FAQs & Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.   

This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations and void where prohibited.  Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Rules and Organizer’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest.  Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. Entrants that are selected as finalists or semifinalists (as described below): (i) may be required to record and submit pitches and content, (ii) may be required to complete a live judging panel, and (iii) must be available on Thursday  October 17, 2024 from approximately 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm CT. By entering, entrants agree that if they are selected as finalists or semifinalists, that they are available and willing to complete any such actions.   

Contest entries must comply with the Content requirements described here to be valid. “Content” refers to all content you submit in connection with your entry form for the Contest and, if applicable, any videos, pitches, or other content submitted during the semifinalist and finalist rounds. Organizer reserves the right to remove any Content that does not adhere to the submission requirements, as determined in Organizer’s sole discretion, and/or disqualify the entrant.  

By entering the South Side Pitch, you represent and warrant that you are submitting only your original Content, which has not been copied from others or generated by AI and does not infringe on or violate the rights of any third party or entity. You also represent and warrant that publication of the Content via various media including web posting will not infringe on the rights of any third party. You represent and warrant that you have the right to enter the Contest on behalf of a business. If anyone claims the Content of your submissions is a violation of others’ rights, you promise to hold Organizer, Sponsors, Judges and others associated with the South Side Pitch harmless and indemnify them against any such claims.  

Any entrant whose Content includes likenesses of third parties or contains elements not owned by the entrant (such as, but not limited to, depictions of persons, trademarks or logos) must be able to provide legal releases for such use including Organizer’s use of such Content, in a form satisfactory to Organizer, upon request, prior to award of prize and/or naming of entrant as a semifinalist or finalist.  

By submitting Content, you agree that you are sharing the Content without expectation of payment and without restrictions, and the Content will not place Organizer under any obligation. You agree that Organizer is free to use or otherwise disclose the ideas contained in the Content on a non-confidential basis to anyone or otherwise use the Content without any additional compensation to you. You acknowledge that, by acceptance of your Content, Organizer does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to Organizer, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.  

BY SUBMITTING AN ENTRY, ENTRANT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HIS/HER ENTRY AND CONTENT MAY BE POSTED ON ORGANIZER’S WEBSITE OR ELSEWHERE ON THE INTERNET AS AUTHORIZED BY ORGANIZER, IN ORGANIZER’S DISCRETION.  

All Content submitted by you must conform to the additional submission requirements set forth herein:  

• Entries must be in English.  
• Content must comply with these Official Rules;  
• Content cannot be sexually explicit or suggestive, violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, contain nudity or any materially dangerous activity;  
• Content cannot promote illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any political agenda or message;  
• Content cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group;  
• Content cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about Organizer or its services, or other people, products or companies;  
• Content cannot contain trademarks or trade dress owned by others, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind, without permission, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;  
• Content cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others without permission; Organizer does not permit the infringement of others’ rights and any use of materials not original to the entrant (except copyrighted materials owned by Organizer or licensed to entrant) is grounds for disqualification from the Contest. Do not copy your favorite book or use any other third party’s language unless you have obtained all rights necessary to permit you to use the same in connection with your Content and grant the rights herein granted to Organizer;  
• Content, including texts, images, and audio recordings, cannot be generated by AI. 
• Content cannot contain materials embodying the names or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission;  
• Content cannot communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Organizer wishes to associate (as determined by Organizer in its sole discretion); and  
• Content cannot depict, and cannot itself, be in violation of any law. 

Potential semifinalists, finalists, and winners are subject to verification. If any such individual is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Rules, cannot be verified, is not responsive to requests on time, is unreachable, is unable to attend the pitches on the dates specified or unable to provide the content required, or is otherwise unable or unwilling to accept and claim the prize as stated, then such individual may be disqualified and the position and prize (if any) may be forfeited in Organizer’s sole discretion.  

Organizer reserves the right to waive the Contest submission requirements set forth herein in its reasonable discretion.