Only IBM VIP Rewards Hub administrators are to interact within this hub. If you need access contact Brad Schauf.
Welcome to the IBM VIP Rewards ("Program"). The Program provides IBM client advocates ("Advocates" or "you") with access to the IBM VIP Rewards Advocate Engagement Platform ("Platform") to engage with IBM or other Advocates on a variety of topics. By using and/or participating in the Program, you agree to these Terms of Use on your own behalf, and not for your employer or other organization.
By registering and using IBM VIP Rewards, you agree that you are subject to and will comply with the terms of use set forth below as well as the IBM terms of use (https://www.ibm.com/legal/us/en/) and the IBM Copyright and trademark information (https://www.ibm.com/legal/us/en/copytrade.shtml)
IBM VIP Rewards Supplemental Privacy Notice
During your use of IBM VIP Rewards, IBM will collect and use certain information you provide, including for example your email address, first name, last name, and country location, in accordance with the IBM Privacy Policy, available at https://www.ibm.com/privacy. Your data is never sold.
In addition to name and email address, you may choose to provide additional information as part of your Advocate profile and through participation in challenges, including mailing address, phone number, company name, profile picture, product expertise, industry expertise and other information. Other Advocates in the Program will be able to see your profile data such as username, which may be your name or email address.
IBM administrators will be able to see your account information. The information and data that we obtain from you through the Program enables us to offer the Program to you, improve IBM services and provide a personal experience on the Platform. IBM administrators will have access to the personal information you provide as long as the Program exists. To request deletion of your account, send an email to ivipr@us.ibm.com.
You may choose to provide additional information as part of the Program in response to Program challenges or otherwise. IBM may share this challenge information, as well as your name, email address and country with our suppliers in order to provide the Program and tailor the Program content to your preferences.
Through your participation in the Program, you may have the opportunity to work with other Advocates on the Program website or in one or more "AdvocateHubs," and earn points ("Award Points") by completing specific activities (or challenges) as indicated on the Platform. IBM in its sole discretion awards the Award Points and determines the Award Point values associated with each challenge you participate in. Such values are subject to change. IBM may reset available Award Points for any reason in its discretion, such as to reset the Program or because an Advocate has not participated in the Program recently. Award Points can be redeemed as described below in these Terms of Use.
Award Points have no monetary value and do not form the basis of a monetary claim against IBM or vested rights. Advocates may not rely upon the continued availability of any award, award level, premium or other benefit. Advocates shall be responsible for any taxes or other charges imposed governmental authority in respect to any rewards. This Program is void where prohibited by law.
Award Points are personal and may not be transferred or assigned, and any such transfer or assignment is void and may result in termination of participation and the affected Award Points. Award Points earned in the Program are not valid in, and may not be used in combination with, any other program offered by IBM or third parties. Award Points earned within different AdvocateHubs cannot be combined or aggregated within the Program.
General requirements for program participation
Enrollment, membership and all related benefits of Program are offered at IBM's sole discretion. To participate in the Program, you must provide your name and email address, and you consent to having your first and last name or email address displayed on the leaderboard, discussion and activity board sections of the Platform showing the number of Award Points you have accumulated. If you do not wish to have your first and last name or Award Points displayed on the leaderboard, you may change this setting by selecting 'Remove Me' within the leaderboard section of the Platform.
Employees of a government or a government-owned entity may participate in the Program by completing challenges and earning points; however, employees of a government or a government-owned entity may not redeem Award Points for any rewards or give their points to any other participant of the Program at any time.
Program Changes, Cancellation, or Account Termination
The Program may be cancelled, suspended or changed by IBM at any time. If IBM suspends or terminates the Program, notice will be provided through email from an IBM administrator. IBM assumes no liability to Advocates whatsoever, including without limitation, liability as a result of changes to or termination of the Program, or any other loss, injury or damage caused by any Award Points supplied or requested in connection with the Program.
IBM may suspend, cancel or terminate your account at our sole discretion, at any time, with or without cause. Upon any such suspension, cancelation or termination, you will be given notice at the latest email address you have provided in your Program account, and your right to use the Program and accrue Award Points ends immediately. In the event that IBM deems that you have violated these Terms of Use, then notwithstanding the foregoing, IBM may suspend or terminate your Program account with notice. In addition, IBM may disable your Program account when the Program ends.
You may discontinue your participation in the Program at any time by contacting an IBM administrator via the Program's messaging function or by emailing ivipr@us.ibm.com. IBM will thereafter close your Program account.
Your Content
The Program may allow you to interact with us and other Advocates by posting your own content within the Program, such as on the Platform. " Content" means anything you post in the Program, including opinions, expressions, points of view, articles, videos, messages, photos, advice or any other information.
As between you and us, you own all right and interest in the Content subject to the license granted in this paragraph. By posting Content, you grant to IBM and its affiliates a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable and sublicensable license to use, copy, modify, distribute, publish and process your Content, without any further consent, notice, or compensation to you or any other third party. We will obtain your consent if we want to give others the right to publish your Content outside of the Program. However, other Advocates within the Program may access and share your Content consistent with the functionality of the Program.
If anyone brings a claim against us related to your actions or any Content you post to the Forum or within the Program, you will indemnify us from all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) that we suffer arising out of claim.
Feedback
We appreciate your thoughts about the Program. By submitting suggestions or other feedback about the Program to us, you agree that we can use and share (but do not have to use or share) such feedback for any purpose without compensation to you.
Redemption of Rewards
You may redeem Award Points within the Platform by selecting a reward for which you have enough points on the Platform. Rewards may be redeemed on the Platform or on other third party sites, as determined by IBM. Rewards may include tangible rewards such as merchandise and gift cards or rewards for intangible items such as discussions with IBM staff and other rewards at the sole discretion of IBM. At this time, physical rewards and gift cards are only available to Advocates located in the United States of America. Advocates outside the United States of America can still earn rewards, climb the leaderboards, and redeem them for other types of non-physical perks, such as time with a product specialist or an expert team consultation.
If you are an employee or immediate family member of a government or a government-owned entity, you may not redeem Award Points for any rewards or give your points to any other participant of the Program at any time. Further, you may not redeem your Award Points if for a gift card or other tangible reward would violate any local law or regulation, or if it would violate the policy of your employer or other applicable organization.
You may redeem up to 59,999 Award Points per year, although you may continue to earn additional Award Points. If you wish to redeem more than 59,999 Award Points in a year, please contact an IBM Program administrator by emailing ivipr@us.ibm.com.
By participating in the Program, you agree that you will:
(a) be at least 18 years old;
(b) choose a strong password and keep your password keep your password secure and confidential. You are responsible for anything that happens through your account;
(c) use the Program in a professional manner and in accordance with any usage guidelines we may make available from time to time;
(d) provide accurate and correct information about yourself to us and keep it updated, including using your real name in your Program profile; and
(e) only post Content that does not violate the law or anyone else's rights (including somebody's intellectual property rights).
In addition, by participating in the Program you agree that you will not:
(a) create an account for somebody else;
(b) use or attempt to use another Advocate's account, or collaborate or coordinate with another Advocate in order to earn Award Points;
(c) harass, abuse, or harm another person;
(d) scrape or copy profiles and information of others through any means;
(e) act in an unlawful, libelous, abusive, obscene, discriminatory, or otherwise in an objectionable manner (to be determined by IBM in our sole discretion);
(f) post Content that you do not have the right to post;
(g) violate our intellectual property rights or use our intellectual property rights in anyway other than as expressly permitted by us;
(h) post any Content that constitutes unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, such as junk mail, spam, or any other form of solicitation that we have not authorized;
(i) post any Content or otherwise interact with the Program in any way that contains and/or spreads viruses, worms, or any other harmful code;
(j) copy or use the Content of others, in connection with a service that competes with the Program;
(k) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, decipher, or otherwise attempt to derive all or part of the source code for the Program or any related technology;
(l) use bots or other automated methods to access the Program;
(m) monitor the availability, performance, or functionality of the Program for any competitive purpose;
(n) engage in framing, mirroring, or otherwise simulating the appearance or function of the Program;
(o) rent, lease, loan, trade, or sell/re-sell access to the Program or any related information, data or Content;
(p) imply or state that you are affiliated with us or endorsed by us without our prior written consent;
(q) remove any intellectual property rights notices in the Program;
(r) collect, use, copy, or transfer any third party Content without our consent; or
(s) override or attempt to override any security features of the Program.
Compliance with Terms
You must comply with these Terms of Use to participate in the Program. If IBM determines in its sole discretion that you have violated these Terms of Use, you may be disqualified from the Program and any other current or future IBM promotions or programs. IBM is not obligated to provide a reason for your Program account closure. All questions or disputes regarding the Program, including, with limitation, those involving eligibility, participation, fraud and abuse, will be resolved by IBM, whose decisions shall be binding on Program participants.
How We May Change the Program Terms
IBM may change these Terms of Use at any time. IBM will post any revised Terms of Use to the on the "Terms and Conditions" page of the Platform. Your continued participation in the Program means you have accepted the revised Terms of Use. We recommend that you periodically review the Terms of Use to stay up to date on any changes.
We provide the Program, including the Platform and the Award Points, "as-is," with no warranties or guarantees whatsoever. We and our affiliates, resellers, distributors and vendors (collectively, the "IBM Parties") expressly disclaim, to the fullest extent permitted by law all express, implied, statutory, and other warranties, guarantees, or representations, including without limitation, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of proprietary and intellectual property rights. Without limitation, IBM makes no warranty or guarantee that information available from the Program, or access to the Program, will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of warranties, so the exclusions in this paragraph may not apply to you.
You can recover from the IBM Parties only direct damages up to US $100.00. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will IBM be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever related to or arising from the Program (including the Platform and Award Points) or of any site or resource linked to, referenced, or accessed through the Program, or for the use or downloading of, or access to, any materials, information, products or services accessed through the Program, including without limitation, any lost profits, business interruption, lost savings or loss of programs or other data.
This exclusion and waiver of liability applies (i) even if IBM is expressly advised of the possibility of such damages, and (ii) to all causes of action, whether based on contract, warranty, tort, or any other legal theories. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you.
All terms of these Terms of Use apply to the maximum extent permitted by relevant law. If any provision of these Terms of Use is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. This is the entire agreement between you and us regarding your use of the Program. It supersedes any prior contract or statements regarding your use of the Program. The section titles in the contract do not limit the other terms of this contract. The parties agree to the application of the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles.
We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms of Use, in whole or in part, at any time with notice to you. You may not assign these Terms of Use to any other person. Any attempt by you to do so is void. You may not transfer to anyone else, either temporarily or permanently, any rights to use the Program or any part of the Program.
The contract formed by these Terms of Use is solely for your and our benefit. It is not for the benefit of any other person.
You may not bring a legal action arising out of or related to these Terms of Use more than two years after the cause of action arose.
We may send you information in connection with the Program and additional information the law requires us to send you. We may provide required information to you by e-mail at the e-mail address you specified when you signed up for the IBM Advocate program. Notices emailed to you will be deemed given and received when the email is sent. If you do not consent to receive any notices electronically, you must stop using the Program.
It is the policy of IBM to respect the intellectual property of others and thus respond to effective notices of alleged infringement of copyright material that is included in the Program. If you are alleging that copyrighted material may have been or is being infringed, you may notify IBM by following the procedures outlined on IBM's Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notices page, available here: https://www.ibm.com/legal/us/en/dmca.html.