The organizer of the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD and the party responsible for this Website is ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG, Badstraße 115, 71336 Waiblingen (hereinafter referred to as "STIHL").

2. Procedure for the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD

 

The STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD will take place from 11 April 2022 to 11 November 2022. It is divided into different phases, as shown below.

The purpose of the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD is to give students the opportunity to develop innovative ideas and concepts to further develop STIHL products and services as well as the general world of work. Students and groups of students are invited to apply as participants and participation in the award is free of charge.

All ideas, concepts and results must be submitted in German.

STIHL may refuse to register for the event without giving reasons. In principle, there is no entitlement to participate in the event. STIHL also reserves the right to exclude already admitted participants from the event at any time. This applies in particular to violations of the rules of the game, the use of technical or other manipulative means. In this case, STIHL is entitled to cancel the prices and/or demand their return. This also applies if the users do not provide truthful information when providing their personal data.

The award is divided into four phases:

The first phase begins on 11 April 2022 and is also the start of the award. In this first phase, the participants collect and develop ideas and concepts. Once an idea has been submitted, it will be published in the "Ideas" tab. The teams can share the URL of the submitted ideas via social media with friends, acquaintances and family to collect likes. The idea with the most likes automatically moves into the final on 11 November 2022. If several teams receive the same number of likes, a decision will be made by the STIHL University Marketing Team. The decision is final and not subject to appeal, recourse to the courts is excluded.

If STIHL has legitimate doubts about the legality of the idea evaluation (suspicion or proof of manipulation attempts during the idea evaluation), STIHL reserves the right to exclude ideas.

The first phase ends on 26 October 2022 and ideas and concepts can be submitted until then. Detailed information on how the ideas and concepts must be submitted will be published on the website of the award. Ideas and concepts that are not submitted within this period cannot be considered for the second phase (voting phase).

The second phase will take place on 27 October 2022 (so-called voting phase). During this period, selected employees of the STIHL departments (hereinafter also called "STIHL Mentors") evaluate the ideas. The criteria for the coordination of the STIHL mentors are: The feasibility, the degree of innovation and the specificity as well as the presentation or. Presentation of the idea.

The third phase will take place from 03 November 2022 to 10 November 2022. For this purpose, the participants with the most points will be selected from the voting phase, which will be invited to the final day on 11 November 2022. These participants will be informed about this on the online platform on 2nd November 2022. During the mentoring phase, the participants are advised by the STIHL mentors on their project.

After the mentoring phase, the fourth and final phase will take place on 11 November 2022 as a closing event either as a face-to-face event on the premises of ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG, Andreas-Stihl-Straße 4, 71336 Waiblingen or alternatively held as a digital event (final). At this event, participants of the third phase of the award will have the opportunity to present their projects. A STIHL jury will evaluate the projects according to the criteria mentioned in phase 2 and will award the 3 winning teams (Future Creator, Upgrader, Digital Trendsetter) of the award. The winners will be announced at the end of the closing event.

The winners will be rewarded as follows:

Winner Future Innovator: €1,500
Winner Upgrade Champion: €1,500
Winner Digital Superhero: €1,500

The reward is per team; that is, if the participants have joined in a group, the aforementioned reward is granted to each team and in this case must be shared among the team members on their own responsibility.

The prize will be paid out to the account provided by the winner (in Germany, Austria or Switzerland). If, despite being requested by STIHL, the winner does not report an account within the set deadline, STIHL may transfer the prize to another participant. STIHL shall pay out the profit to the account provided by the winner with a release effect. The applicable income or similar tax consequences arising from the collection of the prize money, both for the reason and the amount, are to be examined and borne by the respective recipient; STIHL assumes no responsibility for this.

 

In addition, the STIHL mentors can propose participants for inclusion in the binding program. This is then checked by the university marketing team. Feedback on the possibility to join the talent loyalty program will be provided as soon as possible after the final event. The "STIHL PIONEERS" programme supports and supports the students on their career path. For this purpose, a personal mentor from STIHL is provided to the students, who supports them, gives tips and supports them in optimally developing their potential. In addition, the admitted students have the opportunity to seek advice from personnel experts. Furthermore, the members of the STIHL PIONEERS binding program receive invitations to (digital) events, e.g. Workshops, forest excursions and exclusive guided tours through various areas at STIHL (e.g., development center, assembly or production logistics).

STIHL reserves the right to cancel or terminate the event at any time without prior notice and without giving reasons. STIHL will make use of this option, in particular in cases where the proper conduct of the event cannot be guaranteed for technical or legal reasons.

3. Registration for the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD.

If you wish to enter the Award, you will be asked in the entry process to read and accept these rules for entry before doing so.
Employees of STIHL and their relatives are not permitted to participate in the Award. This also applies to current and former students who are/were already employed by STIHL as part of a student job.

a) Opening an account
You must be 18 years of age or older and be enrolled at a German, Austrian or Swiss university in order to participate in the Award. To participate, you must open an account on the Online Platform. By opening this account, you declare that you fulfil these conditions.
Enrolled students can register individually or in groups to participate. The size of a group is limited to 5 participants at a time. Once the idea is submitted, the composition of the group may not change.

To create an account, fill in the mandatory fields in the registration form (name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, gender, date of birth, degree programme, name of college/university, current semester, current or former STIHL company affiliation (yes/no) and password). This information must be correct and can be updated if necessary.

In addition, each applicant must enter a valid e-mail address in order to receive information about the progress of the event, such as confirmation of participation, information about voting results or changes to the event.

An account activation link will be sent to you by email; your account will be activated as soon as you click on the link;
All submitted ideas can be viewed on the STIHL CUTTING EDGE Website, even without registration. However, registration is mandatory for participation in the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD, i.e. only if you open an account and become a member can you submit an idea and participate in the award.

b) Rejection of applications
STIHL may refuse registration for the event without giving reasons. In principle, there is no entitlement to participate in the event. STIHL also reserves the right to exclude participants who have already been admitted from the event at any time if they violate these conditions. This applies in particular to violations of the rules of the game and the use of technical or other manipulative aids. In this case, STIHL is also entitled to revoke the prizes and/or demand their return. This also applies if users do not provide truthful information when entering their personal data.

c) Password
You are responsible for keeping your account password confidential. In the event of unauthorised use of your account or loss / theft of your login details, you must inform us.

 

d) Reimbursement of travel expenses
For the participants invited to the final day at the factory premises 2, Andreas-Stihl-Straße 4, 71336 Waiblingen of ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG, STIHL will reimburse travel expenses up to a maximum of €250.00 (two hundred and fifty euros) per person. In the case of a digital final day, this regulation does not apply.

Participants invited to the finals must organize their own travel and accommodation. The costs will be paid upon presentation of the respective receipt or invoice, up to the aforementioned maximum amount.

4. Services
As a participant in the Award, you have the opportunity to communicate in a personalized area on the Website (e.g. with other participants and STIHL mentors) and to upload and retrieve your work results (i.e. your project or idea). You can also view the other ideas and projects submitted by other participants.

5. Rules of conduct for participants on the Website
There are certain rules that apply to participants.

It is prohibited to,

In the event of a violation, STIHL reserves the right to remove such content without notice, to block the participant's account and to exclude the participant from the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD. STIHL expressly reserves the right to assert further claims, e.g. for compensation for damages incurred.

 

Pictures and videos will be taken during the event on the final day and will be published on STIHL's social media channels and in digital and print media. If you are selected for phase 4 and participate on the final day, you could also be featured in pictures and videos. Before submitting your idea, you will therefore be asked online whether you agree to this. If you do not agree, we will exclude you from photos and videos on the final day. We reserve the right to place an appropriate identifier for the photographer and film team on your name badge to ensure this.

7. Content published or ideas and projects submitted by you on the Website
You are responsible for the content you post or upload to the Site. STIHL expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility for it.
With regard to ideas and projects submitted by you, you warrant that you or your group are the author of the work results within the meaning of 3.a) of these Terms and Conditions and that no rights of third parties are infringed thereby. In the event that a claim is made against STIHL by a third party on account of the content and/or work results published or submitted by you, you release STIHL from all claims of the third party.

For the purpose of running the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD on our Online Platform, you grant STIHL a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence for the whole world and for the duration of your contractual relationship with us to use the work results, content, ideas, projects and other information you submit on the Website.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, all physical materials and equipment provided by STIHL at all stages of the Event remain the property of STIHL. The mere provision of technical and hardware support shall in no way constitute a transfer of ownership.

8. Your account
You may terminate your participation in the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD and close your account at any time by clicking on "Delete your profile" on the profile page. Alternatively, you may contact STIHL.
If you breach your obligations under these terms and conditions or if we have serious reason to believe that the safety and integrity of STIHL, the other participants or other third parties are at risk, we reserve the right to exclude you from further participation and to close your account.

In general, we will notify you of this action prior to exclusion or account closure to enable you to remedy the breach. STIHL will decide in its sole discretion whether to rescind the intended action.

 

9. Data protection
We process the personal data you provide to us in connection with your participation in the STIHL CUTTING EDGE AWARD. You will find information on this in our data protection information.

10. Operation, availability, and functionalities of the platform
We endeavor to ensure that the operation of the Website is as uninterrupted as possible. However, we cannot guarantee availability. Access to the Website or the use of certain features may be suspended or interrupted without notice, whether due to technical maintenance, migration or updates, network outages or limitations, or other technical reasons.

We reserve the right to modify or suspend your access to all or any part of the Website or its features, temporarily or permanently, at our sole discretion.

11. Hyperlinks
Our Website contains hyperlinks to other Websites. We do not control these and are not responsible for their content. By including these links, we do not endorse the content on these Websites.

12. Limitation of liability
STIHL shall be liable without limitation for damage resulting from injury to life, limb or health and for damage caused by intent or gross negligence on the part of STIHL, its legal representatives or vicarious agents, as well as for damage due to non-compliance with a guarantee or warranted characteristic given by STIHL or due to fraudulently concealed defects.

STIHL shall be liable on the merits for all other damage resulting from a slightly negligent breach of essential contractual obligations by STIHL, its legal representatives, or vicarious agents. Material contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) are those whose fulfillment is essential to the proper performance of the contract and on whose fulfillment the contractual partner may regularly rely on. In such cases, STIHL shall be liable for compensation for the foreseeable damage typical of the contract. Liability is otherwise excluded.
Liability under the Product Liability Act remains unaffected by the above provisions.

13. Amendment of these terms and conditions
STIHL may amend these terms and conditions at any time in order to adapt them to the technological and business environment and to comply with legal requirements. Any amendment to these terms and conditions will be notified to you by STIHL by e-mail before the amendments come into force. If you do not object to the changes within 6 weeks and do not delete your account, the changes will be deemed accepted.

14. Applicable law and dispute resolution
German law shall apply to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the conflict of laws. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract, insofar as such an agreement on the place of jurisdiction is permissible, is Stuttgart. If you are a consumer habitually resident in the EU, you also enjoy the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence. You may choose to bring claims in connection with these Terms of Use arising from consumer protection standards both in Luxembourg as well as in the EU member state in which you live.

The EU Commission offers the possibility of online dispute resolution on an Online Platform operated by it. This platform can be reached via this external link.

We are not obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure and unfortunately cannot offer participation in such a procedure.

15. Final provision
Should any provision of these Terms and Conditions of Participation be or become invalid, this shall not affect the legal validity of the remaining provisions. In place of the invalid provision, this provision shall be deemed to have been agreed which comes closest in its economic effect to what the parties intended.