1. Eligibility. The Fort Wayne Newspapers NIE Contest is open to residents in the greater Fort Wayne area, 18 years or older. Employees of Fort Wayne Newspapers and their immediate family members living in the same household are not eligible to enter or win. Children being entered must be born on or after 6/1/2016 and before 6/30/2019.

 2. Contest Period. Entries will be accepted from July 15, 2019 through August 25, 2019. Entries that are mailed in or dropped off in person must be received no later than Friday, August 23, 2019 by 5:00 p.m. Fort Wayne Newspapers reserves the right to change contest periods and publication dates. Voting rounds will begin August 9, 2019 and close on October 13, 2019 at 10:00 p.m. 

3. How to Enter. Eligible residents may enter by submitting a photo, completed entry form and $10 donation entry fee to: Fort Wayne Newspapers NIE Baby of the Year, 600 W. Main St. Fort Wayne, IN 46802 or by going online to www.fortwayne.com/events. Incomplete entry forms will not be accepted. Twins, Triplets, etc. may enter for one entry fee if only one  photograph is used. Only one photo entry per child. All photos must be no larger than 4x6. Digital photos must be sent in jpg form and at least 220 dpi. Copyrighted photos will not be accepted without the proper copyright release from the photographer. Send copyright releases to nieorders@fortwayne.com If a professional, copyrighted photo is submitted with absent copyright information, watermarks, or stamps, the contest entrant will assume all copyright infringement charges and legal consequences incurred from such action. All photos become property of Fort Wayne Newspapers and will not be returned. Fort Wayne Newspapers reserves the right to refuse the acceptance of any photograph found to be inappropriate for publication. Fort Wayne Newspapers reserves the right to remove/blur any product logos that may be featured within submitted photos. The $10 donation entry fee benefits the Fort Wayne Newspaper in Education program and is not required to participate. To enter without making this donation, you may submit an entry form and photograph in person at Fort Wayne Newspapers between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  FWN/NIE and contest sponsors are not responsible for non-receipt, damage, delays or difficulties in transmission, or any technical or other cause which may prevent or impair the receipt of your entry.  

4.   Online Entry. Online entries will be accepted at www.fortwayne.com/events through the entry period (see 2). The $10 donation entry fee may be paid online using a credit/debit card only. Your computer must accept cookies. All online payments will go through our Administrator “Advanced Pre Press Technology Inc., Burbank, CA and will show up as so on your statement.

5. Verification. By entering your child in the NIE Baby of the Year contest you are verifying that your child was born between June 1, 2016 and June 30, 2019 and that you are their parent and/or legal guardian. This verification grants Fort Wayne Newspapers the right to use and publish the child’s proper name and photo in any media and for marketing purposes, in connection with the contest, unless prohibited by law.  Verification of the child’s information will only be accepted from parents and/or legal guardians. If NIE has any questions about the child’s registration all issues must be resolved on or before August 27, 2019 or the child will not be included in the contest.  A refund may be issued if verification cannot be completed.   

  6. Voting Procedures. The voting period will begin September 9, 2019 and close on October 13, 2019 at 10:00 p.m. Votes may be submitted in person, by mail, or online at www.fortwayne.com/events. Votes submitted in person or by mail must be received by 5:00 p.m. on October 11, 2019. Voting is open to the general public. Online voting is limited to persons 18 years of age or older. Votes will not be accepted after the contest end date and time for each round (see section 8 for dates and times). This includes if the voter is in the process of entering credit card information. If the voter does not complete the payment process and submit their votes before the contest end date and time, the votes will not be recorded, and the voter will not be charged.

Votes can be submitted with a voting ballot and a 25 cent donation to NIE per vote (minimum dollar amount of $5.00 for online voting). Online votes may be submitted using a valid credit card including, MasterCard, Visa and Discover. Only valid, authorized credit card transactions will be considered as a legitimate vote. All authorized credit card transactions are non-cancellable and non-refundable. If your credit card is declined for any reason, no vote will be submitted on your behalf.

FWN/NIE and contest sponsors are not responsible for non-receipt, damage, delays, postage-due, illegible entries or difficulties in transmission, or any technical (including, without limitation, malfunction of any network, hardware or software whether originating with sender or either newspaper) or other cause which may prevent or impair the receipt of your votes.  Donations will not be refunded once they are received. Each $0.25 will count as one vote. There is no limit on voting amounts.   

7. Tax-Deductible status for votes.  Donations to NIE Baby of the Year contest may be tax deductible if, and only if, the dollar amount is $500 or more and the check or money order is made payable to the HSPA Foundation.  Credit/debit card payments and cash payments cannot be tax-deductible at this time.  A receipt of your donation to the Foundation will be mailed to the address on your check.  Donations should be submitted to Newspaper in Education at 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802. Fort Wayne Newspapers will record your votes and forward the payment to the HSPA Foundation. If you have questions, please contact NIE at nieorders@fortwayne.com.

8a. Voting Round 1. Round 1 will contain all the children entered into the contest. Round 1 of voting will begin September 9, 2019. The Baby of the Year section will be in The Journal Gazette on Sunday, September 8, 2019. Votes submitted in person or by mail must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 13, 2019. Round 1 voting will end online Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 10:00 p.m. The top 50% or all those with votes will move onto Round 2. Entrants receiving zero votes during Round 1 will be eliminated. Votes will be carried over from Round 1 to Round 2 for all entrants moving forward.

8b. Voting Round 2. Round 2 of voting will begin September 23, 2019. Entries will be printed in The Journal Gazette on September 23, 2019. Votes submitted in person or by mail must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 27, 2019.  Round 2 voting will end online Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 10:00 p.m. The top 50% from Round 2 will move onto Round 3.  Votes will be carried over from Round 2 to Round 3 for all entrants moving forward.

8c. Voting Round 3 (Final Round): Round 3 of voting will begin October 7, 2019. Entries will be printed in The Journal Gazette on October 7, 2019 Votes submitted in person or by mail must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 11, 2019. Final online voting will end on Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 10:00 p.m. The top 12 winners, including our First, Second, and Third Place winners will be announced in The Journal Gazette on Sunday, October 20, 2019. 

9.  Winner Verification. Verification of winners will be conducted through October 15, 2019. The top 12 winners will be announced in The Journal Gazette on Sunday, October 20, 2019. Winners will receive prizes as indicated in section 10. 

10. Winner Selection & Prize Information. Winner will be the child that receives the highest number of votes. Only one child will be declared the winner and receive the prizes. In the event of a tie, a random drawing will be conducted between the tying contestants.

      One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive a prize package, including:

• $1,000 Cash
• Featured in the December issue of Fort Wayne Magazine
• Featured on the cover and as a month in the 2020 Baby of the Year Calendar
• Professional photo session with Jen Moser Photography for the Baby of the Year Calendar
• $75 Meijer gift card
• $50 Target gift card
• Fort Wayne TinCaps Soft Plush Baseball ($5 value) 

      One (1) second place finisher will receive:

• Featured as a month in the 2020 Baby of the Year Calendar
• Professional photo session with Jen Moser Photography for the Baby of the Year Calendar
• Vera Bradley Iconic Ultimate Diaper Bag ($130 value)
• $150 Meijer gift card
• $50 DeBrand Fine Chocolate gift card
• $50 Target gift card
• Fort Wayne TinCaps Soft Plush Baseball ($5 value) 

      One (1) third place finisher will receive:

• Featured as a month in the 2020 Baby of the Year Calendar
• Professional photo session with Jen Moser Photography for the Baby of the Year Calendar
• $100 Meijer gift card
• $50 DeBrand Fine Chocolate gift card
• $25 Target gift card
• TinCaps Soft Plush Baseball ($5 value)

      4^th-12^th place will be featured in the 2020 Baby of the Year Calendar. 

      The winner(s) is responsible for all federal, state and local taxes.  When necessary, a W-9 will be issued.  Prizes may be withheld until the completed W-9 is returned to Fort Wayne Newspapers.

11. Winner Notification.  Winners will be determined and notified on or around October 16, 2019. If contact with winners cannot be made after reasonable attempts by using information provided to Fort Wayne Newspapers with entry information, the winner will be disqualified, forfeit any interest in prizes won and a replacement winner will be determined from remaining qualifying entries.  All winners will be contacted to make arrangements to have a FREE professional photo taken for use in the 2020 Baby of the Year calendar. Any winners who cannot fulfill this requirement will not be included in the contest and will be replaced by the next highest vote winner. Photos for the 2020 Baby of the Year Calendar will be chosen by Fort Wayne Newspapers’ NIE Department and Jen Moser Photography.

12. Participation. By participating, entering or voting, entrants and voters agree to be bound by these official rules and decisions. Fort Wayne Newspapers reserves the right to disqualify any persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this contest and to make changes to the contest as deemed necessary and appropriate.  If, for any reason, the contest is not capable of completion as planned, including but not limited to, any reason of infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond our control that affect the administration or proper conduct of the contest, we reserve the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest.