Terms, Conditions, Privacy & Cookies

Words with capitalized initial letters have meanings defined under the following conditions, with the same meaning whether singular or plural.

• Application means the software provided by the Company: EasyCookoff.app and its built-in event platform EasyCookoff (the "Easy Cook Off App").
• Application Store means the digital distribution service (Apple App Store or Google Play Store) from which the Application is downloaded.
• Affiliate means an entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a party (50% or more ownership).
• Company ("We", "Us", "Our") refers to Event Apps LLC, operator of EasyCookoff.app and EasyCookoff.app, located in Twin Cities, MN, USA.
• Device means any device that can access the Service, such as a computer, cell phone or tablet.
• Service refers to the Application, including the EasyCookoff social network (feed, profiles, messaging, directories) and EasyCookoff (event listings, registration, payments, judging, scoring and results).
• User Content means posts, photos, videos, comments, messages, profile details and results You add to the Service.
• Terms mean these Terms and Conditions that form the entire agreement between You and the Company.
• Third-party Social Media Service means any content or services provided by a third party that may be made available by the Service.
• You means the individual or legal entity accessing or using the Service.

EasyCookoff.app and EasyCookoff.app are owned and operated by Event Apps LLC (the "Company"). These Terms govern the use of this Service and the agreement between You and the Company. Your access to and use of the Service is conditioned on Your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms, which apply to all visitors, users and others who access or use the Service. By accessing or using the Service, You agree to be bound by these Terms. If You disagree with any part, You may not access the Service.

Your use is also conditioned on Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy below.

EasyCookoff.app and EasyCookoff are a browser-based web application accessible on any modern web browser (phone, tablet, or computer); no download is required to use the Service. The Service can be installed to your device's home screen directly from your browser ("Add to Home Screen" / "Install app") for an app-like, full-screen experience.

A dedicated native application for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store is currently in development. References to "Application" and "Application Store" in these Terms apply to that forthcoming native version; until it is released, the Service is provided as a web application accessed through a browser.

You own Your User Content. By posting it, You grant the Company a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, adapt (for example resizing or creating previews), publish, display and distribute it to operate, provide, promote and improve the Service, including on public pages, share-link previews, search results and marketing for EasyCookoff.app. This license ends when You delete the content or Your account, except for copies already shared by others, content that others have interacted with (such as comments), backups kept for a limited time, and content we must keep by law.

You promise that You own or have permission to post everything You share (including photos of other people, logos and music), and that it doesn't break these Terms or any law. You are responsible for Your User Content and for the consequences of sharing it.

Be respectful. Do not post anything illegal, hateful, harassing, sexually explicit, violent, misleading, spam, or anything that infringes someone else's rights, and do not post other people's private information. Food-competition talk, trash talk in good fun, results and photos are welcome.

Any member can report a post, comment, message or profile, and block another member. The Company may remove content, limit features or suspend accounts that break these guidelines, with or without notice. Results reported by teams for off-platform events are self-reported and labeled as such; the Company does not verify them.

Each post has its own audience switches: Main feed, My profile and Friends' feeds. New posts start on My profile only.

• Main feed posts are public. Anyone can see them without signing in, including on the easycookoff.app home page, and they may be read and indexed by search engines (such as Google) and AI tools (such as ChatGPT), and quoted in our public fact sheet.
• My profile posts are shown to signed-in members who open Your profile, if Your profile is public.
• Friends' feed posts are shown only to people You follow each other with (mutual friends), including a linked parent or guardian.
• Signed-out visitors can read Main feed posts, photos, like and comment counts, and the first comment on each post. Everything else needs an account.
• Public event pages, published results, champion cards and public team pages are also public and may be indexed.

Removing a post takes it off the Service, but copies already shared, cached or indexed by others may remain outside our control.

If You turn on a cross-post switch (such as Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube), the Service opens that network's share window with Your post text and its EasyCookoff link, or copies Your caption and link so You can paste them. You can also use the Link and Copy post buttons to share anywhere. Nothing is posted to another network unless You finish it there yourself. The Service does not connect to, sign in to, or store passwords for Your other accounts, and it does not read data from them. Content You share elsewhere is subject to that network's terms and privacy policy, and You are responsible for following them. Shared posts include EasyCookoff.app branding and a link back to the Service.

If You turn on "Available as a judge," You may appear on the public Judges Map and in organizer search. The map shows an unnamed pin placed near Your city (never Your address) colored by the sanctioning bodies You list, plus public counts of judges per sanctioning body. Only event organizers can search judges by name. You choose: hidden everywhere, organizers only, or everyone; whether Your pin is on the map; which details show (name, city, state, phone); whether Your name appears on public cookoff judge lists; and You can hide Your name on any single cookoff's list.

Judging credentials (sanctioning bodies, meats, Certified / Not certified, past judging totals) are entered by You and are not verified by the Company. Organizers must confirm credentials with the judge or the sanctioning body.

Organizers invite judges by in-app message only. You can answer Interested, Accept or Decline; Your answer is also sent to the organizer as a message. If You decline, that organizer will not contact You about judging again. Interested judges may get one reminder message about 7 days before the event if seats are still open. Only the organizer places You on an event's judges list; when they do, You are notified and asked to confirm ("I'll be there"), and You may get a reminder 2 days before the event if You haven't confirmed. You can tell the organizer "I can't make it" at any time, which removes You from the list.

When You are on a judges list, the organizer can see and print Your name, credentials, phone and email for that event. If the organizer turns on a public judges list, accepted judges are listed A–Z; judges who opt out show as "Judge hidden". Organizers who add judges by hand must have that person's permission to list their name and contact details, and must use judge contact details only to organize their event. Your judging report (invites, replies, events judged by month and year) is private to You and can be downloaded as a PDF.

BBQ Ticker is a cook-timer tool for teams. Launch offer: BBQ Ticker is free for every account created before May 1, 2027 until June 1, 2027 (12:00 AM Central); accounts created from May 1, 2027 through May 31, 2027 get 30 days free from sign-up. No card is needed during the free period. Accounts created on or after June 1, 2027 get a free trial of 3 days or 2 cooks (up to 2 meats per cook), whichever comes first. After the free period or trial, BBQ Ticker costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year per team (prices updated Oct 30, 2026 from $4.99/$49.90 to include the AI pitmaster cook coach). The free period is based on the Team Captain's account. The Team Captain pays; teammates are included while the team's plan is active. Prices may change with notice; paid time already bought keeps its price.

Paid time does not renew by itself: the Captain gets a reminder before it ends and can renew in their account. When paid time or the trial ends, the team's BBQ Ticker locks until it is paid again; past cooks are kept. Refunds follow the refund policy shown at checkout and in Your account. Practice cooks and cookoff use can be turned off per cookoff or per entry.

Members get a personal referral link. You earn 1 free month of BBQ Ticker for every 3 people You refer who sign up with Your link, finish their free period or trial and pay — up to 3 free months per member, ever. To earn a month: (1) Your account must have a phone number and email address, and they must not change from the time the referred people pay until the month is awarded (changing them cancels referrals that have not yet earned a month); and (2) none of the 3 may be refunded for 14 days after the 3rd one pays — a refunded sign-up does not count and the next paid sign-up takes its place.

When a month is earned it starts right away: Your team's paid time is extended by 30 days so the next payment is skipped, and a $0.00 "Free month for referral" receipt is emailed. Free months apply to BBQ Ticker only, have no cash value, cannot be transferred or exchanged, and are applied to the referrer's team. Self-referrals, duplicate or fake accounts, and paid or incentivized sign-ups are not allowed; the Company may withhold or remove months gained this way. The Company may change or end the program at any time; months already awarded are kept.

Free event activation: EasyCookoff event activation (every level and upgrade) is free for events activated before May 31, 2027. Per-team entry (sign-up) fees are $0 through May 31, 2027 “limited time”; from June 1, 2027 12:00 AM Central they are charged when scoring starts. The Company may extend, change or end this offer; events already activated for free stay activated.

Coupon codes: a code may take a percentage or dollar amount off, may apply only to certain fees (event activation, team entry fees or BBQ Ticker), may expire on a date or after a set number of uses, and may be limited to one per payment. Codes have no cash value, cannot be combined unless stated, and may be cancelled if misused.

People's Choice voting: organizers set how many votes each person can cast per category. Votes are private; only totals are shown. Organizers may remove votes that break their event rules.

We send account and transaction emails (sign-in, receipts including $0.00 referral receipts, refunds, payment problems, BBQ Ticker renewal reminders and locked notices), event emails for events You join or run (including the organizer's morning money summary), and optional updates and offers. In-app messages include judge invites, judge confirmations and reminders. You can turn off optional emails and notifications in Account → Settings → Notifications; transaction emails cannot be turned off while You have an account.

You can control what others see. Profile (Edit Profile): public profile; full name on Your profile page (or first name + last initial — Your name still shows on posts, results and event lists you join); photo, cover and bio; team name; team logo; location, links and website; business name and category; judge certification line; posts and competition history; organizer events list; who can follow You; who can message You. Account → Settings: share activity with followers; Teams Directory listing; "Liked by friends"; event invites; available as a judge; judge visibility (everyone / organizers only / hidden); Judges Map pin; show name, city, state, phone to organizers; public cookoff judge lists; show my judging total; use my location; app tips; every notification type. Per event: private scores for an entry; BBQ Ticker on/off per cookoff or entry; hide my name on one cookoff's judge list. Your account phone is never shown publicly. Search results only include public profiles and listed teams. Boxes with many switches start closed; flip the box's own switch to open it. Opening or closing a box changes nothing — only the switches inside save a setting. Whether a box is open is remembered on Your device only.

You may pause or delete Your account at any time from Account → Settings. A paused account is hidden and receives no emails or alerts until You sign in again. A deleted account is hidden immediately and permanently erased after 30 days unless You sign in first; see "Retention, Transfer & Deletion" in our Privacy Policy for what is kept. Deleting Your account doesn't refund fees already paid except as stated in our refund terms. BBQ Ticker passes never auto-renew. If a Team Captain pauses, cooks already running can be finished by teammates, then BBQ Ticker locks for the team; unused paid days are frozen and added back when the captain signs in again. A Team Captain who deletes their account may hand the team to a teammate. The hand-off happens immediately and can't be undone: the teammate becomes captain and receives the team's BBQ Ticker cooks, recipes and history, and any remaining paid time runs out on its original schedule without a refund. After that the new captain pays to continue. Without a hand-off, the team's BBQ Ticker data is erased with the account. The Company may suspend any account that breaks these Terms, is used for fraud or abuse, or must be suspended by law. A suspended account can't sign in or post, all of its open sessions end, and the user is emailed the reason. Contact support@easycookoff.app to appeal.

Account emails (sign-in, password reset, receipts, registrations, results, team invites and safety notices) are part of the Service and are always sent. Marketing emails are optional: product news and launch offers, new events near You, and tips, how-tos and invite reminders. At sign-up You can tick a box to receive them; it is unticked by default. We record when and where You gave consent.

Changing Your mind. Every marketing email has an "Email preferences" link and a one-click "Unsubscribe from all marketing emails" link that work without signing in, and mail apps that show a built-in Unsubscribe button are supported. You can also change each category any time in Account → Notifications → Marketing emails. Unsubscribe requests take effect right away. We never sell Your email address.

We ask for feedback to improve EasyCookoff, EasyCookoff and BBQ Ticker. You may see: a short check-in pop-up about halfway through a BBQ Ticker cook day (timed from the first meat started that day); a halfway check-in on event day for registered teams and the organizer; a wrap-up question for the organizer after the event; a star rating after a BBQ Ticker cook is finished; and an event rating or team survey after results are sent. Each pop-up asks for 1 to 5 stars and an optional comment, appears once per cook day or event, and can always be skipped. Answering is voluntary and never affects Your registration, scores, results or subscription.

Turning them off. In Account → Notifications → "Feedback pop-ups" You can turn off the EasyCookoff event check-ins and the BBQ Ticker cook check-ins separately. "Requests for event feedback" controls the after-event rating request.

How we use and keep it. We store Your rating, comment, name, role and the cook day or event it is about. Feedback is used to fix problems, plan features and help organizers improve their events; organizers may see ratings and comments for their own events. We compile feedback into internal reports, including a weekly report file (PDF and spreadsheet) that is saved for later review and emailed to our support inbox. Reports show names, not email addresses or phone numbers. Team survey answers can be anonymous. We may quote short comments in marketing only without names, unless You give us permission. We keep feedback and saved weekly reports while they are useful for improving the Service; when an account is deleted, its name is left out of future reports, though reports already made may keep it.

Some features use an AI model from OpenAI (ChatGPT, through our provider Emergent): the help chat, "Write with AI" for event descriptions, and the BBQ Ticker pitmaster cook coach. The help chat is free for every signed-in user; "Write with AI" and the cook coach are included only for teams with BBQ Ticker access (trial or paid). When You use one, we send Your question and the details needed to answer it to the AI provider to generate the reply. For the help chat that is only Your question. For event descriptions it is the event details You typed. For the cook coach it is that cook's steps, times, temps, notes and recipe. We don't send passwords or payment details. We keep Your questions and the answers, plus a record of each use (feature, date and an estimated cost), so we can show the conversation, apply daily limits (for example 5 cook coach answers per team per day and 20 help chat or event helper answers per user per day) and monitor costs. AI answers can be wrong or incomplete. They are suggestions only, not food-safety, legal or competition-rules advice. Always check the official rules of Your event and safe cooking temperatures. You are responsible for anything You publish from an AI draft. Don't use AI features to create unlawful, harmful or misleading content.

Members can send direct messages and photos. You control who can message You in Your profile settings, and You can report or block anyone. Organizers can send broadcast messages to teams registered for their events. The Company may review reported messages to enforce these Terms.

Organizer platform fees, team entry fees and BBQ Ticker subscriptions are processed by Stripe (card, and other methods Stripe offers at checkout) or PayPal; the Company does not store full card numbers or PayPal passwords. A payment counts as paid only when Stripe or PayPal confirms the money was received — bank transfers and similar methods can take a few days. Coupon codes count as used only when the payment goes through. The site owner receives an email notice of every paid fee (amount, what it was for, payer name and method). Organizer pricing is listed on the Pricing page. Refunds follow the policy shown at checkout and in Your account. Free and discounted items (free activation, coupons, referral months) are recorded as $0.00 or discounted receipts.

Events marked DEMO · Sample Event (for example "DEMO — Highway to Grill" and "DEMO — Hot for Steak Showdown") are fictional examples with made-up teams marked "(sample team)". Their scores, results, payouts and printable forms exist only so You can see how the Service works. They are not real competitions, nobody can register for them, and no prizes are paid. On the EasyCookoff events page they are kept out of the main list and open from the "See demo events" button. Free TEST EVENTS made with the FREETEST code are private to the organizer and delete themselves after 7 days.

If You forget Your password, use "Forgot password?" in the sign-in box. We email a one-time link that works for 1 hour; the same message is shown whether or not the email has an account. Using the link sets a new password and cancels any other open reset links. Never share Your password; we will never ask for it by email.

Every post has its own link (easycookoff.app/p/…). Anyone can open links to Main feed posts, and when shared on other sites those links show a preview with the author's name, the post text and the first photo. Links to posts that are not on the Main feed show only a generic EasyCookoff preview and ask people to sign in. Friends-only posts open only for the author's friends.

When You delete a post, it is removed from the Service and its link stops working. We can't recall copies, screenshots, previews or re-shares that others made, or results already stored by search engines and other networks.

We respect intellectual property rights and respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. To ask us to remove content, email our designated agent at support@easycookoff.app with the subject "Copyright Notice" and include:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. A description of the copyrighted work You believe was infringed.
3. The link to, or a description of, the material on the Service You want removed.
4. Your name, address, phone number and email.
5. A statement that You believe in good faith the use isn't authorized by the owner, its agent or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that Your notice is accurate and that You are the owner or authorized to act for the owner.

If Your content was removed and You believe that was a mistake, You may send a counter-notice to the same address. We may end the accounts of repeat infringers. Content that breaks our Community Guidelines can also be reported with the Report button on any post, comment, message or profile.

Our Service may contain links to third-party websites or services not owned or controlled by the Company. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services. We strongly advise You to read the terms and privacy policies of any third-party sites You visit.

We may terminate or suspend Your access immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including if You breach these Terms. Upon termination, Your right to use the Service ceases immediately.

The entire liability of the Company and its suppliers is limited to the amount actually paid by You through the Service, or $100 USD if You haven't purchased anything. To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall the Company or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages (including loss of profits, data, business interruption, personal injury, or loss of privacy) arising out of the use of or inability to use the Service. Some states do not allow certain exclusions, so some limitations may not apply to You.

The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" with all faults and defects without warranty of any kind. The Company disclaims all warranties, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. The Company makes no representation that the Service will meet Your requirements, be uninterrupted or error-free, be accurate or reliable, or be free of viruses or other harmful components. Some jurisdictions do not allow such exclusions, so some may not apply to You.

The laws of the State of Minnesota, United States, excluding its conflict of law rules, govern these Terms and Your use of the Service. Your use may also be subject to other local, state, national or international laws. If You have any dispute about the Service, You agree to first try to resolve it informally by contacting the Company. European Union consumers benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law of their country of residence.

You represent and warrant that (i) You are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting", and (ii) You are not listed on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

If any provision is held unenforceable or invalid, it will be changed and interpreted to accomplish its objectives to the greatest extent possible, and the remaining provisions remain in effect. The failure to exercise a right shall not constitute a waiver. The original English text shall prevail in the case of a dispute over any translation.

We reserve the right to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material, we will make reasonable efforts to provide at least 30 days' notice before new terms take effect. By continuing to use the Service after revisions become effective, You agree to be bound by the revised terms.

If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, you can contact Event Apps LLC (Twin Cities, MN, USA) by email at support@easycookoff.app.

This Privacy Policy describes our policies on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Policy.

While using our Service, we may ask You to provide personally identifiable information, which may include: email address; first and last name; phone number; address, state, province, ZIP/postal code and city; and usage data.

Usage Data is collected automatically and may include Your device's IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. With Your prior permission, we may also collect information regarding Your location to provide and customize features of our Service; you can enable or disable this at any time in Your device settings.

Landing page visits & marketing links. When You open one of our main pages (EasyCookoff, BBQ Ticker, Pricing, For Organizers or Judges) we record the page, the time, a random visitor ID stored on Your device, where You came from (for example Facebook, Google, a QR code, a flyer or a direct visit) and, if the link was tagged, the campaign name. If You later create an account, we link that visitor ID to Your account so we can count which posts and pages lead to sign-ups. We use this only to measure our own marketing; it is not sold and not used for third-party advertising. Search-engine bots are not counted.

Feature data: Your account phone number (private; used to check BBQ Ticker referral rules); who referred You and who You referred; payment, coupon, discount and referral-month history (including $0.00 receipts); BBQ Ticker cook data (timers, steps, temperatures, notes — private to You and Your team); People's Choice votes (private; only totals are shown); feedback ratings, check-in answers and comments (see "Feedback, Check-ins & Surveys"); and, for judges, Your judging credentials, invite replies, events judged and an approximate map location calculated from the city and state You enter (rounded and offset by a few miles — never Your address).

The Company may use Personal Data to: provide and maintain the Service and monitor its usage; manage Your account and registration; perform contracts for products or services You purchase; contact You by email, phone, SMS or push notifications regarding updates and communications; provide news, special offers and general information about similar goods, services and events (unless You opt out); manage Your requests; evaluate or conduct business transfers; and for data analysis, usage trends, campaign effectiveness and improving the Service.

We may share Your personal information with: Service Providers who monitor and analyze use of the Service or contact You; parties involved in a business transfer (merger, sale, financing or acquisition); affiliates who honor this Policy; business partners to offer products, services or promotions; other users when You interact in public areas; and anyone else with Your consent.

Public information. Main feed posts, public profiles, public team pages, event pages and published results can be seen by anyone and by search engines and AI tools. Judges Directory details are shown only as You choose. See "Post Visibility" and "Judges Directory" above.

Service Providers we use include Stripe and PayPal (payments), Brevo and our hosting provider's built-in email service (account and event emails), Emergent (cloud hosting, file storage for photos and videos, and access to the OpenAI model behind our AI features), PostHog (site analytics), Google (sign-in with Google and Google Places addresses), OpenStreetMap (map images) and web push services (notifications You turn on).

We retain Personal Data only as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy and to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. Your information may be processed at our operating offices and other places where the parties involved are located, which may be outside Your jurisdiction. You have the right to delete, or request we help delete, the Personal Data we hold about You; you may update or delete information from your account settings or by contacting us, though we may need to retain certain information where we have a legal obligation.

Pausing or deleting Your account. In Account → Settings → "Pause or delete my account" You can pause Your account (Your profile and team page are hidden and emails and alerts stop until You sign in again) or delete it. Deletion hides Your account at once and permanently erases it after 30 days. Signing in within those 30 days cancels the deletion. On deletion we remove Your profile, posts, comments, messages, photos and videos, follows, likes, saved items, alerts, push subscriptions, synced contacts, vehicles and judge invites. We keep official event results, registrations and scores You were part of so organizers' records stay accurate. We also keep payment, refund and tax records, and audit logs, for as long as the law requires. Copies others made or shared can't be recalled.

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities, or in good faith to comply with a legal obligation, protect the Company's rights or property, prevent or investigate wrongdoing, protect user or public safety, or protect against legal liability. The security of Your Personal Data is important to us, but no method of transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We may use third-party Service Providers to maintain and improve our Service, including Google Places, whose information is handled per Google's Privacy Policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time and will notify You by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact Event Apps LLC (Twin Cities, MN, USA) by email at support@easycookoff.app.