offices located in California, in the USA controls this Contest. The Contest is available to companies from the US 48 contiguous states. By submitting an entry, both you and the Sponsor agree that the statutes and laws of the USA without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof, will apply to the Contest, these Official Rules, the entire relationship between Sponsor and Entrants, and any legal proceeding arising there from (whether grounded in tort, contract, law or equity). In the case of a dispute, subject to the provisions of the Dispute Resolution paragraph above, you and Sponsor agree any litigation arising between the parties hereto shall be brought only in the state or federal courts having subject matter jurisdiction in San Francisco, California USA. You have irrevocably and unconditionally consented to the jurisdiction of any such court and hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waive any defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of any action or proceeding in any such court, any objection to venue with respect to any such action or proceeding, and to any right of jurisdiction on account of the place of residence or domicile of any party thereto.
Limitations of Liability
Sponsor may amend the Official Rules in its sole discretion. Amendments will be posted on the Sponsor Website. Unless otherwise specified, any amendments will become effective on the day they are posted on this Site.