GSN and Bank of America Student Banking Unite for the Award-Winning 'GET SCHOOLED 2005 WORD SLAM!' Affiliate Marketing Event and a New Documentary That Will Cover the National Search for the Best Vocabulary Superstars
The 11-City Local Promotion Will Award $135,000 Toward College Tuition and
Will Be Featured in 'WORD SLAM!' a Behind-the-Scenes Documentary Focusing on
the Vocabulary Game Competition and the Champions From Each City
Singing Sensation and Former 'American Idol' Finalist Kimberley Locke Serves
as Host
Sponsors Include SparkNotes and Sony Electronics
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 14 -- GSN's award-winning
education-focused GET SCHOOLED 2005 returns for its third consecutive year,
partnering with Bank of America Student Banking awarding $135,000 in college
tuition to 11 lucky people across the United States. "American Idol" finalist
and Curb recording artist Kimberley Locke will host the vocabulary-based tour,
sponsored locally by Comcast, Charter Communications, Cable Vision and Time
Warner Cable. The promotion will also include a national online component,
the GET SCHOOLED TOUR SWEEPSTAKES, in which eligible entrants will be randomly
selected to win tuition money and other prizes. GSN is also producing WORD
SLAM!, a documentary featuring the tour, which will give viewers across the
country the chance to experience the high stakes vocabulary competition and go
behind-the-scenes and meet the winners from each market. The announcement was
made today by Dena Kaplan, Senior Vice President of Marketing, GSN.
"We are thrilled to partner with Bank of America Student Banking, the
premier provider of student loans and our cable affiliates in this fun,
pro-education event," Kaplan said. "This year, we are excited to feature Word
Slam!, the first vocabulary game of its kind and find the best and brightest
vocabulary champ in the country."
Kicking off on March 5 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, GET SCHOOLED 2005 will
visit 11 cities over the course of 11 weeks, allowing eligible participants
the opportunity to compete in 'Word Slam!,' the live game that tests their
vocabulary skills for the chance to win $10,000 toward college tuition.
Over the three-year history of the tour, GSN and Bank of America have
awarded almost $400,000 in college tuition to over 25 people. These winners
have either used the money to finance their own education or have helped send
a family member or friend to college. This year the 11 grand prize winners
from the tour markets will face off in the Tournament of Champions for an
additional $25,000 in tuition money and be part of the 'Word Slam!'
documentary which is slated to air in the Fall of 2005.
"Sponsoring the 'Get Schooled Games Tour' for the third consecutive year
is exciting for us," said Kathy Cannon, Bank of America Student Banking
executive. This new game, 'Word Slam,' promises to be the most engaging game
yet. In addition to having fun at the events, this partnership gives us the
opportunity to meet face-to-face with our future customers and provide the
information they need to make smart decisions about financing their education.
Information about Bank of America checking and credit card products that have
been designed specifically for students will be available also."
Sponsored locally in seven markets by Comcast, two markets by Charter
Communications, one by Cable Vision and one by Time Warner Cable, GET SCHOOLED
2005 events are open to everyone; however, competitors must be at least
15-years-of-age and those who are minors must provide written consent from
their parent or legal guardian to be eligible to participate. Each of the
$10,000 grand prizes will be paid into a 529 College Savings Plan that will be
established by Bank of America through Bank of America Capital Management's
Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan for any qualifying designee of the
winners.
With the tour's emphasis on college education, GSN will distribute more
than 4,000 SparkNote study aid titles and 33,000 SparkChart study charts to
everyone in the tour markets. SparkNotes will also make free downloadable
versions available online at http://www.gsn.com/getschooled for use before the tour
arrives so visitors can study up; a percentage of the words that will be used
during the live 'Word Slam!' game show will be included. Additionally, local
high school and college students who have received entry forms from their
teachers, and individuals who download the Official Entry Form from
http://www.gsn.com/getschooled will have the option of pre-registering for Get
Schooled 2005 by faxing their completed entry forms to 310-444-4624 no later
than seven days prior to the applicable event, making them eligible for a
drawing in which a pre-registrant will be randomly selected to fill a
contestant spot in each of the eight preliminary rounds during the live game
show.
Word Slam! is a live on-stage vocabulary-based game show that will
culminate with head-to-head competition of linguistic smarts. Eligible
registrants will have eight opportunities to win a chance to compete on stage
for the grand prize of $10,000 toward college tuition. Everyone in attendance
at each event will have the opportunity to play. Kimberley Locke will read a
definition and the participants will be asked to drop their name card into a
bin corresponding with the correct definition of the word. From the bin with
the correct word, 10 names will be pulled and those people will have the
chance to go up on stage and continue on to play "from 10 to 1." Each of the
10 people on stage will be given the same four-letter word, and will be asked
to change one letter to create a new word. This lasts until one person is
standing. After two consecutive rounds are completed, the two people left
will face off in another word association game. This game will be based on
points. The winner with the most points at the end of the round will move on
to the semi-finals. In the final round, after three preliminary match rounds
have been completed, the two finalists will play a definition-based word game.
Every correct answer earns the contestant one point. The contestant to reach
five points first will win the grand prize of $10,000.
Joining Bank of America Student Banking as sponsors are SparkNotes by
Barnes and Noble, the leading provider of study guides and Sony Electronics,
whose latest electronics including plasma screen televisions and computers
will be featured on the set. Also, Bank of America representatives will give
on-site student financial aid information as well as checking and credit card
products and services that have been designed specifically for students. The
tour will visit the following markets:
Get Schooled 2005 Word Slam! Schedule
Date City Location MSO
March 5 Albuquerque Cottonwood Mall Comcast
March 12 Dallas Stonebriar Centre Comcast/Charter
March 20 Sacramento Galleria at Roseville Comcast
April 2 St. Louis TBD Charter
April 9 Salt Lake City South Towne Center Comcast
April 16 Long Island Roosevelt Field Mall Cable Vision
April 21 San Antonio Culture Fest Time Warner
April 30 Nashville TBD Comcast
May 7 Pittsburgh The Mall at Robinson Comcast
May 14 Boston TBD Comcast
May 21 Philadelphia King of Prussia Comcast
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to participate in Get Schooled 2005. Open only to
legal residents of the U.S., 15 years of age or older. Minors in their state
of residency must provide written consent from their parent or legal guardian
to be eligible to participate. Void where prohibited by law. See Official
Rules at http://www.gsn.com/getschooled for complete details including tour
dates and locations, additional eligibility restrictions and prize
descriptions/restrictions.
GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated
to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network
features game shows, reality series, light sports, documentaries and casino
games. GSN is the industry leader in interactivity and as such allows viewers
a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via
GSN.com. Reaching 56 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S.
through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is
jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation.
For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions,
serving individual consumers, small businesses and large corporations with a
full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and
risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched
convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships
through more than 5,800 retail banking offices and 16,700 ATMs and through
award-winning online banking with more than twelve million active users. Bank
of America is the No. 1 Small Business Administration Lender in the United
States by the SBA. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has
relationships with 96 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 82 percent
of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (ticker: BAC) is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
SOURCE GSN
Web Site: http://www.gsn.com http://www.gsn.com/getschooled
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