Young Inventor Challenge - Rules and Requirements

Deadline for Submitting Registration Form:  November 2, 2012

By submitting an entry to the Young Inventor Challenge (YIC), participants and their parents/guardians/teachers agree to abide by the following rules and requirements:

Young Inventor Challenge participants must be ages 6 – 18 years old as of November 17, 2012, and enrolled in some form of elementary or secondary education (public, private, charter, or home school).

Participants are divided into two age categories for competition purposes: Junior (ages, 6-11) and Senior (ages, 12–18).

Participants can invent and enter the challenge on their own or with a team partner. There is a maximum of two participants per team, no exceptions. If the ages of the two partners fall within the two different categories, the team will be placed in the Senior age category.

All children under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a parent/guardian/teacher when participating in the Challenge at Navy Pier. Show Management will not be responsible for the supervision of minors at any time.

Prototype & Poster Display Requirements

All challenge entries must consist of a working prototype of the toy/game invention and, an accompanying poster display. All entries must be the original idea and work product of the participant/team, and must not have previously been made available to the public as a commercial product.

Entries may not contain hazardous materials such as explosive, combustible, or incendiary materials, blades or dangerous projectiles. Electrical power will not be available. Batteries may be used in a normal fashion. Show Management reserves the right to reject any prototype deemed hazardous, threatening, or otherwise inappropriate in its judgment, and to prohibit challenge participation of the owners of said prototype. Questions about meeting these guidelines should be directed to yic@chitag.com.

Poster displays and any accompanying written materials must be in English, though bilingual translations are welcome and encouraged.

All entries need to fit on a 36” wide x 24” deep space on a tabletop. No walls or curtains will be available for hanging/posting of materials. The set-up will be similar to a typical science fair.

Liability

All children under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a parent/guardian/teacher when participating in the Challenge at Navy Pier. Show Management will not be responsible for the supervision of minors at any time. As parent or legal guardian of the registered child participant, I do hereby consent to this child’s participation in the Chicago Toy & Game Fair’s Young Inventor Challenge. Furthermore, I assent and verify that all decisions made by Show Management are final.

All participants and their parents/guardians/teachers and families are expected to conduct themselves responsibly and with respect for others during the challenge. Profanity, insensitive use of language, threatening or violent behavior, and possession of weapons will not be tolerated. Show Management reserves the right to disqualify from the challenge and to permanently remove from the facility/property, anyone whose conduct is deemed unsafe, disruptive, insensitive, inappropriate, or threatening.

Young Inventor Challenge participants and their parents/guardians/teachers shall protect, save and hold the Chicago Toy & Game Group, Chicago Toy & Game Fair, Game Geste and its officers, directors, employees and agents; Navy Pier, and all agents and employees thereof; Show Management and its officers, directors, employees and agents (hereinafter collectively called "Indemnities") forever harmless from any damages or charges imposed for violations of any law or ordinance, whether occasioned by the negligence of the participants and their parents/guardians/teachers or those holding under them. Further, (YIC) participants and their parents/guardians/teachers shall at all times protect, indemnify, save and hold harmless the Indemnities against and from any and all losses, costs, damages, liability or expenses (including attorney's fees) arising from or out of or by reason of any accident or bodily injury or other occurrences to any property, person or persons, including the participant and their parents/guardians/teachers, which arise from or out of or by reason of said participant's challenge participation, occupancy, and use of the facilities, or any part thereof. All liabilities, including medical, shall be borne by participant and their parents/guardians/teachers.

Determination of Winners

Winners will be determined by Fair attendee votes. Ballots will be available to all attendees during the voting hours. The attendees, as well as toy/game industry representatives will be encouraged to visit the Young Inventor Challenge (YIC) area of the Fair, and to use the ballot to vote on their favorite Young Inventor Challenge toy or game entry.

Voting hours will be from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday, November 17th. Show Management representatives will secure the ballots and count the votes. One vote per person; more than one vote cast per person will invalidate all votes cast by that person.

The top vote-getter in each of the two age categories, Junior and Senior, will be determined to be the sole winner for that category. However the category winner may be an individual participant or a team of no more than two participants. All decisions are final.

The winner of each category will be announced on Saturday, November 17th, at or around 5:00 p.m. on the ChiTAG Stage in Festival Hall.

Please keep in mind that not winning the Young Inventor Challenge does not necessarily mean that your invention is of no interest to the toy and game industry. Toy and game company representatives will be looking at invention entries throughout the day to give feedback on the originality, creativity and appeal of the invention, as well as the presentation of the marketing message. In past Challenges, some of the toy and game companies found non-winning entries of great interest. All entries are fair game!

Awarding of Prize Packages

Prizes will be awarded to the winner of each age category of the Young Inventor Challenge.

The YIC 2012 prize package includes:

• Dinner for the category winners, and their parent/guardian/teacher, hosted by Mike Hirtle, Head of Global Product Acquisition and Inventor Relations for Hasbro
• A feature in Inventor's Digest
• A one-year subscription to Inventor's Digest
• A VIP tour given by Bruce Lund of the Chicago workshop and offices of Lund and Company Invention LLC - a peek into Santa's Workshop!

Bonus Prize

Available to no more than 2 child participants and their parents/guardians: maximum of 6 tickets total. Show Management reserves the right to determine the distribution of this bonus prize. All decisions are final.

• An opportunity to present at the Toy of The Year Awards (TOTY Awards) at the New York Toy Fair in February 2013, courtesy of the Toy Industry Association. Opportunity includes:
  • 2 night hotel stay in NYC
  • Pre-show tour of NY Toy Fair
  • Tickets to the Toy of The Year Awards
  • The honor of presenting an award at the Toy of The Year Awards

* Any expenses incurred by winners wishing to claim their prize(s), which are not explicitly listed within the above prize package, are the sole responsibility of the winners.

** Young Inventor Challenge prizes are not transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash.

*** Prizes are subject to change due to availability and without notice.

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