Eligibility

The competition is open to the following if their business plans show the 50+ market as the primary market for the product or service (50+ years of age, baby boomers or seniors).

• Eighteen (18) years of age and older at time of entry
• All full-time students, faculty or staff at accredited four-year colleges and universities
• Entrepreneurs from seed or early-stage companies with annual revenues of $0 to $1 million
• Independent business professionals

Employees of the American Society on Aging, Mary Furlong & Associates, their affiliates, subsidiaries, volunteers, and their immediate family members and/or those living in same household of each are not eligible. No substitution or transfer of prize permitted by winner.

All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of winner. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Winner must sign and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility certifying that the entry is his/her own original work and Release of Liability/Publicity within 10 days of first attempted notification. Noncompliance within this time period may result in disqualification and an alternate may be selected.

By entering contest and/or accepting prize, contestant grants permission to sponsors and their agencies to use winner's names and/or likeness for advertising and/or trade purposes without further compensation to contestant unless prohibited by law. Prize is nontransferable. By accepting prize, winner agrees to hold sponsors, their respective directors, officers, employees, advertising and promotion agencies and assigns, harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of use of prize. Winner assumes all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused, by participation in this promotion or use/redemption of any prize. Contestants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the decisions of the judges. Sponsors not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the search or in the announcement of the prizes.

Prizes:

One Grand Prize -- $10,000.00 (USD)
To be used toward winner's business or business concept

Top 5 finalists: The Top 5 individuals or teams will receive valuable resources in the following areas:

• Networks of world-class entrepreneurs, investors and potential partners
• Content-rich feedback on their business plans from the judging panel
• Opportunities to create a winning team of founders
• Access to members of the private equity community
• Media exposure and PR buzz

Top 20 semifinalists: The Top 20 semifinalists will receive feedback on their business plans from the secondary panel of judges.

Judging

Decisions of judges are final. Winner will be notified in person and/or by phone and/or e-mail at the sponsor's discretion on or about April 14, 2004. Grand Prize will be shipped within one month of winner notification and address verification

Disclaimer

Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, mutilated or illegible entries nor for electronic transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind, or inaccurate transmissions of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor or presenter on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof. If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this contest, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest.

Intellectual Property Protection

Organizers and sponsors of the $10,000 Boomer Business Plan Challenge have taken reasonable measures to ensure that all contestants retain their rights to their business plans and any intellectual property. Organizers and sponsors shall make no claim to any of the property or rights.

Please provide only those materials that you are willing to share with the organizers and sponsors and/or judges that review the material for the business plan contest.

The protection of these rights is the ultimate responsibility of each contestant. Contestants are urged to mark as "CONFIDENTIAL" any portion of their entries that they consider to be confidential. Contestants should be careful about disclosing any patentable concepts.

Additionally, the Top 5 finalists, including the Grand Prize Winner, will be invited to present their business plans to attendees of the 2004 Joint Conference of the American Society on Aging and The National Council on the Aging, April 14, 2004, in San Francisco. The content of presentations is at the discretion of each contestant.

By entering this contest all contestants indemnify organizers and sponsors of the $10,000 Boomer Business Plan Challenge from any liability whatsoever arising out of this contest.

This contest is presented by:

Mary Furlong & Associates, 3527 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, #128, Lafayette, CA 94549

The American Society on Aging's Business Forum on Aging, 833 Market Street, Suite 511, San Francisco, CA 94103

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA