Maschinenbau-Institut GmbH (“Organiser“)

1. Scope of application: The following terms and conditions (“Conditions”) shall apply to the contracts between the Organiser and the individual Contracting Party. They apply to the exclusion of any other provision or rule. Deviating terms and conditions apply only to the extent expressly confirmed by the Organiser. Individual agreements between the Organiser and the Contracting Party always take precedence over these Conditions.The basis are the following offers provided by the Organiser:

a) Local events take place on a previsouly set date at a certain place
b) Online events take place on a previously set date in a virtual room
c) Digital learning courses can be worked through online and don’t have a defined starting point

If the word „event“ is used in the following paragraphs it refers to all offers mentioned under 1 a) to 1c).

2. Conclusion of contract: The range of events offered on the Organiser's website, the Lernwelt Maschinenbau (learning management system) or other advertising media of the Organiser are subject to change and non-binding, in particular with regard to the participation fees shown. If you would like to register for a seminar, a course or a conference of the Organiser, you must do so online via the Organiser's website or the Lernwelt Maschinenbau using the registration forms provided. Registrations are binding and will be accepted by the Organiser in the order of receipt. The Contracting Party then receives a confirmation of registration. We recommend registering well in advance. The confirmation of receipt that is automatically generated and which the participant receives by e-mail when registering online does not constitute as a formal declaration confirming the contract. The contract between the participant and the Organiser is not concluded until registration is formally confirmed by e-mail. With the registration the Contracting Party accepts the Terms of Use for the learning platform Lernwelt Maschinenbau accessible on www.maschinenbau-institut.de/terms-of-use-lernwelt-maschinenbau. For digital learning contents, the following supplementary provisions apply that take into account the specifics of this learning format: Following the binding registration ("offer") by the Contracting Party, the Organizer will then send a registration confirmation and login data to access the the e-learning content ("acceptance"). The fee includes access to the e-learning content and pertaining documentation. Participants receive their individual login details for the specific e-learning content from the Organizer. The use of the e-learning content is limited to this participant and to a fixed period of time. Users must not disclose their login data to a third party. Otherwise, the Organizer reserves the right to disable the login data of the Contracting Party concerned.

3. Contract Performance: The fee for local events includes the participation in the event, pertaining documents and food and drinks provided by the Organizer at the conference venue, usually lunch and drinks during sessions and breaks. The fee for online events or digital learning courses, respectively, include the participation in the online event or digital learning course, respectively, pertaining documents and other materials, if they are part of the booked event.

4. Terms of payment: The participation/exhibitor fee for local events or online events, respectively, is charged after the first day of the event. The participation fee is per person, the exhibitor fee per company plus VAT at the statutory rate. Fees are due immediately after the invoice is issued, without deductions, and must be paid by bank transfer (quote invoice number) into the specified account.

For digital learning contents, the following supplementary provisions apply that take into account the specifics of this learning format: After receipt of the login details (legally: “provision of services”), the Contracting Party receives an invoice no later than by the end of the month (when the login details were provided). The participation fee is per person plus VAT at the statutory rate and is payable immediately after the invoice is issued, without deductions, and must be paid by bank transfer (quote invoice number) into the specified account.

For digital learning contents, the following supplementary provisions apply that take into account the specifics of this learning format: After the Contracting Party received the confirmation of registration and the login in data the full amount of the fee is charged. The Contracting Party will be send an invoice at the end of the month in which he received the log in data. The participation fee is per person plus VAT at the statutory rate and is payable immediately after the invoice is issued, without deductions, and must be paid by bank transfer (quote invoice number) into the specified account.

5. Cancellation by Contracting Party: The Organiser plans the resources to be made available on the basis of the registrations received. When speakers, event premises, catering, etc. are booked, the Organiser must make binding commitments well in advance to ensure a high level of quality at reasonable prices. This is why registrations for an event are final and binding. If the Contracting Party, nevertheless, cancels its registration, the following cancellation conditions for local events and online events apply (the day of the event is not counted for the purpose of this calculation):

• If you must cancel, you can do this easily and free of charge up to 15 days before the event. A cancellation must be made in writing or electronically to be valid.
• For cancellations received within 14 days before the start of the event, we charge a fee for expenses incurred of  50 per cent of the regular participation fee (for our courses, the expenses compensation fees shown in the individual programs apply).
• In the event of cancellation on the day the event starts or in the event of non-participation and without prior cancellation, we will charge you the entire event fee.
• A substitute participant from the same company can be chosen free of charge. The Contracting Party is entitled to prove that the damage incurred by the Organiser is less.

The cancellation fee is per person plus VAT at the statutory rate and is payable immediately after the invoice is issued, without deductions and must be paid by bank transfer (quote invoice number) into the specified account.For digital learning contents, the following supplementary provisions apply that take into account the specifics of this learning format: The total participation fee is charged when the Contracting Party receives the registration confirmation, including log in details. Then, the Contracting Party may no longer cancel its participation in the e-learning free of charge.

6. Consumer cancellation rights: Consumers have a statutory cancellation right for so-called distance contracts. Pursuant to § 13 of the German Civil Code BGB, a consumer is a natural person entering into a legal transaction for a purpose other than their trade, business or profession.

Cancellation policy and cancellation rights
You may cancel this contract within 14 days without giving reasons. The cancellation period is 14 days as of the contract date. To exercise your cancellation right, you must inform the Organiaer of your decision to cancel the contract by means of a clear, written declaration (letter, fax or e-mail). The cancellation period is deemed complied with if you send the notification that you exercise your cancellation before the cancellation period expires.

Consequences of cancellation
If you cancel this contract, the Organiaer must reimburse you for all payments received from you, including delivery costs (with the exception of additional costs resulting from the fact that you have chosen a type of delivery other than the cheapest standard delivery offered by the Organiser), as soon as reasonably practicable and in no case later than 14 days as of the date on which the Organiser has received your cancellation notice for this contract. Except as otherwise agreed in the individual case, the same means of payment you used for the original transaction will be used for the refund, under no circumstances will you be charged for this refund. Should you have requested the services to start already during the cancellation period, you must pay the Organiser a reasonable amount corresponding to the proportion of the services already provided to the total amount of the contractual services, counted from the date on which you notified the Organiser that you exercise your cancellation right.

7. Changes to schedules and cancellation by the Organiser: In exceptional cases, the Organiser reserves the right to change schedules, replace trainers and/or cancel a local event or an online event, respectively, due to insufficient number of participants (up to 14 days before the planned start of the event) or for other important reasons for which the Organiser is not responsible (e.g. sudden illness of the speaker, force majeure).

Participants will be informed immediately if an event is cancelled. The Organiser’s liability is then limited to paying back the fees already received. Expenses for train and airplane tickets and hotel accommodation already booked by the participant are non-refundable. Furthermore, Art. 11 shall apply.

8. Event documentation & other materials: A third party cannot be granted the right to use event documentation and/or training materials, whether against valuable consideration or not, without the prior written consent of the Organiser. The event documentation and training materials presented and/or made available on the Internet are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced – even in part – without the prior written consent of the Organiser. Documents are made available to the respective Contracting Party alone. In particular, it is not allowed to publicise audio or video files, digital presentations, photographic records or scripts in publicly accessible portals on the Internet.

9. Sound & image recording: In any case, image or sound recording during a local event or an online event, respectively, require the prior written consent of the Organizer. The same shall apply mutatis mutandis to any subsequent use of image or sound recordings made at an event. During events, pictures of participants may be taken for later use in a photographic record. These photographic records will be made available exclusively to the participants of the event concerned. Participants who do not want to be shown in the photographic record must inform the event manager on site in good time.

10. Use of lists of participants: Within the framework of our events, we intend to provide participants with a list (electronic or on paper) of the names and job titles of the participants, and also of the name and place of the company of the participants. If you do not wish your data to be included in lists of participants, please contact mbi@vdma.org.

11. Liability: The Organiser in the fulfillment of its contractual obligations shall be liable only for its own intentional or grossly negligent acts or any such acts committed by its legal representatives and/or agents. The Organizer shall be fully liable in the case of a breach of a fundamental condition of contract; if attributable to slight negligence, it is limited to the reasonably foreseeable damage intrinsic to the contract. The liability of the Organizer or its statutory representatives or of its agents for damage related to culpable injury to life, limb or health as well as with respect to their adherence to guarantees promised remains unaffected.

12. Data protection/privacy: The Contracting Party’s personal data are collected, processed and used in strict compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation and the German Federal Data Protection Act. The data are used and processed exclusively for administration and accounting purposes and for the purpose of sending the Contracting Party information material of the VDMA Group and Maschinenbau-Institut GmbH by post or e-mail The VDMA Group may also contact you directly.

The Contracting Party may object to the future processing and use of personal data for the purpose of receiving information about current offers of the VDMA Group and Maschinenbau-Institut GmbH any time. The objection must be notified to: Maschinenbau-Institut GmbH, Lyoner Straße 18, 60528 Frankfurt am Main or mbi@vdma.org. Further information on the processing of personal data and your rights as a data subject can be found at www.vdma.org/privacy.

13. Severability clause: If a provision of these Conditions is or becomes wholly or partially invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions of the contract shall not be affected.

14. Place of jurisdiction & choice of law: The venue for all disputes arising out of this contract between the Organizer and the Contracting Party shall be the seat of the Organizer, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, provided that the Contracting Party is a business person, a legal person under public law or a special fund governed by public law.

General Conditions for Participation as a PDF-download

Terms of Use Lernwelt Maschinenbau as a PDF download

Last Update: July 2021