Last update: February 14, 2022

Welcome to the House of Beautiful Business!

The House of Beautiful Business is a global platform and community to make humans more human and business more beautiful, run by The Business Romantic Society Verwaltungs GmbH (Rosenthaler Str. 72a, 10119 Berlin / Germany, HRB 214167 B, VAT ID DE328976290), d/b/a House of Beautiful Business (“the House”, “we”, “us”, “our”).

1. General

Through in-person gatherings, online programs, publications and art, we inspire and enable you to reinvent your organization and yourself, and to shape more humane futures for business and society.

The House provides its services to you

1. in the form of subscription or membership-based products (the “HouseResidency”) through its website located at www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com (the “Website”), its App “HoBB” (the “App”) and other online services,

2. through one-time events (as a virtual or in-person experience) and various publications that you may purchase,

3. through custom-tailored projects and partnerships

(collectively, such services, including any new features and applications, and the use of our Website and the App, the “Service(s)” or “Products”), solely for your personal, non-commercial use and subject to the following Terms of Service (the “Terms of Service”). The contractual language is English. We do not store the contractual provisions for you. You can access, save and print the current Terms of Service on the Website or in the App.

2. Our Contract with you

2.1. Type of Product

In order to use our Services you have to choose the Product on our Website or in our App. You agree to provide and maintain true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service’s registration form. Before submitting a contractual declaration, you have the option of viewing these Terms of Service on the Website or App and saving them in reproducible form. Registration data and certain other information about you are governed by our Privacy Policy.

2.1.1. Product types on the Website

On our Website, you can choose between the following options:

1. Free Subscription

2. Annual Membership (the “Annual Membership”) (House Residency) -- from the Contract Start Date until the day before the annual anniversary of the Contract Start Date.

3. One-time event tickets (e.g. Lisbon Gathering) -- from the Start Date of the event until the specified end of the event.

4. Publications (e.g. The Book of Beautiful Business) -- from the order on our Website or App to the delivery of the product.

You can also contact us through our Website or App to inquire about custom-tailored projects and partnerships, which will be governed by individual contracts and agreements.

2.1.2. Product-types via the App

After you sign up for a House Residency via an Annual Membership on the Website, you can also use the following Services provided in the App:

1. Participate in moderated online events;

2. Listen to podcasts, watch videos, and read articles;

3. Communicate one to many in a plenary chat;

2.2. Registration

2.2.1. Annual Subscription

For House Residency via the Website:

Visit www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/residency and click on the “Join Now” button under the House Residency product overview. You are then presented with a form in which you have to enter your contact information and set a password for your account on our Website. When you click the “Continue” button, you are asked to fill in your payment details and click on the “Continue” button. You are then presented with an overview page on which you have the opportunity to review and edit your order details. To complete your order you have to accept our Terms of Service by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Buy now” button. You will then receive an email with further instructions and a link that you can click to login to access exclusive content for House Residents on our Website. You will receive your invoice with a second email. The House Residency is sold as an auto-renewing (“Recurring Subscription”) year-long subscription.

For House Residency via the App:

In order to use the Services and Products offered in the App, you must be a registered member through a House Residency. You can click on the "Login" button and fill in your user account information. After clicking on the “Unlock” button, you have access to the Services in the App.

If you are not a registered member yet, you can purchase House Residency by clicking on the link “Not a Resident yet?” on the start screen of the app. You are then presented with an overview page on which you have the opportunity to review your order details. With in-app purchase, you can then confirm your order by clicking “Buy Membership”. The House Residency is sold as an auto-renewing (“Recurring Subscription”) year-long subscription.

2.2.2. One-time event tickets

For Lisbon Gathering:

Visit www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/residency and click on the “Apply Now” button under the Lisbon Gathering product overview. In addition, we may also invite registered members to apply with a link in the App. You are then presented with a form in which you have to enter your contact information and fill out a short application explaining why you want to attend the event. You are then presented with an overview page on which you have the opportunity to review and edit your inserted data. To complete and submit your application you have to accept our Terms of Service by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Send Application” button. We will get back to you via email whether we can accept your application or not. If we accept your application, we will send you a link under which you may purchase the ticket. After clicking the link, you have to fill out a form with your contact information and payment details and are then presented with an overview page on which you have to accept our Terms of Service by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Buy now” button. You will then receive an email with further instructions how to attend the event. You will receive your invoice with a second email.

For Beautiful Business Trips:

From time to time, we also offer various one-time events under the brand of a “Beautiful Business Trip”. To attend them, visit www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/residency and click on the “Buy Now” button under the respective Beautiful Business Trip product overview. In addition, we may also invite registered members to apply with a link in the App. You are then presented with a form with your contact information and payment details and are then presented with an overview page on which you have to accept our Terms of Service by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Buy now” button. You will then receive an email with further instructions how to attend the event. You will receive your invoice with a second email.

2.2.3. All-in Membership

We offer All-in Memberships with a one year subscription period. The All-in Subscription grants to you a House Residency Membership and full access to all one-time events (e.g. our Lisbon Gathering and several new so-called "Beautiful Business Trips") that we run in this period of time without further costs. The terms regarding those one-time events and the House Residency Membership apply accordingly. The All-in Membership is not subject to auto-renewal. You understand that the All-in Membership does not guarantee a certain number or a minimum of events which take place during the All-in subscription period as we may not foresee which specific events will finally be realized (e.g. due to external circumstances like COVID19). In order to purchase the All-in Membership visit www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/residency and click on the “Join Now” button under the House Residency product overview. You are then presented with a form in which you have to enter your contact information. When you click the “Continue” button, you are asked to fill in your payment details and click on the “Continue” button. You are then presented with an overview page on which you have the opportunity to review and edit your order details. To complete your order you have to accept our Terms of Service by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Buy now” button. You will then receive an email with further instructions and a link that you can click to login to access exclusive content for House Residents on our Website.

2.2.4. Publications

For our books on sale:

Visit www.houseofbeautifulbusiness.com, search for the book you want to buy and click on the “Order Now” button. You can then specify the amount of copies you wish to buy. You are then presented with a form in which you have to enter your contact information and delivery address and click on the “Continue” button. You then have to enter your payment details and click on the “Continue” button again. You are then presented with an overview page on which you have the opportunity to review and edit your order details. To complete your order you have to accept our terms and conditions by checking the respective box and finally click on the “Buy now” button. You will receive your invoice with a second email, and the book will be mailed to you.

2.2.5. Recurring Subscriptions

If you purchase a Service with an auto renewal feature (“Recurring Subscription”) and you have not opted out of the auto-renewal option at least 1 month before the end of the Term or Renewal Term, the relevant subscription product will automatically renew for a further period equivalent to original period (“Renewal Term”) beginning on the day after the end of the Term or Renewal Term (as relevant). You authorize the House to maintain your account information and charge that account automatically upon the renewal of the Service you choose with no further action required by you.

In case the price for Recurring Subscriptions has changed during the Term we will communicate any price changes to you in advance and the Renewal Term will only start, after you agreed to the price change within 14 days after reception of the notice. If you do not accept the price change within the aforementioned time period, your Subscription will not renew. Accepted price changes for Recurring Subscriptions will take effect at the start of the next subscription period.

2.3. Payment Terms

You agree that we may charge the fees for all months in which your Recurring Subscription or Recurring Membership Subscription (collectively, the “Subscription”) is active to the same payment method provided for in an amount equal to the fees agreed to at the time you entered into the respective Subscription. You must cancel your respective Subscription pursuant to Section 4.1 before it renews for the length of the initial term in order to avoid the next Subscription fee being charged to the payment methods provided by you. The refund of pro-rata Subscription periods is not possible. As long as a Subscription is still active, you agree to notify us immediately of any changes to the payment methods you have provided.

The Prices for the Products are final prices that include taxes and other costs (the "Price"). The Price will be displayed to you before you submit your offer. The payment methods vary depending on the country in which you are located and the technically feasible payment methods available there. The payment methods will be displayed before you buy a Product or enter a Subscription. Please always quote the order number in any further correspondence. If a payment is not received by us through the means of payment specified by you, you agree to pay all amounts due upon our demand. The Price is payable in advance at the time you enter into a Subscription. You are responsible for ensuring that the billing information (credit card or account details for the purpose of SEPA direct debit) is complete, up-to-date and admissible to ensure timely payments.

3. Your Obligations

3.1. Member Account, Password and Security

You may never use another person's account, and you may not provide another person with the username and password to access your account. You are fully responsible for any and all activities that occur under your password or account, and it is your responsibility to ensure that your password remains confidential and secure. You agree to (a) immediately notify the House of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session when accessing the Service. The House will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.

If you have bought a ticket to a one-time event, the ticket is issued to you personally and may not be used by another person (“Personalized Tickets”). Personalized Tickets can be transferred to another person up to seven days before the event. To request the transfer of a ticket, please reach out to membership@thebusinessromanticsociety.com. The House reserves the right to refuse the transfer of Personalized Tickets to a third person for good cause.

3.2. User Conduct

You are solely responsible for all code, video, images, information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, messages or other materials (“Content”) that you upload, post, publish or display (hereinafter, “upload”) or email or otherwise use via the Service. The House reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending Content from the Service, suspending or terminating the account of such violators and reporting you to the law enforcement authorities. We require you to interact in a spirit of curiosity, open-mindedness, respect, and tolerance. The House does not tolerate any harassment in any form. Residents agree to respect confidentiality and refrain from the solicitation of commercial services and any salesmanship.

Specifically, you agree to not use the Service to:

• email or otherwise upload any content that (i) infringes any intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party; (ii) you do not have a right to upload under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships; (iii) contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; (iv) poses or creates a privacy or security risk to any person; (v) constitutes unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, commercial activities and/or sales, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” “contests,” “sweepstakes,” or any other form of solicitation; (vi) is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, excessively violent, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; or (vii) in the sole judgment of the House, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Service, or which may expose the House or its users to any harm or liability of any type;

• interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service;
• violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, or any regulations having the force of law;
• impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18;
• harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of other users from the Service by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications;
• advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose that is not specifically authorized;
• further or promote any criminal activity or enterprise or provide instructional information about illegal activities; or
• obtain or attempt to access or otherwise obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the Service.

With regard to virtual events as part of House Residency, as well as moderated events and the plenary chat offered via our app, you understand that other Participants as well as the House may see your virtual participation (incl. your name) and note your actions during those events (e.g. read your group chat messages). In case of personal chats (one to one chat rooms) neither other Members nor the House will access the exchanged personal content.

If you have bought a ticket for a one-time event and attend this event, the same rules for user conduct apply. We require you to interact in a spirit of curiosity, open-mindedness, respect, and tolerance. The House does not tolerate any harassment in any form. Residents agree to respect confidentiality and refrain from the solicitation of commercial services and any salesmanship.

4. Termination

4.1. Termination by you

You can cancel a Subscription at any time. The cancellation will take effect at the end of the relevant Subscription period. The termination must be declared in writing or in text form (e.g. by email) to us:

4.2. Termination by us

The House may terminate the contract without notice and suspend or terminate your account (or any part thereof) or use of the Service and remove and discard any content within the Service, if you have violated or acted inconsistently with these Terms of Service. Specifically, we may end the contract with you by writing to you if:

• you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 14 days of us reminding you that payment is due;
• you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the Service to you;
• you breach any material term of these Terms between you and us;

The House may also decide to stop providing or terminate the Service in general at any point. In this case, the House will let you know at least one month in advance of our stopping the supply of the Service and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for subscription products which will not be provided and if the applicable law entitles you to it, the corresponding compensation.

If any parts of one-time events must be canceled or altered due to force majeure (incl. pandemics) or other compelling reasons (e.g. change of speakers due to sickness or change of the venue), you are not entitled to refunds or damages, as long as the main character of the event remains untouched. If the one-time event is cancelled, any fees already paid shall be refunded.

If you attend a one-time event, and the House considers your actions and behaviour during the event as a violation of our terms of services, specifically our user conduct rules, it has the right to exclude you from continuing to attend the event immediately, and this does not constitute a right for any reimbursements.

5. Right of Withdrawal

Consumers have the right to withdraw from the contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract. This right of withdrawal is excluded pursuant to § 312g Abs. 2 Nr. 9 BGB, if the Service is to be provided in connection with the Consumer’s leisure activities on a specific date or during a specific period (e.g. one-time events). To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us

The Business Romantic Society Verwaltungs GmbH
Rosenthaler Str. 72a
10119 Berlin
Germany
membership@thebusinessromanticsociety.com

of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or email). To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

EFFECTS OF WITHDRAWAL

If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us) without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement. If you requested to begin with the performance of services or the supply of water/gas/electricity/district heating [delete where inapplicable] during the withdrawal period, you should pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided until you have communicated us your withdrawal from the contract, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.

Model withdrawal form according to Annex 1 B to Directive 2011/83/EU

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract

To [here the trader’s name, postal address, and, where applicable, his fax number and e-mail address have to be inserted by the trader]:

I/we (*) hereby give notice that I/we (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following service (*); Please describe goods/services precisely so it is possible to identify to which goods or services withdrawal refers.

ordered on (*)

name of consumer(s);

address of consumer(s);

signature of consumer(s);

(only if this form is notified on paper); date

(*) complete as appropriate

6. Intellectual Property Rights

6.1. Software, Service Content, Software and Trademarks

The software provided by the House (Website and App, the “Software”) is copyright protected property of the House. You may only use the Software to the extent intended by the House for the purpose of using the Services and Products and enjoying its benefits. You may not incorporate all or any portion of the Software into your own programs, compile all or any portion of the Software in connection with your programs, transfer the Software for use in other services, or sell, rent, lease, loan, distribute, sublicense, or otherwise transfer rights to all or any portion of the Software to any third party. You may not use the Software for any illegal purpose.

You acknowledge and agree that the Service may contain content or features (“Service Content”) that are protected by copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by the House, you agree not to modify, copy, frame, scrape, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Service or the Service Content, in whole or in part, except that the foregoing does not apply to your own User Content (as defined below) that you legally upload to the Service. In connection with your use of the Service you will not engage in or use any data mining, robots, scraping or similar data gathering or extraction methods. If you are blocked by the House from accessing the Service (including blocking your IP address), you agree not to implement any measures to circumvent such blocking (e.g., by masking your IP address or using a proxy IP address). Any use of the Service or the Service Content other than as specifically authorized herein is strictly prohibited. The technology and software underlying the Service or distributed in connection therewith are the property of the House, our affiliates and our partners (the “Software”). You agree not to copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by the House.

The House name and logos are trademarks and service marks of the House (collectively the “House Trademarks”). Other House, product, and service names and logos used and displayed via the Service may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners who may or may not endorse or be affiliated with or connected to the House. Nothing in this Terms of Service or the Service should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any of the House Trademarks displayed on the Service, without our prior written permission in each instance.

6.2. Third Party Material

Under no circumstances will the House be liable in any way for any content or materials of any third parties (including users), including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any such content. You acknowledge that the House and its designees will have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any content that is available via the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, the House and its designees will have the right to remove any content that violates these Terms of Service or is deemed by the House, in its sole discretion, to be otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content.

6.3. User Content

With respect to the content or other materials you upload through the Service or share with other users or recipients (collectively, “User Content”), you represent and warrant that you own all right, title and interest in and to such User Content, including, without limitation, all copyrights and rights of publicity contained therein, and that you have all required rights to post or transmit such content or other materials without violation of any third-party rights. By uploading any User Content you hereby grant and will grant the House, its affiliated companies and partners a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to use your User Content to perform the Service.

6.4. Consent of Images and Videos

You understand that we will from time to time document our gatherings and events (online and offline). Therefore we might take pictures, screenshots and videos of those events, in which you might be identifiable as a person. You hereby consent that we may use those images and videos for documentary and marketing purposes, e.g. show them on our website.

6.5. Third Party Websites

The Service may provide, or third parties may provide, links or other access to other sites and resources on the Internet. The House has no control over such sites and resources and the House is not responsible for and does not endorse such sites and resources. You further acknowledge and agree that the House will not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any content, events, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource. Any dealings you have with third parties found while using the Service are between you and the third party, and you agree that the House is not liable for any loss or claim that you may have against any such third party.

7. Liability and Indemnification

7.1. Liability

The House is liable for intent and gross negligence. Further, the House is liable for the negligent breach of obligations, whose fulfillment is essential to enable the ordinary implementation of the contract, whose breach jeopardizes the achievement of the purpose of the contract and on whose compliance you as a customer may rely on regularly. In the last-mentioned case, the House is only liable for the foreseeable, typical contractual damage. The same applies to breaches of duty by our vicarious agents. The aforementioned exclusions of liability do not apply in case of damage of life, body and health or in case of a Warranty. The liability pursuant to the product liability law remains unaffected.

7.2. Interruption of Service

The House does not warrant that its online-based parts of the Service are available at all times. Interruptions of the Service due to usual maintenance or caused by third parties (e.g. host provider) do not establish any claims against the House.

7.3. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to release, indemnify and hold the House and its affiliates and their officers, employees, directors and agent harmless from any and all losses, damages, expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, rights, claims, actions of any kind and injury (including death) arising out of or relating to your use of the Service, any User Content, your connection to the Service, your violation of these Terms of Service or your violation of any rights of another.

8. Privacy

At the House of Beautiful Business, we care about the privacy of our users. For details please see our Privacy Policy.

9. Final Provisions

9.1. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by the substantive laws of the Federal Republic of Germany without giving effect to conflict of law principles and/or the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). For Consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the Consumer has its habitual residence is not withdrawn.

9.2. ODR

The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution under http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.

9.3. CDR

We are not obligated and not willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings pursuant to the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG).

9.4. Severability Clause

Should individual provisions of this contract be invalid, this shall not affect the validity of this contract as a whole.