Big Think Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Entries

1. By submitting an entry in the competition, participants agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions, which form the rules of the Competition
2. This competition is open to UK residents (including CI & IoM) aged 16 - 24 inclusive, except employees of the Promoter, its agencies or anyone professionally associated with the competition & their families. If under the age of 16 your entry will not be valid. If you are over 16 but under 18 on 16th November 2009, you must have the consent of a parent or guardian to take part in the Big Think and to accept the prize. please note the competition will take place during normal working/ teaching hours. Therefore, if you are in education (which includes school, sixth form college, all FE and HE establishments) or if you are under 18 and in training and employment, you will be required to gain the necessary written consents from your educational establishment / your employer to take time off. We reserve the right to check these consents and, if we are not satisfied to with these consents, withdraw the participant from the competition without notice. The entrants need to be free to travel on a Sunday and be able to stay in London for two nights (please note however that shortlisted finalists who don't make the final round will only be required to stay for one night).
3. You will enter the competition online on Bebo's Big Think page on Bebo: by sending through a message about one of the 3 key topics (climate change, crime or careers) on Bebo to 'Bebo's Big Think' detailing your idea, or by emailing it into idea@bebosbigthink.co.uk
4. Your competition entry should be approximately 500 words. You can structure this how you like, but we would like it to be clear what issue you believe needs to be addressed and why, then how you plan to address this and why you think this will work.
5. After sending a message / email, you will automatically be entered and no other entry mechanic will be needed to be in with a chance of winning, as long as you fit into the age and region restrictions.
6. You will not need to provide us with any personal details at the time of entering the competition. If your entry is selected for presentation to the Judging Panel you will need to provide us with your name, date of birth and address, so that we can verify that you meet these terms and conditions and the arrangements can be made for you to travel to London. The data collected for these purposes will be used solely for the purposes of this competition and its promotion.
7. The Promoter will own the copyright in all comments/ideas submitted, by entering into the competition you hereby assign to the Promoter all rights in such entries such that the Promoter (and third parties authorised by the Promoter) may use, display, publish, transmit, copy, make derivative works or podcasts from, edit, alter, store, re-format, sell and sub-licence and otherwise exploit your submissions for any purposes(for the full period of any rights).
8. The closing date for sending in your idea for the opportunity to be selected as a finalist is the 15th November 2009. All entries/comments must be posted by 11:59pm (BST).

Prizes
9. There will be six ideas selected (unless the Promoter in its discretion decides to select more), and the people responsible for these ideas (Finalists) will be invited to attend the workshops and pitch to panel of judges. The shortlisted ideas can be submitted by a group of up to 3 people, but you, if you are ultimately selected to present to the Cabinet you must nominate one person to represent your group. The Finalists will be invited to London on 29th November for a session with a mentor (to help refine their idea) on the 30th November. They will then pitch their idea to a panel of judges following the mentoring session on 30 November, the timings of the mentoring session and pitch will be notified to the Finalists when they are notified of their selection. The promoter reserves the right to amend date/timings in the event of any unforeseen circumstances outside its reasonable control.
10. If any Finalist is unable to make the date or time of the mentoring and pitch to panel, then this will deemed to be a withdrawal from the competition, and an alternative entry may be chosen as a Finalist.
11. The Finalists will be mentored and pitch to the panel in a venue nominated by the Promoter. The Promoter shall pay the costs of or arrange transfers to and from a London station and the nominated venue for each Finalist and, if the Finalist is under the age of 18, a parent or guardian.
12. All Finalists will be required to verify their age and confirm their agreement to these terms, the publicity obligations and the use by the Promoter of their questions and the recording of them at the event, before attending the mentoring session. If an entrant is under the age of 18, the written consent of a parent /guardian will also be required. In addition, we reserve the right to check the consent of the parents/guardian and if relevant any employer or school/college by phone/email and to withdraw the offer of the prize if we are not satisfied with the verification
13. There may in addition be certain security checks required and we will provide you with details of such checks and obtain your consent for this.
14. Prizes are as stated & no cash or other alternative prizes will be offered.
15. Finalists may be asked to take part in reasonable publicity. If you are one of the short-listed entries taking part in the mentoring session you give your permission for a film of you to be taken & featured on-line & used for publicity purposes & for the use by the Promoter of your questions without further compensation.
16. Finalists may also be asked to participate in public relations around the competition and the event. If you are a Finalist you give your permission, for photos of you to be taken & featured on-line, broadcast & in print for publicity purposes & for the use by the Promoter of your winning story without further compensation.

Further details about the prizes 17. The Finalists will be selected to come to London and pitch their ideas to the panel of judges. They will receive:
o An invitation to come to London and take part in a pitch process to a panel of 4-6 judges, organised by the Promoter.
o One-to-one mentoring to prepare for the pitch presentations. This will comprise a minimum of one email/phone call from their mentor prior to the London event, and participation in a half-day workshop and coaching session on the day of the pitch. Mentors will be allocated by the Promoter . The Promoter reserves the right to substitute a mentor at any stage in the process without notice.
o The Promoter shall pay the costs of travel to and from a London Station and provide accommodation on the night of 29th November and 30th November for the 6 finalists and pay reasonable subsistence costs (up to a limit nominated by Promoter).
18. Three winners will be selected from the 6 pitches to the panel. These three winners will present their ideas to Cabinet on 1 December 2009. These three will winners will receive:
o Accommodation provided by the Promoter on the night of 30 November 2009 and additional reasonable subsistence costs as appropriate.
o Support of their mentor on the morning of the presentation to Cabinet.
o An opportunity to present their idea to members of the Cabinet.
o A commitment to one follow-up meeting with a government official or representative of government to discuss their idea and possible next steps. Additional support in developing the idea and on-going mentoring can be arranged by agreement with the parties involved but is not the responsibility of the Promoter and will be negotiated entirely at the discretion of the parties involved.

Judging and voting

19. All valid entries will be judged on the criteria below by a panel, which includes independent judges & one judge from the promoter.
20. The full or professional names of all the judges will be made available on request. Please send a stamped addressed envelope to the correspondence address below marked 'Bebo's Big Think Judges names'.
21. The judges will choose six shortlisted entries to be finalists. They will choose the shortlist by the quality of the entry, which must relate to either one of the 3 key topics - climate change, crime or careers. The judges will be looking for the entry that seems the most considered, effective and potentially achievable to implement. The judges will select ideas that they consider, in their absolute discretion, are the best ideas to potentially present to Cabinet ministers around the subject of Britain's Future. The preliminary judging of entries submitted on Bebo's Big Think will take place between 16th November and 20th November.
22. When Finalists are selected by the judges, they will be notified online via Bebo, or by email on 23rd November, depending on the method of entry. You must log-on to Bebo or your email during this time to see if you have been short-listed. Finalists will then be asked to supply the promoter with a phone number that he or she can be contacted on. Finalists will then have to have a short phone interview with the promoter to verify that he/she was actually involved with the creation of the idea. Further personal details (including name, address and date of birth) may be taken at that time for the purpose of Promoter providing the prize to you.
23. If the Promoter considers, in its absolute discretion, that there has been any rigging or inaccurate entries, that entry will be deemed withdrawn and a new Finalist will be selected. If any Finalists have not contacted the Promoter by [15:00] on 24th November 2009 supplying a contact telephone number, the offer of a prize will be withdrawn and a new Finalist will be selected by the judges.
24. The judges' decisions shall be final & no correspondence will be entered into.
25. Any entries that don't comply with Bebo's terms of service will not be considered. Bebo's terms of service can be found here: http://www.bebo.com/TermsOfUse2.jsp
26. The Promoter shall be entitled to reject any entry or disqualify any Finalist or entrant, if the promoter believes that the entry is defamatory, indecent or violates any third party's rights.
27. The promoter & its agents can accept no responsibility for difficulties experienced in taking part in Bebo's Big Think or sending an email to the promoter.
28. Details of the prize Finalist names, counties & short-listed entries will be available by sending an SAE no later than 31st December 2009 to the correspondence address marked 'Bebo's Big Think Short-listers'. No other correspondence will be entered into.
29. The promoter reserves the right to withdraw or amend this promotion in the event of any unforeseen circumstances outside its reasonable control.
30. The promoter reserves the right to terminate or temporarily suspend this competition in the event of technical or other outside the control of the Promoter that may compromise its integrity.
31. This promotion is governed by English Law & subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. Promoter: Livity, Unit 11, Piano House, 9 Brighton Terrace, London, SW9 8DJ.

Address for correspondence Bebo's Big Think, Unit 11, Piano House, 9 Brighton Terrace, London, SW9 8DJ.