Terms of Service

You have to be 18 or older to have a Bondfire account or attend a Fire. There is no version of this for under-18s, and we will close any account we find that belongs to one.

You also need to be able to enter an agreement like this one, to give us a real name and a real email address, and to keep them accurate. One account per person.

Bondfire is a way for members in and around Chapel Hill and Carrboro to signal that they are free on a given night. When enough people signal, a host picks a place, a time and usually an activity, and the people who signalled get the details. A host may also put a few members who want the same kind of evening into a small group with a shared chat, so that they can agree on a plan between them; whatever they agree becomes a gathering on the same terms as any other.

We are the introduction and the logistics. We are not a party to whatever happens once you are in the room together, and we do not supervise it.

This is the most important sentence on this page, so it gets its own section. We do not run background checks. We do not verify identities. We do not check criminal records, references, employment, or anything else about the people you will be meeting.

Anyone who signs up with a working email address is in the pool. The things we do (small groups, an activity to focus on, a host who is there in person, keeping who is coming private until afterwards) are designed to make showing up alone easier. None of them are a safety check, and you should not treat them as one.

What members tell us about themselves is what they typed. We do not confirm any of it.

Bondfire gatherings happen in public and private venues, may involve activities, food, drink, walking, sport or travel to get there, and are attended by people you have not met and we have not checked. That carries real risk, including the risk of injury, illness, loss, harassment, or worse.

By using Bondfire and attending a Fire, you accept that risk knowingly and voluntarily, and you take responsibility for your own safety and your own decisions on the night. Use your judgement. Tell someone where you are going. Leave if you want to leave. Nobody here will think anything of it.

You are also responsible for any guest you bring, including making sure they are 18 or older and that they know all of this too.

To the fullest extent the law allows, you release Daniel Meskill, the host of any gathering, and anyone acting on their behalf from any claim, demand or damages arising out of or connected to a Bondfire gathering, another member or their guest, anything a member says or does, or your use of the service.

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill. Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability to you for everything combined is capped at $100.

Bondfire is provided as-is and as-available, with no warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not promise that gatherings will happen, that they will be good, or that the people at them will be who they say they are.

Some places do not allow some of these exclusions. Where that is true, they do not apply to you and the rest still stands.

A night on the calendar is a candidate, not a commitment. Most nights do not turn into gatherings, because not enough people are free. A gathering that has been announced can still be moved, changed or cancelled, sometimes at short notice, and sometimes for a boring reason like weather or a venue closing early.

Seats are limited and first come. Confirming does not guarantee you a seat if capacity was reached while you were deciding: you go on the waitlist instead and move up automatically if someone drops.

Bondfire is free. There is nothing to refund, and you are never on the hook for a night that did not come together. On the night itself you cover whatever you order or your own share of the activity.

The Code of Conduct is part of this agreement and it is the short, human version of what we expect. Please read it. It takes two minutes. In summary, and without limiting it:

• Do not harass, threaten, intimidate or discriminate against anyone.
• Gatherings are not for dating, hitting on people, recruiting, selling, proselytising or promoting anything.
• Do not use Bondfire to break the law, and do not bring anything illegal to a gathering.
• Do not misrepresent who you are, and do not sign up on someone else's behalf.
• Do not scrape, copy or republish anything about other members, including names you learn at a gathering or in a group chat, and anything written in one.
• Do not attack, probe or interfere with the service or try to reach data that is not yours.

We can suspend or remove any member from the pool, or turn anyone away from a gathering, at any time, for any reason or no reason, with no notice and no explanation.

That is a blunt power to hold and it is deliberate. Whether a group of strangers feels safe comes down to who is in the room, and a host who has to justify every call is a host who hesitates. We would rather lose a member who did nothing wrong than keep one who makes other people uneasy.

If you think a decision was a mistake, write to dan@bondfire.club and it will be read by a person. We are not obliged to change our mind.

You can delete your account yourself at any time, from Settings. What that removes and what it leaves behind is set out in the Privacy Policy. You do not have to give a reason and nobody will chase you about it.

We may close your account too, as described above. Either way, the parts of these terms that should outlive the account (the release, the liability limits and the governing law) carry on applying to things that already happened.

We may update these terms. When we do, the version and effective date at the top of this page change, and we will tell members about anything significant by email. Carrying on using Bondfire after that means you accept the new version.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute goes to the state or federal courts sitting in Orange County or Durham County, North Carolina, and you and we both agree to that.

If part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing something once does not mean giving it up.

Bondfire is operated by Daniel Meskill, 1100 W North Carolina Hwy 54 Bypass, Apt 41, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. You can reach a person at dan@bondfire.club.