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1-800-firedog available at Circuit City
Watch the grand prize ceremony. Click to view.
Click Here to watch the launch event in New York City.
Official Rules
  1. ELIGIBILITY. No purchase necessary. A purchase will not increase your chance of winning. Must be 18 years or older as of promotion start date, and a legal resident of the one of the forty-eight contiguous United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Puerto Rico). Contest open to amateur writers only. "Professional writers" (persons who have been paid for their writing in the past one year) are not eligible. All employees of Sponsor, Judges and Administrator, and each one’s parent, affiliates and subsidiaries, and the immediate families (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each) and household members of each, are not eligible to win. By submitting an entry and Description, participant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules.
  2. HOW TO ENTER. Limit one entry per person/e-mail address. To enter the Contest, go to www.firedog.com and complete the on-line entry form in its entirety between 12:00 a.m. EST on 12/06/2006 and 11:59 p.m. EST on 03/31/2007. Participant must submit with the fully completed entry form a type-written description ("Description") explaining how his/her local firehouse has demonstrated service to the community (“the “Subject Matter”). Entries must contain the name and address of an actual firehouse. By participating, entrants agree to allow Sponsor to periodically send notification of special offers and promotions via e-mail. If at any time you decide that you do not wish to be contacted further about special promotions, follow the instructions in the e-mail. Information collected from entrants is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy at www.firedog.com.
  3. JUDGING. Each entry will be ranked in the following criteria: (a) Service to the community (50%); (b) Appropriateness to Subject Matter (25%); and (c) Quality of Submission (25%). In the event of a tie, winner will be selected based on the highest score in the criterion (a). In the event a tie still remains, winner will be selected based upon the highest score in criterion (b). Entry must be original, of entrant’s own writing style and creation. All accounts of service must be fact based; fictional entries will be voided in Sponsor's discretion. Entry must not have been entered in any other competition or violate the rights of other parties and may not include any intellectual property owned by a third party such as material protected under copyright or trademark law. Entry may not be offensive or defamatory, as determined by the judges. Winners will be required to provide a release from any person named in entry authorizing the use of the name as contained in the entry as outlined herein prior to awarding of prize. The initial round of judging will be conducted by Parago, Inc., an independent judging organization, that will select one hundred (100) "semi-finalists" from among all eligible entries received under the criteria set forth herein. From the 100 semi-finalists, 10 "finalists" will be chosen by a joint panel of judges from Circuit City and Parago on or about 04/11/2007 under the criteria set forth herein. All Judges’ decisions are final. Final judging of the 10 finalists to determine the one (1) Grand Prize winner will be conducted via www.firedog.com from 4/28/2007 through 5/13/2007, where consumers will be allowed one (1) vote each for the firehouse they feel has demonstrated the most significant "service to the community." Grand Prize will be announced on or around 05/14/2007.
  4. PRIZES. No prize substitution or cash redemption allowed by Winners. Prizes are not transferable. Taxes on portion of prize received are the sole responsibility of each individual recipient. Winning Firehouses must be (or Sponsor will first arrange for them to be) qualified as tax free entities to be eligible. The following prizes will be awarded (Total Prize Value up to $650,000):
    1. Each of the ten (10) finalists (the author of the Description) will receive electronics and installation services valued at $10,000 which will include the following:
      1. (1) 50″ Plasma Television
      2. (1) Home theater system including Denon receiver and Boston Acoustics 5.1 home theater speakers (Denon DHT687BA)
      3. (1) Gaming console (MS Xbox 360 Premium, MS Xbox Live 12-Month Starter Kit)
      4. (1) Wireless network gaming adaptor (Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter)
      5. (1) Universal remote control (Monster MCCAVL300 Universal Remote)
      6. (1) Media center TV PC (HP Pavilion Media Center TV PC)
      7. (1) 17″ flat screen monitor (HP Flat Screen Monitor VS 17E)
      8. (1) Router (Linksys WRT 300N), computer software (MS OneCare, MS Office), and the required cables and brackets.
      9. (1) Epson Stylus® CS5000 Photo Printer
      10. (1) Home installation services to include Premium Wall mount installation, Monster remote control programming, Premium PC and PC wireless installation.
      Sponsor reserves the right to substitute components based on product availability.
    2. The ten (10) firehouses that are the subject of the finalists’ Descriptions will each receive a $20,000 cash donation;
    3. In addition, for each unique vote (unique email address, no duplicates) that a firehouse receives through www.firedog.com in the Grand Prize selection phase, the firehouse will receive an additional one dollar ($1.00) donation, total donations under this Prize level not to exceed $250,000. For purposes of determining donations under this Prize level, votes (and the corresponding donation amount) will be counted on a first received basis; votes received after the initial 250,000 votes are cast will NOT count towards donations at this Prize level, but will be counted for purposes of determining the Grand Prize Winner; and the Grand Prize Winning firehouse will also receive an additional $100,000 donation.
  1. PRIZE REDEMPTION. Both the entrant winners and firehouse recipients will be deemed a "Winner". Sponsor will notify each Winner by mail. Awarding of prizes will be conducted by Sponsor, whose decisions are final on all matters relating to the promotion. Each Winner will be required to sign and return by mail within 14 days of receipt the Affidavit of Eligibility and Release. If a Winner fails to return these forms within the time required, the prize will be forfeited and awarded to an alternate Winner. Any prize notification or prize returned as undeliverable will be forfeited. Prize will be awarded to Firehouse Winner in the name of the Firehouse, not an individual; if local law or fire department rules prohibit a winning Firehouse from accepting a Prize, the Prize will be awarded to the local fire department, or the most closely related government agency, that can accept the Prize. Restricted covenants will be placed on all Prizes awarded to Firehouses to limit use of the Prizes to the purchase of firefighting equipment and technology.
  2. PUBLICITY. Except where prohibited, participation in the Contest constitutes winner’s consent to Sponsor’s use of winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions and/or hometown and state for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. Sponsor shall have all rights to copy, edit, broadcast, publish and use, in whole or in part, any entry, copyrighted or copyrightable materials, in any and all media now known or hereinafter developed without territorial or time or use restrictions without further compensation.
  3. GENERAL CONDITIONS. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other Promotion or in an unsportanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
  4. RELEASE. By receipt of any prize, each Winner agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor, Judges and Administrator, and each one’s respective parent corporation, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize or use of the Description in any manner.
  5. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. The Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (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 Contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize or use of the Description in any manner. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded.
  6. DISPUTES. Except where prohibited, entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the State and Federal Courts located in Richmond, Virginia; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (3) under no circumstances will entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, 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. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S.A. without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules.
  7. CONTEST RESULTS. For a list of prize winners and/or a copy of these Official Rules, send a hand-printed, self-addressed, stamped envelope to “firedog Across America—The Firehouse Winner List/Rules Request”, P.O. Box 9045 Coppell, TX 75019-9045. Winners’ list requests must be received by 06/25/2007.
  8. SPONSOR. The sponsor of this contest is firedog. The firedog brand is owned and operated by Circuit City Stores, Inc., and or its affiliates ("Circuit City"). All references to "firedog" and the "firedog website" are references to Circuit City. Administrator: Parago, Inc., 700 State Highway 121 Bypass, Suite 200, Lewisville, TX 75067.