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IBM
“Academic Initiative Master the Mainframe Contest”
2007 OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Open to students in the fifty
States of the United States, the District of Columbia & CANADA (EXCLUDING
QUEBEC). Do not enter if you are not located in the United States or Canada
at the time of entry.
- Registration Web site: To qualify to participate in the contest, you must
first complete the on-line registration form. Registration is open from
September 4, 2007 until December 3, 2007 11:59 PM in your time zone. Follow
all instructions and complete the on-line registration form in its entirety.
This process does not constitute entry, but rather registration as a potential
entrant. You must be a student as described in Rule #4.
- Submitting your entry: Once students have completed the on-line registration
form, IBM will confirm each student's registration with an email to the
address provided by the student (within three business days). IBM will
provide a mainframe user ID before the contest begins on October 1, 2007
to all students who register on or before September 27, 2007. Students
who register on September 28, 2007 or later will be provided a mainframe
user ID within five business days of receipt of their registration. System
resources are finite for this contest, and will be allocated on a first-come,
first-served basis while the supply lasts. If sufficient system resources
do not exist, the entrant will not be allowed to compete in the contest.
For Parts 1 and 2 of the contest, students submit entries by transmitting
data sets to an IBM user ID on the mainframe, as described in the contest
instructions. Contestants must submit an entry for Part 1 before they submit
an entry for Part 2. To enter Part 3, after completion of Part 1 &
Part 2, students must send an e-mail to zskills@us.ibm.com. Student will
receive a new user ID for Part 3 (within five business days of IBM's receipt
of the student's email). Contest judges (as described in Rule #3) will
log into the student's account for Part 3 to verify the completion of Part
3 tasks; no formal submission of data sets needs to be made. No credit
is given for partial completion of any Part 3 tasks. Ties are broken by
the written report (as described in Rule #3) submitted to zskills@us.ibm.com.
All entries may be submitted starting October 1, 2007. Your entry must
be received by the sponsor no later than 11:59 PM December 28, 2007 in
your time zone. Entry is deemed submitted by the authorized account holder
of the e-mail address used as the user name at the time of registration.
Authorized account holder is defined as the natural person who is assigned
to the e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider,
or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the
domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. If your registration
form is incomplete, you will not be eligible for the contest. Sponsor assumes
no responsibility for computer system, hardware, software, network program,
or other errors, failures, or malfunctions of any kind, whether human or
technical in nature, in the transmission or receipt of entries or registrations.
Part 3 of the contest will be judged according to criteria in rule #3.
- Part 3 entries will be judged by a panel of qualified judges beginning on or about January 7, 2008. Judges' decisions are final in all matters relating to the contest. Entrants will be judged on the number of pre-defined tasks they are able to complete in order before the end of the contest, as outlined in Part 3 of the contest instructions. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the entrant having the highest score on a written report submitted to zskills@us.ibm.com. The report will be judged using the following criteria: (1) clarity of documentation - 1 to 10 points will be awarded; (2) technical understanding of completed tasks - 1 to 20 points will be awarded; (3) completeness of documentation - 1 to 10 points will be awarded (results subject to verification by Sponsor, as set forth in Rule 9). Maximum amount of points available is 40. If there is still a tie, a new judge will re-judge the tied entries. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or suspend this contest should virus, bugs or other causes beyond sponsor's control corrupt the administration, security, or proper judging of the contest. If sponsor detects harmful system activity, harmful network activity, or use of the systems for activity beyond the scope of the contest, sponsor reserves the right to remove system resources or to revoke user IDs from the contest. Sponsor not responsible for technical failures of any kind, including,
but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone
lines or network hardware or software. Submission of an entry constitutes your acceptance of the conditions and rules of the contest.
- Contest is open to students who are enrolled full-time or part-time at
an accredited educational institution (university undergraduate or graduate
school, not including post-doctoral fellows; 2 or 4 year college; high
school (grades 9-12))in the U.S. or Canada (except Quebec) and are residing
in the U.S. or Canada (except Quebec) and have at least one educator enrolled
in the IBM Academic Initiative ("Students"). Students may only
submit one entry in each part (Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3) of the contest.
Students who have not registered for the contest during the registration
period will not be eligible to submit an entry to the contest. Proof of
enrollment in academic institution (student ID and/or institution confirmation)
may be required. Employees of IBM and judges of the Master the Mainframe
Contest and the immediate family members and household members of each
are not eligible to enter the contest.
- Part 1 Prizes (500): One Prize will be awarded to each of the first five hundred students to complete Part 1 of the contest. The prize is a T-shirt. Approximate Retail Value: $15.00 USD.
- Part 2 Prizes (60): One Prize will be awarded to the first 60 students to complete Part 2 of the contest. The prize is a pre-paid $100 USD debit card.
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Part 3 Prizes (5): One prize will be awarded to each of the top five Students (as determined by the criteria in rule #3). The prize is a Nintendo Wii video game console. Approximate Retail Value: $250 USD. For the top two winners, the prize also includes a two-day trip to the IBM mainframe plant in Poughkeepsie, NY, including round trip coach airfare from commercial airport closest to winner's school, ground transportation to/from airports and between hotel and plant, and two nights at the Poughkeepsie Courtyard by Marriott. Trip must be taken on March 12-13, 2008 or that portion of prize will be forfeited. Approximate Retail Value: $1,500.
Approximate total retail value of all prizes: $17,750 USD. Value of trip prizes may vary with airfare fluctuations and point of origin.
No cash value or substitutions of prizes except by Sponsor who may change prizes or models of equipment as availability changes or make such substitutions as necessary to meet export requirements. Prizes will be delivered to confirmed winners. Winners of trips must pay all incidental expenses associated with travel and any expenses not specified and are responsible for proper travel documentation. In the event a minor wins the two-day trip, the minor must have a parent or legal guardian sign a release form, resident on the IBM Academic Initiative Web site, prior to taking the trip. By accepting prizes, winners further agree to release IBM and its subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents, including but not limited to OgilvyAction. (the "Contest Parties"), from any and all liability, loss or damage of any kind arising out of or in connection with winners' participation in this Contest, or with respect to awarding, receipt, possession, use and/or misuse of any prize, or to participation in the Contest or in prize-related activities. By accepting prizes, winners further acknowledge that the Contest Parties have neither made, nor are in any manner responsible or liable for, any warranty, representation or guarantee, expressed or implied in fact or in law, relative to prize or to any portion thereof, including but not limited to its quality, merchantability, mechanical condition, or fitness for a particular purpose.
- Except where prohibited, by accepting prize, winner or if a minor, his/her
parent or legal guardian acting on his/her behalf consents to the use of
his/her name, likeness, and biographical information for advertising and
promotional purposes worldwide without limitations and without additional
compensation.
- Winners of Part 1 and of Part 2 will be notified via email (within fifteen
business days of the time stamp on their data set submissions for Part
1 and Part 2, respectively). In the event that a Canadian resident is selected
as a potential Part 1 or Part 2 winner, he/she will be required to correctly
answer a mathematical skill-testing question in order to qualify for their
prize. Part 3 winners will be notified by express mail and via e-mail on
or about February 1, 2008 and will be required to sign and return an affidavit
of eligibility and release of liability/publicity within 7 days of notification
(except where prohibited) or prize will be forfeited and may be awarded
to an alternate winner on the basis of the criteria set forth herein.
- By submitting entries, entrant grants the Sponsor and its agents of this contest the right to publish, use, adapt, sell, edit and/or modify such entry (and electronic communications related to such entry) in any way, in commerce, and in any and all media worldwide, including but not limited to the Internet, without limitation and without compensation to the entrants. Entrant also grants Sponsor a worldwide irrevocable, nonexclusive and royalty free right and license to use, have used, copy, reproduce, transfer, modify and/or display any information contained in their entry in whole or part and in any form without compensation. Entries must be entrant's own original creations, must not infringe on third party rights, must not have won previous awards, must not have been posted on another Web site prior to submission and must be suitable for publication. Winners may be required to sign an additional affidavit/license (except where prohibited) to this effect. Taxes on all prizes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the prizewinners. Entrants agree to be bound by the official contest rules.
- At the Sponsor discretion, entrants may be required to submit source
code to substantiate results reported in the entry.
- For a list of winners visit the Mainframe Contest Web site after April
18, 2008, or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: IBM Academic Initiative
Student Mainframe Contest, P.O. Box 2113, Radio City Station, New York,
NY 10101-2113, to be received no later than May 1, 2008.
Sponsor: IBM, Route 100, Somers, New York 10589.
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