Karsenics Platform Terms of Use

Read this first. You are registering for an event run by an independent organization. Karsenics makes the software that organization uses to take your registration. Karsenics does not run the event. These terms cover your use of the software. The organization's own agreement, which it presents to you separately, covers your participation in the event itself. If the two ever seem to conflict about the event, the organization's agreement governs the event and these terms govern the software.

1. Who is who

"Karsenics," "we," "us" means Karsenics PBC, a Texas public benefit corporation.

"Platform" means the registration pages, participant portal, and related software Karsenics provides.

"Organization" means the nonprofit or civic organization whose event you are registering for. The Organization's name appears on the page you are registering through.

"You" means the person or entity completing a registration, whether as an exhibitor, vendor, food vendor, parade entrant or contingent, sponsor, performer, contractor, or volunteer.

2. What Karsenics does and does not do

2.1 What we do. We provide software that lets the Organization publish its registration pages, collect your information and documents, assign your space or lineup position, take your payment through the Organization's own payment account, and send you confirmations and updates.

2.2 What we do not do. We do not organize, produce, staff, supervise, insure, permit, or control the event. We do not set the Organization's prices, its rules, its refund policy, its insurance requirements, or its participation terms. We do not review, approve, or vet the Organization, the event, the venue, or the other participants. We are not a party to your agreement with the Organization, and we are not responsible for the event, the Organization's rules, refunds, safety, eligibility decisions, or event conditions.

2.3 Money. The Organization is the merchant of record. Your payment goes to the Organization's own payment account. Karsenics does not hold your money. The charge on your statement will normally show the Organization's name.

2.4 The Service & Processing Fee. Where the Organization passes it on to you, a Service & Processing Fee is shown as its own line at checkout, with your full total, before you pay. It covers the cost of processing your payment and of running your registration through the Platform, and it is not kept by the Organization. It depends on how you pay, and it is lower when you pay from a US bank account than by card. Depending on the Organization's choice, you may pay all of it, part of it, or none of it. No Service & Processing Fee is charged on a registration whose total is $0.00. See Section 7 for how it is treated on a refund.

2.5 Paid and free registrations alike. These terms apply whether your registration is paid, free, or complimentary, and whether you submit it for yourself or on behalf of another person or organization. By accepting these terms, you agree to be bound by them.

3. Age, capacity, and your account

3.1 Age and capacity. You must be at least 18 years old to accept these terms for yourself or on behalf of another person or organization, unless a parent, legal guardian, or other legally authorized adult completes the registration as permitted by applicable law.

3.2 Registration for another person or organization. If you complete a registration for a business, nonprofit, group, minor, or other person, you represent that you are authorized to do so. You must identify the person or organization for whom you are registering when the Platform requests that information.

3.3 Entity and individual obligations. If you accept these terms on behalf of an organization, the organization is bound by the provisions that apply to it, and you are bound by the provisions that apply to you personally. Your acceptance on behalf of an organization does not, by itself, make you personally responsible for the organization's payment or performance obligations.

3.4 Parent or guardian registrations. If you complete a registration involving a minor, you represent that you are the minor's parent, legal guardian, or other person authorized to act on the minor's behalf. You accept these terms for yourself and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of the minor. The Organization is responsible for determining whether the minor may participate and what additional consent is required.

3.5 You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide, for keeping any account credentials confidential, and for everything done through your registration.

4. What you agree to do and not do

You will not: provide false or misleading information; register on behalf of someone else without their authorization; upload documents you do not have the right to provide, or that you know to be forged, altered, or expired; interfere with, probe, scan, or test the security of the Platform; use bots, scrapers, or automated tools against the Platform; attempt to access another participant's information or another organization's data; attempt to bypass payment, capacity limits, or registration windows; or use the Platform to harass, threaten, defame, or defraud anyone. The Karsenics Platform Acceptable Use Policy is part of these terms.

5. Your information

5.1 The Platform Participant Privacy Notice explains what the Platform collects, why, who it goes to, and how long it is kept. Read it.

5.2 In short: the Organization decides what to ask you and what to do with your answers. Karsenics processes that information on the Organization's behalf and does not use it for its own marketing. Karsenics does not sell your information and does not use it to train machine learning models.

5.3 Requests about your information go to the Organization first, because it controls the record. If you contact us at privacy@karsenics.com we will point you to the Organization and pass your request along.

6. Agreements and signatures

6.1 Where the Organization requires you to accept an agreement, waiver, release, or code of conduct, the Platform records your typed legal name, the date and time, and the name of the document you accepted. That record is evidence that you accepted the document. It is not a copy of the document. Keep your own copy of anything you sign.

6.2 Where the Organization uses a separate electronic signature service, completing that signature is a separate step. The Platform records that you acknowledged the document but does not always know whether you finished signing it. If a countersigned document matters to you, confirm with the Organization.

6.3 Electronic contracting and records. You agree that clicking an acceptance checkbox, selecting an electronic option, submitting information electronically, or taking another legally recognized electronic action may create an electronic signature or agreement where applicable law permits.

We may provide Platform records, confirmations, receipts, notices, and copies of documents electronically through the Platform or by email. You should keep copies of documents important to you.

If applicable law requires a separate consent or disclosure before a particular record may be provided electronically, we will provide that consent request and disclosure separately.

7. Payment, fees, and refunds

7.1 Prices, add-ons, and deadlines are set by the Organization.

7.2 Payment is made by card or from a US bank account, through a secure payment page, to the Organization's own payment account. Any Service & Processing Fee is shown as described in Section 2.4, and your full total for the payment method you choose is shown before you are asked to pay.

7.3 Returned bank payments. A bank payment takes several business days to clear. If it is returned unpaid, your registration goes back to unpaid, you will be asked to pay again, and the $4.00 returned-payment charge is added to what you owe.

7.4 Refunds are the Organization's decision, not ours. The Organization's own refund policy, shown on its registration page, governs. Refund requests go to the Organization.

7.5 The Service & Processing Fee is earned when your registration completes and is not normally refunded if the Organization later refunds your other charges. The exceptions are set out in the Refund and Cancellation Policy: a registration created in error by the Platform, or an event cancelled in its entirety with all participants refunded. A payment made from a US bank account can only be refunded in full, so if the Organization refunds a bank payment you receive everything you paid, including the Service & Processing Fee, and the Organization covers that fee.

7.6 Chargebacks and bank disputes. Because the Organization is the merchant of record, a card or bank payment dispute is between you and the Organization. We will provide the Organization with the transaction and registration records it asks for. We do not decide disputes.

8. The event is between you and the Organization

8.1 Your participation in the event, your space or lineup position, your safety at the event, the conduct of other participants and attendees, the weather, the venue, the permits, and whether the event happens at all are the Organization's responsibility, not ours.

8.2 If the event is cancelled, postponed, relocated, shortened, or changed, your remedy is with the Organization under its own terms. Karsenics has no obligation to refund, reschedule, or compensate you for any event outcome.

8.3 Disputes about the event, including injury, property damage, non-delivery of promised benefits, and disagreements with the Organization or other participants, are between you and the Organization.

9. Intellectual property

9.1 The Platform, its software, and the Karsenics name and logo belong to Karsenics. You get no rights in them beyond the right to use the Platform to complete and manage your registration.

9.2 Content the Organization publishes on its registration pages, including event artwork, maps, and descriptions, belongs to the Organization or its licensors.

9.3 You keep the rights to what you upload. You grant Karsenics a limited licence to host, store, display to the Organization, and transmit your uploads solely to operate the Platform for the Organization. We do not use your uploads for our own marketing.

9.4 Copyright complaints are handled under our Copyright and DMCA Policy.

10. Availability and disclaimer

10.1 THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." KARSENICS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

10.2 We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error free, or secure, that emails we send on the Organization's behalf will reach you, or that information the Organization publishes is accurate. Do not rely on email alone for anything time-critical or safety-critical.

10.3 We may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Platform or any feature.

11. Limitation of liability

11.1 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, KARSENICS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST DATA, LOST OPPORTUNITY, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL.

11.2 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, KARSENICS' TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE PLATFORM OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID THROUGH THE PLATFORM IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100.00).

11.3 Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law. Some states do not allow certain exclusions, and in those states our liability is limited to the maximum extent the law permits.

12. Indemnification

You will defend and indemnify Karsenics against any claim arising out of your breach of these terms, your violation of law or of a third party's rights, the documents or information you submitted, or your conduct at an event, except to the extent the claim arises from Karsenics' own gross negligence or willful misconduct.

13. Suspension

We may suspend or remove a registration, or block access to the Platform, if we reasonably believe it is fraudulent, unlawful, or a security risk, or if the Organization asks us to. Where we act on the Organization's request, any refund is the Organization's decision.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version in effect when you complete a registration is the version that applies to that registration. We keep a copy of every version, and your confirmation email links to the version you accepted. Material changes will be posted with an updated date.

15. Governing law and disputes

PLEASE READ. THIS AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

15.1 Scope. This Section 15 applies only to disputes between you and Karsenics arising out of or relating to the Platform, your use of the Platform, or these terms. It does not apply to disputes between you and the Organization, including disputes about event rules, admission, eligibility, refunds, event safety, event conditions, or the Organization's own agreement with you. Those must be brought under the Organization's agreement or other applicable law.

15.2 Informal resolution first. Before starting arbitration or filing a court action, you must send Karsenics a written notice describing the dispute at legal@karsenics.com. You and Karsenics will have 30 days to try in good faith to resolve it. This requirement does not prevent you from filing a small claims action where available or seeking emergency injunctive relief.

15.3 Agreement to arbitrate. Except for the claims described in Section 15.5, any dispute covered by Section 15.1 that is not resolved informally will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association. For a dispute that qualifies as a consumer dispute under the applicable AAA rules, the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules apply. For a dispute brought by or relating to a business, nonprofit, or other organization acting in a commercial or organizational capacity, the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules apply, unless the parties agree otherwise. The arbitrator, and not a court, will decide disputes about the interpretation, enforceability, or scope of this arbitration agreement, except that a court will decide whether the class and representative action waiver in Section 15.6 is enforceable.

15.4 Location, procedure, and fees. The arbitration may be conducted by telephone, videoconference, written submissions, or in person. If an in-person hearing is reasonably necessary, it will take place in Harris County, Texas, unless applicable law or the AAA rules require another location. The arbitration will be conducted by one arbitrator. The arbitrator may award any relief available under applicable law to the individual claimant, but may not award relief for or against anyone who is not a party to the arbitration. Karsenics will pay the arbitration fees that the applicable AAA rules require Karsenics to pay. Nothing in these terms requires you to pay fees that applicable law or the applicable AAA rules prohibit Karsenics from charging you.

15.5 Exceptions. Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small claims court if the claim qualifies; (b) seek temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief in a court located in Harris County, Texas, to protect intellectual property, confidential information, or security interests; or (c) bring a claim that applicable law does not permit to be arbitrated. A court action permitted under this Section must be brought individually and not as a class or representative action, to the extent permitted by law.

15.6 Class and representative action waiver. YOU AND KARSENICS AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF, CLASS MEMBER, COLLECTIVE MEMBER, OR REPRESENTATIVE IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may award relief only to the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to resolve that party's individual claim.

15.7 Coordinated or mass filings. If 25 or more substantially similar arbitration demands are filed against Karsenics by or through the same law firm, organization, or coordinated group, the parties agree to use the AAA's applicable mass arbitration procedures, including any applicable staged filing, batching, bellwether, or administrative procedures. Nothing in this Section limits a claimant's individual claim or prevents a claimant from seeking relief available under applicable law. This Section does not authorize a class, collective, or representative arbitration.

15.8 Opt out. You may opt out of the arbitration agreement and the class and representative action waiver by emailing legal@karsenics.com within 30 days after you first accept these terms. Your email must include your legal name, the email address used for your registration, and a statement that you are opting out of the arbitration agreement and the class and representative action waiver. Opting out does not affect any other part of these terms.

15.9 Severability. If any part of this Section 15 is found unenforceable, that part will be severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the rest will remain in effect. If the class and representative action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court to the extent required by law, and the arbitration agreement will remain effective for all other claims to the maximum extent permitted.

15.10 Governing law. These terms and any dispute covered by this Section 15 are governed by Texas law, without regard to conflict of law principles, except to the extent the Federal Arbitration Act, other federal law, or nonwaivable law requires otherwise.

16. General

Severability, no waiver, no assignment by you, assignment by us to a successor, and entire agreement between you and Karsenics as to the Platform. These terms do not create any third-party beneficiary rights other than for Karsenics' officers, directors, and personnel under Sections 11 and 12.

17. Contact

Karsenics PBC · legal@karsenics.com · privacy@karsenics.com · 3120 Southwest Fwy, Ste 101, PMB #803188, Houston, TX 77098-4520

For anything about the event itself, contact the Organization, not us.

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