Great Lakes Photo Contest 2009 Official Contest Rules and Entry Guidelines

Biodiversity Project and Budweiser are seeking your help in designing the 2009 Great Lakes educational beer coasters. For five years, Anheuser-Busch, one of the world's largest brewers and a recyclers of aluminum cans, has joined Biodiversity Project to help protect the world's largest fresh water resource – the Great Lakes.

This year, we're asking amateur and professional photographers to submit their favorite Great LakesGreat Lakes region. The contest also carries gift prizes for all six winners, including a kayak, GPS system and Budweiser Day Pack. photos for use on our 2009 Great Lakes Forever beer coasters. One amateur and one professional photographer will see their photos printed on a Budweiser/Great Lakes Forever beer coaster to be distributed to bars and restaurants throughout the

CONTEST RULES:

WHO: The Great Lakes Forever 2009 Budweiser Coaster Photo Contest is open to ALL photographers at least 21 years of age, except CA residents and employees and the immediate families of employees of Biodiversity Project, Waylon Ad, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, wholesale distributors, and individual retail licensees are ineligible. This Contest is subject to federal, state and local regulations. Taxes, if any, are solely the responsibility of the winner. Your entry to the contest constitutes your agreement to allow your photographs - and your name, city and state of residence - to be published as selected award winners on Budweiser/Great Lakes Forever educational beer coasters and posters; published or used for non-profit purposes by the Biodiversity Project and their Great Lakes programs including, but not limited to, Web sites, emails, newsletters, posters, and all other electronic or print media. Entrants retain ownership and all other rights to future use of their photographs. Biodiversity Project shall have the right to verify, in their sole judgment, winner eligibility.

DIVISIONS: Photographers must enter their images in one of two divisions:

Professional Photographer - Full or part-time professional photographers who receive all or a major part of their income from photography.

Amateur Photographer - Beginning or amateur photographers at least 21 years of age, and experienced photographers who do not receive a major part of their income from photography.

WHAT: We are looking for striking images of the Great Lakes that show what an awesome resource they are and their relationship with people and nature. These images may show wildlife, Great Lakes landscapes, weather or people enjoying the Great Lakes. Previously published material may be entered; however, please include information on when and where the photo appeared.

Digital photos and traditional film photos are both eligible for entry. Entries may be digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints. All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared.

By submitting a photo, you warrant that it is your original work, that all subjects in photograph are 21 years of age or older, that it does not violate any law, regulation or right of any third party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, rights of publicity or privacy, that you have followed the Official Rules of the Contest. Further, by submitting an entry, entrant grants permission for sponsor to publish, post, display and otherwise make use of the photograph on the World Wide Web as is consistent with these Official Rules (as solely determined by sponsor), and warrants that he/she has all right to grant such permission. Entrant acknowledges that he or she has sufficient written permission of any recognizable persons appearing in the photograph to be able to grant to sponsor the right to publish their photographic submission without compensation pursuant to the rules of the contest, and hereby grants to sponsor such right.

Photos that have been digitally altered, or “photoshopped,” beyond dust removal, cropping, or natural adjustments to color and contrast, etc. will be disqualified.

JUDGING: Three images from each of the two divisions will be judged on meeting the intent of the theme, originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. Decisions made by the judges (Biodiversity Project, Budweiser and Waylon Ad) are final. These six images will then be placed on the Great Lakes Forever program Web site – www.greatlakesforever.org - for two weeks of online voting. The top two winners, one from each division, will be the two photographs that receive the most online votes.

DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION: All entries must be received by Biodiversity Project no later than 11:59pm CST on August 14, 2009. Entries may be submitted electronically or through U.S. mail. Mailed or shipped entries must arrive at Biodiversity Project's office in Chicago, IL (see below). no later than August 14, 2009. Receipt of packages cannot be acknowledged. Do not submit originals – no photos will be returned.

HOW TO ENTER: All images must be accompanied by an official entry form (click here to download a PDF document.) Images without the entry form will not be considered for the contest. Photographers are limited to three images in either the Professional or Amateur division. Entrants must designate the appropriate division in which all their images are to be judged. Entries may be digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints.

Digital entries: Camera-made digital images or scans of slides or prints should be sent via email to: photocontest@biodiverse.org . A downloadable-electronic form is provided for required information, please include it as an attachment with your photo email. If submitting scans of film photographs, we may request the originals for printing purposes. Original files of camera-made digital photos must be three (3) megapixels or larger. Entries made electronically require high/print quality images – 300 dpi at 5x7 inches.

Mailed entries: Prints or Slides should be sent to: GLF Photos, Biodiversity Project, 4507 N. Ravenswood Ave., Suite 106, Chicago, IL 60640 . Each photograph must bear the photographer's name, address, phone number, email address if applicable, and entry number (1 through 3). Negatives must be available for all prints, and original slides for all duplicates, but please do not send them until contacted. Place slides in a plastic photo sheet. Prints may be mounted, but print and/or mount size must be no larger than 11x14 inches. Receipt of packages cannot be acknowledged. Do not submit originals – no photos will be returned.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Neither sponsor nor its agencies are responsible for lost, late, misdirected, unintelligible, returned or undelivered mail, entries, email, photo attachments, or for lost, interrupted or unavailable satellite, network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), Web site or other connections availability, accessibility or traffic congestion, miscommunications, failed computer, network, telephone, satellite or cable hardware or software or lines, or technical failure, or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions, computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic or network. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of this Contest or Web site, or act in violation of the Official Rules, or act in any manner to threaten or abuse or harass any person, or violate Web site's Terms Of Service, as solely determined by sponsor, will be disqualified. Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information whether caused by Web site users, tampering, hacking, or by any of the programming or equipment associated with or used in this Contest, and assumes no responsibility for any errors, omission, deletion, interruption or delay in operation or transmission or communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized Web site access. Any use of robotic, macro, automatic, programmed or like entry methods will void all such entries, and may subject that entrant to disqualification. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to participants' or any other person's computer or property related to or resulting from participating in this Contest. Should any portion of this Contest be, in sponsor's sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in sole opinion of sponsor, corrupt or impair administration, security, fairness or proper play of this Contest, or submission of entries, sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify, or terminate the Contest, and randomly select winners from valid entries received prior to action taken, or otherwise as may be deemed fair and equitable by sponsor. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter will be deemed to be the entrant, and must comply with these rules. The authorized account subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the ISP or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses. All materials submitted become the property of sponsor and will not be returned.

Winners may be required to complete, sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and liability and publicity release within seven (7) days of prize notification. In the event of noncompliance within this time period, prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Any prize notification or prize returned to the sponsor or its agencies as undeliverable will result in disqualification and the awarding of that prize to an alternate winner.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: Participants agree (a) that Sponsor and its parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, and advertising and promotion agencies, and their respective officers, directors, employees, wholesale distributors, representatives and agents, will have no liability whatsoever for, and are released and shall be held harmless by participants against, any liability, for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind, to persons, including death, or property, or rights of publicity or privacy, defamation, copyright infringement or portrayal in a false light resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of the prize or participation in this contest or in any contest-related activity, and (b) winner, by acceptance of prize, except where legally prohibited, grants permission for sponsor (and agree to confirm such agreement in writing) and those acting pursuant to its authority to use his/her name, entry for advertising, trade and promotional purposes without further compensation, at any times or time, in all media now known or hereafter discovered world wide and on the Internet and/or World Wide Web without notice or review or approval.

PRIZES:

Grand Prize (2): one for each of the professional and amateur divisions:

Budweiser Tandem Kayak - $900 retail value + Photo Featured on Special Great Lakes Awareness Beer Coasters from Budweiser

First Place Prize (2): one for each of the professional and amateur divisions:

Budweiser Magellan Triton 300 GPS - $200 retail value

Second Place Prize (2): one for each of the professional and amateur divisions:

Budweiser Day Pack - $30 retail value

Total value of all prizes: $1,250.

By accepting a prize, winner agrees to release and hold sponsor harmless from all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind resulting from acceptance, possession or use of any prize, including without limitation, personal injuries, death and property damage. By participating in this Contest, participants agree to be bound by all the Official Rules of this Contest.

For the names of the winners, go to www.greatlakesforever.org after September 14, 2009.

Budweiser is a registered trademark of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

If you have additional questions, please contact Biodiversity Project at 773-496-4020 or email: