Terms and Conditions

 

  1. ELIGIBILITY. You are eligible to participate in the contest known as the Vermont Hackathon (the “Hackathon”) if you are 18 years of age or older. Participants younger than 18 years of age may be eligible to participate in the Hackathon with a chaperone, at the discretion of the organizers of the Hackathon. The organizers of the Hackathon, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, at their sole discretion, may disqualify any contestant from participating in the Hackathon, refuse to award prizes and require the return of any prizes, if a contestant engages in any conduct The Organizers deems to be improper, unfair or otherwise adverse to the operation of the Hackathon or detrimental to The Organizers or other contestants. See the full Code of Conduct below.

  2. AGREEMENT TO OFFICIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. By signing below, you fully and unconditionally agree to and accept these official Terms and Conditions and the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Hackathon. If you are participating in the Hackathon as a team, each member of the team must separately execute these Terms and Conditions. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

  3. LOCATION AND CONTEST PERIOD. The Hackathon shall be held at Green Mountain Power's Inspire Space, located at 163 Acorn Lane in Colchester, VT. Contestants are required to be on the premises while developing their entries, but they are not required to stay on the premises for the entire duration of the contest. The contest shall commence at 3:00 PM EST on Friday, October 13th, 2017 and shall continue in duration until 3:00 PM EST on Saturday, October 14th, 2017 at which time all development shall stop and all contest entries shall be submitted to the panel of judges. Commencing at 3:15 PM EST on Saturday, October 14th, 2017, each contestant (or representative of a participating team) shall be required to make a brief presentation to the judges’ panel demonstrating the functionality and features of the entry. The maximum time allotment for each presentation will be announced the day of the Hackathon. The presentation of prizes will occur at approximately 6:15 PM EST on Saturday, October 14th, 2017. You must be present to receive a prize.

  4. CONTEST DESCRIPTION. This is a skill-based contest wherein an individual or team comprised of up to five members competes to develop the best software application, tool or plug-in (“Submission”) according to The Organizers’ panel of judges. Judging criteria includes but is not limited to program utility, execution of theme, creativity, usability, quality and demo performance.

  5. GENERAL PARTICIPATION CONDITIONS. a. You must use at least one of the datasets or APIs identified by The Organizers. b. Your Submission must be made before 3:00 PM EST on Saturday, October 14th, 2017. c. Submissions must have been developed at the Hackathon. d. You may not have more than five people on a team. If you enter as a team, you must select one team leader who will submit the entry on the team’s behalf and act as the primary point of contact between the team and The Organizers. e. While you may use third party components (e.g., scripts, plug-ins, open source libraries, APIs, etc.), you may not use any third party material that is not legally licensed by you or that you are not otherwise permitted to use in connection with your Submission. f. Your Submission must be your own original work. g. Your Submission may not include personally identifiable information of any individual or the confidential information of any entity.

  6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. The Organizers do not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to your Submission and it is solely your responsibility to monitor and protect any intellectual property rights that you may have in your Submission. You represent that your Submission will not violate any law or regulation or infringe upon the rights of any other person or company, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right of any person or entity. You are solely liable for any damage resulting from your failure to obtain such permission or from any other harm resulting from your Submission. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Organizers and their affiliates from any loss, claim, damage or expense arising from your breach of your representations in this Section 6.

  7. WINNER DETERMINATION AND NOTIFICATION. The panel of judges selected by The Organizers shall review all of the Submissions with reference to the criteria listed above and will determine, in its sole discretion, which Submissions are awarded prizes. The decisions of the judges are final and binding. The Organizers will announce the prize winners live at Green Mountain Power at approximately 6:15 PM EST on Saturday, October 14th, 2017.

  8. PRIZES. Cash prizes will be awarded to the First, Second and Third place winners selected by the judges.  In addition, the judges will award a cash prize to the “Best Student Team” based upon the Submissions and criteria set forth above.  All taxes and other expenses associated with the acceptance and/or use of any Prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners.

  9. RELEASE; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. You agree to release and hold harmless The Organizers, Green Mountain Power and their affiliates, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this contest (including without limitation personal and bodily injury, wrongful death and disability and property damage). In addition, you agree to waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses. If for any reason the contest cannot run as planned, including by reason of computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of The Organizers which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the contest, The Organizers reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend any or all of the contest.

  10. GOVERNING LAW. This contest will be governed by the laws of the State of Vermont, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Vermont for any disputes arising out of this contest.

  11. PUBLICITY. You agree to allow The Organizers to use (a) your proper name, state of residence, picture and any statements made relating to the contest and (b) feature your Submission in connection with the promotion of this contest online and in print, or in any other media, without further permission or compensation.

CODE OF CONDUCT

  1. PURPOSE. A primary goal of HackVT is to be inclusive to the largest number of attendees and speakers, with the most varied and diverse backgrounds possible. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion (or lack thereof). This code of conduct outlines our expectations for all those who participate in our conference, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior.We invite all those who participate in HackVT to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone.

  2. EXPECTED BEHAVIOR. (1) Participate in an authentic and active way. Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions. (2) Attempt collaboration before conflict. (3) Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech. (4) Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential. (5)Refrain from the use of alcohol on the premises.

  3. UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR. Unacceptable behaviors include: intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning speech or actions by any participant in our community online, at all related events and in one-on-one communications carried out in the context of community business. Community event venues may be shared with members of the public; please be respectful to all patrons of these locations.Harassment includes: harmful or prejudicial verbal or written comments related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability; inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces (including presentation slides); deliberate intimidation, stalking or following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

  4. CONSEQUENCES OF UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR. Unacceptable behavior from any participant, including sponsors and those with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, the HackVT Organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including a temporary ban or permanent expulsion from HackVT without warning and without refund.

  5. IF YOU WITNESS OR ARE SUBJECT TO UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR. If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a community organizer as soon as possible via email at john@vermont.org. Additionally, HackVT Organizers are available to help participants engage with local law enforcement or to otherwise help those experiencing unacceptable behavior feel safe. In the context of in-person events, organizers will also provide escorts as desired by the person experiencing distress. If you feel that you are unsafe in an emergency situation, contact 911. For non-emergencies, the Burlington Police Department can be reached at (802) 658-2704. If you are a witness to behavior that violates this Code of Conduct, we recommend you take the following actions: (1) If there is a threat present, contact the Burlington Police Department – 911 or (802) 658-2704. (2) Sit with the victim and ask “how can I help?” (3) Provide the victim with emergency contact information if needed. (4) Communicate with the event organizers about what happened and how to handle it. Again, please contact us if an incident occurs (john@vermont.org).

  6. ADDRESSING GRIEVANCES. If you feel you have been falsely or unfairly accused of violating this Code of Conduct, you should notify the HackVT organizers with a concise description of your grievance. When reporting a grievance please provide the following information in writing: (1) When it happened (2) What happened (3) The context surrounding the grievance (4) Who caused the grievance (5) Who else was involved

  7. SCOPE. We expect all community participants (contributors, paid or otherwise; sponsors; and other guests) to abide by this Code of Conduct in all community venues—online and in- person—as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to community business.

  8. CONTACT INFO. john@vermont.org

  9. LICENSE AND ATTRIBUTION. This Code of Conduct is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. Adapted from the UX Burlington Code of Conduct on September 2, 2015.