General Terms and Conditions (GTC) for Participants of Embedded Software Engineering Kongress (ESE Kongress)

Date: 30 June 2026

1. Scope of the Terms and Conditions

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions of Business (GTC) apply to all declarations of intent, contracts and legal or quasi-legal acts of Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG, Max-Planck-Str. 7/9, 97082 Würzburg, Germany, and MicroConsult Academy GmbH, Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 6, 81737 Munich, Germany (hereinafter jointly referred to as "Organizer") with regard to the Embedded Software Engineering Kongress ("ESE Kongress") event concerning its particpants (hereinafter referred to as "Participants").

1.2 Conflicting or deviating terms and conditions to these GTC are not accepted unless an express written agreement with the Organizer is made. These GTC shall also apply if the Organizer unconditionally provides services in knowledge of terms and conditions of the Participant that conflict with or deviate from these GTC.

1.3 These GTC shall apply in the current version valid at the time of the conclusion of the legal transaction or the existence of a relationship similar to a legal transaction. Unless otherwise agreed, and with the Participant not being a consumer (§ 13 German Civil Code), they shall also apply to all future legal transactions or relationships similar to legal transactions, even if they are not expressly agreed again. The currently valid version of these GTC can be found at www.ese-kongress.de.

2. Conclusion of contract, registration

2.1 All events by the Organizer (meaning digital, in-person, or hybrid events) require advance online registration via the booking portal with mandatory consent to these GTC. The Participant must submit their event registration to the Organizer in the format provided for this purpose, and this registration is a binding offer to conclude a contract regarding the respective event chosen by the Participant. When prompted to provide information during the registration process, Participants are to do so truthfully.

2.2 The contract for the event chosen by the Participant is concluded by the Organizer sending the registration confirmation to the Participant. The Organizer reserves the right to deny the Participant admission to the booked event if, for example, there are personal reasons for denying admission of the Participant. No claim to admission exists in case of admission being denied. The affected Participant shall be informed of the denied admission and the reasons for it in writing.

2.3 If a legal entity registers for an event, a colleague of the legal entity may participate in the event.

2.4 Offers from the Organizer constitute a request to the Participant to make an offer for the conclusion of a contract themselves.

3. Contractual relationships, contents

3.1 The Participant can book services or contents of the respective event with the Organizer. The scope and content of the services owed by the Organizer shall be determined in the registration confirmation.

3.2 The services owed by the Organizer according to section 3.1 are hereinafter also uniformly referred to as the "subject of performance". The Organizer is not responsible for the achievement of a specific economic success.

3.3 The Organizer is entitled, at his own discretion, to perform the services itself, to make use of competent third parties as vicarious agents in the provision of services that are the subject of the contract and/or to substitute such services.

3.4 The contractual agreements between the parties correlate as follows:

• Registration confirmation including potential attachments,
• these GTC, current status in each case,
• legal provisions.

In the event of any contradictions, the contractual bases shall apply in the order listed.

4. Participation

4.1 The Participant’s booking confirmation to an event approved by the Organizer to the Participant only applies to the registered Participant. In case of incapability to participate in person, the Participant may designate a substitute Participant who, given the Organizer’s consent, may replace the original Participant at the event.

4.2 The approval may be revoked by the Organizer if it was granted on the basis of false or incomplete information, or if the requirements for approval subsequently cease to apply.

4.3 In addition to these GTC, the contractual basis for participation in the events are the house rules (Hausordnung) of the operator of the respective event location.

5. Online services for hybrid and digital events

Access to the online event platform, system requirements

5.1 The object of the booking of services in connection with digital events or the digitally conducted part of hybrid events is generally the provision of access to the event platform, as well as the use of the functionalities of the event platform and, if applicable, the provision of storage space for the data made accessible by the Participant on the event platform to the agreed extent.

5.2 The Organizer does not provide the Participant with any access software. Access is generally via a browser supported by the event platform that meets the system requirements of the event Organizer. Unless noted otherwise in the specification of services of the respective event service package, the Organizer’s system requirements apply: Details regarding system requirements can be found at https://privacy.vogel.de/systemanforderungen.html.

5.3 The system requirements are part of the contract provisions. The Participant must check in good time before attending the digital or hybrid event whether the connection to the event platform can be established and, if necessary, remedy any existing technical faults for which he is responsible in good time. If a technical connection to the event platform cannot be established, the Organizer must be informed in good time.

5.4 The Organizer does not owe the Participant the provision and/or functionality of the browser.

5.5 The Participant shall take the necessary precautions to prevent access to the event platform by unauthorized persons.

Availability of the event platform, further service levels

5.6 The Organizer guarantees an availability of the event platform including accessibility and reachability necessary for a successful participation in the respective event.

5.7 The Organizer shall not be liable for disruptions, interruptions or failures on the event platform which the Organizer is not responsible for, in particular impairments that are based on failures and/or malfunctions of technical systems and/or network components outside the Organizer's area of responsibility; this includes, among other things

• failures caused by incoming cyber attacks. This does not apply if the Organizer is obliged to use virus protection programs and these were not state of the art at the time of the cyber attack;
• Failures caused by improper use of software or hardware on the part of the Participant.

Duties of the Participant, liability for illegal content, compliance with legal frameworks

5.8 The Participant shall be liable for ensuring that, within the scope of the functions and digital presentation options available to them on the event platform, no racist, discriminatory, pornographic, youth-protection-endangering, politically extreme or any other unlawful occurrences, or occurrences violating official provisions or requirements occur, or that corresponding data are created and/or stored on the server of the operator of the event platform. In particular, the following activities on the event platform are forbidden for the Participant:

• Posting, distribution, offering and advertising of pornographic content, services and/or products that violate the laws for the protection of minors, data protection laws and/or other laws and/or are fraudulent;
• Use of content that may insult or defame the Organizer or third parties or damage the reputation of the Organizer;
• Use, provision and distribution of content, services and/or products that are protected by law or encumbered with third-party rights (e.g. copyrights) without being expressly authorized to do so.

5.9 Furthermore, the Participants also prohibited from the following activities, irrespective of any possible infringement of the law, when posting its own content via the features of the event platform and when communicating with other participants and/or moderators (e.g. by sending personal messages, by participating in discussion forums or by writing guestbook entries):

• Distribution of viruses, Trojans and other malicious files;
• Sending junk or spam e-mails and chain letters;
• Spreading lewd, offensive, sexually oriented, obscene or defamatory content or communication, as well as content or communication that is/are likely to promote or support racism, bigotry, hatred, physical violence or illegal acts (in each case explicitly or implicitly);
• Harassing other participants and/or moderators, e.g. by contacting them personally several times without or contrary to the reaction of the contacted person, as well as encouraging or supporting such harassment;
• Soliciting other participants and/or moderators to disclose passwords or personal data for commercial or unlawful purposes;
• Distribution and/or public reproduction of content available on the event platform, unless the Participant is expressly permitted to do so by the respective author.

5.10 The Participant assures to own all rights, in particular all copyrights, rights of use and ancillary copyrights to the contents posted by them. Insofar as the Participant is not the author of the content posted, he assures that he is the owner of the unrestricted right of use thereto. The Participant assures the ownership of unrestricted exploitation rights, that the submitted contents are free of third party rights, and that no personal rights have been violated in the representation of persons.

5.11 The Participant shall observe the relevant data protection regulations. The Participant shall be the data controller within the meaning of the German Data Protection Regulation (Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, DS-GVO) for the personal data processed by him, e.g. of the additional event participants added by it (if agreed). It is brought to the participant’s attention that for online participation in an event and in individual cases, they may have to separately consent to usage and privacy policies depending on the event platform.

6. Payment due date

6.1 The agreed attendance fees are due within 30 days after invoice date. Participants are only entitled to attend the event after full settlement of the invoice amount.

6.2 In case of late payment, any early bird conditions granted at the time of booking are invalid and the difference will be invoiced.

6.3. If the Participant fails to meet the payment deadline, the Organizer may exclude them from participation in the event. The obligation to pay the agreed fees remains unaffected by this.

6.4. The Participant shall bear the costs for travel to and from the event, overnight stays, and comparable costs. The aforementioned costs cannot be claimed as damages in the event of an event being canceled.

7. Cancellation, changes

7.1 Unless defined or agreed otherwise in the registration confirmation, the Participant is entitled to cancel event participation in writing. In the case of a cancellation, the Participant shall pay the Organizer a compensation as follows:

Cancellations of registrations that are made within a period of 31 days before the event shall incur a processing fee of 50.- EUR. Cancellations that are made within a period of 30 to 14 days before the event shall incur a cancellation fee of 50% of the participation fee. Cancellations that are made after this period shall incur the full participation fee.

7.2 Cancellations and booking changes shall be made in writing by e-mail to ese@microconsult.de.

7.3 Substitute Participants can be submitted at any time free of charge and have to be submitted in writing by e-mail to ese@microconsult.de. Substitutions can be submitted free of charge as long as the original invoice amount is not affected; otherwise, a processing fee of 50.- EUR will be charged. The Participant is entitled to prove that the Organizer has not incurred any damage or expense at all due to a subsequent change to the invoice, or that the damage or expense is lower than the aforementioned fee.

7.4 If the invoice has to be reissued due to incorrect information from your side or due to booking changes affecting the invoice amount, a processing fee of 50.- EUR will be charged. The Participant is entitled to prove that the Organizer has not incurred any damage or expense at all due to a subsequent change to the invoice, or that the damage or expense is lower than the aforementioned fee.

7.5 Furthermore, the Organizer has the right to change the event for important reasons (e.g. changes to the agenda, format (in-person, hybrid, or digital), timing, schedule, location, venue, or speakers). The Organizer will notify the Participant separately in text form of any substantial changes. Any changes shall also be published on the event website. Thus, the Participant must inform themselves in good time about such changes.

8. Special right of cancellation of the Organizer

In the event of significant violations of the contractual provisions, the Organizer may terminate the contractual relationship without notice after issuing a warning in writing. Termination without notice may also be effected verbally during an event given significant disruption of public safety and order. In this case, the Participant is obligated to immediately clear or leave the event, and, in case of virtual participation of a hybrid or digital event, to leave the event platform. If the Participant fails to comply with this request, the Organizer is entitled to carry out the evacuation at the expense and the risk of the Participant.

9. No right of revocation for CONSUMERS 

Consumers as defined in § 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) generally have a right of revocation for contracts concluded in distance selling via an online user interface, such as a website. However, a different provision applies to events as offered by the Organizer subject to and in accordance with these GTC:

Events organized by the Organizer and the event tickets sold in connection therewith constitute services related to leisure activities that take place on a specified date. There is no right of revocation for these services in accordance with legal provisions (see § 312g (2) No. 9 BGB).

10. Liability limitation

The Organizer is fully liable for damages in the event of intent and gross negligence. Liability for ordinary negligence only exists for damage to life, body, or health and in case of a breach of an essential contractual obligation, the fulfillment of which constituting the prerequisite for the proper execution of the contract or the breach of which jeopardizes the contract purpose and on the adherence to which the Participant regularly relies (cardinal obligation). In the case of negligent breach of cardinal obligations, liability shall be limited to damages foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the contract and typical for the contract. Liability resulting from the potential assumption of a warranty or from statutory fault-based liability (e.g. according to product liability act).

11. Confidentiality, data protection

11.1 The Organizer will treat the transmitted subjects of performance as confidentially as state-of-the-art technology allows; however, for electronic data transmission, the Organizer cannot guarantee 100% confidentiality.

11.2 The parties shall treat as confidential all documents, information, and data they receive for the realization of the contractual relationship and which are designated to them as confidential and shall use them only for the realization of the respective commission. In particular, commissions concluded between the parties shall also be deemed confidential. The parties shall impose a corresponding obligation on their employees and third parties involved in the commission, in particular subcontractors. Independent of the reason for a potential termination, these obligations shall remain in effect even after the termination of the respective commission for two years from the end of the contract.

11.3 The Participant authorizes the Organizer to process the data received in connection with the business relationship in accordance with applicable data protection laws. The Organizer declares that its employees and proxies are bound by strict confidentiality and compliance with data protection and that the Organizer has taken all necessary technical and organizational measures to ensure the execution of the provisions of applicable data protection laws.

11.4 With their registration to an event by the Organizer, the Participant consents to his/her address information (job function, first name, last name, company name and company address, business unit) to be included in a list of participants that may be given out in the scope of the event. The list of participants shall solely be provided to event partners for the purpose of networking. The Participant can revoke his/her consent at any time with effect for the future.

11.5 The business model of the Organizer provides that events are financed with the help of sponsors and cooperation partners. In return, they receive participant data that is usually publicly accessible. In detail:

• first name/last name
• job function
• company name and company address
• business unit
• mail address
• phone number

The partners and sponsors who receive your data can be found, always updated, on the website of your booked event. We would like to point out that if the responsible recipient is based outside the EU, their level of data protection may be lower.

The Participant/ orderer may at any time object to the Organizer in writing to the use of his/her data for information purposes, stating the full address and the relevant event /training offer name, or have changes of address made.

12. Cession

The Participant may only transfer the rights and obligations arising from this contract given express written consent of the Organizer.

13. Force majeure

Force majeure or other unforeseeable events for which the Organizer is not responsible and which make it substantially more difficult or temporarily impossible to provide the contractual services, including pandemic, strike, lockout, and regulatory actions, shall allow the Organizer to postpone the performance of services for the duration of the hindrance plus a reasonable start-up period. The Organizer will immediately notify the Participant of the occurrence of such hindrances to performance. If the delays resulting from an event in accordance with sentence 1 above exceed the period of six weeks, and if an adjustment of the contract is not possible and not reasonable for either party, both parties are released from their performance obligations agreed upon in the contract. Services delivered by the Organizer are to be remunerated by the Participant according to their share. Damage claims are excluded in such a case.

14. Consumer arbitration process

The Organizer is neither willing nor obliged to partake in arbitration proceedings of a dispute resolution authority.

15. Place of execution, jurisdiction and severability clause

15.1 Place of execution is Munich.

15.2 Place of jurisdiction for any potential legal disputes between the Organizer and the Participant shall be Munich.

15.3 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. In the event that the participant is a consumer, this shall only apply to the extent that the protection granted is not withdrawn by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has their habitual residence.

15.4 Changes and additions as well as termination of the contract with the Organizer must be in writing to be effective. This also applies to any alteration of this written form provision.

15.5 Should one or more provisions of these GTC be or become invalid or void, the validity of the remaining provisions of these GTC shall remain unaffected. This applies accordingly to gaps in the contract.

15.6 The invalidity of individual provisions of these GTC shall not affect the validity of the remainder of the contract.

 

Organizers

MicroConsult Academy GmbH 
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 6, 81737 Munich/Germany
Court of Registry (Registergericht): Amtsgericht München, HRB 29 52 36
Managing Director: Nora Pohle

Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG
Max-Planck-Str. 7/9, 97082 Würzburg/Germany
Court of Registry (Registergericht): Amtsgericht Würzburg, HRA 245
Complementary GmbH:
Vogel Communications Group Verwaltungs GmbH
Court of Registry (Registergericht): Amtsgericht Würzburg, HRB 10
Managing Directors: Matthias Bauer (chair), Dennis Hirthammer