Membership Terms & Conditions

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
  • Quarterly digital Red Hatter Matters magazine
• All pertinent benefits and discounts
• Access to view Mon Tonton 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 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, rent, 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, Inc.
• 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.montonton.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 Mon Tonton 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, Inc. 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.montonton.com, .redhatsocietymarketplace.com, shopredhatsociety.com.

1. These sites and domains 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. This site 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, Inc.
3. 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, Inc., and must not be used on any other web site without prior written permission from The Red Hat Society, Inc., nor must it be used in conjunction with any unethical, immoral or obscene materials, communications or web site content.
4. Use of information from this web site 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 content of any Red Hat Society site or domain on any other web site or printed material without prior written permission from The Red Hat Society, Inc. 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.

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

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, Inc. 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, Inc. protected under law. The Red Hat Society logo pictured above is the exclusive intellectual property of The Red Hat Society, Inc. 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. 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, Inc. will be subject to prosecution under law.

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, Inc. 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 Supportings 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, Inc. Such permission is not regularly given but may be obtained in exceptional and appropriate circumstances by contacting the Red Hat Society at its HatQuarters in Fullerton California.

Chapter Website Policies

The following policies are part of Membership Terms and Conditions for those who wish to create Red Hat Society chapter web sites. Please review Membership Terms and Conditions in conjunction with the content herein.

1. Chapter web sites must not represent the chapter as part of an independent organization.
2. It must be clear from looking at the web site that it represents a chapter of the Red Hat Society and that it is not the Red Hat Society web site. The chapter name indicating such affiliation and a link to redhatsociety.montonton.com must be present on the home page of the chapter web site. This avoids confusion for those who are attempting to find the main Red Hat Society web site.
3. A chapter should not use the poem, “Warning”, by Jenny Joseph on its web site or violate copyright or trademark law in any way.
4. A chapter web site may not be used to misrepresent or malign the Red Hat Society or any of its members or other chapters, and must not libel or defame anyone.
5. Chapter web sites must not be used for the purpose of selling goods or services. A chapter must not use the Red Hat Society name, logo, or any other copyright or trademark of the Red Hat Society on a web site that sells goods or services which are not offered or licensed by The Red Hat Society, Inc.
6. There should be no direct link from a Red Hat Society chapter page to other sites offering goods or services aimed at members of the Red Hat Society, which are not offered or licensed by The Red Hat Society, Inc.
7. Chapters are welcome to use the Red Hat Society Chapter Logo graphic on their chapter web sites. The logo file is provided below.

Chapter Event Policies

Policy Regarding Red Hat Society Chapter-Sponsored Events

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.

Red Hat Society chapters may not:

1. Plan events which involve negotiations with outside parties, such as hotels or travel agencies, etc. using the Red Hat Society name.
2. Publicize a chapter-sponsored event as a Red Hat Society event.
3. Plan events which may be considered questionable in nature and use their Red Hat Society affiliation to publicize such events.

Example 1 (An example of how to do it):

Queen Mother “A ” decides to plan a train hoot to a neighboring town and she wants to invite other local Red Hat Society chapters to join her group. She publicizes the event by stating that her chapter, The Purple Plumes of the Red Hat Society, is planning to go on a train hoot. The train company wants a guaranteed minimum number of tickets sold if they are going to add an extra car to the train for A’s friends. A’s chapter guarantees that if 300 people don’t come, the Purple Plumes chapter will be the responsible party to pay whatever fees are due. “A” makes sure that the train company knows that this is The Purple Plumes’ responsibility, not the responsibility of The Red Hat Society, Inc.

Example 2 (An example of how NOT to do it):

Queen Mother “B” decides that she’s going to plan a big regional event. She’s going to call this one the “Red Hat Society Northern Regional Convention” because so many people are bound to show up.

She contacts a local hotel to arrange for a discounted rate for her attendees. In order to get the rate, she has to guarantee that a certain number of rooms will be sold. She agrees to the minimum number of rooms and tells the hotel that this is a Red Hat Society event. She forgets to mention that this event is sponsored by her chapter, which will be responsible, and is not a Red Hat Society event, and that she is not an official representative of The Red Hat Society, Inc.

As it turns out, the number of attendees isn’t as great as “B” had hoped. She ends up owing the hotel $10,000.00. Since she can’t pay it, the hotel calls the Red Hat Society, Inc. and demands payment.

Example 3 (Another example of how NOT to do it):

Queen Mother “X” decides to take a walk on the wild side with her chapter. They’re going to the local strip bar. She invites other Red Hat Society chapters to attend and tells the local newspaper about the event. The newspaper publishes an article about the Red Hat Society that would make anyone blush.

We hope that these seemingly silly but all too real examples clarify things a bit.

IMPORTANT: We would very much appreciate it if members planning a large event (involving more than 500 people) would notify Red Hat Society HatQuarters before proceeding, as we may already have an event slated for a similar time and place. This eliminates the risk involved on both sides. If you have thought about putting on a large event and inviting the chapters in your region but have not yet begun serious planning, please contact the RHS via email or phone first (email to events@redhatsociety.com–skip-themes, phone 714-738-0001). That way, we can be sure that any events in the planning phases at HatQuarters will not conflict or compete with your plans. Or, if you’d like, we may be able to collaborate with you on the planning.

These Terms and Conditions are subject to amendment without prior notice.