Alpha Female Plus 2025 Micro Grant Creator of The Year Program

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MUST BE AT LEAST 18 (19 in U.S.:AL and NE and CAN: BC, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, and YT) YEARS OF AGE AT TIME OF ENTRY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT ENHANCE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE AND/OR DO NOT AGREE TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES.  THIS MICRO-GRANT CREATOR OF THE YEAR PROGRAM IS INTENDED FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED STATES (EXCLUDING TERRITORIES) AND CANADA (EXCLUDING THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC) ONLY AND WILL BE GOVERNED BY APPLICABLE U.S. AND CANADIAN LAW.

THIS PROGRAM CONTAINS A BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER APPLICABLE TO THE U.S. AND CERTAIN PROVINCES IN CANADA.

1. HOW TO ENTER the Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus 2025 Micro-Grant Creator of The Year Program (“Program”) Open only to the fifty two (52) winners (“FY24 Winners” or “Entrant”) of the Sony Electronics' Alpha Female Plus 2024 Grant Program (“2024 Grant Program”) who respond to Sony Electronics’ (“Sony”) email and agree via email response to Sony to be an entrant in this Program no later than April 9, 2025 at 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time (“PT”), subject to these Official Rules.  For the FY24 Winners who agree to participate, Sony will include FY24 Winners in this Program by posting their 2024 Grant Program winning Submission (“Submissions”) on AlphaUniverse.com (“Website”) to be voted on as the overall winner from among the FY24 Winners and to be named the 2025 Creator of the Year under this Program.  The Submissions will be voted on by the 2024 Winners and Alpha Universe Members as set forth in Rule 2.  The Program winner must at least 18 (19 in U.S.:AL and NE and CAN: BC, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, and YT) years of age at time of entry. This Program consists of one (1)winner of one (1) $1,000 prepaid card as set forth below in Rule 7.

This voting period starts April 10, 2025 at 10:00:00 A.M., PT and ends April 29, 2025 at 11:59:59 P.M. PT (“Voting Period”). ALL VOTES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11:59:59 PM PT on April 29, 2025. Sponsor’s computer is the official clock for this Program. Void in Puerto Rico and U.S. territories, the Province of Quebec and where prohibited by law.

2. HOW TO ENTER AND VOTE – INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED.

STEP 1: Create/login to your Alpha Universe account at https://alphauniverse.com (“Website”)

STEP 2: Vote for your preferred Submission on the Website during the Voting Period.

Voting is open to all Alpha Universe members who have an Alpha Universe account on the Website (“Alpha Universe Member” or “Participant”). 2024 Winners and Alpha Universe Members may vote one (1) time only for one (1) 2024 Winner.

Votes in excess of the stated limitation will be void. While 2024 Winners can promote their Submission and this Program on the Website and social media, 2024 Winners are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes, things of value, incentives of any kind, or other inducements to Alpha Universe Members to get their vote.  Use of script, macro, other automated system, or technology to vote or with the intent to impair the integrity of the voting process is prohibited and all such votes will be void. All votes are subject to final verification by Sponsor, in its sole discretion.

3. IMPORTANT DATES: Votes will be accepted only via Internet on the Website during the Voting Period.

	Start Date	End Date	Approximate Judging & Notification Date
	as of 10:00:00 AM PT that day	as of 11:59:59 PM PT that day
Voting Period	4/10/2025	4/29/2025	4/30/2025

4. SELECTION OF WINNER: At the conclusion of the Voting Period, the one (1) 2024 Winner with the highest number of votes will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules and confirmed tabulation of votes. In the event of a tie, two (2) “tie-breaking” judges will identify the winner based on the criteria listed in Rule 5. Sponsor reserves the right not to award the Grand Prize if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible Entrants or votes. Potential Grand Prize winner will subsequently be notified via phone, and/or email on or about April 30, 2025.

5. JUDGING CRITERIA: In the event of a tie whereby two (2) or more 2024 Winners receive the same number of votes, Sponsor will impanel two (2) judges to vote on the tied 2024 Winners based on the following criteria:

A. Creativity/Storytelling within the Submission – 73%

B. Technical Mastery of the Submission – 27%

In the event of a tie of the total of the judging criteria score, the judges will re-evaluate the tied entries according to the above criteria until the tie is broken.

6. AWARD AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE (“ARV”): TOTAL: There will be one (1) Grand Prize winner who will receive one (1) USD $1,000 prepaid card.

The prepaid card is not redeemable or exchangeable for cash and is subject to all terms and conditions of use as established by card issuer. Card terms and conditions apply. Sponsor is not responsible for lost or stolen prepaid card. All federal, state, provincial and local taxes and fees associated with the Program receipt and/or use, if any, are solely the responsibility of winner. Canadian residents may also be subject to withholding taxes and are responsible for the reporting and payment of any income tax. The ARV represents Sponsor’s good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed.

IMPORTANT: If a potential winner is found to be ineligible, is not in compliance with these Official Rules, does not respond to the email message(s) within three (3) days, is disqualified or forfeits the prize for any reason, declines to accept the prize, or if the prize notification or prize is returned as undeliverable, Sponsor reserves the right to award the prize to an alternate Entrant who will also be selected per Rules 4 and 5 from all remaining non-winning eligible entries. If after a good-faith attempt Sponsor is unable to award or deliver the prize, the prize will not be awarded.

Potential winner will be required to sign and return within three (3) days of notification or attempted notification of being a potential winner, an Affidavit or Declaration of Eligibility/Compliance & Publicity/Liability Release (where permitted by law), or the prize will be forfeited in its entirety and, time allowing, an alternate potential winner will be selected.

7. ELIGIBILITY: This Program is open to 2024 Winners who are at least 18 (19 in U.S.:AL and NE and CAN: BC, NB, NL, NS, NT, NU, and YT) years of age as of the date of entry except officers, directors, and employees (and members of their household and of their immediate families, i.e., parents, children, stepchildren, spouse, siblings, “step” of each and persons residing in the same household of such immediate family members) of Sony, it parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, sales representatives, distributors, advertising/Program/web design agencies and/or their affiliates, assigns or representatives; and all other persons or entities associated with the development, administration, Program, execution of, or supply to this Program (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Sony & Others”).

8. RELEASE: By acceptance of the prize, the winner releases Sony & Others from and against any and all liability and claims or causes of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property with respect to all aspects of this Program, including those arising out of participation in this Program, any Program related activity whether sponsored by Sony & Others or third parties, or the acceptance or possession or use/misuse of the prize or any component of the prize.

With regard to Entrants and Participants and Program winner in California, winner agrees that all rights granted under Section 1542 of the California Civil Code, ARE HEREBY EXPRESSLY WAIVED. Section 1542 of the California Civil Code reads as follows: A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS THAT THE CREDITOR OR RELEASING PARTY DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE AND THAT, IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER, WOULD HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR OR RELEASED PARTY.

9. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY/INTERNET: Sony & Others are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections, miscommunications, satellite, failed telephone or computer transmissions, computer equipment, software, viruses or bugs, servers or providers, or other connections, availability or accessibility or jumbled, scrambled or misdirected entries or transmissions, or for phone, electrical, network, computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties or for other errors, omissions, interruptions, or deletions of any kind whether human, typographical, mechanical or electronic, network or for any damage to any person’s computer related to participating in this Program. Sony & Others are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen entries or incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Program or by any technical, typographical or human errors which may occur in the processing of any entries in this Program. Any Entrant or Participant who attempts to interfere with the proper play of this Program will be disqualified from participation in this Program. Persons found tampering with or abusing any aspect of this Program, as solely determined by Sony, will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. If in the judgment of Sony, this Program is compromised by viruses, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes beyond the control of Sony, which corrupt the administration, security, fairness or proper play of this Program, Sony reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to discontinue, modify, suspend or terminate this Program and proceed in a manner it deems fair and reasonable, including the selection of the winner from among eligible votes received prior to such discontinuation, modification, suspension or termination. Any personally identifiable information collected during a participation in this Program will be collected by Sony and used by Sony and its agents solely for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of this Program as described in these Program Official Rules or as stated in Sony’s Privacy Policy at http://products.sel.sony.com/SEL/legal/privacy.html (for residents of U.S.) and https://corporate.sony.ca/view/privacy.htm(for residents of Canada).

Any attempt by any person to obtaining or issuing more than the stated number of permitted votes by using multiple/different Website accounts and/or handles, names, usernames, user IDs, or any other methods will void that person’s entries and that person will be disqualified. “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to the Website account by the Website owner, on-line service provider, or other organization/entity that is responsible for assigning accounts on the Website. By participating, Entrant and Participant fully and unconditionally agree to and accept these Program Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Program.

ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROGRAM IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SONY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

SONY MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT.

10. DISPUTES: Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Program Official Rules shall be governed by: (i) the laws, with regard to Entrants and Participants in the United States, of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict of laws principles; and (ii) the laws, with regard to Entrants and Participants in Canada, of the Province of Ontario, Canada, without regard to conflict of laws principles.

For U.S. Entrants and Participants only: Should a dispute or claim arise related to this Program (“Dispute”), Entrant, Participant and Sony agree that the Dispute shall be resolved exclusively through binding arbitration. ENTRANT AND PARTICIPANT UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BY AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, ENTRANT/PARTICIPANT IS GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE (OR PARTICIPATE IN LITIGATION AS A PARTY OR CLASS MEMBER) ANY DISPUTES IN COURT. ENTRANT/PARTICIPANT ALSO AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDING WILL ONLY CONSIDER ENTRANT’S/PARTICIPANT’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS, AND SONY AND ENTRANT/PARTICIPANT AGREE NOT TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION, REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, CONSOLIDATED ACTION, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION.

Arbitration Instructions with regard to United States Entrants/Participants. To begin arbitration, either Entrant/Participant or Sony must make a written demand to the other for arbitration. The arbitration will take place before a single arbitrator. The arbitration will be administered in keeping with the Expedited Procedures of the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Proceedings for Consumer-Related disputes (“Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), when applicable and in effect when the claim is filed. Entrant/Participant may get a copy of AAA’s Rules by contacting AAA at (800) 778-7879 or visiting www.adr.org. The filing fees to begin and carry out arbitration will be shared between Entrant and Sony, but in no event shall Entrant fees ever exceed the amount allowable by the special rules for Consumers Disputes provided for by AAA, at which point Sony will cover all additional administrative fees and expenses. This does not prohibit the arbitrator from giving the winning party their fees, including reasonable outside attorney’s fees, and expenses of the arbitration when appropriate pursuant to the Rules. Unless Entrant and Sony agree differently, the arbitration will take place in the county and state where Entrant lives, and applicable U.S. federal or Delaware state law shall govern the substance of any Dispute during the arbitration. However, the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., will govern the arbitration itself and not any state or other law on arbitration. The arbitrator’s decision will be binding and final, except for a limited right of appeal under the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act. Any judgments or awards shall be limited to actual incurred out-of-pocket expenses (excluding attorneys’ fees) associated with participation in this Program and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages.

Arbitration Instructions with regard to Canadian Entrants/Participants excluding Entrants/Participants in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta and where prohibited:

 If Entrant/Participant is a resident of any Canadian jurisdiction (i.e., Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) where mandatory arbitration or waivers are prohibited, this Section does not apply to Entrant/Participant.

Entrant/Participant agrees to seek to resolve the dispute or controversy with regard to the Program through mediation with Canadian Arbitration Association before pursuing any other proceedings. Nothing herein shall preclude Entrant, Participant or Sponsor from seeking injunctive relief in the event that either of them perceives that, without such injunctive relief, serious harm may be done to the party. Either party to the dispute may serve notice on the other of its desire to resolve a particular dispute by mediation. The mediator shall be appointed by agreement between the parties or, if the parties cannot agree within five (5) days after receipt of the notice of intention to mediate, the mediator will be appointed by Canadian Arbitration Association. The mediation will be held at Toronto, Canada. The parties agree to attempt to resolve their dispute at mediation. The costs of the mediator shall be shared equally by the parties. If the dispute has not been resolved within thirty (30) days of the notice of desire to mediate, any party may terminate the mediation and proceed to arbitration as set out below.

Subject to the mediation provisions set out above, if any dispute or controversy occurs between the parties relating in any way to this Program, the dispute will be resolved by arbitration at Canadian Arbitration Association pursuant to the general Canadian Arbitration Association Rules for Arbitration. Any party may serve notice of its desire to refer a dispute to arbitration. The arbitration shall be conducted by a single arbitrator. The arbitration shall be held in Toronto, Canada. The arbitration shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act (applicable to the Entrant’s/Participant’s province of residence). The decision arrived at by the arbitrator shall be final and binding and no appeal shall lie therefrom. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The costs of the arbitrator shall be divided equally between the parties.

11. GENERAL: By participating in the Program, Entrants/Participants agree to these Program Official Rules and the decisions of Sony, which are final and binding in all matters and all respects relating to this Program. This Program is void in Puerto Rico and Quebec and wherever else prohibited by law.

Residents of Canada, please note: By entering the Program, Entrant/Participant grants their consent to transfer their personal data to the United States for purposes of administration of the Program and consent for their personal information to be transmitted, stored and processed in jurisdictions outside of Canada that may not have the same protections as Canada. By entering the Program, Entrant/Participant agrees that their personal information may be used for the following purposes and have the following consequences: (A) to contact Entrants/Participants regarding the Program; (B) to publish an Entrant’s name in a Winners List, if they should win; and (C) if an Entrant/Participant elects to receive additional information, to send additional information to that Entrant/Participant. Entrants/Participants have the right to access, withdraw and correct their personal data. Entrants/Participants may request such action by sending a message to Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus 2025 Micro-Grant Creator of the Year Program Official Rules, 16535 VIA ESPRILLO, SAN DIEGO, CA, U.S.A. For further information see Sony Electronics Inc. Privacy Policy available online at https://products.sel.sony.com/SEL/legal/privacy.html for residents of the U.S. and https://corporate.sony.ca/view/privacy.htm for residents of Canada.

Acceptance of the prize constitutes the winner’s consent to the use of their name, biographical information, photograph, likeness, and Submissions for advertising and publicity purposes as determined by Sony or its designees without further compensation, except where prohibited by law. All federal, state/provincial and local laws and regulations apply.

12. WINNERS LIST: For the name of the winner, no later than July 31, 2025, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus 2025 Micro-Grant Creator of the Year Program Winners List, 16535 Via Esprillo, San Diego, CA 92127.

Sponsor: Sony Electronics Inc., 16535 Via Esprillo, San Diego, CA 92127.

Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus 2025 Micro-Grant Creator of the Year Official Rules may not be reprinted or republished in whole or in part without the prior written permission of Sony Electronics Inc.

Copyright 2025 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved.