BuzzData & EIU – Data Mash-Up & Visualization Contest: “Where is the best city in the world to live?”

CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

Overview:

BuzzData Inc. (“BuzzData”), in collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (“EIU”) (each a “Sponsor”, collectively, the “Sponsors”) is running a data mash-up and visualization competition (the “Contest”), with the aim of creating a new “liveability” index. Participants in the Contest will essentially be asking to (definitively and once and for all!) prove “where is the best city in the world to live?” using EIU-provided datasets.

The following sets out the rules of the Contest (the “Contest Rules”).

Contest Period:

The Contest begins on January 31, 2012 at 06:01 am PST and ends at 11:59 pm PST on March 4, 2012 (the “Contest Period”). The Contest deadline is at 11:59 pm PST on March 4, 2012 (the “Deadline”).

Eligibility:

To be eligible to win the Contest, you must:

1. Register a valid Account on the BuzzData Website, as set out below;
2. Be the age of majority or older in your jurisdiction of residence at the time of registration;
3. Be an individual person and not a team or organization or entity of any kind;
4. Permit the Sponsors to communicate with you by email for the purposes of communicating regarding the Contest; and
5. Adhere to and abide by the Contest Rules.

You are not eligible to participate if you are a resident of any of the jurisdictions listed in the sanction lists designated by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control or the United Kingdom’s HM Treasury.

You are not eligible to participate if you are: (i) an employee of, member of the immediate family of, or domiciled with an employee of a Sponsor or their affiliated or related companies, (ii) an employee of, member of the immediate family of, or domiciled with an employee of the advertising and promotion agencies of the Sponsors, or (iii) a Judge and their immediate family or domiciled with a Judge. "Immediate family" is defined as parents, siblings, children or spouse.

Prize:

There is one (1) grand prize of $10,000 USD (the “Prize”) to be awarded as a cheque made payable to the winner of the Contest (the “Winner”).

The Prize shall be conditionally awarded to the eligible participant who places first (1st) in the Contest based on the Contest Criteria.

The Judges will identify the conditional Winner from the shortlist and shall notify said Winner using the email address provided by said Winner. Once said Winner has been notified, he or she shall have three (3) days from receipt of this notification to respond to the Judges and provide any further information required by the Sponsors in order to verify their identity, their eligibility and with respect to their Submission, in order to validate the win. If the Judges determine in their sole discretion that all Criteria are met and that the said Winner is eligible to win, the Judges shall award the Prize to said Winner.

If the Judges in their sole discretion determine that the conditional Winner is not eligible to win or fails to properly identify themselves, the Judges shall conditionally award the Prize to the participant whose shortlisted Submission places second (2nd) and shall verify the win in the same manner as described hereabove. If the Judges in their sole discretion determine that the 2nd place participant is not eligible to win or fails to properly identify themselves, the Judges shall conditionally award the Prize to the participant whose shortlisted Submission places third (3rd), and so forth until the Prize is awarded or there are no further eligible shortlisted Submissions.

As a condition of receipt of the Prize, Winner shall be required to complete, sign and return to the Sponsors the following documents: (i) an agreement provided by the Sponsors evidencing the License described herebelow, (ii) an affidavit of eligibility and liability release and where lawful, a publicity release and (iii) all applicable tax withholding-related documentation and, if necessary, provide proof of foreign status, as beneficiaries of Canadian-sourced funds. The Prize may be awarded to an alternate participant if all required documentation is not returned within ten (10) days after mailing to the Winner, if the win notification letter/email or the Prize is returned as undeliverable or if the Winner does not respond to an email or other communication from the Sponsors or judges within ten (10) days of the date sent. Allow 6-8 weeks following Sponsors’ receipt of this documentation for Prize delivery.

All taxes, fees and expenses associated with participation in the Contest or receipt and use of the Prize are the sole responsibility of Winner.

Odds:

The odds of being selected as a conditional Winner depend on the total number of Submissions received during the Contest Period.

Data:

The EIU shall post the following two (2) datasets in full on the Website:

1. Existing liveability index for 140 cities; and
2. A cost of living index for the same 140 cities.

You are to use one or both of these datasets PLUS any other data sources that you wish to use (provided such other data complies with the Contest Rules) to produce a new “liveability” index and at least one (1) accompanying visualization. You must ensure that: i) you are permitted to use any such other data to generate your Submission; ii) any license terms and conditions applicable to such other data do not conflict with the terms of the rights you are granting the Sponsors; and iii) such other data is published and publically available to all other participants in the Contest.

For your Submission to be eligible, the Sponsors must also be able to use the other data subsumed within your Submission for the purposes described in the License below, including but not limited to publicizing the Winner and their Submission.

Submissions:

To be able to enter a Submission in the Contest, visit the BuzzData website (the “Website”) at http://buzzdata.com before the Contest Deadline and register for a BuzzData account. The on-screen Website Contest instructions will lead you through the submission process.

All of the information that you provide when you set up your Website account is collectively referred to as your "Account". (If you have already created an Account at www.buzzdata.com, enter your user name and password and follow the Website Contest instructions.)

By entering a Submission in the Contest, you agree that (a) your Account is complete, correct and accurate (b) your registration may be rejected or terminated and your Submission may be disqualified if any of the information in your Account is incomplete, incorrect or inaccurate and (c) the Sponsors may use your details for marketing purposes. You are solely responsible for your Account. All Account information is deemed collected in Ontario, Canada.

Your Submission must be in English.

Your Submission must be uploaded to the Website in the manner and format specified on the Website. Your Submission must be received during the Contest Period. A “Submission” is a new “liveability” index with at least one (1) accompanying visualization based on that dataset and a PDF, Word or Pages document, as an attachment, detailing what you have done and why and the value of the new index (max 1000 words) submitted in the manner and format specified on the Website via the Website.

You may submit only one (1) Submission per Account during the Contest Period.

Your Submission must include proper and clear references to all sources of material used to generate your Submission (in either your associated documentation or in your dataset Overview section).

You can choose to work on your Submission in a “public” or a “private” forum on the Website. The terms “public” and “private” in this clause have the meaning as described in the Website’s Terms of Service.

For your Submission to be considered by the Judges, you must do the following prior to the Deadline:

• a) Make your Submission “public” on the Website, using the Contest’s naming convention set out on the Website;
• b) Indicate clearly in the Overview section which dataset, visualization(s) and associated documentation comprise your desired Submission;
• c) Link your dataset to the EIU primary datasets;
• d) Add your dataset to the Contest “topic” (e.g. “Best City Contest”); and
• e) Invite “BuzzJudge” as a Collaborator on your dataset.

BY ENTERING A SUBMISSION, YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE CONTEST RULES AND IN THE WEBSITE TERMS OF SERVICE (see http://www.buzzdata.com), AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE JUDGES AND REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT ALL OF THESE RULES AND THE WEBSITE TERMS OF SERVICE, THEN PLEASE DO NOT ENTER A SUBMISSION IN THE CONTEST. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU PRINT OUT A COPY OF THESE CONTEST RULES FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE.

Judging:

Judging will be conducted by a panel of independently qualified judges (the “Judges”). The decisions of the Judges are final in all matters related to the Contest.

All Submissions will be scored based on criteria including but not limited to (collectively, the “Criteria”):

• a) Visual impact of the Submission;
• b) Originality of the underlying idea;
• c) The practical applications of the Submission;
• d) The breadth of data used for the Submission; and
• e) The international appeal of the Submission.

Based on the Criteria, the Sponsors shall shortlist ten (10) Submissions for consideration by the Judges and post this shortlist on the Website. A final score will be awarded to each shortlisted Submission based on the combined scores of the Criteria.

Users of the Website shall be free and encouraged to view and comment on the shortlisted Submissions. The Judges may consider the Website user community’s comments (the “Feedback”) on the shortlisted Submission in determining the Winner. However, the Judges have the final say in which Submission wins the Prize. The Judges shall determine the Winner but have no obligation to provide feedback or commentary of any kind to you.

You may also provide Feedback regarding any Submission. Please keep in mind that the Sponsors have a no tolerance policy regarding any communications, including but not limited to Feedback, regarding this Contest that are illegal, obscene, prejudicial, threatening or could be construed as harassment. If you post or make such prohibited comments or communications, you shall be disqualified from the Contest and may be banned from the Website.

The conditional Winner must be available to provide assistance to the Judges verifying their Submission and their identity.

License:

By entering a Submission in the Contest, you grant to EIU and its designees a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers), transferable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, right to use, including but not limited to, reproduce, distribute (through multiple tiers), create derivative works of, publicly display, sell, offer for sale and import your Submission, in any media now known or hereafter developed, for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without further approval by or payment to you (the "License") or any other party.

If your Submission is the winning Submission, you hereby transfer and assign to EIU all right, title and interest you own in your Submission and waive all moral rights attributable thereto (the “Assignment”).

Further, you represent that you have the right to make the Assignment and grant the License to EIU, as the case may be, whether or not you have used third party works in creating your Submission.

The only condition of use which you or another party can impose through this License is that of attribution to a legitimate author(s) and/or creator(s).

This License and this Assignment is in addition to the rights you grant to BuzzData under the BuzzData Website Terms of Service as a user of said Website and in no way replaces or cancels said Terms of Service.

General Terms:

You may Tweet or otherwise link your work and/or Submission to other Internet sites, provided that you observe the Website’s Terms of Service, and that you are otherwise permitted to make such linkages.

By entering a Submission in the Contest, you represent that you have the unrestricted right to enter the Submission and that the Submission (i) was not previously published and has not won any other prize or award, (ii) is your exclusive original work, true and verifiable, (iii) is not unlawful or plagiarized, as determined by the Sponsors in their sole discretion, (iv) does not violate or encourage others to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation, (v) does not infringe, misappropriate or violate any third party's copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity, proprietary, contractual or any other rights; and (vi) does not include any virus, worm, corrupt file, Trojan horse or other forms of corruptive code or content that may harm or compromise the Website and/or the proper conduct of the Contest.

Sponsors are responsible only for Prize delivery and are not responsible otherwise.

Sponsors are not responsible for (a) late, lost, stolen, damaged, garbled, incomplete, incorrect or misdirected Submissions or other communications, (b) errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operations or transmission of information, in each case whether arising by way of technical or other failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, communications devices, or transmission lines, or (c) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of Submission materials, loss or otherwise. Sponsors are not responsible for electronic communications or emails which are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in any email account to receive email messages. Sponsors disclaim any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with, the Contest.

Sponsors reserve the right at their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual (and his or her Submission) who tampers with the Contest registration or submission process.

Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, subject to the applicable governmental approval to cancel, modify or suspend the Contest should (i) a virus, “bug” or other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Sponsors corrupt the security or proper administration of the Contest; or (ii) they determine that for any reason the Contest cannot be run as originally planned or if there is any other occurrence compromising the fairness or integrity of the Contest.

Any attempt to (i) deliberately damage the Website or (ii) undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest or (iii) use the EIU-provided datasets in any way inconsistent with the Contest Rules, is a violation of criminal and civil laws, and should such an attempt be made, Sponsors reserve the right to seek compensatory and punitive damages and other legal and equitable relief to the fullest extent permitted by law, including criminal prosecution.

In the event of a dispute between participants as to who made a Submission, the Submission shall be deemed submitted by an “authorized e-mail account holder” and will be declared made by the authorized e-mail account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of registration. “Authorized e-mail account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by Internet access provider, on-line service provider, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institution etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. The conditional Winner may be requested to provide Sponsors and/or Judges with proof that the said Winner is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the potentially winning Submission.

By entering the Contest, you agree to abide by the Contest Rules and the decisions of Sponsors and/or the Judges (as may be applicable), which are final. By entering this Contest, you agree that in the event you are the Winner, Sponsors can use of your name, voice, and/or photograph in any publicity or advertisement carried out by Sponsors in any medium, without further remuneration, except where required by law.

You are solely responsible for all equipment, including a computer and modem, necessary to establish a connection to the World Wide Web, access to the World Wide Web and any telephone, data, hosting or other service fees associated with such access, as well as all costs incurred by you or on your behalf in participating in the Contest.

Sponsors reserve the right to correct clerical or typographical errors in Contest materials. Sponsors reserve the right to amend these Contest Rules during the Contest Period. You will be notified of any amendment to the Contest Rules via a notice posted on the Website and also may be notified via email using the email address provided at registration. By continuing participation in the Contest, you are deemed to have accepted any such amendment. If you do not wish to continue to participate in the Contest pursuant to the Contest Rules, as amended, you may terminate your participation in the Contest by deleting your Account on the Website. You are urged to consult the Website regularly during the Contest Period.

You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for abiding by your employer's policies regarding participation in the Contest. The Sponsors disclaim any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between an employee and employer related to this Contest.

Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify your Submission from this Contest or any other competition conducted now or in the future by one or both of the Sponsors or any of their affiliates if your fraud or misconduct affects the integrity of this Contest.

By participating in the Contest, you agree that you shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsors and their respective officers, employees, agents, heirs, successors and assigns from and against any and all claims, whatsoever, including all damages, liabilities, loss, expenses, costs (including reasonable legal fees) and or any action or proceedings brought therein arising directly or indirectly from or in connection with your participation in the Contest or the awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of the Prize or participation in any Contest-related activity.

You hereby agree to release and forever discharge the Sponsors and their respective officers, employees and agents, heirs, successors and assigns of and from any and all actions, causes of actions, claims and demands whatsoever arising out of or in relation to your participation in the Contest or your receipt and/or use or misuse of the Prize or participation in any Contest-related activity.

The official language for the Contest is English. All communications with Sponsors and the Judges must be in the English language. These Contest Rules and all other documents produced by or on behalf of the Sponsors in connection with the Contest are available only in English.

The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, provincial and municipal laws, rules and regulations. The Contest is void wherever prohibited or restricted by law. The Contest shall be governed by the laws of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein (without reference to conflicts of laws principles). Any and all legal actions or proceedings arising in connection with the Contest must be instituted in the Ontario Provincial Courts. You agree to submit to the jurisdiction of, and agree that venue is proper in, such courts in any legal action or proceeding relating to the Contest.

These Contest Rules and the Website's Terms of Service (both as may be amended from time to time), along with official Contest communications from Sponsors and/or Judges, govern and apply to all activity arising out of and relating to the Contest and use of the Website. These Contest Rules cannot be modified or superseded except by Sponsors, in their reasonable discretion.

Winner’s name will be available on the Website after selection and verification of the winning Submission.

Please see our FAQs on the Website or contact us at the following:

Sponsors’ Contact Information:

BuzzData
Nick Edouard – EVP Business Development & Marketing
nick@buzzdata.com / +1-647-241-2407 / @nickedouard

EIU
Charles Barber – Marketing Director, Digital Brand Strategy
charlesbarber@economist.com / +44 (0)20 7576 8135