OFFICIAL “PLANET CONTEST” RULES

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY AND A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

SPONSOR

Sponsor is National Geographic Society, 1145 17^th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 (“Sponsor” or “NGS”).

TERM

The Planet Contest begins October 15, 2007 and ends December 1, 2007. Entries must be received by December 1, 2007. Entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged.

WHO MAY ENTER

Contest is open only to legal residents of the United States (excluding residents of Puerto Rico) who are nine to fourteen (9–14) years of age as of 10/1/2007. Employees of Sponsor and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such individuals, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win a prize. Entrants must have a parent's or legal guardian's permission to enter. CONTEST IS VOID IN PUERTO RICO AND WHERE PROHIBITED.

HOW TO ENTER

To enter, download and print an entry form. Complete the form with your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, mnemonic (described below) and parent’s or legal guardian’s signature. Mail your completed entry form to: Planet Contest, National Geographic Society, 1145 17^th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Entry form must be complete for entry to be valid.
Entry must comply with the following requirements (“Entry Requirements”):

Compose a mnemonic (memory trick) using the first letter of each of the planets in order from the Sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Eris) as the first letter in a word. The words must make a fun and memorable English sentence (Example: My Very Excellent Mother Can Jump Slowly Under Nelly’s Plastic Elephant.) The sentence must be in English.

The Mnemonic must be a single work of original material created by the contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that the submitted Mnemonic is an original work created solely by the entrant and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the mnemonic.

Modifying, enhancing or altering a third party’s pre-existing work does not qualify as entrant’s original creation.

Obscene, provocative, or otherwise objectionable content will not be considered, and such determination is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.

The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below.
Limit one entry per person.

CONTEST PRIZES

THE POTENTIAL Winners (AND PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS) are required to EXECUTE THE FOLLOWING: (1) an affidavit of eligibility and liability release; (2) warranty of ownership and License; (3) PUBLICITY RELEASE. UNLESS PROHIBITED BY LAW, THE POTENTIAL WINNER MUST SIGN THESE DOCUMENTS no later than 15 days from the date of prize notification IN ORDER FOR SPONSOR TO AWARD THE PRIZE. Noncompliance or return of prize notification as undeliverable MAY result in disqualification and, AT SPONSOR’S DISCRETION, selection of an alternate winner.

One (1) Prize Winner will be selected. The Prize consists of (1) Winner’s name and mnemonic will be published in the National Geographic Children’s book 11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System by David Aguilar (publication date 3/11/2008) and (2) a tote bag filled with books, a National Geographic tee shirt and hat, toys and other merchandise. Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of the Prize is $100. All prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

No prize transfer, assignment or substitution by Winner permitted. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any prize, in which case a prize of comparable value, determined in Sponsor’s reasonable discretion, will be awarded.

Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

JUDGING

Contest consists of one (1)round of evaluation.
National Geographic’s Children’s Books Editorial staff (the “Judges”) will evaluate the entries based on the following criteria (“Judging Criteria”):

The mnemonic (memory trick) must be a sentence that demonstrates genuine creativity. 70%
The entry must be composed of words that will be easy for children aged 5 to 12 to memorize. 30%

Winners will be chosen on or about December 7, 2007 and notified by mail on or about December 14th, 2007.

Decisions of the Sponsor and Judges are final and binding.
Sponsor reserves the right not to award all prizes in the event an insufficient number of eligible entries meeting the minimum judging criteria are received, as determined by Sponsor and Judges in their sole discretion.

ENTRANT LICENSES/RELEASES

Winning entries, and the winners’ name, voice, and likeness may be published by Sponsor, its designees, licensees or affiliates, in one of Sponsor’s magazines and/or books, and/or in press releases associated with the publication of 11 Planets. By participating, all entrants grant a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to National Geographic Society and its licensees and designees (the “Authorized Parties”), and acknowledge that the Authorized Parties may use the winning mnemonic and a name credit in any media now or hereafter known, without restriction, including commercially using it to fullest extent possible. No Authorized Party will be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By participating, entrants (and their parents or legal guardians) agree to release, discharge and hold harmless National Geographic Society, and its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.

CONDITIONS

This Contest is VOID IN PUERTO RICO AND WHERE PROHIBITED. This Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Certain restrictions may apply. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, mutilated, incomplete, illegible, misdirected, or postage-due mail. Entries void if the Sponsor determines the entry to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft

Participants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final on all matters relating to the Contest; and (c) if he/she wins that Sponsor may use the winning mnemonic and winner’s name, photograph, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertising relating to the Contest or future promotions without compensation or approval (except in Tennessee and where prohibited by law). All federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize are/is ineligible or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another winner.

WINNERS LIST

Winner’s first name and state of residence will be available online at kids.nationalgeographic.com after December 15, 2007, or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Planet Contest Winner: National Geographic Kid’s, 1145 17^th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, attn: Marketing Department (Residents of Vermont need not include postage.)

NOTICE TO INDIVIDUALS: REMOVAL FROM MAILING LIST: Any individual (or other duly authorized person) may elect to exclude the name and address of that individual from all lists used by Sponsor to mail skill contests or sweepstakes. To elect to have an individual’s name excluded from all such lists, submit a removal request in writing to: Planet Contest, National Geographic Kids, 1145 17^th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, attn: Marketing Department. This notification system may be used to prohibit mailing of all skill contests or sweepstakes by Sponsor to such individual.