Terms of Service

Version 1.1 · Last updated: September 28, 2026

These Terms of Service (these "Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Trust ("Trust," the "Platform," "we," "us," or "our"), governing your access to and use of the trust.events website, directory, applications, APIs, and all related services we operate (collectively, the "Service"). Questions: team@trust.events.

These Terms contain (i) a binding individual arbitration agreement and class action waiver (Section 14), (ii) significant disclaimers and limitations of liability (Sections 11–12), and (iii) important terms governing directory listings, reviews, and introductions (Sections 3–6). Please read them carefully.

These Terms incorporate by reference our Acceptable Use Policy, Privacy Policy, Advertiser & Affiliate Disclosure, and, where applicable to your activities, the Affiliate Program Terms, each as updated from time to time.

1. The Service

Trust operates a curated calendar of local business, technology, and investor events; member profile cards; city-based member communities ("Rooms"); and related introduction tools. Trust is a discovery and introduction platform only. Event listings are compiled from public sources and are subject to change by their organizers; attendance, venues, tickets, and any dealings with organizers or other attendees are solely between you and them. We are not a party to, and have no responsibility for, any engagement, contract, payment, or dispute between members, organizers, or venues. We are not an employment agency, a broker-dealer, a business broker, or a professional advisory firm.

2. Eligibility & Accounts

You must be at least 18 and able to form a binding contract. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping credentials secure. Accounts created during our founding period carry a platform-fee waiver for the life of the account, meaning Trust's own platform fees, if and when introduced, will not be charged to that account; the waiver does not cover fees charged by Agencies, payment processors, or third parties, and does not apply to optional premium products introduced with separate pricing.

3. Directory Listings; Claims; Removal

Listings may be created from publicly available information (business name, website, category, and publicly posted ratings shown with their source). Listing does not imply an Agency's affiliation with or endorsement of Trust. An authorized representative may claim a listing, correct factual information, or request delisting at team@trust.events; verified delisting requests are honored within a commercially reasonable period. Placement in the directory cannot be bought. Featured placements, where present, are conspicuously labeled. Vetting statuses (for example "Verified") reflect our internal, evidence-based review process at a point in time; they are opinions, not guarantees, warranties, or endorsements of any Agency's future performance, legality, or fitness for your purpose.

Plain English: We list agencies from public data, a human reviews the evidence, and no one can pay us for a better position. A "Verified" badge is our informed opinion, not a guarantee. It's your deal, your diligence.

4. Introductions & Matching

When you submit a buyer profile, you authorize us to share the information you provide (and enrichment derived from your public website) with a small number of matched Agencies and to contact you about the match. Introductions are provided as-is; we do not guarantee any Agency will respond, quote, or perform. Any resulting engagement is solely between you and the Agency, on that Agency's terms.

5. Reviews & Content Integrity

Ratings displayed from third-party platforms (for example Google) are imported with attribution and reflect those platforms' data at the time shown. Native reviews, when available, are user-generated content: they must reflect a genuine, first-hand experience; incentivized, fabricated, or self-interested reviews are prohibited and will be removed. We comply with the FTC's Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) and do not create, purchase, or knowingly display fake reviews. We may moderate, label, or remove content that violates these Terms, and we respond to substantiated integrity complaints at team@trust.events.

6. AI-Generated Imagery & Content

Some illustrative imagery on the Service (maps, city artwork, and similar visuals) is generated with AI tools under our art direction. Such imagery is decorative and illustrative; it does not depict real venues, events, or people unless expressly stated. Event information itself is compiled from the organizers' public listings, and where our systems summarize or format that information we take reasonable steps to keep it accurate — the organizer's own listing controls.

7. Tools & Data Products

Signals, checkers, and similar member tools aggregate public data and are provided for general information only. They may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong, and are not a substitute for your own diligence or professional advice (see Section 11).

8. Acceptable Use

You may not: (a) use bots, scrapers, crawlers, or other automated means to access, copy, or collect content or data from the site, except through interfaces we publish for that purpose (such as our APIs, feeds, sitemaps, and machine-readable files) and in line with our robots.txt file; (b) decompile, reverse-engineer, or attempt to derive the source code of the site or its services, except where applicable law expressly allows it despite this limit; (c) probe, scan, or test the security of the site, or get around any access control, rate limit, or other security measure; (d) submit automated, fake, or bulk entries through any form; (e) introduce malware or otherwise interfere with the site's operation; or (f) frame or mirror the site. If you find a security problem, report it to team@trust.events and do not access, change, or keep data that is not yours. We will not pursue legal claims against good-faith security research that follows these rules and is reported to us promptly.

You will also not: misrepresent your identity or authority; submit content that is unlawful, infringing, defamatory, or deceptive; use the Service to spam or harass; attempt to manipulate vetting, reviews, or placement; or use the Service to build a competing dataset of our curated evaluations. Machine-readable interfaces we publish (llms.txt, the public API, the MCP endpoint) may be used within their documented fair-use limits.

9. Intellectual Property; DMCA

The Service, including our marks, design, curation, and software, is protected by law; no rights are granted except as expressly stated. Third-party names and marks belong to their owners; use here is nominative. Copyright complaints: see our DMCA Policy (/legal/dmca).

10. Affiliate & Advertising Relationships

Some outbound links are affiliate links and some placements involve compensation, as described in our Advertiser & Affiliate Disclosure (/legal/disclosure), which is part of these Terms. Compensation never determines directory placement or vetting outcomes.

11. Disclaimers; No Professional Advice

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. NOTHING ON THE SERVICE IS FINANCIAL, LEGAL, TAX, ACCOUNTING, INSURANCE, INVESTMENT, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. M&A-adjacent features (for example exit-readiness content or introductions to potential counterparties) are informational introductions only; we are not a business broker and take no transaction-based compensation on any business sale. Results described anywhere on the Service (including reviews) are individual experiences and are not typical, promised, or predictive.

12. Limitation of Liability; Indemnity

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TRUST AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS (THE "RELEASED PARTIES") WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL. THE RELEASED PARTIES' AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF $100 OR THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TRUST IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations; where prohibited, these limits apply to the fullest extent permitted. You will indemnify the Released Parties against claims arising from your content, your use of the Service in violation of these Terms, or your engagements with Agencies or buyers.

13. Third-Party Services

Links to third-party sites, communities, and tools are provided for convenience. We do not control and are not responsible for them; your use is governed by their terms.

14. Dispute Resolution, Individual Arbitration; Class Waiver; Opt-Out

Plain English: Before suing, you must email us and give us 60 days to fix it. After that, disputes go to individual arbitration, not court, not a class action, no jury. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days of accepting these Terms. Small-claims court is always available.

(a) Informal resolution first. Before initiating any arbitration or court proceeding, you and Trust agree to attempt to resolve any dispute informally. The party raising the dispute must send a written notice describing the dispute, the relief sought, and contact information to team@trust.events (or to your account email). The parties will negotiate in good faith for sixty (60) days, including an individualized phone or video conference if either party requests one. Completing this process is a condition precedent to arbitration or court, and limitations periods are tolled during it.

(b) Binding individual arbitration. Except as set out below, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, by a single arbitrator, in English. For consumer claims, arbitration will be held in the county of your residence or by videoconference. Trust will pay AAA filing fees for consumer claims to the extent they exceed $25 and arbitrator and administrative fees as the AAA rules require.

(c) Class action and jury waiver. YOU AND TRUST EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. The arbitrator may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief.

(d) Mass-arbitration protocol. If twenty-five (25) or more similar demands are filed by or with the assistance of coordinated counsel, the parties agree to staged bellwether proceedings (batches of up to 10 selected by each side), with remaining demands tolled and mediated in good faith between stages, before further batches proceed.

(e) Carve-outs and opt-out. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court for intellectual-property misuse. Claims for public injunctive relief that cannot be waived by law are preserved. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing team@trust.events within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name and that you opt out of arbitration.

(f) Governing law and venue. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflicts rules; where a claim proceeds in court, exclusive venue lies in the state or federal courts of Delaware, and the parties consent to their jurisdiction.

15. Termination; Changes

You may stop using the Service at any time; we may suspend or terminate access for violation of these Terms. We may modify the Service or these Terms; for material changes we will give at least thirty (30) days notice by posting and, for account holders, by email. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. Sections that by their nature survive termination (including 3, 5–6, 9–14) survive.

16. General

These Terms plus incorporated documents are the entire agreement; if any provision is unenforceable it will be limited to the minimum extent necessary. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or asset sale; you may not assign them. No waiver is implied from any failure to enforce. Notices to us: team@trust.events.

Electronic communications. You agree that we may give you notices, agreements, and other communications electronically — by email or by posting them on the site — and that these satisfy any legal requirement that they be in writing. Clicking to accept or checking a box has the same effect as a handwritten signature. You may request a paper copy of these Terms at no charge by writing to team@trust.events.

Interpretation. Headings and plain-language summaries are for convenience only and do not change the meaning of these Terms. "Including" means "including without limitation." These Terms will not be read against either party because that party drafted them.