Taste of Buffalo City of Good Neighbors Award Contest

2024 OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. The Taste of Buffalo City of Good Neighbors Award Contest contains an element of skill.

Sponsor: Taste of Buffalo (“Sponsor”) is the official sponsor of the “City of Good Neighbors Award” Contest (“Contest”).

Eligibility: The Contest is open to legal residents of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, and Orleans counties who are at least 18 years of age at the time of registration or their nomination by another eligible person. No purchase necessary to enter or win. The winner must be available Saturday July 13, 2024 for food judging between 11 am and 2 pm. Taste of Buffalo Board of Directors and their immediate family members, (parent, child, sibling (and their respective spouses) regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same households as such individuals (whether related or not), their agencies and assigns are not eligible to enter or win. Participants are eligible to win only once in their lifetime. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

Contest Period: Contest begins at 12:00:01 a.m. on Thursday May 9, 2024 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. Friday May 24, 2024 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).  The Sponsor’s computer is the official timekeeping device for this contest. The deadline to submit an entry is Friday, May 24, 2024, 11:59:59 p.m. EDT.

HOW TO ENTER: Participants must submit the entry form provided by the Taste of Buffalo. To enter, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-EfyqqlElohBpcyCo8Yqo-qodCt1mOPvJhC9piUwUP8/edit?pli=1#settings during the contest period and complete the nomination form for yourself or the individual you are nominating. Read the instructions and answer all questions completely, thoroughly, and truthfully. By submitting an entry, you represent and warrant that the information in your entry is true.

If you are nominating someone else, you must know the nominee personally. Be sure the nominee lives in the counties of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, and Orleans and is at least 18 years old at the time of registration. If submitting an entry in the Contest on behalf of another individual, you warrant and represent that you have the nominee's permission to provide their information and nominate them for this Contest.

The Taste of Buffalo is not responsible for any technological errors with the Google Form, Internet or any computer devices that may prevent eligible individuals from submitting nominations. The deadline to submit an entry is Friday, May 24, 2024, 11:59:59 p.m. EDT.

Judging and /Winner Selection: On or about Monday May 27, 2024 all entries received will be reviewed by a panel of four (4) judges, selected by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. Judging will be based on the following criteria:

  • How the nominee contributes/gives back to the local community (33.3%)
  • How the nominee represents the Buffalo nickname of being the “City of Good Neighbors” (33.3%).
  • How the nominee represents neighborly values and community spirit (33.3%)

One nominee will be selected as the winner.  The winner and the person that nominated the winner, if applicable, will be notified by phone and/or email. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not respond within 48 hours, an alternate winner may be selected.

Prize: One prize will be awarded. The winner and a guest will be Food Judges at the 2024 Taste of Buffalo on Saturday, July 13, 2024. As Food Judges, the winner and their guest will taste and rate food from a minimum of three Taste of Buffalo participating restaurants during the 3.5 hour judging period, beginning at 11 a.m. Transportation to and from the festival is the winner’s responsibility. Parking will be provided. The winner will also receive an award plaque. (ARV. $550). Prize is not transferable and not redeemable for cash.

Food Allergy and Restrictions Conditions: The Taste of Buffalo and its participating restaurants cannot accommodate food allergies and food restrictions, whether for dietary, health or religious reasons. While judging, the winner and their guest will consume food from the restaurants to be judged at their own risk and hold the Taste of Buffalo harmless. The winner and their guest are solely responsible for ensuring any food consumed as Food Judges is safe and appropriate for them to consume and free of any food allergies or restrictions they may have and will be required to execute a Release prior to judging.

Publicity: The winner and/or their guest may be asked to give a media interview, social media interview or print quote about their experience, as well as be photographed or videographed during their food judging. By entering the contest, participants grant the Sponsor the right to use their name, likeness, and entry form answers for promotional purposes without further compensation.

Winner Announcement: On or about June 7, 2024.

Release and Taxes: By participating in the Contest, the winner and their guest will assume all risk from consuming any food as Food Judges and hold the Taste of Buffalo harmless. The winner and their guest assume all responsibility for ensuring any food consumed as Food Judges is safe and appropriate for them to consume and free of any food allergies or restrictions they may have. The participants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless the Contest entities from any and all injuries, liability, losses, and damages of any kind resulting from participation in the Contest or acceptance, use, or misuse of any prize including, without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage.  The potential winner will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, which includes a Liability Release and a Publicity Release (except where prohibited). Winners must be verified and will be required to return the Affidavit of Eligibility by email three business days before being declared the winner. The winner and their guest will be required to execute and return a Hold Harmless Release by email three business days before the winner is declared. In the event the paperwork is not returned within three business days, or the winner is not able to be verified, an alternate winner will be selected. All federal, state, local, or other tax liabilities, including but not limited to income taxes or like amounts in connection with a winner’s award, acceptance, or use of a prize arising from this Contest will be the sole responsibility of each winner.

CHOICE OF LAW AND JURISDICTION Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants or winners, Sponsor, and Administrator in connection with this contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction), which might otherwise cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York. Any action seeking legal or equitable relief arising out of or relating to the contest or these Official Rules shall be brought only in the courts of the State of New York. You hereby irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction of said courts and waive any claim of forum nonconveniens or lack of personal jurisdiction you may otherwise have.

Sponsor is not responsible if all or any portion of any prize cannot be fulfilled due to COVID-19 or any related public health conditions, cancellation, illness, conflict, or any other event or circumstance outside Sponsor's reasonable control. In such event, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize with one of comparable or greater value, in its sole discretion.

OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES:

By submitting an entry, you (and your nominee, if any) agree to be bound by these Official Rules and grant Sponsor, its designees (and third-party media outlets that may wish to promote, a non-exclusive, fully paid-up and royalty-free, worldwide license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate your entry, including without limitation the right to distribute all or part of your entry in any media formats through any media channels. By submitting an entry, you consent to the use, by Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, licensees, and third-party media outlets that may wish to promote, of your entry, name, likeness, and image, in connection with the event and Sponsor's related marketing activities, in any media or format now known or hereafter invented, in any and all locations, without any payment to or further approval from you. You agree that this consent is perpetual and cannot be revoked. For uses beyond the consent that you grant above, you agree that Sponsor's use of your personal data will be governed by the Privacy Policy posted on the Sponsor website.

GENERAL. The Sponsors do not assume any responsibility for any disruption in the Contest including but not limited to the failure or interruption of any internet service provider. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures and other statements contained in any contest materials and the terms and conditions of these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall prevail, govern, and control. In no event will winner be entitled to more prizes than those listed in the Prize section of these Official Rules. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. All decisions as to these Official Rules and interpretations thereof are exclusively within the sole discretion of the Sponsor and may be changed from time to time without notice. The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the contest at any time without notice. If, in Sponsor's sole determination, a dispute cannot be resolved, the entry will be deemed ineligible. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified. Entries that are incomplete, garbled, or corrupted are void and will not be accepted.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. The Sponsor assumes no responsibility or liability for (a) lost, late, stolen, undelivered, inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, misdirected, damaged or garbled registrations, Entries, URLs, or emails; (b) any incorrect or inaccurate Entry information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (c) any unauthorized access to, or theft, destruction or alteration of Entries or registrations at any point in the operation of this Promotion; (d) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, cable, satellites, servers, computers or providers utilized in any aspect of the operation of the Promotion; (e) inaccessibility or unavailability of the Internet or the Website or any combination thereof or for computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the contest, the processing of entries, social networking posts, or registrations, the announcement of the prizes, or in any other Contest-related materials; or (f) any injury or damage to participants or to any other person's computer which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the Contest, including, but not limited to, any injury or medical condition sustained as a result of participating in any related travel. If, for any reason, the Contest (or any part thereof) is not capable of running as planned for reasons which may include, without limitation, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which may corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, then the Sponsor reserves the right at their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest in whole or in part. If terminated, the Contest will award the prizes from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received for the Contest up to the time of such action, using the judging methods set forth above.

WINNERS LIST:

To receive the list of winners of prizes, send a #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope for receipt by August 7, 2024 to: City of Good Neighbors Contest Winners List Request, (P.O. Box 366, East Amherst, New York 14051).

SPONSOR: Taste of Buffalo, Inc.

ADMINISTRATOR: Taste of Buffalo, Inc.