General Disclosure re Holiday Gift Guide and All Product Reviews

September 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Regarding the Holiday Gift Guide, many items were provided to us for review. As I always state, all opinions are 100% our own and honest, that means my son and I. Sometimes my reviews come from a general observation of my son playing with a toy or video game. He generally loves most of what we receive, therefore the reviews and positive outlook are fairly easy for us to convey.

I do sometimes review an item from having been to an event that we cannot use. Like an infant car seat. I am happy to listen to a pitch from almost any company and if I like it, if I hear something interesting, if I have new info from the marketplace to share, then I am able to pass this info along with actually doing a personalized review.

We do on occasion receive things that we do not care for. As an example, a video game related to Lego Battles for the Nintendo DS. It was a different style game from what my son is used to and he did not enjoy it. I did not post that and offered to send the game back to the company. My policy is to advise a company before I post a negative review. If you think our reviews are always positive, they are, because we almost always review things that we already like or fall into categories that we know holds our interests.

In relation to many products, I often asked to be invited to an event if it is a brand that we are already fans of. Hey, I am happy to get extra product and share my likes with my audience. As an example, we love Ragu, Hellmans, and Heinz. We liked these products before we were bloggers. Generally if we are going to an event from a company such as those, we are already big fans and you will hear that from us. I am a shopaholic and a hoarder, therefore I am very involved with many products, blogging just happens to provide an extra extension of the things I enjoy by getting to review them and work with the brands!

Filed Under: disclosure

Compensation and/or Swag from an Event

December 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Compensation Levels

Compensation levels will be stated clearly at the beginning or end of any post that mentions a product, service or location that is covered by any of the levels listed below (or possibly within a post if there are many products listed, such as a gift list). If no compensation level is listed, it is to be assumed that there was no compensation involved with the post or any products, services or locations mentioned in the post. For the purposes of these levels user does not consider transportation to and from a local event, or food consumed at an event, as compensation. Compensation refers to cash, gift certificates, products, or services.

  • Level 0: The blogger has no significant relationship with any product, service or brand mentioned in this post.
  • Level 1: The product or service mentioned was provided to the blogger free of charge (or at a considerable discount not available to the public).
  • Level 2: The product or service mentioned was provided free of charge and the blogger was compensated to post about the product or service.
  • Level 3: The blogger was compensated for inserting links from a specific website into this post.
  • Level 4: The blogger was compensated for including a product in pictures or videos in this post.
  • Level 5: The blogger was compensated for attending the event mentioned in this post.
  • Level 6: The blogger was compensated for posting about the event mentioned in this post.
  • Level 7: The blogger was provided with transportation, food, lodging, tickets, and/or other incidentals for the trip mentioned in this post.
  • Level 8: Although not specifically compensated for this post, the blogger has an ongoing relationship with a company or person connected with a product, service or location mentioned in this post that the blogger feels may have influenced his/her decision to post about it.
  • Level 9: Products or services were provided to the blogger to give away in a contest.
  • Level 10: Products or services were provided to the blogger to give away in a contest and to keep for his/her own use or for review.
  • Level 11: the blogger was compensated for administering this contest.
  • Level 12: The product or service mentioned advertises directly with the blogger’s website.
  • Level 13: This is a sponsored post. The blogger was compensated to write this post. While the blogger”s opinions in the post are authentic, talking points may have been suggested by the sponsor.
  • Level 14: The blogger is under contract with the company, product or service mentioned in this post. While not specifically paid for this post, the blogger is paid by the company to attend events and write about the company/product/service. The blogger receives free samples of the product, special access to the company, and all of the blogger’s costs are covered when attending events related to the company.
  • Level 15: The blogger works for the company mentioned in the post on a freelance basis.

Swag

If the blogger is given free products of minimal value at a conference, event or meeting that are being given to all attendees, such as bags, books, water bottles, small product samples, coupons, etc., he/she does not consider these items as compensation and will not necessarily disclose them when talking about a product.

Many thanks to Amy at SelfishMom.com for this great disclosure!

Filed Under: disclosure

About: Contest Rules

November 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment

1. All contests/giveaways/sweepstakes (contests/giveaways/sweepstakes are used interchangeably) are open to US addresses only.
2. Only 18 and older can enter.
3. No purchase necessary.
4. Odds of winning are determined by the number of eligible entries.
5. Winners are determined randomly by the widget on random.org.
6. All contests/giveaways/sweepstakes are “void where prohibited by law.”
7. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the winner.
8. Contest time ending are EST.
9. Prizes must be claimed within 48 hours of entrant being emailed by the blog hosting the contest/giveaway/sweepstakes.
10. Maximum winnings of 2 giveaways per every 90 days. Entrant regains eligibility 90 days from the date of the first of the 2 wins.

11. Entry Conditions and Release:
By entering, each participant (a parent/legal guardian on behalf of participant, if participant is minor) agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and/or the Contest judges, which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Contest; (b) release and hold harmless the Sponsor, its parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, the prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Contest and Promotion, 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 entry, creation of an entry or submission of an entry, participation in the Contest and Promotion, acceptance or use or misuse of prize and/or the broadcast, exploitation or use of entry; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and Promotion and/or entrant’s acceptance, use or misuse of prize.

12. Disputes
Entrant (entrant’s parent/legal guardian, if entrant is a minor) agrees that: (i) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, other than those concerning the administration of the Contest or the determination of winners, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (ii) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved exclusively by the United States District Court or the appropriate New York State Court located in New York County, New York and that by participating in the Contest, you agree to the jurisdiction and venue of such courts; (iii) 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 (iv) under no circumstances will entrant 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 Sponsor in connection with the Promotion, 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 or 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.

13. 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 Promotion; (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 Promotion; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Promotion 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 Promotion or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in the Contest play, provided that if it is not possible to award another entry due to discontinuance of the Promotion, or any part of it, for any reason, Sponsor, at its discretion, may elect to hold a random drawing from among all eligible entries received up to the date of discontinuance for any or all of the prizes offered herein. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. In event that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other reasons cause more than stated number of prizes as set forth in these Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award only the stated number of prizes by a random drawing among all legitimate, unawarded, eligible prize claims.

Please email gaynycdad@aol.com with any other concerns.

Updated 11/04/2009, 10/19/2011

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Filed Under: contests, disclosure