NEO•GRIOT

So, here we are. If you are actually reading this section then we applaud you. Far too many people agree to terms and conditions sight unseen. While, generally speaking, this is alright, but there are definitely instances in which knowing where you stand is essential. Writing sites, especially where contests are involved, are one such area. Since money is involved, our lawyers insist on adding some legal jargon, but we just wanted to hopefully put a voice to a section that is often far too complicated and ambiguous. Essentially, we wanted to tell you personally that we are good people who would never intentionally do anyone dirty and never, under any circumstance, ask you to pay a dime. We give money away, not vice-versa. For information concerning the competition and other submissions, please see the terms and conditions below:

Terms and Conditions:

PARTICIPANTS MUST BE MEMBERS OF XTREMETRAVELSTORIES.COM

ENTRY IN THIS COMPETITION OR ANY OTHER SUBMISSION CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES.

The XtremeTravelStories.com quarterly writing competition (the “Competition”) is a skill-based contest where participants submit either a travel story or free-lance report in any language, topic or category the author desires. The finalists of each cash prize give-away are decided by you, the viewer. At the end of each deadline, our staff will multiply the number of votes by the average 5-star rating system found under the story or free-lance report's tittle (5 stars is the highest while 1 is the lowest possible score). The points of this equation make a total score. (For example, if a particular story has 10 votes with an average 5-star score of 4, the author's total is 40). The top five highest scored stories and/or reports will be reviewed by our team of professional editors to democratically decide which author deserves the $100 first place grand prize. If there is a tie amongst more than five stories and/or reports, then all will qualify as finalists. The winner will be announced no later than ten (10) days after the deadline and will be notified through e-mail first before being displayed publicly on XtremeTravelStories.com. The 100 USD will be awarded to participant through PayPal, therefore it is necessary for the winning author to have a PayPal account. See below for complete details.

1. BINDING AGREEMENT: In order to enter the Competition, you must agree to these Official Rules (“Rules”). Therefore, please read these Rules prior to entry to ensure you understand and agree. You agree that submitting a story, free-lance report, photograph and/or video ("Submissions") constitutes agreement to these Rules. You may not submit a Submission to the Competition and are not eligible to receive the cash prize of 100 USD described in these Rules unless you agree to these Rules. These Rules form a binding legal agreement between you and the Sponsors with respect to the Competition.

2. SPONSORS: The Competition's sponsor is XtremeTravelStories.com. To contact the Sponsor regarding any questions concerning the Competition should be emailed to XTSeditor@gmail.com .

3. COMPETITION PERIOD: The competition ends 11:59:59 PM GMT of that quarter's deadline date. The deadline date is stated in the "What's New" section on the Homepage of XtremeTravelStories.com and is subject to change by the Sponsors. Next quarter's Competition begins 12:00:00 AM GMT the day after the deadline date. Finalist are announced within five (5) days of the deadline. The winning author (the "Winner") will be contacted within ten (10) days of the deadline by the email  he or she provides in his or her profile (the same email given in the registration process). The Winner must provide XtremeTravelStories.com with his or her PayPal account information within thirty (30) days of being informed of winning the Competition. If the Winner does not respond and/or does not provide XtremeTravelStories.com with the necessary information, XtremeTravelStories.com has the right to void the Competition and not award the Winner the prize. Losers of the Competition will also be notified by the email he or she provided in the registration within ten (10) days of the deadline.

4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: The story and/or free-lance report must be written in the "story" box in the "Share your story" section of the Site. Photographs and videos are also uploaded in the "Share your story" section of the Site. All Submissions must abide the following:
(a) is an original, unpublished work that does not contain, incorporate or otherwise use any
content, material or element that is owned by a third party or entity;
(b) it does not contain any content, element, or material that violates a third party’s publicity,
privacy or intellectual property rights;
(c) is the original work of the Entrant;
(d) does not contain any use of the names, likenesses, photographs, or other identifying
elements, in whole or in part, of any person, living, or dead without permission;
(e) does not include trademarks, logos, or copyrighted
material not owned by Entrant or infringe or violate the rights of any third
party, including but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, logos,
contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights, or any other
intellectual property rights;
(f) does not include threats of any kind or that intimidate, harass, or bully anyone;
(g) does not violate any local, state, national or international law or post any content that would
encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense;
During the Competition, XtremeTravelStories.com, its editors will be evaluating each story and/or freelance report to ensure that it does not violate the Requirements. While XtremeTravelStories.com and its editors will make every effort to review Submissions to ensure that they meet the Requirements, they may not be able to view every Submission during the Competition. Thus, if a participant views a written piece that it believes violates the Requirements, it can contact XtremeTravelStories.com at XTSeditor@gmail.com .

5. JUDGING: Within five (5) days after the proposed deadline, the potential Finalists will be notified of their selection via an email to their email address provided in their user profile. The editors will then read all Finalist's work and discuss which story deserves the prize based on whichever factors the editors deem appropriate. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, creativity, writing style and/or originality. Creativity, writing style and/or originality is based off the XtremeTravelStories.com editor's opinions only.

The finalists of each cash prize give-away are decided by you, the viewer. At the end of each deadline, our staff will multiply the number of votes by the average 5-star rating system found under the story or free-lance report's tittle (5 stars is the highest while 1 the lowest possible score). The points of this equation make a total score. (For example, if a particular story has 10 votes with an average 5-star score of 4, the author's total is 40). The top three highest scores from stories and/or reports will be reviewed by XtremeTravelStories.com editors to decide which author deserves the $100 first place grand prize. If there is a tie amongst more than three stories and/or reports, then all will qualify as finalist. The winner will be announced no later than ten (10) days after the deadline and will be notified through e-mail first before being displayed publicly on XtremeTravelStories.com. Finalist will be notified within five (5) days of the deadline while the winner and losers being notified within ten (10) days of the given deadline by the email he or she provides in their XtremeTravelStories.com profile. If the first prize winner does not respond to the email notifying them of winning the Competition withing thirty (30) days, then the winner will be disqualified and the prize will be voided. Decision of Judges are final and binding.

6. FIRST PLACE WINNER: The first place winner will receive 100 USD within thirty (30) days of responding to the editor's email notifying them of winning the Competition. Money is only receivable by PayPal and only paid in United States Dollar.

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: As between Sponsors and the Entrant, the Entrant retains ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to the written piece. As a condition of entry, Entrant grants the Sponsors, as well as their subsidiaries, agents and partner companies, a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display written piece.

8. INDEMNITY: To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified Sponsors and their affiliates at all times from and against any liability. Each Entrant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsors from and against any and all claims, actions, suits or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or accruing from any written work provided by the Entrant that infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, trade dress, patent or other intellectual property right of any person or defames any person or violates their rights of publicity or privacy.

9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: EACH ENTRANT ACCEPTS THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE RULES, AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE SPONSORS, AGREES EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT ANY PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH IS CAUSED BY THE SPONSORS NEGLIGENCE OR BREACH OF THESE RULES AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW THAT THE SPONSORS SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CLAIMS, LOSSES, LIABILITY, AND DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES), ASSERTED AGAINST ANY OF THEM, INCURRED, SUSTAINED, OR ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, ACCEPTANCE, OR MISUSE OF ANY ENTRY MATERIAL, OR WHILE PREPARING FOR, PARTICIPATING IN, AND/OR TRAVELING TO OR FROM ANY CONTEST-RELATED ACTIVITY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INJURY, DAMAGE, DEATH, LOSS, OR ACCIDENT TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, OR FROM THE RESPECTIVE ENTRANT'S BREACH OF ANY AGREEMENT OR WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST, INCLUDING THESE RULES. ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSORS AND EACH OF THEIR LICENSEES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. EACH ENTRANT UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES TO BEAR SOLE LIABILITY FOR THE CONTENT OF HIS/HER SUBMISSIONS AND AGREES TO INDEMNIFY THE SPONSORS FOR ANY DAMAGES AND/OR COSTS INCURRED AS A RESULT OF A THIRD PARTY’S CLAIM OR DEMAND RELATING TO THE CONTENT OF HIS/HER SUBMISSION.

10. FORUM AND RECOURSE TO JUDICIAL PROCEDURES: These Rules shall be governed by, subject to, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Louisiana, United States of America, excluding all conflict of law rules. If any provision(s) of these Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, seek injunctive relief or make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Competition are hereby excluded, and all Entrants expressly waive any and all such rights.