Terms of Use

On the digital meeting place FAF CONNECT  (hereinafter the «Digital Meeting Place»), Providers publish their own content. Visitors may obtain information and make contact with Providers on the Digital Meeting Place. Users who create a free FAF CONNECT account (hereinafter the «Account» and the «Users») may use additional features. An Account may also be created and / or used on event websites connected to the Digital Meeting Place (hereinafter the «Event Websites»).

GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH, a German company, is the operator of the Digital Meeting Place (hereinafter the «Operator»). These Terms of Use shall govern the rights and obligations of the Operator as well as of the Users in connection with the Digital Meeting Place. Information on data protection is set forth in the Privacy Policy.

Additional or further terms and other legal documents may apply to offers and services of Organizers and on their Event Websites. The Operator and the Organizers shall obtain any required consents directly from Users.

1. Features and Services

1.1 The Operator will provide the Digital Meeting Place to Visitors and Users until further notice. Individual services and features are based on availability during a visit to and during use of the Digital Meeting Place as well as based on information published by the Operator about individual features and services. There is no entitlement to use the Digital Meeting Place or certain features and services.

1.2 The Operator enables Visitors to create a free Account. Users can, for example, register their interests and create a networking profile via their Account. The Operator will inform Users about new content based on their interests via e-mail, instant messaging and other communication channels. Users can object to the receipt of notifications at any time («opt-out»). Users may contact Organizers and other Users through their networking profile.

1.3 Accounts can also be created and / or used on Event Websites. With the Account, features such as interest-based recommendations for planning the visit to an event or opportunities to make contact with Providers and other Users may be used.

1.4 The Operator is entitled to arrange for the provision of all or individual features and services in connection with the Digital Meeting Place by third parties acting on the Operator’s behalf or involved otherwise. The Operator is entitled to change and further develop the Digital Meeting Place as a whole or with regard to individual features and services. The Operator shall inform Users on significant changes in a suitable manner.

2. Account

2.1 Visitors who create an Account as Users are required to use full and correct information at all times. Registration with false or fictitious information is not permitted. The Operator may – even retrospectively – check or have third parties check Users’ information and is entitled to request additional information from Users.

2.2 Only natural persons with the legal capacity to act without restrictions may register as Users. Users must be 18 years or older, unless their legal representative expressly consents to their registration. Users shall treat their access data for the Digital Meeting Place in a confidential manner and use such data only themselves.

2.3 To the extent a User uses his Account on an Event Website and such event is no longer connected to the Digital Meeting Place in the future, the Operator shall be entitled to perform a one-time transfer of the User’s information to the respective Organizer. Thus, the respective Organizer may inform the User about a new solution where applicable.

2.4 Users can ask for the deletion of their Account at any time by sending an e-mail to datenschutz@ghm.de 

3. Use

3.1 Users are required to use the Digital Meeting Place only in accordance with its intended use and in compliance with applicable law.

3.2 Users are required to include or to publish only their own content and in compliance with applicable law, for example when interacting with Organizers and other Users or for the purposes of their networking profile. Users are in particular not allowed to publish criminal, discriminatory, false, harmful, malicious, misleading or racist content. Use of the Digital Meeting Place for unsolicited or otherwise inadmissible advertising («spam») is not permitted.

3.3 Users are required to refrain from uploading or publishing content that violates intellectual property rights, personality rights or other rights of third parties, for example images that violate the right of persons to their own image or the copyright of third parties. Users must assume that content of the Operator, of Organizers and of other Users is subject to copyright as well as protected otherwise.

3.4 The Operator may at any time suspend individual Users’ access to the Digital Meeting Place without delay in the event of a violation of these Terms of Use as well as in the event of a suspicion of illegal or improper use. In such case, the Operator may but is not required to issue a warning to Users affected.

3.5 Use of the Digital Meeting Place may temporarily as well as in part or in full not be possible, in particular for technical reasons. The Operator is in particular entitled to interrupt access to the Digital Meeting Place for maintenance. The Operator shall endeavor to ensure a high availability of the Digital Meeting Place but cannot assume any warranty in this respect.

3.6 The Operator is not required to monitor the conduct of Users or Providers on the Digital Meeting Place. The Operator is in particular not required to examine the content of Users or Providers for lawfulness or other permissibility as a precaution. The Operator shall not assume any warranty for the content of Users or Providers. In the event of requests, complaints and other notifications from third parties regarding content that may be illegal or impermissible for other reasons, the Operator shall act in accordance with the Swiss Code of Conduct Hosting (CCH).

4. Liability

4.1 The Operator shall be liable for any direct damage caused by its own gross negligence or intent. Any further liability of the Operator for direct damage shall be expressly and fully excluded. Any liability of the Operator for indirect damage and consequential damage, for claims from other Users and any third parties as well as for lost profits shall be expressly and fully excluded. Any liability for auxiliary persons shall be excluded.

4.2 Users shall be liable to the Operator and any third parties, irrespective of fault, expressly and fully for any direct and indirect costs as well as for any damage arising from violations of these Terms of Use or in connection with the Digital Meeting Place. Such indemnity obligation shall also apply to claims from other Users and any third parties. Respective Users shall release the Operator from all claims from other Users as well as from any third parties and undertake to bear all costs – including attorney and court fees – as well as any direct and indirect damage incurred by the Operator in this context.

4.3 The limitation of liability pursuant to these Terms of Use shall apply regardless of the respective legal basis. Any further mandatory liability, in particular for gross negligence or intent as well as pursuant to any applicable data protection legislation, shall remain reserved.

5. Final Provisions

5.1 Automated access to the Digital Meeting Place, for example by means of bots, scripts or comparable methods, shall be forbidden. The Operator may grant exceptions, for example the use of programming interfaces.

5.2 The Operator may change these Terms of Use at any time without stating reasons. Users shall be informed on significant changes to these Terms of Use in a suitable manner.

5.3 These Terms of Use shall be exclusively subject to Swiss law, the exclusive place of performance and place of jurisdiction being the registered office of the Operator to the extent the Users affected are no consumers. The court at the place of residence or registered office of either party shall be competent for legal actions brought by consumers in connection with disputes arising from consumer contracts.