Terms of Service

Introduction

These Terms govern your use of the North Connect website, your account, our events, the tickets we sell and everything around them. They are an agreement between you and North Connect.

You accept them when you create an account and again when you book a ticket. If you do not agree to them, please do not use our services.

We have tried to write them in plain language. Where a clause looks unusual, it is usually because we would rather be specific than sound impressive.

Who can use North Connect

You must be at least 13 years old to use this website. If you are under 18 you confirm that a parent or guardian permits it.

By using North Connect you confirm you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.

Individual events may set their own age requirements, and where they do it is stated on that event’s page. Where a venue is licensed to serve alcohol, the venue’s own rules apply in addition to ours.

Your account

Keep your password to yourself, and tell us promptly if you believe somebody else has reached your account. You are responsible for what happens under it.

Give us accurate details. Your handle and display name are public, and we may refuse or reclaim a handle that impersonates somebody, misleads people, or is chosen to abuse them.

You can turn on two-factor authentication at any time, and we recommend it.

You can delete your account yourself, whenever you like, from your account settings. Some records survive that — our Privacy Policy explains exactly which, and why.

What this community is for

North Connect exists to connect Seattle’s creative people — artists, producers, photographers, videographers, designers and the people who work alongside them — through events, conversation and collaboration.

We facilitate introductions. We do not guarantee collaborations, employment, bookings, opportunities, business success, revenue, followers or any particular outcome, and nobody should join expecting us to.

How to behave

The following are not allowed, here or at our events:

• Harassment, bullying or intimidation
• Hate speech or discrimination
• Threats, or behaviour that makes somebody unsafe
• Spam and unsolicited promotion
• Fraudulent or deceptive activity
• Impersonating another person
• Illegal activity
• Sharing malicious software or harmful content
• Posting content that infringes somebody else’s rights
• Disrupting an event or the running of the community
• Evading a moderation decision

Tickets and payment

Some events are free and some require a paid ticket. The price shown on an event page is the total you will pay for the ticket, before the Seattle admission tax, which is added at checkout and shown to you before you pay.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We never receive or store your full card details.

Ticket sales close when an event begins.

There is a limit on how many tickets one person may buy for an event, so that a small room stays open to more people.

Attending an event

Taking part is voluntary, and by attending any event, meetup, workshop, networking session or gathering you accept that participation carries inherent risks.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, North Connect is not responsible for personal injury, property damage, theft, lost belongings, the actions of other attendees, or anything that happens getting to or from an event.

You are responsible for your own conduct and your own safety. Venues have their own rules and their own licences, and those apply to you as well as ours. Individual events may require an additional waiver.

We may refuse entry to, or remove, anybody behaving in a way that makes the room unsafe or unwelcoming. Where we do, a ticket is not refunded.

Photography, filming and recording

North Connect events are photographed, and are sometimes filmed or recorded. By attending, you agree that we may use your image, likeness and voice as captured at the event in event recaps, community content, promotional material and social media.

This permission covers North Connect’s own use in connection with the community and its events. It does not transfer ownership of anything you create, and it does not permit sale of your likeness to a third party.

If you would rather not appear, tell us — before the event if you can, or any member of our team on the day — and we will keep you out of what we capture. If something is already published and you want it removed, contact us and we will take it down.

Where an event is recorded with sound, we will say so in the room before recording begins, because Washington law requires the consent of everyone in a conversation.

What you post

You keep ownership of everything you create and share.

By posting content on North Connect you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to display, reproduce, distribute and promote it in connection with running and promoting the community. That licence ends for future uses when you remove the content or delete your account, though we may keep copies in material already published.

You confirm you have the rights to whatever you post.

We may feature a member on our homepage with a short piece written by us. If you are featured and would rather not be, tell us and we will take it down.

Our own material

The North Connect name, logo, branding, website, written material, designs and graphics remain ours.

Do not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify or commercially exploit them without our written permission. Sharing a link to us, or a photograph of an event you attended, is welcome and needs no permission.

Copyright complaints

If you believe something posted on North Connect infringes your copyright, email us with enough detail to find it: where it appears, what it copies, and how to reach you. If you are not the rights holder, say who you act for.

We will review it and, where a complaint is credible, remove or restrict the content. We will tell the member what was removed and why, and they may respond.

Repeated infringement is grounds for removal from the community.

Opportunities and other people

Members may post opportunities, collaborations, services and recommendations. We do not verify, endorse or guarantee any of them, and you take part at your own risk.

We are not responsible for failed collaborations, non-payment, misrepresentation, fraud, business disputes or how a project turns out. Do your own due diligence, as you would anywhere else.

Moderation, and asking us to think again

We may remove or edit content, restrict access, suspend or remove accounts, cancel tickets and decline future participation, in order to keep the community safe and workable.

Where we act against your account we will tell you what happened, unless doing so would put somebody at risk. If you think we have it wrong, reply and ask us to look again — a person will, and we will tell you the outcome.

Access to North Connect is a privilege rather than a right, and we may end it. We will not use that to avoid a refund we owe you.

No guarantees

North Connect is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not promise the site will be uninterrupted or error-free.

We make no guarantees about community growth, networking outcomes, collaborations, attendance, revenue, creative success, career advancement or what opportunities appear. Results vary by person.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, North Connect and the people who run it are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive or exemplary damages arising from the website, your account, community interactions, events, tickets, services or third-party opportunities.

Our total liability will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or one hundred dollars.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law — including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, and in those places the limitations above apply only as far as they are permitted.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless North Connect and its affiliates from claims, damages, liabilities, losses, expenses, costs and legal fees arising from your use of North Connect, your conduct in the community, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

Ending this agreement

You may stop using North Connect and delete your account at any time.

We may suspend or end your access as described under Moderation. Ending it does not release either of us from obligations already incurred — including a ticket you hold for an event that has not yet happened, which we will honour or refund.

The sections on intellectual property, content licences, liability, indemnification, dispute resolution and governing law survive the end of this agreement.

If we disagree

Before anything formal, contact us and give us a genuine chance to put it right. Most things end here.

If that does not resolve it, any dispute arising from these Terms will be settled by binding arbitration in Washington State, except where the law does not permit it. Each of us bears our own legal costs unless the arbitrator decides otherwise.

Disputes are brought individually. Neither of us will bring a class, collective or representative action against the other.

You may opt out of arbitration and the class waiver by emailing us within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, saying that you opt out. Doing so costs you nothing else and changes nothing about your account.

Either of us may still bring an individual claim in small claims court.

The rest

Accessibility

We publish what we test for accessibility, what we have not yet covered, and how to tell us about a barrier — on our Accessibility statement at /accessibility. If anything on this site or at one of our events gets in your way, contact us and we will help directly rather than ask you to wait for a fix.

Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms. When we do, the effective date at the top changes and the new version applies from the day it is posted.

If a change materially affects your rights, we will tell members directly rather than relying on you to notice, and give you a chance to stop using the service if you do not agree.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, United States, without regard to conflict of law principles.