Recognition rules for „ahead x [topic]"

Preamble

These statutes govern the awarding of the ahead recognition „ahead x [topic]". They protect the credibility of the recognition, the recognised persons, and the platform from arbitrariness, dilution and reputational harm.

The statutes are publicly accessible. Every recognition follows these rules without exception. Deviations are not made, not out of politeness, commercial interest or personal sympathy.

The statutes are valid from publication and remain valid until a formally adopted revision takes effect.

§ 1, Nature and purpose of the recognition

1. The recognition „ahead x [topic]" is a curatorial acknowledgement. It is awarded to persons who have made substantial work contributions in a clearly defined topic area and whose voice in that field is trustworthy.
2. The recognition is always topic-bound, never person-general. There is no „ahead Distinguished Personality" or „ahead Lifetime Achievement". Each recognition names a concrete topic field in which the person is acknowledged.
3. The recognition is granted free of charge. Neither the platform nor the recognised person incurs financial obligations. The recognition is not a sales product and not a paid service.
4. The recognition grants no co-determination rights, no trademark rights, no commercial claims.

§ 2, Content thresholds

A person is only recognised if all four of the following criteria are met:

(1) Work substance

The person has demonstrably created work in their topic area, research, build-up performance, professional publications, documented practice. At least three years of recognisable activity in the named topic area is a prerequisite. Pure self-promotion on social media without underlying work does not qualify.

(2) Peer credibility

The person is recognised in their topic field by professional colleagues and industry insiders as competent. Operationalised: at least three independent persons from the field can express substantial recognition, or documented professional recognition exists (appointments, third-party awards, publications in trade media). These third-party opinions are documented in the recognition procedure (see § 4).

(3) Trustworthiness of the person

The person has no known reputation problems: no unresolved legal proceedings, no credible accusations of ethical misconduct, no documented history of concealment, plagiarism or discrimination. A search in publicly accessible sources is mandatory in the procedure.

(4) Mission fit with ahead

The person embodies the dual mission of ahead, visibility of credibility in digital transformation AND empowerment of others. A pure self-promoter without an empowerment dimension does not qualify. A reclusive theorist without visibility ambition does not qualify. Both mission dimensions must be recognisable.

§ 3, Structural exclusions

Certain person constellations are categorically excluded, regardless of their professional quality.

(1) Active commercial entanglement

Anyone currently engaged as a paid sponsor, brand partner, licensee, speaker at ahead editions, workshop trainer or in any other contractual relationship to ahead, M&K Event GmbH or Shink Big LLC cannot be recognised during that period. Recognition is possible at the earliest 12 months after full termination of the commercial relationship.

(2) Personal-private closeness

Family, long-standing close friendship (defined as: a relationship that exists independently of professional life and in which private communication takes place), life partnership. These persons cannot be recognised even if they are professionally qualified.

(3) Active competition

Anyone running a directly competing platform whose primary mission is identical or very similar to ahead is not recognised. This does not mean: persons who run other platforms or media are generally excluded. Only direct competition in the same mission field is exclusionary.

(4) Office holders

Active politicians with mandates and ongoing terms are not recognised. After the end of their term, recognition is possible at the earliest 12 months after the mandate ends. This rule keeps ahead politically neutral. It does not exclude persons who express themselves politically or who are politically active, only those with an active mandate.

(5) Persons under 25

Persons under 25 are not recognised. For younger talents there are ahead Conversations, but no recognition. This rule protects young people from early public „labelling" and protects the recognition from dilution by hype.

(6) Deceased persons

Deceased persons are not recognised. Posthumous recognitions are excluded because they enable neither consent nor reply. Deceased persons can be honoured in ahead Conversations, but not recognised as „ahead x [topic]".

§ 4, Procedure

A recognition arises in four steps, all of which are documented:

Step 1, Proposal

A person is proposed by either the Founder & Curator, an external recommendation by third parties, or, from the Build phase onwards, the ahead curatorium. Self-proposals are not accepted. Anyone who recommends themselves, or has themselves recommended by persons working for the proposed person, will not be recognised.

Step 2, Research

The proposed person is checked against the thresholds in § 2. The research includes work documentation (at least three sources or proofs), third-party opinions (at least three independent voices from the field), reputation research (public sources) and mission-fit assessment. The research is recorded in writing and filed in the internal recognition archive.

Step 3, Decision

Bridge phase (until Q4 2026): decision by the Founder & Curator alone, with a written justification of at least three sentences referencing the thresholds in § 2. Build phase (from 2027): decision by the ahead curatorium (see § 6) by unanimous vote. A negative decision is also documented. Persons who were rejected do not learn of the rejection, rejections are not communicated. This rule protects against shaming and against public dispute over recognition decisions.

Step 4, Consent of the recognised person

The person is contacted and asked for written consent to the recognition and its publication. The consent covers: the recognition as „ahead x [topic]"; publication on ahead.at; use of the person's name and, where applicable, image in the context of the recognition; and media announcement of the recognition. Only after written consent is the recognition made public. A recognition without documented consent is not permissible and will not be carried out. The person has the right to refuse the recognition. A refusal is respected and not communicated.

§ 5, Frequency and quantity limits

1. Maximum: 6 recognitions per year DACH-wide in the Bridge phase. In the Build phase potentially expandable by curatorium decision, but not above 12 per year.
2. Topic-field limit: At most one recognition per canonical topic field („ahead x [niche]") per year. Example: the canonical category „ahead x science" (DE display label „ahead x KI-Forschung") can only be awarded once per year.
3. Minimum interval: At least 6 weeks must pass between two recognitions.
4. No retroactive recognitions: Recognitions are not backdated. The publication date is the recognition date.

§ 6, Governance

Bridge phase (until Q4 2026)

The Founder & Curator decides on recognitions alone, adheres to the statutes without exception, and documents every decision in writing. In the Bridge phase, at most two recognitions are awarded, a pilot recognition at the start and possibly a second one before transition to the Build phase. The pilot recognition serves as a model for the curatorium.

Build phase (from 2027)

A curatorium of three to five persons is established. Members are themselves not recognised; have no commercial relationship with ahead, M&K or Shink Big LLC; represent different perspectives (e.g. science, journalism, industry insiders); and are appointed for two years with the possibility of one extension. The curatorium meets at least twice yearly. Decisions are unanimous, one dissenting vote prevents the recognition. Members receive a symbolic compensation of 500–1,000 EUR per year plus expense reimbursement. No success share, no other compensation. In the case of conflicts of interest, members abstain. A curator with closeness to a proposed person does not take part in the decision regarding that person.

§ 7, Revocation

1. A recognition can be revoked if serious grounds become known after the recognition: proven plagiarism allegation; legally final conviction for serious offences; documented ethical misconduct of a degree that retroactively calls the recognition criteria into question.
2. The revocation procedure includes: written justification of the revocation intent; hearing of the recognised person with a 30-day deadline for a statement; decision by Founder (Bridge phase) or curatorium (Build phase); public communication of the revocation with clear, sober justification.
3. A revocation does not take place for the following reasons: substantive disagreements; personal conflicts with the Founder or curatorium members; commercial tensions; switch of the recognised person to a competing platform; public criticism of ahead by the recognised person.
4. A recognised person may at any time declare the return of the recognition themselves. Such return is respected and documented without comment.

§ 8, Personality-rights provisions

1. The recognition is a public act. With written consent (§ 4 Step 4) the recognised person grants permission to publish the name, possibly an image, a short justification and the date of the recognition.
2. The recognised person grants no consent to commercial exploitation beyond the publication of the recognition. Use of the name or image of the recognised person in advertising, sponsoring contexts or commercial cooperations is prohibited without separate consent.
3. The recognised person may at any time request deletion of image material. The recognition entry itself remains in place but can be reduced regarding images at the person's request.
4. In the event of the recognised person's death, at the request of the heirs or estate executors the recognition entry is either retained unchanged or supplemented with a tribute note. Active revocations do not take place posthumously.

§ 9, Transparency

1. These statutes are publicly accessible on ahead.at.
2. A list of all previously awarded recognitions is publicly accessible on ahead.at. It contains names, topic field, date of recognition and link to the recognition entry.
3. Revocations are marked in the same list, with date and sober justification.
4. Statistics on proposals, rejections and revocation procedures are not published. These data serve internal documentation.

§ 10, Final provisions

1. Changes to these statutes are decided from the Build phase onwards by the curatorium with simple majority and at least three members present. In the Bridge phase the Founder decides alone but documents the change publicly.
2. These statutes do not replace applicable legal provisions. In case of conflict between these statutes and applicable law, applicable law prevails.
3. These statutes are to be understood as a preliminary version in the Bridge phase. A legal review will take place by Q4 2026 at the latest. Adjustments from the legal review will be documented in a Version 2.0.
4. Responsible for these statutes is Shink Big LLC as the entity bearing the ahead platform, represented by the Founder & Curator.

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Status: May 2026. These statutes apply from publication. Responsible: Shink Big LLC, represented by the Founder & Curator of ahead. Version 1.0, legal review pending until Q4 2026.