Code of Conduct: 

Our event is designed to foster meaningful collaboration between participants and organizers. 

  1. Provide a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment where all are free to fully express their ideas and identities free from discrimination or harassment.
  2. Collaborate for the purpose of generating ideas that empower, innovate, and develop local impact.
  3. Presume the value of others and cherish everyone’s ideas, skills, and contributions.
  4. Encourage others to listen as much as they speak, ask respectful questions, and demystify context.
  5. Foster an energy that builds “yes, and” ideas, tools, and/or platforms.

The organizers reserve the right to ask anyone in violation of these policies not to participate in this event. If you have any other concerns or would like to address an issue, please contact the event organizers via: aschmoeker@cto.nyc.gov

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NYC Connected Broadband Data Dig (“Event”) Rules:

  1. The Event will occur from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM on November 19, 2016 at the Brooklyn Public Library. The Event is sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York, Brooklyn Public Library, the Ford Foundation and Horowitz Research (“Sponsors”). Participation is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. You are responsible for checking applicable laws in your jurisdiction before participating in the Event to make sure that your participation is legal and to ensure that you comply with all relevant laws. You are responsible for obtaining all passports, visas, and other government-required documents and permissions needed to attend.
  2. ELIGIBILITY: The Event is open only to residents, 18 or older, of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia) at the time of the Event. In order to participate, you must agree to the accompanying terms. Participant must attend the event in person. Employees of the Sponsors and the judges or any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, or any other company or individual involved with the design, production and execution of the Event and their immediate family (spouse, parents and step-parents, sibling and step-siblings, and children and step-children) and household members (people who share the same residence at least three (3) months out of the year) of each such employee are not eligible to participate or to receive any available prize or award.  The Event is subject to all applicable United States federal, state and local laws and regulations.  Participation constitutes participant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsors’ decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Event.  Award of any prize or acknowledgement is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
  3. HOW TO ENTER: To enter, you must register and agree to terms at the Event Devpost and Eventbrite pages (“collectively, the Event Webpages”). Participants must complete all forms on the Event Webpages to register for the Event. Participants who have preregistered via the Event Webpages will be provided with City datasets at https://nycbroadbanddatadig.devpost.com/ . City datasets will be made available by November 9, 2016. Limited space, for approximately 50 participants, is available. Participants will be registered on a first-come, first-serve basis based on when they have fully completed the forms on the Event Webpages. If the Event reaches capacity, a waitlist of potential participants will be generated.  If space becomes available, potential participants will be invited to participate in order of their completed registration via the Event Webpages.  Participants will receive a notice confirming that they are scheduled to attend the Event by November 17, 2016. 

 

  1. WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE EVENT: Participants will be expected to attend the Event on November 19, 2016 and to work individually or as a team to prepare a submission describing their method, plan or analysis regarding data to be used by the City to improve access to broadband availability/expansion within New York City (the “Submission”). Participants may self-form into teams or work alone. Participants will spend the day developing analyses on data sets, including data provided by the City. All participants will submit their final analyses at approximately 3:00 PM and present their analyses to the judges at approximately 4:00 PM. The Winner(s) will be announced at approximately 5:00 PM with the event ending at approximately 6:00 PM.

 

  1. JUDGING: The Judging Period will occur between approximately 4:30 PM and 5:00 PM on November 19, 2016. The Sponsors will appoint a panel of three to five judges who may be replaced or substituted with other judges at the Sponsors’ sole discretion.


JUDGES:

    • Josh Breitbart, Senior Advisor for Broadband, Office of the Mayor
    • Jesse Montero, Director,  Brooklyn Public Library
    • Ryan Gerety, Technology Fellow, Ford Foundation

The panel of judges will select up to three winning entries (the “Winners”) in its sole           discretion from among all of the Submissions. All Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria, in the sole discretion of the panel of judges:

25% - Creativity and Originality

50% - Potential Benefit to the Public/Analysis’ Alignment with the Administration’s Broadband Goals

25% - Presentation (visual and oral)  

  1. WINNER: Up to 3 Submissions that receive the highest overall scores from judges will be selected as Winners. The names of the Winners of the Event will be announced at the Event and posted on the Event Webpages by November 23, 2016.
  2. WINNER SELECTION: ALL POTENTIAL WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSORS WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE EVENT.
     
  3. THE AWARDS:

    On November 19, 2016, Sponsors will announce the Submissions awarded Winner positions.

    All Submissions, participants, and Winners may also be featured on official social media channels operated by the Sponsors.

Winning analyses will have the opportunity to pitch their recommendations to City officials, including Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki, Chief Analytics Officer; Joshua Breitbart, Senior Advisor for Broadband in the Mayor's Office; and Alphonso Jenkins, Deputy Commissioner for Telecommunications Planning at the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT).

Award does not include assistance with or travel costs or other expenses associated with the Event, if required. No cash in lieu of award. No substitution of award is permitted except by Sponsors. Award is not assignable or transferable. Limit one award per person/team. Awards are limited in amount to individual or team awardee(s), meaning that if a team wins an award, the team shares the award amount among team members.  If Awardee(s) cannot participate for any reason, Awardee(s) will forfeit the award and Sponsors may, at their option and in their sole discretion, select an alternate awardee or the award may not be awarded. All of the award elements are subject to change and shall be determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion.

The Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of the Award(s) will be $0. Any difference between stated value and actual value will not be awarded. Awardee is responsible for any transportation not specifically noted in these rules. Awardee is responsible for obtaining all necessary travel documents prior to travel. Certain restrictions, as determined by Sponsors, may apply. All specifics of the Event will be at Sponsors’ discretion. If Awardee (s) cannot comply with these restrictions or any other portion of these Official Rules, the award will be forfeited in its entirety and an alternate Awardee (s) will be chosen. If Awardee (s) cannot meet deadlines specified by Sponsors, the award will be forfeited in its entirety and the award may be awarded to an alternate awardee selected by the panel of judges from among entries. All costs and expenses associated with award acceptance and use not listed herein as part of the award including, without limitation, ground transportation (other than that specified above as included in prize), luggage fees, souvenirs, miscellaneous hotel expenses, and gratuities are the sole responsibility of Awardee.

All federal, state and local income taxes on award(s) and gratuities are solely the responsibility of the Awardee.  Payments, if any, to potential Awardee(s) are subject to the express requirement that they submit to the Sponsors all documentation requested by the Sponsors in compliance with all applicable state, federal and local tax reporting and withholding guidelines.  All Awards will be net of taxes Sponsors are required by law to withhold.  The Awardee is responsible for ensuring that he/she complies with all the applicable tax laws and filing requirements. If the Awardee fails to provide such documentation or comply with such laws, the prize may be forfeited and the Sponsors may, in their sole discretion, select an alternative potential Awardee.

  1. OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES: Sponsors do not claim any ownership rights in your Submission. By participating, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and grant Sponsors a non-exclusive, fully paid-up, perpetual and royalty-free, worldwide license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate your Submission, including without limitation the right to use all or part of your Submission in any format in perpetuity.

    By participating, you consent to the use, by Sponsors, their affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, and licensees, of your name, likeness, and image, in connection with the Event and Sponsors’ related marketing activities, in any media or format now known or hereafter invented, in any and all locations, without any payment to or further approval from you. You agree that this consent is perpetual and cannot be revoked.

    You agree that nothing in these Rules grants you a right or license to use materials owned by Sponsors or any materials or data supplied by Sponsors during the course of the Event.

 

  1. WARRANTIES: By participating in the Challenge, you represent and warrant that your Submission:
    1. is your own original work;
    2. does not violate or infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, patent or other rights of any person or entity;
    3. does not contain malicious code, such as viruses, timebombs, cancelbots, worms, Trojan horses or other potentially harmful programs or other material or information;
    4. does not and will not violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation; and
    5. does not trigger any reporting or royalty obligation to any third party.

You further represent and warrant that the rights that you are granting under these Official Rules do not conflict in any way with any other agreement to which you are a party, or with any commitments, restrictions, or obligations that you are under to any other person or entity.

  1. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Participation Conditions and Release

By entering, each participant agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsors and/or the judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Event; (b) release and hold harmless the Sponsors, and their respect parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the award suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Event, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, including but not limited to invasion of privacy (under appropriation, intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light in the public eye or other legal theory), defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a participant’s Submission, creation of an entry or submission of an entry, participation in the Event, acceptance or use or misuse of an award (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of a Submission; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsors from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or relating to a participant’s participation in the Event and/or participant’s acceptance, use or misuse of an award.

Publicity

Except where prohibited, participation in the Event constitutes participant’s consent to Sponsors’ and their agents’ use of his or her name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions and/or hometown and state for promotional purpose in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.

General Conditions

Sponsors reserve the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Event, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsors’ reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Event, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion.  Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or participant it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Event or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner.  Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Event may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsors reserve the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.  Sponsors’ failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.  Sponsors are not responsible for, nor are they required to count, incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, unlawful or illicit Submissions, including those secured through automated means or by registering more than one e-mail account and name, using another participant’s e-mail account and name, as well as those lost for technical reasons or otherwise.

Limitations of Liability

The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by participants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Event, (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Event; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Event or receipt or use of any award.  If for any reason a participant’s Submission is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, participant’s sole remedy is to provide another Submission within the applicable deadline.  No more than the stated number of awards will be awarded.

Disputes

Participant agrees that: (1)  any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Event, or any award, other than those concerning the administration of the Event or the determination of awardees, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (2) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Event, or any awards, shall be resolved exclusively by the United States District Court or the appropriate New York State Court; (3) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Event, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (4) under no circumstances will participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.  SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.  All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsors in connection with the Event, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law of conflict of law rules (whether of the State of New York or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York.

Privacy

Sponsors collect personal information from you when you register for the Event.  The information collected is subject to the privacy policy located here.

Event Results

For Event results go to https://nycbroadbanddatadig.devpost.com/ on or about November 23, 2016.

Sponsors

Sponsors: (1) New York City Office of the Mayor, City Hall, New York, NY 10007; (2) Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238; (3) the Ford Foundation, 1440 Broadway, New York, NY, 10018; and (4) Horowitz Research, 270 North Ave, Suite 805. New Rochelle, NY 10801.