Bracket Challenge Contest Rules

Bracket Challenge Online Sweepstakes Rules 1.         Introduction: Penton Business Media, Inc., d/b/a/ Electronic Design (“Sponsor”) is offering the Online Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”). NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.   A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. 

Bracket Challenge Online Sweepstakes Rules

1.         Introduction: Penton Business Media, Inc., d/b/a/ Electronic Design (“Sponsor”) is offering the Online Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”). NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.   A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. 

Sweepstakes may only be entered in or from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and entries originating from any other jurisdiction are not eligible for entry.  This Sweepstakes is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States.  You are not authorized to participate in the Sweepstakes if you are not located within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. 

2.         Eligibility: Entrant must be a legal a resident of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who is 18 or older as of March 28, 2016.  Employees of Sponsor, their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies and their family/household members (defined as parents, spouse, children, siblings, grandparents) are not eligible to enter.  Void outside the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, and where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law.  All federal, state and/or local rules and regulations apply. 

3.         Start/End Dates: Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 a.m. E.T. on March 28, 2016 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. E.T. on April 29, 2016. 

4.         How to Enter: Enter by filling out the official Academic Engineering Programs Bracket Challenge voting form located on the Electronic Design website: www.electronicdesign.com.  Each week a new round of the bracket will be released for voting. At the end of each voting round there will be a place to input your email address to enter into the contest. Limit one entry per week, per person, per email address.  More than one entry per week from any person or e-mail address will void all entries from that person or e-mail address. Entrants must have a valid email address. Completion of the bracket is not required to enter the Sweepstakes. You may also submit a written response for each bracket and mail to: Ryan Malec, Penton Media, 9800 Metcalf, Overland, Park KS 66212.  Entries for each bracket must be postmarked prior to the start date of the next bracket. No automated entry devices and/or programs permitted.   Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic.  Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor. 

5.         Drawing/Eligibility: Winner(s) will be selected in a random drawing from all eligible entries received on or about May 6, 2016 (s).  The drawing will take place under the supervision of the Sponsor.  Participants agree to be bound by the rules and decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to the Sweepstakes. Eligible winners will be determined by a random drawing of registrants from each week (contest round). Two (2) random winners will be selected for each of the five (5) voting rounds. Ten (10) total weekly winners will be selected over a five week period. One (1) grand prize winner will also be selected. Eligible winners of the grand prize will be determined by those who register to vote 5 out of 5 weeks during the contest.


Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.  Potential winner(s) will be notified by e-mail or mail on or about May 6, 2016. Each entrant selected as a potential winner must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all such requirements. If the winners cannot be contacted within 14 calendar days of first notification attempt, if prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Sweepstakes rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected from all remaining eligible entries.  Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.  [Limit one prize per person or household].

            Winning Academic Program Eligibility     

            Each week contest participants will vote on the current round match ups (Two Academic Programs). At the end of the 5 weeks, one Academic Program will remain and become the champion of the bracket challenge. The winner of each match up is determined by the overall number of votes received within the round (1 week long). Each week a new round begins and the voting is reset.

6.         Voting Prizes:

Weekly Giveaway's:

  • 1 winner will receive 1 Texas Instruments Launch Pad per week
  • 1 winner will receive 3 TE Connectivity Sensors per week
  • 1 winner will receive 1 Schneider Electric Motor per week

      Grand Prize (1 unique winner for the entire contest):

  • 1 Texas Instruments Launch pad’s
  • 1 TE Connectivity Sensors
  • 1 Schneider Electric Motor
  • 1 GoPro Camera

Winning Academic Program Prize:

At the end of the contest, one Academic Program will be declared the winner. All engineering students that attend the winning school will be eligible for the design challenge.

Design Challenge Overview:

  • Starting on May 2nd and ending on May 31st
  • Design Challenge will be issued to all students at the winning academic program
  • Invitations and marketing will be sent directly to the students and faculty
  • Separate landing page and contest rules will be generated for the challenge
  • Prizes from the challenge include: Apple MacBook Pro, Apple iPad, GoPro Camera.

Total Approximate Retail Value of All Prizes combined:

Weekly Winners: $20-100
Grand Prize Winner: $450
Design Challenge Total Winnings: ~$2,000 in prizes

Sponsors make no warranties with regard to the prizes.  Prizes are not transferable. No substitutions of prize allowed by winner(s), but Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value due to prize unavailability.  Prizes are not redeemable by winner for cash value. All taxes, fees and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of winner.

7.         Affidavit of Eligibility/Release: The winner will be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility, a Liability Release and where lawful, a Publicity Release within 10 days of prize notification.  If winner is a minor (under 18, or under 19 in Alabama and Nebraska), prize will be awarded to minor’s parent or legal guardian, who must sign and return all required documents.  All taxes and unspecified expenses are solely the responsibility of the winner(s).  If the winner cannot be contacted within 5 calendar days of first notification attempt, if prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Sweepstakes rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected from all remaining eligible entries.  Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.  Limit one prize per person or household.

8.         Conditions: All entries and requests become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.  Where lawful, Sponsor will have the right to photograph the winner.  Entry constitutes permission to use the winner’s name, picture, likeness and city and state of residence for purposes of trade, publicity or promotion for no additional compensation except where prohibited by law. By participating, entrants, winner(s) agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotions agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in Sweepstakes, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any Sweepstakes-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery.  Sponsor is not responsible if Sweepstakes cannot take place or if any prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules, or attempt to interfere with this Sweepstakes in any way shall be disqualified. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend this Sweepstakes should (in its sole discretion) non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes. In such case, Sponsor will select the winner(s) from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor.  Each Sweepstake Entrant hereby irrevocably waives the right to assert as a cost of receiving any prize any and all costs of verification and redemption to redeem such prize, if any, and any liability which might arise from redeeming or seeking to redeem such prize.  If applicable, prizes will only be delivered to United States addresses.  Sponsor reserves the right to suspend, cancel or modify these Rules as necessary for any reason or as required by applicable law.  Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Sweepstakes, or any prize awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. 

9.         Miscellaneous: All entries become the sole property of Penton/Sponsors and none will be returned. In the event of a dispute, entries made by Internet will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. The "authorized account holder" is deemed the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, service provider or other online organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. A potential winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the winning entry. If for any reason the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure, human error or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserve(s) the right in [its/their] sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes. 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. The Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site, any combination thereof, or otherwise, including any injury or damage to entrant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the Sweepstakes. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Sweepstakes or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR  RESERVES  THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

10.       Use of Data: Sponsor will be collecting personal data about entrants online, in accordance with its privacy policy.  Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at http://www.penton.com/PrivacyStatement/tabid/75/Default.aspx. By participating in the Sweepstakes, entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy. 

10.1     List of Winners: To obtain a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by May 6, 2016: Ryan Malec, 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas 66212.

10.2     Sponsor: The Sponsor of this of this Sweepstakes is Penton Media, Inc., d/b/a Machine Design and Electronic Design.