Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between [Company legal entity] (“Congressio”, “we”, “us”) and the individual or organization that accesses or uses the Congressio platform (the “Service”). By creating an account, or by accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

Congressio is a software-as-a-service platform for planning and running conferences and similar events. It provides tools for calls for papers and abstract submissions, peer review, program building and publication, attendee registration and ticketing, badges and check-in, and related communication and administration features.

We may add, change or remove features over time. We aim to give reasonable notice of material changes that adversely affect core functionality, but the Service is provided on an evolving basis.

• You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to create an account.
• You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide and for keeping your account credentials secure.
• You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, and must notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.
• An organization account may have multiple members with different roles and permissions; the account owner is responsible for managing those members.

You agree not to use the Service to:

• violate any applicable law or regulation, or infringe the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of others;
• upload malware, attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or its systems, or interfere with its normal operation;
• send unsolicited bulk email or other communications in breach of anti-spam laws;
• publish content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, or otherwise objectionable; or
• resell, sublicense or otherwise commercially exploit the Service except as expressly permitted.

We may suspend or limit access to the Service to investigate suspected breaches of this section or to protect the Service and its users.

The Service is used by two broad groups, and responsibilities differ accordingly:

Organizers are the individuals and organizations that create events, configure submission and registration forms, invite reviewers and staff, set ticket prices, and communicate with participants. Organizers are the controllers of the personal data they collect from their participants and are responsible for having a lawful basis for that processing, for honoring participant rights, and for the content of their events and communications.

Attendees, authors and reviewers interact with events created by organizers — submitting work, reviewing submissions, registering, and purchasing tickets. Their relationship regarding a specific event (including refunds and event content) is primarily with the organizer of that event. Congressio provides the platform but is not the organizer of events created by its customers.

Platform subscriptions. Paid plans are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly or annually) through our payment processor. Unless stated otherwise, fees are exclusive of taxes, which you are responsible for. Plans renew automatically until cancelled; you may cancel at any time and the cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Except where required by law, fees already paid are non-refundable. Usage above a plan’s included limits may incur additional charges as described at the point of purchase.

Attendee ticket payments. When an organizer sells paid tickets, payments are processed through Stripe and are collected on behalf of the organizer. Congressio does not store attendees’ full card details. Refunds, chargebacks and tax handling for tickets are the responsibility of the organizer, in accordance with the terms they present to their attendees and applicable payment-processor rules.

The Service, including its software, design, and brand, is owned by Congressio and its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not grant you any right to our trademarks or branding except as needed to use the Service.

You retain ownership of the content you submit to the Service (for example event descriptions, submissions, and uploaded files). You grant us a limited, worldwide license to host, store, process and display that content solely to operate and improve the Service and to provide it to you and to the participants you designate.

Our handling of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. For personal data that organizers process about their participants, the organizer is the data controller and Congressio acts as a data processor on the organizer’s behalf; a data processing agreement may be required for certain customers.

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that it will meet your specific requirements.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Congressio and its officers, employees and suppliers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of the Service. Our total aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will not exceed the greater of the amounts you paid to us in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or [cap amount]. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of these may not apply to you.

You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Service or its users. On termination, your right to use the Service ceases; certain provisions that by their nature should survive — including fees owed, intellectual property, disclaimers and limitations of liability — will survive. We will make reasonable efforts to allow you to export your data for a limited period after termination.

These Terms are governed by the laws of [jurisdiction], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The courts located in [jurisdiction] will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, except where mandatory law provides otherwise.

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Questions about these Terms can be sent to hello@congressio.net, or by post to [Company legal entity], [address]. You can also reach us through our contact page.