Mental Model Makeover Challenge Rules

1.      Eligibility: The GFOA Mental Model Makeover Challenge is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada who submit the entry form on the contest page on the GFOA website. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older and a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) as of their date of entry in this promotion in order to qualify. Entrants must be able to present their entry in person at the 2025 GFOA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., if they are chosen as winner. This contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations and void where prohibited by law. GFOA's employees, its subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, partners, advertising and promotion agencies, and directors (collectively the “Employees”), as well as members of an Employees' immediate family and/or those living in the same household of Employees are ineligible to participate in the Mental Model Makeover Challenge.

2.      Sponsorship. The sponsor is Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) (“Sponsor”), located at 203 N La Salle St #2700, Chicago, IL, 60601. Sponsor will conduct the Contest substantially as described in these Official Rules.

3.      Agreement to Rules: By entering this Contest, the Entrant (“You”) agrees to abide by the Sponsor's Official Rules and decisions, which are fully and unconditionally binding in all respects. The Sponsor reserve the right to refuse, withdraw, or disqualify any entry at any time at the Sponsor’s sole discretion. By entering this Contest the You represents and warrants that You are eligible to participate based on eligibility requirements explained in the Official Rules. You also agree to accept the decisions of the Sponsor as final and binding as it relates to the content of this Mental Model Makeover Challenge.

4.      Mental Model Makeover Challenge Entry Period: This promotion begins on May 22, 2024, at 12:00 AM CDT and ends on February 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM CST (“Entry Period”). To be eligible for the Contest, entries must be received within the specified Entry Period.

5.      How to Enter: Eligible entrants can enter the Mental Model Makeover Challenge by submitting an entry via the online form provided at https://www.gfoa.org/mental-model-challenge. As a participant, your entry must fully meet all Contest requirements, as specified in the Official Rules, in order to be eligible to win a prize. Incomplete entries or those that do not adhere to the Official Rules or specifications will be disqualified at the Sponsor's sole discretion. Fraudulent methods of entry or circumvention of the rules may result in the Sponsor invalidating your entries and removing them from the Contest at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.

6.      Prizes: The Winner of the Mental Model Makeover Challenge (the “Winner”) will receive an all-expense paid trip to present their entry at the 2025 GFOA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., including a waived registration fee, 1 standard room in the Sponsor hotel block not to exceed 3 nights, economy flight for one person set up by Sponsor’s travel agent to and from home city, transport to/from airport, and a daily allowance for meals not provided at conference (amount to be determined by Sponsor). The actual/appraised prize value may differ at the time the prize is awarded. The prize(s) shall be determined solely by the Sponsor. There shall be no cash or other prize substitution permitted except at the Sponsor’s discretion. The prize is non-transferable. The Winner, upon acceptance of the prize, is solely responsible for all expenses related to the prize, including without limitation any and all local, state, and federal taxes. The Winner shall not transfer assignment of the prize to others nor shall the Winner request the cash equivalent or prize substitution. By accepting the prize, the selected Winner grants permission for the Sponsor to use the Winner’s likeness, entry, and name for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation unless prohibited by law. The Winner must provide the Sponsor with a valid Social Security number or taxpayer-identification number before the Sponsor can award the prize, should tax forms be required.

7.      Odds: The total number of virtual raffle tickets determines the odds of winning.

8.      Selection and Notification of Winner: The Winner will be selected by a random drawing of virtual raffle tickets under the supervision of the Sponsor. The Sponsor will notify the Winner(s) by email within five business days following Winner selection. The Sponsor is not responsible for nor shall have no liability for Winner’s failure to receive notices due to email security settings that may cause nonfictions to be marked as spam or junk email. Nor shall be Sponsor be liable for the Winner’s provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If the Winner 1) fails to claim the prize within [10 days] from the time the award notification was sent, 2) is found ineligible, or 3) does not complete and return an executed declaration and release within the specified timeframe, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate Winner may be selected. Receipt of the prize (offered in the Mental Model Makeover Challenge) by the Winner is upon the condition of compliance with any and all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. IF THE WINNER VIOLATES ANY OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES, THE WINNER (AT THE SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL BE DISQUALIFIED, AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

9.      Rights Granted by You: By submitting an entry (e.g., text, video, photo, etc.) into this Mental Model Makeover Challenge, you understand and agree that the Sponsor, any individual acting on the Sponsor’s behalf, and the licensees successors, and assigns of the Sponsor shall, where permitted by law, have the right to print, publish, broadcast, distribute and use in any media known now or hereafter developed, in perpetuity, worldwide, and without limitation, your submission, name, photo, portrait, voice, likeness, image, statements about the Mental Model Makeover Challenge, and your biographical information for news, publicity, advertising, promotional purposes, trade, information, and public relations without any further notice, review, consent, compensation, or remuneration. All entries must be original work and not violate anyone’s proprietary or intellectual property rights. Should You submit any entries that infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others, You shall defend or settle against such claims at your sole expense, and You shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor from any suit.

10.  Terms & Conditions: In its sole discretion, the Sponsor reserves the right to modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate the Mental Model Makeover Challenge should non-authorized human intervention, a bug or virus, fraud, or other causes beyond the Sponsor’s control, impact or corrupt the security, fairness, proper conduct, or administration of the Mental Model Makeover Challenge. The Sponsor, in the event of any of the above issues, may determine the Winner based on all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by the Sponsor. Individuals who tamper with or attempt to tamper with the operation or entry process of the Contest or website or violates these Terms & Conditions will be disqualified by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. In its sole discretion, the Sponsor has the right to maintain the integrity of the Mental Model Makeover Challenge to void votes for any reason, including, but not limited to: [identify any disallowed entry methods that will result in votes/entries being voided; examples: multiple entries from the same user; multiple entries from the same computer beyond the number allowed by the Contest rules; or the use of bots, macros, scripts, or other technical means for entering.] Attempts by any entrant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Mental Model Makeover Challenge may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. If any such attempt is made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.

11.  Limitation of Liability: Your entry into this Contest constitutes Your agreement to release and hold harmless the Sponsor and its subsidiaries, representatives, affiliates, partners, advertising and promotion agencies, successors, agents, assigns, directors, employees, and officers against and from any and all claims, liability, illness, injury, death, litigation, loss, or damages that may occur, directly or indirectly from participation in the Contest and/or the 1) Winner accepting, possessing, using, or misusing of any awarded prize or any portion thereof; 2) any type of technical failure; 3) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, phone, or Internet service; 4) unauthorized intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; 5) electronic error or human error in the Promotion administration or the processing of entries.

12.  Disputes: THIS CONTEST IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, WITHOUT RESPECT TO CONFLICT OF LAW DOCTRINES. The Entrant agrees, as a condition of participating in this promotion, that if any disputes cannot be resolved between the Entrant and the Sponsor, and if causes of action arise out of or are connected with this Contest, they shall be individually resolved exclusively before a court located in Illinois having jurisdiction, without resorting to any form of class action. Under no circumstances in any such dispute shall the participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this Contest). The participant waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

13.  Privacy Policy: Information submitted with an entry is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on the GFOA website.

14.  Winners List: You may obtain a copy of the Winner’s name(s) or a copy of these Official Rules, by sending your request via mail with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: GFOA, 203 N La Salle St, Chicago IL 60201. Requests must be postmarked no later than May 1, 2024, 3:00 PM CDT.

15.  By entering this contest, You, the Entrant, have affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of the Official Rules.