Terms of Service
1. Acceptance
By accessing awardgrade.com (the "Site") or submitting any content, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms") and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site. If you use the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind it.
1a. Team Accounts (Dean's List)
Dean's List is a multi-seat plan. The person who purchases it ("Account Owner") may invite up to the plan's seat limit. By adding a seat, the Account Owner represents that the invited person has agreed to join and confirms the Account Owner's authority to add them, consistent with Section 1. Each invited person must independently accept these Terms on first login; until they do, we may limit their access.
The Account Owner is solely responsible for the account's billing and for managing who holds a seat. Removing a seat revokes that person's access immediately. Canceling the plan removes all seats immediately; there is no transfer of ownership to another team member; a canceled team may re-subscribe under a new Account Owner.
2. What AwardGrade Is
AwardGrade publishes evaluations ("Grades") of business and professional awards programs. Grades are statements of opinion reached by applying our published methodology to documented, disclosed facts. The Site also hosts user-submitted content, including experiential ratings ("People's Grades"), comments, tips, and corrections ("User Content").
AwardGrade is editorially independent. We accept no payment, sponsorship, or consideration of any kind from award organizers, and no Grade is or can be purchased or influenced.
3. Grades Are Opinion; No Warranty of Accuracy
Each Grade reflects AwardGrade's opinion, based on the facts disclosed alongside it and our published methodology, as of the date shown. Grades are not statements of objective fact and are not assurances that any award is or is not legitimate, worthwhile, fraudulent, or lawful. We make no warranty that any information on the Site is accurate, complete, or current. You are responsible for your own decisions; the Site is informational only and is not legal, financial, professional, or investment advice.
4. User Content and License Grant
You retain ownership of User Content you submit. By submitting it, you grant TwentyNine11 LLC a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, aggregate, create derivative works from, publicly display and perform, distribute, and commercially exploit that User Content, in whole or in part and in any medium now known or later developed, for any purpose, including the right to aggregate, de-identify, analyze, license, and sell resulting data and insights.
You represent and warrant that: (a) you actually entered, won, or have direct experience with any award you review; (b) your User Content is truthful and your own; (c) you have all rights necessary to grant this license; and (d) your User Content is not defamatory, false, infringing, or unlawful. You waive any moral rights in your User Content to the extent permitted by law.
5. Prohibited Conduct
You will not: submit false, deceptive, or manipulated ratings; astroturf, brigade, or coordinate submissions to distort a People's Grade; submit content you know to be false; impersonate any person or organization; upload malware; scrape or bulk-extract the Site except as we permit; or use the Site to violate any law. AwardGrade may weight, discount, or exclude submissions (e.g., unverified vs. verified entrants) at its discretion.
6. Moderation and Editorial Discretion
AwardGrade may, but is not obligated to, review, screen, hold, edit, refuse, remove, or reorder any User Content at its sole discretion. Our exercise of editorial discretion does not make us the author of User Content, and we do not represent that User Content has been verified for accuracy. We are not liable for User Content, which reflects the views of the users who submitted it, not AwardGrade.
7. Intellectual Property
The Site, the Grades, the methodology, the compiled database, and all associated software, text, design, and trademarks (including the AwardGrade name and logo) are owned by TwentyNine11 LLC and protected by law. The compilation and arrangement of the database is our proprietary work. You may not copy, reproduce, or create derivative works from it except as expressly permitted.
8. Third-Party Names and Trademarks
Award names, organizer names, and related marks referenced on the Site are the property of their respective owners. Their use is nominative, to identify and comment on the awards we evaluate, and does not imply any affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship by or of those owners.
9. Copyright / DMCA Policy
AwardGrade complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, send a notice with the elements required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to our designated agent:
Designated DMCA Agent: [Name/Role], TwentyNine11 LLC, [Address], [email@awardgrade.com]
We will respond to valid notices and may remove infringing material and terminate repeat infringers.
10. Disclaimers
THE SITE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. AwardGrade does not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.
11. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TwentyNine11 LLC AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE. OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM OR ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).
12. Indemnification
You will indemnify and hold harmless TwentyNine11 LLC from any claims, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your User Content, your use of the Site, or your breach of these Terms.
13. Dispute Resolution; Arbitration; Class Waiver
Please read carefully: this affects your legal rights. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration administered by [the American Arbitration Association] under its applicable rules, seated in Dallas County, Texas, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. You and TwentyNine11 LLC waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class, collective, or representative action. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas without regard to conflict-of-laws rules; to the extent any matter proceeds in court, exclusive venue lies in the state and federal courts located in Dallas County, Texas. Nothing in this section limits either party's right to seek injunctive relief for intellectual-property or misuse claims.
14. Changes
We may modify these Terms; material changes will be posted with a new "Last updated" date and version. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.
15. Contact
TwentyNine11 LLC · [Address] · [legal@awardgrade.com]
16. Disclaimer
AwardGrade Grades are statements of opinion, produced by applying our published methodology to documented, disclosed facts, as of the date shown. They are not statements of objective fact, not assurances of any award's legitimacy or value, and not legal, financial, or professional advice. People's Grades and comments are the opinions of the users who submitted them, not of AwardGrade. Award and organizer names are the property of their owners; their use is for identification and commentary only and implies no affiliation or endorsement. AwardGrade is editorially independent and accepts no payment from award organizers.