tekom - conferences

Terms and Conditions for Speakers

With the submission of an application for a presentation (workshop, tutorial, lecture, panel) the speaker accepts the following terms and conditions.

Selection

The applications will be selected exclusively by the advisory board (tcworld conference) / conference board committee (European Conferences) for the respective conference. Submitting a presentation does not entitle the speaker to attend the event. The decision of the advisory board / conference board for the respective conference will be conveyed to the speaker without providing any reasons for refusal or acceptance.

Obligation to Participate

The speaker undertakes to provide their presentation in accordance with the following guidelines, unless otherwise agreed upon with the conference management.

tekom Code for Speakers at tekom Conferences

At its conferences, tekom pursues the goal of illuminating current and relevant topics according to the individual thematic focuses of the conference (see Call for Papers) objectively and free of advertising. Speakers apply to give presentations with appropriate topic proposals or are appointed by tekom committees. Presentations are given by speakers from different areas such as e.g. the sciences, the service industry, manufacturing and associations.

Separation of Information and Advertisement

  • In the presentation, the topic specified should be represented objectively and truthfully, based on well-founded information.
  • Presentations at tekom conferences are to be fundamentally structured without advertising or product recommendations.
  • The business or private interests of third parties as well as the personal economic interests of speakers may not influence the content of the presentation.

Naming Products and Practical Relevance

  • Practical relevance is desired in presentations. As far as possible, naming products or brands is to be avoided.
  • Naming or, to some extent, introducing products is possible if the presentation topic cannot otherwise be presented with sufficient specificity or the topic makes this mandatory (e.g. “Is modular work possible in technical editing with XYZ?”).
  • To increase the comprehensibility of the presentation, examples or representations of products can be used in presentations.
  • Also, if products are named, promotional as well as comparative or evaluative statements are not allowed. tekom expects respectful interaction with one another.
  • If certain products are to be named or introduced in the presentation, this is to be explicitly mentioned in the announcement text so that the audience can take this into account (e.g. “The topic is presented with the example of XYZ”).

Purely product presentations are not permitted as presentation topics. For this, there is the “tool presentations” format at tekom conferences.

Personal Participation

The participation at the conference solely refers to the speaker and not to a company or any institution the speaker may belong to. The speaker provides his presentation individually (if necessary with a co-speaker). He treats the presentation subject in accordance with the scope specified in the application, and in an appropriate manner. On principle the “substitution” of a speaker is not possible. If a speaker revokes his attendance tcworld GmbH reserves the right to cancel the presentation without replacement. Should the speaker be prevented for any reason (e.g. due to illness) on the conference day itself, he will contact the conference management as soon as possible. If a speaker has to cancel his participation, he undertakes to support the search for a substitute speaker.

Announcement and Presentation

In order to announce the presentation and to document the conference the speaker undertakes to send the following documents or rather upload them on the "conference portal" website within the set deadline

  • the announcement text for the presentation
  • the curriculum vitae of the speaker
  • a photo
  • the presentation slides
  • presentation slides (after the conference)

With the submission of the above-mentioned documents, the speaker grants tcworld GmbH (organizer) the full and irrevocable and royalty-free rights of use as defined by article 15 ff. of the German Copyright Act (§§ 15 ff. UrhG), in particular the rights of reproduction, public access and adaption (especially translations).
If the documents are not submitted in due time, tcworld GmbH reserves the right to remove the presentation from the conference program. The speaker does not have any entitlement to compensation.

Participation at the Conference

Each speaker receives a free conference pass for the respective conference. Each speaker has the opportunity to attend all lectures and workshops (with prior notice), as well as the trade fair. It may be necessary for some conferences to register at the official website with a special code. Co-speakers of lectures only receive free admission on the day of the lecture. Lunch and drinks at the beverage cart are free of charge. Details will be specified by the conference management.

Speakers' Meeting

Participation at the speakers' meeting (web conference) before the conference is requested but not mandatory.

Fees and Refunds

There is no separate payment for expenses and/or travel expenses. Also, any expenses incurred due to the creation of the presentation or the preparation of the documentation for the participants are not refunded. In justifiably exceptional cases, professors can apply for compensation of their travel expenses in line with the tekom directive for travel expenses.

Force Majeure

Force majeure in the relationship between the organizer and speaker:
In the event of force majeure leading to the cancellation of the fair or an interruption of the contract or the fair or individual contractual services, both parties have the right to terminate the contract.

This also applies if impossibility results according to German Civil Code (BGB) § 275, paragraph 2.
It is also deemed agreed that a case of force majeure also exists if such a number of exhibitors or participants cancel their participation in advance that the staging of the fair would no longer correspond to its purpose and if the event, had the organizer known the situation and the number of exhibitors/participants remaining after the cancellations from the outset, had not advertised the fair from the beginning or had not led to the conclusion of the contract.
In any case, the contract is rescinded in accordance with BGB §§ 346, and the claim to the contractual services no longer applies. Claims for damages and compensation for futile expenditure are excluded unless the organizer has caused the cancellation through gross negligence or intent.

Reasons of reverence:
Force majeure shall be deemed equivalent to an event in which the parties would be able to perform, but in which considerable reasons of public decency demand non-performance.

Such a reason of reverence is given if, at least in the region of the event location, flags are ordered to be lowered to half-mast by the authorities, are lowered to half-mast, or same is imminent, or if a serious accident, disaster or pandemic/epidemic or an incident (hereinafter only: event) occurs within 48 hours before the start of the trade fair, which is reported in the predominant number of media in the region of the venue, or if the event occurred more than 48 hours ago, but the reporting is still considerably present in the predominant number of local or Germany-wide media through special broadcasts or reports (e.g. "Live Ticker"), or if comparable events within Germany are canceled due to the same event.

In this case, the contract is rescinded in accordance with BGB §§ 346, and the claim to the contractual services is canceled. Claims for damages and reimbursement of futile expenses are excluded, unless the organizer has caused the cancellation by gross negligence or intent.

Further legal consequences from the above paragraphs:
Due to the occurrence of force majeure or other events regulated in the above paragraphs, such provisions in the contract shall continue to apply to the extent that the contract has otherwise been terminated or rescinded, but from which legal questions and legal consequences arise even after the end of the contract (e.g. copyrights, place of jurisdiction).

Audio and Video Recordings

The tcworld GmbH (organizer) is entitled to produce audio and video recordings of the event for documentation purposes or self-publishing if the speaker does not object to this prior to the start of the event.

Liability

The speaker has to ensure that he has his own insurance covering accidents, illness, etc. With regard to his presentation materials, the speaker will indemnify tcworld GmbH from all claims by third parties that are arising from the infringement of copyrights.

Evaluation

tcworld reserves the right to evaluate the satisfaction of the conference attendees with the help of feedback questionaires or feedback Apps such as "Honestly". Such feedback reffereing to a presentation is solely for the use within the advisory board / conference board committee and the speaker himself and will not be published.

Personal Data

The personal data provided by the speaker are collected, processed, and used by tcworld GmbH and tekom Deutschland / tekom Europe for the purposes of the conference. This includes the attendees’ feedback to presentations. The personal data will not be passed on or sold to any third party for advertising purposes.

The presentation slides are made available for the attendees of the conferences and are often published on the conference website. It is up to the speaker to decide, wether he wants to share contact details on his slides or not. If the speaker shares contact details on his slides, tcworld can not prevent these data being collected and used by third parties.

The speaker consents to the organizations named above using his data to keep him informed by mail, email, or phone about

  • upcoming conferences and events (especially but nonexclusively call for papers)
  • new publications and
  • training programs of tekom and tcworld GmbH.

The speaker can revoke his consent at any time

  • by email (info@tekom.de), or
  • mail to tcworld GmbH, Heilbronner Straße 86, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany.

Stuttgart, March 2024