“Find Your Roots” Sweepstakes Official Rules
Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the United States of America at the time of entry and receipt of prize. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older. This Sweepstakes is sponsored by The Root d/b/a The Washington Post and Residence Inn. Employees, officers, directors and representatives of Sponsor, The Root, and their corporate affiliates, and those with whom such persons are domiciled, are not eligible. Sweepstakes subject to all federal, state and local laws. Void where prohibited.
HOW TO ENTER: No purchase necessary. To enter, go to theroot.com/findyourroots and fill in the entry fields. Contestants also may enter by mail. To enter by mail, send a 3 ½ “ x 5 postcard with your complete name, address, daytime phone number and email to The Root, , “Find Your Roots” Sweepstakes Entries, 1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 410, Washington, DC 20036. The entry period of the Sweepstakes begins on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 12:00 am and runs through Thursday, June 30 at 11:59 pm. One entry per person is permitted. Entries that are late, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, unintelligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules will be disqualified. Sponsors are not responsible for lost, destroyed or misdirected entries.
PRIZES: Eleven (11) winners will receive one mtDNA test to trace the maternal ancestry of males and females from African DNA. Average retail value: $189.00
One (1) grand prize winner, selected from the eleven (11) daily winners will receive research about his/her family, personally conducted by Henry “Skip” Gates, Jr. He will deliver his research to the grand prize winner via recorded video message. Average retail value: $1500.00
SELECTION OF WINNERS: Daily winners will be selected by random drawing conducted by The Root from all eligible entries received on or before 11:59pm of the daily deadline. Drawings will be held the following weekday. The grand prize winner will be randomly selected from the 11 daily winners before July 8, 2011. Winners will be notified by email or phone. Incomplete entries will not be accepted. The number of eligible entries will determine the odds of winning. Sponsor is not obligated to leave voice mail, answering machine, or other message. In Sponsor’s sole discretion, a selected winner may be required to forfeit a prize and an alternate winner may be selected in accordance with these Official Rules from among the remaining eligible entries for that prize if selected winner (i) is unreachable, (ii) declines or cannot accept, receive or use the prize for any reason, or (iii) fails to comply with these Official Rules.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating in this Sweepstakes, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all respects. By entering, each entrant agrees to release, discharge, indemnify, and hold harmless the Sponsor, The Root, and each of their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and marketing agencies and each of their respective employees, officers, shareholders, directors, representatives and agents (collectively, “Releasees”) from and against any claims, damages or liability involving or arising out of (i) late, lost, delayed, misdirected, postage due, mutilated, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, garbled or unintelligible entries; (ii) telephone system, technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, transmission or other errors of any kind whether mechanical, human, electronic or otherwise; (iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by the prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use or misuse of any prize or from participating in the Sweepstakes or any Sweepstakes related activity; or (v) any printing, distribution, typographical, administrative, human or technological errors involving or associated with the Sweepstakes. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with the Sweepstakes. The Washington Post is not a sponsor of this Sweepstakes and has no responsibility or liability in connection with this Sweepstakes.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend this Sweepstakes (or any portion of the Sweepstakes) should any virus, bug, computer problem or other cause or problem corrupt or inhibit the administration, security or proper operation of the Sweepstakes and, in such situation (or in the event of any type of error), to select the winners from eligible entries received prior to the action taken or in such manner as deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. In no event will Sponsor be liable for more than the stated number of prizes in these Official Rules. Sponsor may prohibit entrant from participating in the Sweepstakes or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair practices or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or Sponsor’s representatives. Releasees have not made and/or are not responsible for any misrepresentation or guaranty, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to the prizes. By accepting a prize, winner agrees and acknowledges that Sponsor and its designees may use winner's name, voice, biographical data, likeness and city name in any and all media throughout the universe and in perpetuity for promotional purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree that: (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Sweepstakes, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out of pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Sweepstakes, but in no event will attorneys’ fees be awarded or recoverable; and (3) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain any award for, and entrant hereby knowingly and expressly waives all rights to seek, punitive, incidental or consequential damages and/or any other damages, other than actual out of pocket expenses, and/or any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.
WINNERS LIST: For the name of the prize winners, available after July 31, 2011 or a copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: The Root “Find Your Roots” Sweepstakes, 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 410, Washington DC 20036. Please specify "Official Rules" or "Winners List." Requests must be received by August 31, 2011.