SERVERLESS HOLIDAY HACKATHON 2023 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These terms and conditions (hereinafter the “Terms”) govern your (“you” or “Participant”) participation in the Serverless Guru Christmas Challenge Hackathon 2023 (“Hackathon”) sponsored by Serverless Guru LLC (“Sponsor”). By applying, the participants agree to these Terms in their entirety.
THE HACKATHON IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. BY PARTICIPATING THE HACKATHON, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER OR OTHERWISE PARTICIPATE IN THE HACKATHON.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
Date and Location. The Hackathon begins on December 1st, 2023, and ends on December 17th, 2023 (the “Term”), on https://hackathon.serverless.guru/. Sponsor reserves the right to change the days, time, or location of the Hackathon for any reason by announcing such changes on https://hackathon.serverless.guru/.
Participation a. Participation in the Hackathon is voluntary. There is NO ENTRY FEE to participate in the Hackathon.
b. Participant agrees to abide by all rules and guidelines established by Sponsor.
c. Participation is permitted on an individual basis or as part of a team of up to three (3) people. Participant may not switch teams or transition from team participation to individual participation during the Hackathon Term. Sponsor is not responsible for, and will not assist in resolving, any disputes between members on a team.
d. Determination of eligibility and compliance is at the sole discretion of Sponsor.
Objectives. As a Participant, you will be required to do the following:
a. Build a chatbot application that allows end users to hold a conversation with a major winter holiday figure (e.g., Santa, Krampus, etc.) (your “Entry”).
b. Participants may reuse any front-end template for the application.
c. Participants may not copy or use a template for the back-end implementation without proper improvements; doing so may result in disqualification.
d. Each team may submit one Entry. Each individual Participant may submit one Entry.
e. Entries must be submitted on or before December 17th, 2023.
f. Incomplete and noncompliant Entries are subject to disqualification.
Scoring. Entry scoring will be conducted by a panel of between five and eight judges according to the following criteria:
a. Originality/creativity (30%);
b. Innovation (35%); and
c. Practical implementation (35%).
The Entry that earns the highest overall score will win. The decisions of the judges will be final. In the event of a tie, judges will deliberate to determine the winner.
Participant Eligibility
a. You may participate in the Hackathon if (i) you are at least eighteen years old or the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside at the time of participation; (ii) you are a resident of a jurisdiction where participation in the Hackathon is not prohibited by law; and (iii) you are not ineligible for participation under Section 5(b). Participant is solely responsible for ensuring that their participation in the Hackathon complies with all laws that apply to Participant and the jurisdiction where they are located.
b. Individuals meeting one or more of the following criteria are ineligible for participation in the Hackathon: (i) employees of Sponsor and their immediate family members and persons living in the same household as the employee; (ii) residents of, citizens, and individuals located in a geographic area that is subject to UN, US, EU, Swiss or any other sovereign country sanctions or embargoes; (iii) individuals listed or associated with a person or entity being listed on any of the US Department of Commerce’s Denied Persons or Entity List, the US Department of Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List, the EU Consolidated List of Persons, Groups and Entities Subject to EU Financial Sanctions or the Swiss SECO’s Overall List of Sanctioned Individuals, Entities and Organizations; (iv) individuals identified as a terrorist organization or any other relevant lists maintained by any governmental authority; or (v) individuals whose participation in the Hackathon would violate any law or regulation applicable to the individual.
Entry Rules
a. Each Entry must be original, of the Participant’s or Participant’s team's own creation, and newly created during the Hackathon. “Newly created” means that Participants cannot in any way copy software code that already privately exists and submit it as part of an Entry.
b. An Entry that has been entered into another hackathon or competition is ineligible and subject to disqualification. Entries may be subject to a due diligence review at any time for eligibility and compliance with these Terms.
c. Sponsor is not responsible for (i) late, lost, damaged, incomplete, or misdirected Entries, responses, or other correspondence, whether by e-mail or postal mail or otherwise; (ii) theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alterations of Entries; or (iii) phone, electrical, network, computer, hardware, software program or transmission malfunctions, failures or difficulties.
d. Participant is allowed to develop the Entry using templates and tools provided by Sponsor in addition to other commercially known open-source tools. Participant is encouraged to use their own proprietary solutions to develop the Entry. If Participant represents a company, the Participant’s proprietary software assets are also allowed to be used with the appropriate permission within the company. Participants represent and warrant that they have permission to use such proprietary data and that it does not infringe on the intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third party, including, without limitation, any third party, patents, copyrights, or trademarks.
e. Entries may NOT contain, as determined by the Foundation, in its sole and absolute discretion, any content that is sexually explicit, unnecessarily violent, or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; profane or pornographic; promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco (or the use of any of the foregoing) or a particular political agenda; defames, misrepresents, or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies; contains trademarks, logos, or trade dress, without express written consent of the rights-holder(s) or a reasonably apparent lawful basis for your use(s); or infringes on the intellectual property rights or legal rights of others.
Prizes and Awards
a. Participants who submit the three highest-scoring Entries will be awarded the following cash prizes:
i. First place: $3,000 USD ii. Second place: $1,500 USD iii. Third place: $500 USD
b. The Participants that submit the three highest-scoring Entries will be invited to demonstrate their Entries to representatives of Sponsor as part of a webinar on January 16, 2024.
c. For a list of winners, contact [email protected] with “Serverless Guru Christmas Challenge Hackathon Winner’s list” as the subject.
d. Submission of an Entry does not obligate the Sponsor to provide you with any prize or award of any kind or any other Hackathon benefits.
e. The odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible Entries received. No substitution of prizes is permitted, except at the sole option of Sponsors for a prize of equal or greater value. Sponsors will not replace any lost or stolen prizes. Participants awarded a prize are solely responsible for all federal, state, provincial, and local taxes, if any, that apply to their prizes. Participants awarded a prize will be notified no later than January 12, 2024.
f. Winners may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release within seven (7) days of notification and if applicable will be issued a W-9 tax form. If a winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim a prize, or where applicable an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release is not timely received, is incomplete or modified, the prize may be forfeited, and an alternate winner will be selected from remaining valid, eligible Entries timely submitted.
g. ELIGIBILITY FOR PRIZES IS SUBJECT TO COMPLIANCE WITH THESE TERMS AND ALL RELEVANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS, INCLUDING RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO PROHIBITED PARTIES. INDIVIDUALS, ENTITIES, OR PARTICIPANTS ON THE PROHIBITED PARTIES LIST ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE OR RECEIVE PRIZES. IF A WINNER IS FOUND TO BE ON THE PROHIBITED PARTIES LIST OR IS OTHERWISE INELIGIBLE, THEY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED AND AN ALTERNATE WINNER WILL BE SELECTED. ALL DECISIONS REGARDING PRIZE ELIGIBILITY ARE AT SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION.
Judging. Judging will begin approximately on December 17, 2023 and will continue until January 12, 2024. The judging period may be extended by Sponsor for any length of time, in the Sponsor’s discretion. If a judge or Participant identifies to Sponsor a conflict of interest, that judge will be recused from judging the Entry with the conflict and an alternate judge will be identified as a substitution for the judge with the conflict. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry if the Entry or a Participant or a Participant’s team does not comply with these Terms.
Entry Ownership. Participant grants Sponsor a royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, sublicensable license and right to use (a) the Entry for the purpose of evaluating the Entry for the Hackathon and for related promotional, research, and internal business purposes and (b) Participant’s name, image, and likeness to produce, promote, and advertising the Hackathon and Sponsor. Sponsor does not claim any license or any intellectual property rights in the Entry, except for the limited license to review the submission as part of Hackathon judging and awarding of prizes.
Publicity and Privacy. Except where prohibited by applicable law, by participating in the Hackathon, Participant consents to the use of their name, photo, likeness, biographical information, Entry, and statements attributed to Participant for advertising and promotional purposes, including without limitation, inclusion in Sponsor’ newsletters, Sponsor’s websites, and any of the Sponsor’s social media accounts or outlets without compensation. Participant agrees to not issue any press releases or other public announcements in connection with these Terms or the Hackathon without Sponsor’s prior written approval. The personal information and materials submitted by Participant in connection with their participation in the Hackathon will be used for the purposes described in these Terms and will otherwise be handled in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, which is posted to the Sponsor’s website.
Disclaimers. IN NO EVENT WILL SPONSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS OR PROFITS) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE HACKATHON, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY ARISES FROM ANY CLAIM BASED UPON CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER OR NOT SPONSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE. IN NO EVENT SHALL SPONSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY AMOUNTS THAT, TOGETHER WITH AMOUNTS ASSOCIATED WITH ALL OTHER CLAIMS, EXCEED THE LESSER OF THE SUM OF CASH PRIZES AWARDED TO YOU HEREUNDER, IF ANY, OR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).
Indemnity. You agree to release, indemnify, defend and hold Sponsor and its directors, officers, employees, sponsors, and agents, including advertising and promotion agencies, and assigns, and any other organizations related to the Hackathon, harmless, from any and all claims, injuries, damages, expenses or losses to person or property and/or liabilities of any nature that in any way arise from participation in the Hackathon or acceptance or use of a prize or parts thereof, including without limitation (i) any condition caused by events beyond Sponsor’s control that may cause the Hackathon to be disrupted or corrupted; (ii) any claim than an Entry infringes third party intellectual property or proprietary rights; (iii) any disputes among team members, (iv) any injuries, losses, or damages (compensatory, direct, incidental, consequential or otherwise) of any kind arising in connection with or as a result of the prize, or acceptance, possession, or use of the prize, or from participation in the Hackathon; (v) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Hackathon; technical errors that may impair your ability to participate in the Hackathon; or (vi) errors in the administration of the Hackathon.
General Terms
a. Participant represents and warrants that: (a) Participant has the authority to enter into these Terms; (b) all information Participant submits to Sponsor is and shall be accurate and complete; and (c) Participant’s Entry does not infringe upon, violate, or misappropriate a third party’s intellectual property rights or legal rights, or violate any law or regulation.
b. As between Participant and Sponsor, (i) Sponsor owns all right, title, and interest in and to the Hackathon and all content and materials thereto (including without limitation Sponsor’s website, trademarks, and all associated intellectual property rights), and (ii) Participant owns all right, title, and interest in and to Participant’s Entry, including without limitation all associated intellectual property rights. There are no implied licenses granted by either party, whether by implication, estoppel or otherwise.
c. Participant’s relationship with Sponsor is that of an independent contractor, and nothing in these Terms is intended to or should be construed to, create any other form of relationship or obligations between the parties.
d. Participant may not assign or transfer these Terms by operation of law or otherwise without Sponsor’s prior written consent. Sponsor may freely assign these Terms or any rights hereunder without consent. Subject to the foregoing, these Terms will bind and inure to the benefit of the parties’ permitted successors and assigns.
e. The Hackathon is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify, or suspend the Hackathon in whole or in part, in the event of fraud, technical or other difficulties, or if the integrity of the Hackathon is compromised, without liability to the Participants. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Participant, as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion.
f. These Terms are governed by the law of the State of Delaware, without reference to rules governing choice of laws. Any action, suit or case arising out of, or in connection with, this Hackathon or the Terms must be brought in federal or state court in the State of Delaware.
Terms Acceptance. You accept and agree to be unconditionally bound by the Terms by: (a) clicking to accept or agree to these Terms where the option is made available; (b) participating in the Hackathon in any manner; or (c) your signature. The effective date of these terms shall be the earliest date on which you take any action described in Section 14(a) through (c).
Termination. These Terms shall automatically terminate on January 16, 2024, or the date on which Participant is disqualified from the Hackathon, whichever occurs first. Either party may also terminate these Terms for convenience without liability or penalty upon ten (10) days’ written notice to the other party. The license grants under these Terms and all terms and conditions which by their nature should survive the termination of these Terms shall so survive termination.