Membership Terms & Conditions

Red Hat Society (“RHS”) Policy – Terms and Conditions

The policies contained in these terms and conditions have been implemented to protect our Members and the name, identity, goodwill, brand, trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property and vital interests of RHS. Unauthorized use of RHS intellectual property – even with good intentions – is a violation of state and federal law. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions may result in legal action by RHS. These terms and conditions are subject to amendment or revision by RHS without prior notice.

Red Hat Society membership entitles members to:

• One full year Membership in the Red Hat Society
• One personalized Membership card
• One year’s rights and privileges, including:
  • Full access to the password-protected Red Hat Society website
• Digital or Email Communications, including:
  • Monthly newsletter
  • Digital Red Hatter Matters magazine
• All pertinent benefits and discounts
• Access to view RHS events, receive event invitations, and RSVP to invitations
• Participate in Red Hat Society sponsored events
• The right to use the Red Hat Society Chapter Logo on member materials, following the guidelines given in the Red Hat Society Logo Usage Policy
• Other privileges, which may be subject to change

Membership Dues

All Chapters and Members must ensure their Membership dues are renewed annually via mail, Internet or phone payment on or before their anniversary date, which is the day a Chapter or Member first joined RHS. Upon renewal, Members will receive the current year’s Membership kit.

If a renewal fee is not received by the expiration date, the Chapter or Member will lose all rights and privileges pertaining to Membership. Membership dues are used by RHS to support operational.

Membership fees are used to support a full time office where all phone calls and emails are answered as quickly and efficiently as possible and members are assisted personally with questions and concerns whenever possible. (Operational costs incurred include: employee salaries, insurance, taxes,  phone bills, internet bills, programming fees, computers, office supplies and furnishings, etc.). Your chapter will be sent a notice of expiration by email prior to chapter listing expiration. If a chapter renewal fee is not received by the chapter expiration date, the chapter will lose all of the privileges pertaining thereto. A grace period will be permitted so that chapters will have ample time to renew before a lapse of status occurs.

Members of Red Hat Society members must not:

• Engage in negotiations with any third party on behalf of the Red Hat Society.
• Distribute any type of printed materials in the name of the Red Hat Society which has not been supplied or given previous approval by The Red Hat Society.
• Use the name of the Red Hat Society, the Red Hat Society logo, Ruby RedHat, or any other intellectual property belonging to the Red Hat Society in conjunction with any unethical, immoral or otherwise inappropriate agencies or affiliations.
• Use information from this web site (redhatsociety.com) or from any other source to form email “spam” lists or solicitation lists of any kind, or related to any activity or event.
• Use their Red Hat Society affiliation or the Red Hat Society name as a means to advertise the sale of commercial products or services.
• Use the Site and/or any other vehicle of communication provided on this web site to harass, misinform, mislead or confuse others.
• Violate the Event Policies of the Red Hat Society as stated on this web site.
• Present their chapter as part of an independent organization. A chapter must always present itself as a chapter of the Red Hat Society. If the chapter has a chapter web site, the chapter name indicating its affiliation with the Red Hat Society and a link to redhatsociety.com must be prominently displayed on the first page, without any “scrolling” necessary.
• Use their Red Hat Society affiliation to solicit membership in an organization or to infringe upon which appears to be in direct competition with, or to be an infringement upon the intellectual property of, the Red Hat Society.

In an effort to ensure the continued Legacy of our Society, RHS expects all Members to keep their Membership dues current. If, for unforeseen circumstances, a Member does not pay on time and calls or mails in a payment at a later date, their Membership is retroactive to their original anniversary date and is good from one year from the anniversary date.

The Red Hat Society reserves all rights to terminate a Member’s status based on a failure to comply with any or all of the above terms and conditions and/or for improprieties which give the appearance of a failure to comply with any or all of the above terms and conditions. Membership fees will be forfeited by the offending Member(s) in the case of discontinued Chapter/Membership service.

Failure to comply with the above terms and conditions may result in legal action by The Red Hat Society and/or the discontinuance of any or all Red Hat Society services. Memberhsip fees and / or membership fees will be forfeited by the offending member(s) in the case of discontinued membership service.

In the event that an individual chooses to discontinue membership in The Red Hat Society, she should not use Red Hat Society intellectual property, including but not limited to its logo in any way. Furthermore, such individuals should not use Red Hat Society trade dress colors, red and purple, pink and lavender, or combinations thereof in any way which would confuse the general public to believe that they continue to be associated with or represent the Red Hat Society or its members.

Membership fees are non-refundable.

Website Terms and Conditions

The following conditions apply to all Red Hat Society sites and domains, including but not limited to: redhatsociety.com, .redhatsocietymarketplace.com, shopredhatsociety.com.

1. These sites and domains or social media platforms must not be used to sell or promote any commercial product or service, or by any merchant or web site offering commercial goods and/or services without prior written permission from The Red Hat Society, Inc.
2. These sites and domains or social media platforms must not be used to disseminate any information in the name of the Red Hat Society which has not been supplied or given previous approval by The Red Hat Society.
3. The property of RHS includes, but is not limited to, the following: the name of the Red Hat Society, the Red Hat Society logo, Ruby RedHat, and any other intellectual property belonging to the Red Hat Society, including, but not limited to, the contents of all Red Hat Society sites and domains listed above, is the property of The Red Hat Society, and must not be used on any other web site without prior written permission from The Red Hat Society, nor must it be used in conjunction with any unethical, immoral or obscene materials, communications or web site content.
4. Use of information from any Site, social media platform or Domain to form e-mail “spam” lists or solicitation lists of any kind, or related to any activity or event is strictly prohibited.
5. Use of any of the written content of any Site, social media platform or Domain on any other web site or printed material without prior written permission from The Red Hat Society. is prohibited.
6. Use of these sites and domains and/or any other vehicle of communication provided on any Red Hat Society site or domain to harass, deliberately misinform, or deliberately mislead or confuse others is strictly prohibited.
7. Use of “The Queen Member Board,” “Red Hat Chat” and/or any other vehicle of communication provided on Sites, social media platform and Domains to harass or deliberately misinform, mislead or confuse others is prohibited.

Failure to comply with the above terms and conditions may result in legal action by the Red Hat Society.

These terms and conditions are subject to amendment without prior notice. Membership fees are non-refundable.

Logo and Trademark Usage

The Red Hat Society name is a registered trademark of The Red Hat Society. Our logo above the hat and sash, the sash alone, and Ruby Red Hat and other names and marks are also copyrighted by and/or trademarks of The Red Hat Society protected under law. The Red Hat Society logo pictured above is the exclusive intellectual property of The Red Hat Society.

Membership in the Red Hat Society does not give a person the right to use the name, logo, Ruby RedHat, or any other copyright or trademark other than as expressly authorized by RHS. However, membership does give an individual special privileges with respect to the use of the Red Hat Society chapter logo and trademark, as delineated in the paragraphs to follow. Any person or group that uses the Red Hat Society name, logo, chapter logo, or Ruby RedHat graphic for profit without prior written authorization by The Red Hat Society will be subject to prosecution under law.

Commercial use of our intellectual property without prior written authorization from RHS will subject the infringer to prosecution under the law. Such authorization may be obtained in appropriate circumstances by contacting HATquarters.

Chapter Logo

The Red Hat Society Chapter Logo may be used by members of Red Hat Society chapters on Red Hat Society chapter web sites, name tags, chapter rosters, chapter newsletters, chapter event fliers, and the like without special permission, provided that it is not used to market or endorse goods or services of any kind, used to defame the Red Hat Society in any way, or used in connection with objectionable material, as determined by The Red Hat Society. We do however specify that any chapter member using the chapter logo must include the name of her chapter above, beside or below the Red Hat Society Chapter logo to avoid confusion.

For Example: “The Good Golly, Miss Molly” Chapter of Red Hat Society.

A downloadable picture of the Red Hat Society Chapter Logo graphic is available online to Supporting Members. If you are a Chapter Queen or a Supporting Member, you may download it at any time by clicking here.

Any use of Red Hat Society copyrights or trademarks beyond those specified above require prior written approval from The Red Hat Society. Such permission is not regularly given but may be obtained in exceptional and appropriate circumstances by contacting the Red Hat Society HatQuarters by emailing [email protected].

Chapter Event Policies

Policy Regarding Red Hat Society Chapter-Sponsored Events

RHS publishes an Event Calendar to help Chapters publicize their events. This is a communication tool only, designed to support our Members, and does not constitute RHS sponsorship or endorsement of the posted events. Official RHS events are planned by HATquarters and promoted on the RHS website.

RHS Chapters may:

1. Plan local events which involve other chapters or interested individuals.
2. Use their specific chapter names to advertise and promote such gatherings.
3. Notify HatQuarters of the event if it is large enough that it may conflict with a Red Hat Society event already in the planning stages.

To ensure we are always promoting fun and friendship. Chapter events must not involve anything which may be considered questionable in nature and using their RHS affiliation to publicize such events.

EVENT POLICY

HATquarters plans to schedule national and smaller regional gatherings.  In the interest of fairness we will try to spread these around the US and Canada in different places, to make it easier for everyone to eventually attend one of our big events without having to travel too far.

 

Because of the number of Red Hatters, we realize that we won’t be able to take our show on the road to everyone as quickly as we would like.  In order to spread friendship and enjoyment of each other, we encourage Red Hatters to get together groups of chapters from time to time.

 

Although The Red Hat Society has no rules, it has become apparent that we do need to set forward a clear policy for an event publicized in our name or to our members as “Red Hat” events.  This is the only way to ensure that we remain unified and recognizable as part of one group, while avoiding exploitation of our members.  Following are guidelines for any gathering associated with The Red Hat Society:

1. The hosting chapter/chapters need to notify HATquarters regarding the date and nature of the event, as well as the methods of publicity to be used. We will make every attempt to avoid scheduling one of our national events too close in date or location to the one you are planning.
2. Any publicity must state clearly that the host is a specific CHAPTER of The Red Hat Society, not The Red Hat Society itself.  If The RHS logo is used, it must be used very clearly in conjunction with the name of the CHAPTER hosting the event, so that it is abundantly clear that The RHS itself is not the host.

Example:  “The Good Golly, Miss Molly” chapter of The Red Hat Society presents·.”

(If the name of the chapter already contains the words “Red Hat Society” as part of its name, the announcement should still make it clear that this is a CHAPTER of The RHS.

Example:  “The Red Hat Society Honeys”, a CHAPTER of The Red Hat Society, presents·.”

3. If other area chapters are to be invited, an announcement should be placed on the RHS Event Calendar on The Red Hat Society website.
4. If the event is to be held under The Red Hat Society name, we request that only official chapters be allowed to attend.
5. Any negotiations with outside parties including hotels, travel agencies, etc., as well as any financial guarantees required must be Done in the organizers own name/names, not in the name of The Red Hat Society.
6. The RHS is a social club, and membership is not to be seen as an opportunity for business networking.  Our premise does not allow for the promotion of each otherˆs businesses or other commercial enterprises for the profit of any individual or business.  Any profit derived from an event put on by an individual chapter of the Red Hat Society must be accounted for by those putting it on to the chapter she belongs to and used for the benefit of the chapter as a whole.
7. A space needs to be made available for HATquarters travel team to promote future Red Hat Society sponsored events.
8. If you would like a representative from HATquarters to attend in person or virtually, please contact [email protected]

HATquarters sincerely appreciate your adherence to these guidelines.  We are so happy to have you and your friends join us in our march to take over the world.

Membership Terms & Conditions

“Logo and Trademark Usage” located at the bottom of the webpage. If items you would like to see bearing the Chapter logo are not available in the Red Hat Society Store, you may secure the rights to produce such items for your Chapter’s use only.

NO TOLERANCE ZONE:

1) Mean Girls Action is Grounds for Immediate Removal.
2)Social Media Outlet Behavior will be Closely Monitored for those who engage in negative, rude, disrespectful attacks on another RHS Member, Hatquarters, RHS Programs..
3)Public display of any of the above mentioned are grounds for removal without notice.

*Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but if it has the power to hurt another member or RHS Hatquarters & Staff, that opinion is best kept to Ones Self.

Termination of Membership

Termination of Membership or Chapter Failure to comply with the above terms and conditions may result in appropriate action, including but not limited, to discontinuance of any or all RHS rights, privileges and services. RHS reserves all rights to terminate Membership or Chapter status based on a failure to comply with any of these terms and conditions and/or for behavior which RHS determines is inconsistent with any of these terms and conditions.

If Membership or Chapter status is terminated, the Member or Chapter may no longer use any intellectual property belonging to RHS and may not use its trade dress colors of red/purple and pink/lavender in combinations or any way which would confuse the public regarding association with or representation of RHS or its Members.

Chapter and/or Queen/Membership fees will be forfeited in the case of discontinued Chapter/Membership status.

These Terms and Conditions are subject to amendment without prior notice