Advertising terms

What you get when you sponsor The Crane 308 or make your event a Featured, what we expect from you, and how cancellations and refunds work.

Last updated October 10, 2026 · Version 2026-10-10

1. Who we are

The Crane 308 runs thecrane308.com and its newsletter. "We" and "us" mean The Crane 308; "you" means the person or business buying a placement. These terms, together with your order (the package, dates and price shown at checkout and in your confirmation email), are our agreement. You accept them by ticking the box at checkout. If you buy for a business, you confirm you're allowed to accept them for it.

2. What you're buying

Weekly sponsor ($300 / week): one Monday-to-Sunday week. It includes:

• Top of the newsletter (in both issues that week, Monday and Thursday)
• Every page of thecrane308.com (all week long)
• Shout-out on Facebook (in our posts that week, with your link)
• Shout-out on Instagram (in our posts that week)
• Your logo, message and button (written by you)
• No competitors (one sponsor a week, so it’s all yours)
• Your results report (views, clicks and where you were seen, the Monday after)

Featured ($49 Mon–Thu · $89 Fri–Sun): one event on one day. It includes:

• Featured badge (your event stands out on its day)
• Guaranteed listing (free listings aren’t)
• Starred in the newsletter (when you book before the issue goes out)
• Featured first on Facebook (in our posts for your day)
• Featured first on Instagram (in our posts for your day)
• Highlighted on its event page (tagged Featured on The Crane 308)
• Your results report (views, clicks, calendar adds and shares, the day after)

Paid placements are labeled as advertising: the weekly sponsor as "This week's sponsor" and a paid Featured with "#ad" at the end of its description (and at the start of a social media caption that includes it). Where a placement sits within a page, an email or a post, and when posts go out, is up to us. Venue partner subscriptions are no longer sold; ones bought earlier keep running under these terms until cancelled.

3. Booking and scheduling

• You can book a sponsor week from next week up to 8 weeks ahead, and a Featured for a date up to 120 days ahead. Each week has one sponsor, and each day has a limited number of Featureds.
• Your spot is held for about 35 minutes while you pay, and is booked once your payment goes through. A bank payment that is still processing keeps the spot held until it clears. Close to the date (within 10 days), checkout takes only cards, which clear at once.
• A sponsor week goes live on its own on its Monday. A Featured is checked by our editors before it's listed (usually the same day) and is highlighted on its day once it is.
• Featureds are starred in the newsletter only when bought before the issue that covers their day goes out (we say in your confirmation which issues it will be in).
• You write your own message, link and button (and add a logo, for a sponsor week) at checkout, and see a preview before you pay. To change something before it runs, reply to your confirmation email.

4. Your content and our right to refuse it

We may edit your copy for length, clarity, style and accuracy, and resize or crop your logo. We may refuse, pause or remove any ad or Featured at any time, for any reason, in our sole discretion. If we do that for a reason other than your breach of these terms, we refund the part that hasn't run (see section 11).

5. What we don't accept

• anything illegal, or that promotes illegal activity;
• adult or sexual content;
• weapons, ammunition or explosives for sale;
• tobacco, vaping, THC, CBD or drug products;
• gambling, sweepstakes or raffles, unless lawful and approved by us in advance;
• alcohol, except from licensed businesses and aimed at adults 21 and older;
• political candidates, parties or issue campaigns;
• multi-level marketing or get-rich-quick schemes;
• misleading health, financial or "guaranteed results" claims;
• hate, harassment or discrimination;
• anything that infringes someone else's copyright, trademark or privacy;
• links to malware, or misleading or broken pages.

6. Your promises

You promise that you own or have permission to use everything you give us (text, logo, images, links); that your claims are true and you can back them up; that you hold any license your business needs; that your offer follows the law; and that your link goes to a safe, working page.

7. Permission to show your ad

You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to copy, resize, display and share your name, logo and ad content in the placement you bought, in archived and web copies of our newsletters and pages, and in our social media posts for it. You can ask us to leave you out of any mention of our past sponsors by emailing us. We keep all rights in our own sites, newsletters and materials.

8. If something goes wrong on our side

In normal conditions we run what you booked on schedule. If a newsletter issue you booked doesn't go out, or your placement is left out of it or off the site because of us, we give you an equivalent placement in the next open slot or, at our option, refund the affected part. Small variations (send time, position, formatting, or an email provider delaying delivery) don't count as failures.

9. No guaranteed results

We don't guarantee any number of subscribers, views, opens, clicks, visits, leads or sales. The numbers in your results report are our own counts and estimates; some readers block our counter, so real numbers can be a little higher.

10. Payment

You pay in US dollars through Stripe, at the price shown at checkout. Stripe emails your receipt. We never see your card number. A venue partner subscription bought earlier renews monthly until cancelled; email us to cancel it and it stops at the end of the month you've paid for.

11. Cancellations and refunds

We want every placement to work for you. If something goes wrong on our side, we make it right.

• Weekly sponsor: cancel at least 7 days before the Monday your week starts for a full refund. After that, there's no refund, but if you ask before your week starts we'll try to move you to another open week once.
• Featured: cancel at least 7 days before your event's date for a full refund. After that, there's no refund. If the organizer cancels or moves the event before its date, tell us and we'll refund you or move the Featured to the new date, whichever you prefer.
• Double-booked: if someone else paid for the same week, or your day's spots filled up moments before your payment, we contact you within 1 business day to move you to another open week or day or refund you in full, whichever you prefer.
• Payment arrived too late: if a bank payment clears only after your date has passed, we refund you in full (or set up another date, if you'd like).
• We decline or remove your placement: if we refuse or take down your ad or Featured for a reason other than your breach of these terms, we refund the part that hasn't run. If it breaks these terms, there's no refund.
• A placement we missed: see section 8.
• How to ask: email news@thecrane308.com with your business name and the email you paid with. We answer within 1 business day.
• How refunds arrive: refunds go back to the card or account you paid with, through Stripe, and usually show up within 5 to 10 business days. We refund the full amount; we don't keep a fee.

12. Before you dispute a charge

Please contact us first; we can usually fix things within a business day. If you dispute a charge for a placement we delivered, we may give Stripe proof that it ran and pause your future placements, and if the dispute is decided in our favor you agree to pay back the disputed amount and any dispute fee.

13. The newsletter is ours

We are the sender of our newsletters under the CAN-SPAM Act: we handle unsubscribes and the mailing address in every email. You don't get subscribers' email addresses.

14. Independence

Running your ad doesn't mean we endorse you, and our editors' picks and coverage aren't for sale. A Featured our editors choose carries no "#ad" mark; a paid one always does.

15. Indemnity

YOU WILL DEFEND, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS THE CRANE 308 AND ITS OWNERS AND CONTRACTORS FROM ANY THIRD-PARTY CLAIM, LOSS OR EXPENSE (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES) ARISING FROM YOUR AD CONTENT, YOUR LOGO, YOUR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OFFERS OR CLAIMS, OR YOUR BREACH OF THESE TERMS, INCLUDING CLAIMS ALLEGING OUR OWN NEGLIGENCE IN PUBLISHING CONTENT YOU PROVIDED.

16. Limit of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ABOUT AN ORDER IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THAT ORDER, AND WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR LOST PROFITS.

17. Things outside our control

We aren't responsible for delays or failures caused by things beyond our reasonable control, such as outages of email, hosting, payment or social media services, severe weather or government action. If one affects your placement, you get a makeup placement or a refund of the affected part.

18. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If we disagree, email us first and give us 30 days to sort it out informally. After that, disputes go only to the state or federal courts in Texas, and either of us may use small claims court.

19. Changes

We may update these terms. The version you accepted at checkout (its date is shown at the top of this page) applies to that order; new versions apply only to later orders.

20. The rest

These terms and your order are the whole agreement between us about your placement. If a part of them can't be enforced, the rest still applies. You can't transfer your order to someone else without our OK. We send notices by email to the address you paid with. Sections 7, 12, 15, 16 and 18 continue after your placement ends.

21. Contact

The Crane 308
Email: news@thecrane308.com
Or use our contact form.