Rules and framework

Download 2024 ABSL Diamonds Awards – Contest Rules and Framework

2024 ABSL DIAMONDS CONTEST RULES AND FRAMEWORK

The ABSL Diamonds Awards Contest (“Contest” or “ABSL Diamonds”) is a contest organized by Związek Liderów Sektora Usług Biznesowych with its seat in Warsaw (registration address: Rondo ONZ 1, 00-124 Warsaw), entered into the register of the business entities and the register of associations, other social and professional organizations, foundations and public health care institutions, maintained by the District Court for the capital city of Warsaw in Warsaw, XII Commercial Division of the National Court Register under the number KRS 0000340712, NIP: 5252465847, REGON: 142072104 (“ABSL” or “Organizer”). The aims at recognizing and promoting the most innovative solutions, ground-breaking initiatives and showcasing the very best of the Polish business services sector across various categories. It is also a platform providing an opportunity to share best practices and widely inspire the whole industry.

The contest is open to organizations of any size, representing business services sector in Poland (ABSL membership is not mandatory).

The Contest website is available at: https://absldiamonds.com/. In order to take part in the Contest each company must follow the rules and criteria, provided hereinafter.

In the 2024 edition, the business services sector companies compete presenting their success stories, cases, projects or initiatives in the below 9 categories:

  1. Business Excellence;
  2. Vibrant Workplace;
  3. Talent Development and Education;
  4. Employee-friendly Working Environment
  5. Tech Innovations
  6. Business Transformation
  7. Environmental Impact
  8. Spectacular Newcomer

(hereinafter, jointly referred to as “categories 1-8”) and

Social Impact (hereinafter referred to as “category 9”)

Applications in all categories have to be submitted within the timeframe indicated in point 1.6 herein through the dedicated Application System, provided by ABSL. Access link to the Application System will be communicated as of the Contest launch at the Contest website.

Irrespective of the Contest category, applications should highlight and prove the innovative and adding value facets of the project, case or initiative submitted

The entire Contest (including the application process, evaluation, nominations, winner selection and awarding phases) is supervised by an independent Auditor.

DEFINITIONS

  • The ABSL Diamonds Awards Contest, the Contest, ABSL Diamonds 2024 – definition in the Rules and Framework’s preamble;
  • Organizer – Związek Liderów Sektora Usług Biznesowych (Association of Business Service Leaders – ABSL);
  • Application System – dedicated, on-line IT system provided by ABSL, with pre-defined spaces to be filled in by the Applicant in order for the project, case or initiative to be further evaluated by the Contest Jury.
  • Application –

for the categories 1-8 – the form of pre-defined fields survey in the Application System, which needs to be filled in by the participating Company (the Applicant) with the relevant information describing the project, case or initiative (with optional attachments or links added) submitted to be evaluated by the Jury of the Contest.

for Category 9 – the form of multimedia file (Video clip – presenting the project, initiative, case), that fulfills the category rules and criteria hereinafter;

  • Applicant – the entity, taking part in the Contest through submitting the Application(s) by the duly and officially authorized person;
  • Nominated Application – one the highest rated Applications (usually up to 3) in each of the categories 1-8 which were assigned a status of Nominated Application by the Jury in the evaluation process. The best (winning) Application in each of the categories 1-9 is selected among Nominated Applications –by the same Jury.
  • Nominated Company, Nominated Applicant, Nominee – the entity, that have submitted the Nominated Application;
  • Winning Application, Winner – the Application that has been declared the best (winning) in a given Contest category by the Jury;
  • Jury – a group of independent experts selected to evaluate the Applications submitted in the Contest with the aim to select Nominated Applications and Winners (The Jury names are published at the Contest website).
  • Auditor – a person of an established legal expertise, representing a renown, independent auditor company (company name is published at the Contest website).

ELIGIBILITY

    • The ABSL Diamonds Award Contest is opened to any legal entity from the Business Services Sector registered and operating in Poland, including but not limited to: BPOs, Shared Services Centers, ITOs, R&D Centers. There is no obligation to be an ABSL Poland member, in order to take part in the Contest. There are no fees charged by the Organizer for taking part in the Contest/submitting Application(s). In order to submit the Application(s), the Applicant needs to register in the Application System first, by introducing name, contact details and other necessary company information.
    • All Applications must come directly from the entities participating in the Contest (Applicants). It means the Applicant needs to appoint and authorize a representing person to register the company, grant all necessary approvals and licenses to the Contest Organizer and to submit the Application(s) on behalf of the Applicant. The Applicant’s provider companies, third-party vendors, advisory organizations or similar cannot submit Applications on behalf of the Applicant.
    • One of the key conditions for the project, submitted in the Contest is the Applicant’s direct involvement in the project as at least one of the key project stakeholders’ role.
    • A single Applicant can submit only one and unique Application per category but it can compete (submit Applications) in up to all 9 categories.
    • Applications must be submitted exclusively through the dedicated Application System, provided by ABSL. Access link to the Application System will be communicated on the Conest launch date.
    • The Application forms contains pre-defined fields (some with the word count limits) to be filled in with a specific information/data on the case, project or initiative as well as the possibility to add supplementary relevant attachments and links. For the category 9 (Social Impact) – the Application form is the multimedia file – a V
    • Video clip. See more in section 2 hereinafter.
    • All submitted Applications must refer to a case, project or initiative that started and concluded with visible results in the period between July 1st 2022– July 31st, 2024.
    • Upon submission of the Application, the Applicant agrees and grants ABSL irrevocable, without time and territory limits (worldwide), free of charge and non-exclusive license to use the content (copy, text and graphics, hereinafter “work” or “works”) provided by the Applicant to the Application System along with registration for the Contest, for the purposes and on the fields of exploitation listed in points a) – n) below:
  1. production and reproduction using printing, reprographic, magnetic, digital, photosensitive, audio-visual, optical, or computer recording techniques;
  2. entering in computer memory or multimedia networks and all other data media;
  3. multiplication and recording the work or parts of it (or any of its elements) using digital and analogue techniques on any electronic and analogue carriers;
  4. regarding the trading of copies on which the work was recorded – selling in Poland and abroad, lending for use and leasing, also using the Internet and other data transmission techniques using telecommunication networks, computer networks, and wireless networks;
  5. screening, exhibiting, and other forms of making the work publicly available in such a manner that a specific addressee or everyone can access it at a place and time of their choosing;
  6. broadcasting and rebroadcasting through cable or wireless vision signal by a terrestrial station or via a satellite, by TV or radio broadcast (including in a cable or coded TV), including a right to rebroadcast on digital platforms and/or in cable networks, webcasting, and simultaneous integral broadcasting (rebroadcasting) by any radio or TV broadcaster;
  7. making the work or parts of it (or any of its elements) publicly available in such a way as to make it available to anyone at a time and place chosen by them and with any technique;
  8. in terms of circulation of the original or copies on which the work was fixed – marketing, lending or renting of the original or copies;
  9. for marketing purposes (of the Contest and/or ABSL) – direct or indirect entering into marketing using any available means, techniques and carriers and on all available distribution channels;
  10. using the work in other multimedia works, collective works, promotional and marketing materials, including as a component of any entity’s activity, their know-how or items of intellectual or industrial property, as well as while offering or selling any products or services, and as part of any information, promotion or advertising campaigns, and in any offer, commercial or promotional materials of any entity, as well as by using any technologies and carriers described under letter a) above, in any activity;
  11. use in film and other audio-visual and multimedia works;
  12. translating into other languages;
  13. transferring the work to ABSL’s partners, including a right by such partners to use the work or the content of the work, including the granting of licenses with the right to sublicensing;
  14. in the area of producing, using, disposing and the dissemination of derivative works of works produced using the above content – such a consent and authorization shall cover using them in the fields of use defined above.

The above license is granted for the period of 3 (three) years starting from the moment of delivering the work to ABSL

  • For avoidance of doubt, after the end of the license term, ABSL shall not be obliged to remove abovementioned works from the public space, the Internet, promotional materials, or publications concerning the Contest or promotional and marketing materials, that were subject to the abovementioned license.
  • By submitting the Application, the Applicant confirms, that all information provided therein are true, consistent with the reality, can be legitimately disclosed to third parties and does not constitute a company secret or trade secret. The Applicant warrants, that information entered into the Application is free from any confidentiality obligations and may be freely revealed without violating any confidentiality, proprietary rights or agreements as well as legal regulations. Each Applicant is recommended making sure, any piece of information disclosed in the Application is compliant with the above requirements as well as the relevant Applicant’s confidentiality policies and other respective rules, third-party rights, …etc. The Organizer is not liable whatsoever for the Applicant’s potential disclosure of any confidential information, violation or infringement of agreements or other relevant regulations, …etc while submitting an Application regardless of the basis of the confidentiality obligation, statutory or contractual, or other.
  • Before completing the Application submission process in the Application System the Applicant should make sure all entries, attachments, files have the final content/wording and/or form. No amendments or modifications to the Applications will be possible after they have been submitted.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCESS

The following requitements are applicable to the Application submission process:

  • All Applications must be duly placed in the Application System between September 2nd, 2024 and October 7th 2024, 5 p.m. CEST (UTC +2) sharp. The Application term will be communicated and by ABSL through its different communication channels. No individual requests to extend the Application System availability beyond the indicated deadline will be respected.
  • The company, willing to submit the Application should delegate and duly authorize a representative, who will register (including granting all necessary approvals and licenses) and submit the Application on the company’s behalf in the Application System. There is a Manual – “ABSL DIAMONDS APPLICATION SYSTEM USER GUIDELINES” available in the Application System to assist the Applicants throughout the application process, providing the tips and guidelines useful to the Applicant when registering or filling in the Application.
  • By registering, the Applicant’s representative agrees to receive communication from the Organizer, including e-mail correspondence on the provided e-mail address from the Application System or ABSL, through which the Organizer shall communicate the most important Contest information and updates (such as reminders on the uncompleted Application and other – related to the Contest).
  • Application submission process to be completed in order to duly submit the Application:
    • Registering to the Application System (company information + registering person contact details)
    • Selection of the Category to apply in:
    • Submitting in the Application:

for categories 1-8

  • STEP 1 – filling in the project/case/initiative’s name;
  • STEP 2– filling in the project overview in the form of the entries into separate fields (supplementary questions are provided for each field) and attachments. There is a character limit for each form field that cannot be exceeded. Additional materials and links as the supplementary evidence and information on the project may be attached in some of the fields.
  • STEP 3– brief summary/overview of the project, which will be published by the Organizer on the Contest website IF the Application gets nominated by the Jury. There is a character limit for each field that cannot be exceeded.

Please note – the Applications (STEP 2) will not be published/communicated by the Organizer. The summary/overview entries (STEP 3) will be published only for the Nominated Applications.

for category 9 (Social Impact) 

  • Providing the name of the submitted project;
  • Providing the relevant link to the Video clip, presenting the project.

Requirements for Social Impact projects and applications are:

  • The form of Social Impact application is a Video clip showcasing the submitted project or initiative. In the application process in this category the Applicant provides a link to download such file. Applicant needs to make sure, they possess all and complete rights and licenses to the submitted Video clip. The Video clip should present at least: background, nature and the social impact (at least one benefit) of the submitted project or initiative.
  • Submitted Social Impact projects, initiatives requirements/criteria are:
    • project must have been initiated and completed in Poland (local or countrywide extent) in the period indicated in point 1.6 above;
    • the Applicant’s involvement must have been realized through its human resources engagement and cannot be limited to the financial contribution, such as cash or in-kind input only.
  • Video clip requirements are:
    • mp4 format (with H264 codec) or MOV format. Horizontal recording – if recorded by mobile handset);
    • resolution FHD (or preferably 4K)
    • aspect ratio – 16:9;
    • up to max 90 sec;
    • must present at least one benefit/outcome/impact of the project;
    • narrative in English (or translation provided);
    • contain intro and outro of the clip;
    • cannot contain any commercial/sales content;
  • By submitting the Application, the Applicant confirms that the person submitting is duly authorized i.e. have the authority, under a power of attorney granted by the person authorized to represent the company, to send the Application as well as to grant all necessary consents and declarations associated with the Application. The Applicant further acknowledges that the person submitting the Application on its behalf is acting within the scope of the authority and that the Organizer may rely on this confirmation without further inquiry.
  • Any kind of plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will lead to disqualification of the Application as contradictory to the law.
  • By submitting the Application and accepting the 2024 ABSL Diamonds Contest Rules and Framework, the Applicant acknowledges and accepts that any content, multimedia documents and materials introduced within the Application (text, multimedia, (incl. clips and images, company/companies logos, etc.) can be reproduced by ABSL or its appointed production partner company on the terms and conditions described in this document, including for the purpose of promoting the submitted case/project/initiative by the Applicant’s representative. It means, that the Applicant grants ABSL a license to use the content, multimedia, documents and materials for the purpose and on fields of exploitation described in the point 1.8 hereto. At the same time, the Applicant declares that the provided content, document and materials do not violate the provisions of generally applicable law (including the rights of any third parties) and that the Applicant duly obtained all necessary permits (including the recording and publicity of the image of persons registered / recorded in these materials). The Applicant is fully responsible for the content provided to the Application System (including intellectual property, trade secrets, personal rights, image, voice and utterance if applicable) and hereby releases ABSL from liability to the fullest extent possible.
  • The Applicant indemnifies ABSL against all loss, liability or expense (including reasonable attorney and witness fees and expenses) arising out of any claim brought by a third party that any material/ document /content submitted by the Applicant to the Contest infringes upon intellectual property rights, confidentiality or other rights protected by laws or binding lawful obligations, that belong, are owned, possessed or controlled by the third party.
  • The language of the Contest shall be English. This includes publicity, communication with the Applicants. All Applications must be provided in English as well as any supporting materials attached. Applications launched in other languages will not be rated.
  • Any additional questions concerning the Contest procedures, timeline, etc. should be sent via email to the Contest official e-mail address diamonds@absl.pl. To maintain full transparency, equal rights and opportunities the Organizer and its representatives shall not provide any individual advice or guidance to Applicants (regarding their projects, cases or initiatives to be submitted in Contest) beyond those, provided for in the 2024 ABSL Diamonds Rules and Framework or have been published through ABSL communication channels. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicants to select, decide on the project, case, initiative submission, allocate it to the appropriate category and to fill in the respective Application form. Neither the Organizer nor Organizer’s representatives shall answer questions or provide any kind of support that could influence transparency or equal right od all Applicants.
  • ABSL allows for the use of the ABSL Diamonds logo and the full name of the Contest for the Winners’ promotional purposes provided with the year for which the prize is awarded and the full name of the organizer – for example; ABSL Diamonds 2024. The license conditions shall be provided by ABSL to the Nominees and Winners via email upon request.

EVALUATION PROCESS

for categories 1-8

  • All duly placed Applications will go through the Jury evaluation processes, which will be supervised by the Auditor.
  • The Jury decisions are final and neither the Organizer nor the Applicant can enter into any kind of communications (direct or indirect) with each other or with the Jury to influence the verdict at any time.
  • Each Application will be assessed individually by 2 (two) of the Jury members. Each of them can individually allocate the score of 0 up to 25 points per each field of the Application form. The scores are allocated at their sole discretion and independent decision.
  • Once individual evaluations are completed by all Jury members, the final, accumulated scores for each Application will be ranked in each category. Such rating will be reviewed, calibrated and acknowledged by the Jury at the dedicated calibration session supervised by the Auditor. As a result the Nominated Applications and Winners will be selected by the Jury. The minimum number of the Nominated Applications in each category is 2 and maximum number of the Nominated Applications in each category is 3 (three). The Jury may, at their own discretion, abandon nominating any Applications (and so Winner’s selection) in whichever category.
  • The Nominated Applications in each category will be publicly announced through ABSL communication channels prior to the ABSL Diamonds Gala (usually up to 2 weeks ahead) in the alphabetical order by the Nominated Companies’ names. The alphabetical order will be applied to avoid implying any ratings of the Nominated Applications. The Winners will be publicly announced and awarded at the ABSL Diamonds Gala on December 3rd, 2024. Cost of access to the Gala is communicated on the Contest website and through the Contest dedicated communication.
  • Individual ratings of the Applications or justifications will not be available to view by Applicants or public. None of the Applications’ scores will be revealed at any stage of the Contest.
  • Any and all decisions of the Jury are final and binding and cannot be appealed from.

for category 9 (Social Impact)

  • All duly and timely submitted project Video clips will be reviewed by the two ABSL Board members in terms of meeting the requirements and criteria The Video clips, which shall meet such requirement and criteria shall undergo evaluation procedure (“qualified Video clips”) IF the total number of qualified Video clips amounts to at least 3.
  • All project Video clips fulfilling the requirements and criteria herein will be published on the Contest website in the alphabetical order of the qualified Video Clips Companies’ names on the day of revealing the Nominated Applications from the other categories (1-9). The alphabetical order will be applied to avoid implying any ratings of the qualified Video clips.
  • The qualified Video clips will be presented at the ABSL Diamonds Gala on December 3rd, 2024 in the alphabetical order of the Companies’ names for the audience review.
  • Such presented qualified Video clips will be then subject to voting by the ABSL Diamonds Gala audience through the real-time voting application accessible through the link provided by ABSL right before the voting.
  • Each audience member shall be able to vote for only one qualified Video clip and shall have a freedom of voting for the one, subjectively recognized as best in their view.
  • The Video clip receiving the highest number of audience votes will be declared the Winner in category 9, announced at the ABSL Diamonds Gala.
  • If more than one qualified Video clips receives highest, equal number of votes, the voting procedure to select the Winner among them will be repeated.
  • In case the Application does not meet all the requirements and criteria herein or stays in contradiction with any legal regulations or fails to comply with principles of social coexistence, equality principles, or other applicable code of conducts, the Organizer reserves the right to disqualify such.

DATA PROTECTION

  • All the potential Applicants are informed hereby, that ABSL is thecontroller of personal data provided by the Applicant. Personal data collected by ABSL through the Application System shall be processed for the purposes of ABSL Diamonds organization and settlement of the Contest in accordance with these Rules and Framework. Any personal data provided to ABSL are protected by ABSL in accordance with the Privacy Policy that you will find at https://absl.pl/en/about/privacy-policy.
  • All the potential Applicants are informed hereby, that under a separate agreement related to providing IT and maintenance services of the Application System, ABSL has entrusted processing of personal data to its long term partner – Smultron Sp. z o.o.

FINAL PROVISIONS

    • These 2024 ABSL Diamonds Contest Rules and Framework shall come into force on September 2nd, 2024.
    • ABSL reserves the right to modify or amend 2024 ABSL Diamonds Contest Rules and Framework at any time. Any of such modifications or amendments will be published on the Contest website and are effective from the moment of their publication or any later date indicated in the document introducing modifications.
    • The Contest and all the matters connected with its organization, as well as granted rights and licenses are subject to Polish law and the jurisdiction of Polish court.
    • The court with jurisdiction over any disputes arising in connection with Contest shall be a court with jurisdiction at the Organizer’s registered address.

 2024 ABSL DIAMONDS AWARDS CONTEST RULES AND FRAMEWORK – applicable for Applicants in Social Impact category

The statements contained herein are a necessary conditions for participation in the Social Impact category Competition and accepting this Attachment as a part of the 2024 DIAMONDS RULES AND REGULATIONS constitutes granting the license as below, as well as granting all the consents and declarations herein. All definitions capitalized have the meaning given to them in 2024 ABSL DIAMONDS AWARDS CONTEST RULES AND FRAMEWORK.

By accepting 2024 ABSL DIAMONDS AWARDS CONTEST RULES AND FRAMEWORK as well as this Attachment the Applicant’s representative confirms that he/she is officially authorized to submit the Application and the project Video clip, as well as he/she confirms that he/she has the authority (under the power of attorney granted by the person authorized to represent the company) to grant ABSL a license to use the video as outlined in the 2024 ABSL DIAMONDS AWARDS CONTEST RULES AND FRAMEWORK.

Ownership and Rights

  1. The Applicant hereby warrants and guarantees that they are the sole owner of all rights, titles to the submitted Video clip.
  2. The Applicant confirms that they have obtained all necessary permissions, licenses, and consents from any individuals or entities appearing in or contributing to the Video clip (including, but not limited to, likenesses, voices, and other personal attributes) to grant the licenses described herein.
  3. The Applicant represents and warrants that:
    • the Application does not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any intellectual property rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or any other legal rights of any third party,
    • all individuals whose likenesses, voices, or other personal attributes appear in the Video clip have given their express consent to such appearance and the use of their likenesses, voices, or other personal attributes as described herein.
  4. The Applicant acknowledges and agrees that the Organizer shall have no obligation to use or exploit any Application and that the Organizer shall have the right, at its sole discretion, to reject or remove any Application at any time.

License

  1. Upon submission of the Application, the Applicant agrees and grants ABSL irrevocable, without time and territory limits (worldwide), free of charge and non-exclusive license to use the content of Video clip (hereinafter “work” or “works”) provided by the Applicant, for the following purposes and on the fields of exploitation listed in points a – n below. The license is granted for the period of 3 (three) years starting from the moment of delivering the work to ABSL and on the following fields of use:
    • production and reproduction using printing, reprographic, magnetic, digital, photosensitive, audio-visual, optical, or computer recording techniques;
    • entering in computer memory or multimedia networks and all other data media;
    • multiplication and recording the work or parts of it (or any of its elements) using digital and analogue techniques on any electronic and analogue carriers;
    • regarding the trading of copies on which the work was recorded – selling in Poland and abroad, lending for use and leasing, also using the Internet and other data transmission techniques using telecommunication networks, computer networks, and wireless networks;
    • screening, exhibiting, and other forms of making the work publicly available in such a manner that a specific addressee or everyone can access it at a place and time of their choosing;
    • broadcasting and rebroadcasting through cable or wireless vision signal by a terrestrial station or via a satellite, by TV or radio broadcast (including in a cable or coded TV), including a right to rebroadcast on digital platforms and/or in cable networks, webcasting, and simultaneous integral broadcasting (rebroadcasting) by any radio or TV broadcaster;
    • making the work or parts of it (or any of its elements) publicly available in such a way as to make it available to anyone at a time and place chosen by them and with any technique;
    • in terms of circulation of the original or copies on which the work was fixed – marketing, lending or renting of the original or copies;
    • for marketing purposes (of the Contest and/or ABSL) – direct or indirect entering into marketing using any available means, techniques and carriers and on all available distribution channels;
    • using the work in other multimedia works, collective works, promotional and marketing materials, including as a component of any entity’s activity, their know-how or items of intellectual or industrial property, as well as while offering or selling any products or services, and as part of any information, promotion or advertising campaigns, and in any offer, commercial or promotional materials of any entity, as well as by using any technologies and carriers described under letter a) above, in any activity;
    • use in film and other audio-visual and multimedia works;
    • translating into other languages;
    • transferring the work to ABSL’s partners, including a right by such partners to use the work or the content of the work, including the granting of licenses with the right to sublicensing;
    • in the area of producing, using, disposing and the dissemination of derivative works of works produced using the above content – such a consent and authorization shall cover using them in the fields of use defined above.
  2. The Applicant consents to the Organizer, as of the moment indicated in the above-mentioned section 1, exercising all derivative copyright rights to the works in all fields of use listed in the above-mentioned section. In particular, the Applicant hereby consents that the Nominated Applications will be published by ABSL on the Contest website, and/or other communication channels (including internet, digital and tangible media, up to the free choice of the ABSL). For the purpose of such publication ABSL (or its appointed production partner company) will create Nominated Application presentations through copying and pasting the Nominated Applicant’s content entries to the STEP 3 section of the Application System. All such presentations will be branded with ABSL Diamonds key visual elements.
  3. For avoidance of doubt, after the end of the license term, ABSL shall not be obliged to remove abovementioned works from the public space, the Internet, promotional materials, or publications concerning the Contest or promotional and marketing materials that were subject to the abovementioned license.

Indemnification

  1. The Applicant agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Organizer and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, and representatives from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs) arising out of or related to any breach of the representations, warranties, or agreements made by the Applicant above, including, without limitation, any claims related to the infringement of any third-party rights.
  2. The Applicant further agrees that the Organizer is not liable for any loss, damage, or disclosure of confidential information included in the application materials submitted by the Applicant. It is the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that no confidential or proprietary information is included in the application materials.