Terms and Conditions

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1. Timing

Contest begins on May 15, 2007, and ends at 11:59pm Pacific Time on August 3, 2007. All entries must be uploaded to the competition website no later than 11:59pm Pacific Time on August 3, 2007.

2. Eligibility

Contest is open to all individuals age 18 years or older who are legal residents of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Republic of China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. Employees, independent contractors, officers, and directors of Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, the judging panel, and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of such persons are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Additionally, projects that are funded or sponsored by Adobe or designed specifically for Adobe are not eligible to participate in the Contest. All federal, state, provincial, autonomous, and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited.

3. Categories & Judging

Each entry must meet the requirements, as specified below in Section 4. Any non-conforming entries will be disqualified. Altered, defaced, mutilated, illegible, or incomplete entries are not eligible and will result in disqualification of entry. Entries that contain any content that is pornographic in nature, lewd, or sexually explicit, in Sponsor's sole discretion, will be disqualified. After each entry is screened for compliance with the entry requirements, it will be judged by an independent panel of judges selected by the Sponsor. The judges' decisions are final and binding. Judges retain the right to reclassify entries from one category to another or to select only components of the submission for honors. Each of the seven (7) categories will have two finalists from which one Category Winner will be selected and two honorable mentions awarded, unless the judges determine that the entry quality does not warrant the award of all three prizes. In addition, entrants may be eligible for additional Special Recognition Awards that honor outstanding achievement, granted at the discretion of the Judges. Adobe reserves the right to not award any Special Recognition Awards. The entries, whether submitted by an individual or a group, shall be judged together in each category on a points system based on innovation, achievement, application of technology, brand building, and overall design. All point calculations will be kept confidential. The categories available for entries are as follows:

A. Advertising and Branding: Companies invest heavily in creating engaging, memorable ads and delivering content that positively portrays their brands across a variety of media. Delivering high-impact ads and strengthening corporate brands today involves bridging traditional creative processes with the latest technology advances. In this category, we invite you to submit details about your successful, engaging ads and campaigns developed with Adobe solutions.

B. Communication and Collaboration: As the distance between a company's employees, partners, and customers grows, effective communication and collaboration becomes a cornerstone of success. Collaboration strategies built around secure, readily available technologies can enable people to work together effortlessly on any digital device, whether they are located across town or on the other side of the world. In this category, we invite you to share details about how you are using Adobe solutions to improve communication and collaboration inside and outside your organization.

C. Enterprise: Corporate enterprises face more pressure than ever to better engage their customers and streamline internal processes. Previous ways of working built around paper and slow, manual processes make it difficult to compete in today's global market, where enterprises face intense competition and customers demand immediate, convenient access to services. In this category, we would like to hear how you are using Adobe solutions to provide your employees, partners, or customers with more efficient, engaging experiences. This category is not for public sector organizations and agencies.

D. Mobility and Devices: Technology today enables people to engage with each other, with information, and with entertainment on demand. A wide array of devices and applications provide dispersed business teams or friends located around the globe the freedom to interact and share content in exciting new ways. In this category, we invite you to tell us about how you are using Adobe software to open up new possibilities for mobile applications.

E. Public Sector: Organizations in the public sector (government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations) continue to face the challenge of doing more with fewer resources. Here, technology plays a vital role in delivering richer, more engaging services, while keeping costs in check. In this category, we invite you to submit details that highlight how Adobe solutions have enabled your organization to boost the quality and variety of services and still address the reality of tighter budgets.

F. Rich Internet Applications: The line between web services and traditional desktop applications is blurring, as people demand applications that combine the universal access and flexibility of web services with the power of leading desktop software applications. In this category, we want to hear about how your newest and most innovative RIAs are transforming conventional notions of web services.

G. Video: Advances in web services, virtual computing, and handheld devices are reshaping people's expectations for engaging with information and entertainment any time and any place. In this category, we want to see how you are leveraging Adobe solutions to provide consumers or business users with cutting-edge entertainment and media applications.

H. People's Choice: In addition to the categories named above, all conference attendees will have the opportunity to select one winner from the 14 finalists as the "People's Choice" Winner, which will be announced live at the conference on October 2, 2007.

4. How to Enter

All entrants must complete the official online form for the 2007 MAX Awards available at: http://adobemax2007.com/awards/submit/. Entries should include a URL to access the submitted work. If the project is not publicly accessible via URL the project may be submitted in one of the following digital formats:

Web URL with special Adobe-only login (preferred)
Adobe Acrobat Connect URL including recording of demo and overview of project
Digital file sent via FTP (details of FTP provided by MAX Awards team available at maxaward@adobe.com).

Each entry MUST include the following:

The project should meet the criteria based on innovation, achievement, application of technology, brand building, and experience design.
You must be able to attend the Adobe MAX 2007 conference and show the project to attendees at the conference. Some amount of code should be able to be viewed by attendees.
You must supply a computer to show the project at the 2007 MAX conference. Adobe will supply the connection to the Internet, monitor, mouse, and power supply. If a submission requires more than the peripherals provided by Adobe, the submitter must supply the necessary items. No additional promotional materials are allowed at the conference, including but not limited to flyers, giveaways, etc.
Each project submitted must contain at least one product from Adobe. Projects completed with multiple Adobe products of the most recent version are encouraged.
Your project must be in production or in an active pilot stage by the start of MAX 2007 and live and accessible up to 120 days after the conference.
All work must be original (no plagiarized images, text, or other content).
No projects containing pornography or other offensive materials as solely determined by Adobe will be considered for a MAX Award.
Projects cannot be created specifically for or funded by Adobe.

Any entry not complying with the above entry requirements will not be eligible for consideration or any prize. Entries may be submitted for consideration in more than one category but will only be selected as a finalist or other distinction in one (1) category. Each project will only be recognized once. If the same or similar project is submitted by two independent organizations, at Adobe's discretion the project and each organization will be at risk of being disqualified from the contest. Sponsor accepts no responsibility for entries that are lost or damaged in transit. Sponsor shall use reasonable care to prevent any loss or damage to entries received by Sponsor; however, Sponsor shall not be liable for direct, indirect, or consequential loss that results from the loss or damage to any entry. 5. Copyright Ownership: By submitting an entry by a sole creator to a category, Contestant warrants that Contestant is the sole designer, creator, and owner of the artwork, including all visual and auditory components, or has permission to use copyrighted components, and further warrants that the artwork does not contain information considered by Contestant's place of business or any other third party to be confidential. By submitting an entry by a group of creators, the Contestants warrant that they jointly designed, created, and own the visual and auditory artwork or have permission to use copyrighted components, and further warrant that the artwork does not contain information considered by Contestants' place of business or any other third party to be confidential.

6. Prizes

The top two finalists will be selected from each of the seven (7) categories ("Finalists") and invited to attend the Adobe Max 2007 Event in Chicago, Illinois, USA ("Event") to compete for the People's Choice Award. Each finalist will receive one complimentary conference registration to the Event and will be featured at the Event. One MAX Award will be granted in each of the seven (7) categories to one of the top two Finalists ("Category Winners"). Each Category Winner will be presented with a MAX Award at the Event.

One (1) winner will be selected from the fourteen (14) finalists by the Event attendees and announced at the Event to receive the People's Choice Award ("Award Winner").

Finalist: The top two finalists will be selected from each of the seven (7) categories ("Finalists"). One person from the Finalists' organization must attend Adobe MAX 2007 and compete for the People's Choice Award as selected by conference attendees. Each Finalist will receive one complimentary conference registration to Adobe MAX 2007 and will be featured in the Event, conference, and marketing materials and on Adobe.com. Trip expenses to attend the Event will be the responsibility of the Finalist.
Category Winner: One of the top two Finalists will be selected from each of the seven (7) categories ("Category Winner"). Each Category Winner will be presented with a MAX Award trophy at the Event, recognized in conference and marketing materials and on Adobe.com, and be included in an Adobe issued press release announcing the winners.
People's Choice Award Winner: The winner of the People's Choice Award will be selected by conference attendees and presented with a MAX Award trophy at the Event. The winner will also be recognized in conference and marketing materials and on Adobe.com, as well as included in an Adobe issued press release announcing the winner of the People's Choice Award.
Honorable Mention: Two (2) projects will be selected in each of the seven (7) categories as Honorable Mentions. Each Honorable Mention will be listed on Adobe.com, along with a logo and short description of the project. In addition, Honorable Mentions may be featured in the Event, conference, and marketing materials and on Adobe.com.

Because this is a contest of skill, winning is dependent upon the quality of entries received. All prizes will be awarded unless there are fewer eligible entries for a Category than prizes for that Category or the judges determine that the quality of entries does not warrant a prize. No alternative prize, cash, or other substitution is allowed except by Sponsor in the event of prize unavailability. Prizes are non-assignable/non-transferable. All federal, state, provincial, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners.

7. Finalist Notification

Entries will be judged between August 4, 2007, and August 24, 2007. Fourteen Finalists, two in each category, will be notified by e-mail or telephone on or before September 1, 2007. Finalists will have 4 days (96 hours) from receipt of notification to acknowledge finalist status and must confirm attendance at the Event by e-mail. E-mail should be sent to maxaward@adobe.com. Finalists will be notified that they have been nominated for placement but will not know what their winning placement is until the actual Event. Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners. If a selected Finalist cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to acknowledge status, or fails to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, prize may be forfeited and an alternate Finalist may be selected. Finalists will be required to sign and return a liability release, declaration of eligibility, license agreement, and, where lawful, a publicity consent agreement, all within 10 days of receipt by finalist as a condition of receiving prize.

8. General Terms and Conditions

Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for (i) lost, late, delayed, damaged, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, or misdirected entries; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind (iii) failed, incomplete, partial, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result of a prize, or acceptance, possession, or use of a prize, or from participation in the Contest; (vi) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest (not applicable in Spain); (vii) any regional, state, autonomous, or local laws or regulations violated during the creation of the entries by the Contestant(s). Sponsor reserves the right to suspend, cancel, or modify the Contest if fraud or technical failure corrupts the administration, security, or proper play of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Each Contestant agrees to release and hold Sponsor harmless from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind in connection with the Contest or resulting from acceptance, possession, or use of any prize, including without limitation, personal injury, death, property damage, and claims based upon intellectual property infringement, publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the preceding release of liability will not apply with respect to personal injury, death, or damage to property caused by Sponsor negligence against Contestants residing in India and will not apply with respect to personal injury or death caused by Sponsor negligence against Contestants residing or Hong Kong or Portugal. The preceding release of liability only applies to ordinary or minor negligence caused by Sponsor against Contestants residing in Spain. Each Contestant agrees that Sponsor's only obligation is to submit entries from eligible Contestants to the judges according to the procedures and criteria set forth in these Official Rules, and award the prizes set forth herein to winners, subject to the terms and conditions herein. Contestant agrees that Sponsor's obligation is fair and adequate consideration for any entry submitted, and that Contestant is not entitled to and shall not seek any further compensation.

Each Contestant agrees that if his or her entry is selected as a winning entry, as a condition of receiving a prize, Contestant shall sign a license agreement granting to Sponsor a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, modify for purposes of publicly performing and publicly displaying, and prepare derivative works based upon winner's entry, for the purposes of advertising and promoting Adobe products, and for inclusion in and distribution with Adobe products. To the extent that such a perpetual license is ineffective or unenforceable, Contestant shall sign a license agreement providing to Sponsor a royalty-free, non-exclusive, two-year (2), worldwide license to use, reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, modify for purposes of publicly performing and publicly displaying, and prepare derivative works based upon winner's entry, for the purposes of advertising and promoting Adobe products, and for inclusion in and distribution with Adobe products. Each Contestant further agrees to execute any and all documents necessary to effectuate such license.

Each Contestant agrees that by submitting an entry, he or she allows the use of his or her personal data, name, likeness, and/or voice in publicity or advertising relating to the Contest without compensation. Except for issues affecting Contestants residing in Portugal or Spain, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of Contestant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California. Where permitted by law, Contestant agrees that any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, other than the administration of the Contest or the determination of winners, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose Division) or the appropriate California State Court located in Santa Clara County, California.

9. Winners List

A Winners list will be posted on the Adobe MAX website by October 2, 2007.

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