Terms & Conditions – Government Social Media

Last updated as of 06.30.22 to add the following GSM Credits terms link. Read supplementary terms applicable to use of “GSM Credits”.

Government Social Media LLC (referred to here as “GSM” “we” “us” or “our”), a Nevada limited liability company, operates the websites located at governmentsocialmedia.com, members.governmentsocialmedia.com, gsmcon.com, s4scon.com and any additional subdomains thereof. We also link to these Terms & Conditions on other third-party platforms that may use the domain of the platform provider. Your use of these sites and platforms, including creating a profile or making a purchase, indicates you accept and agree to these Terms & Conditions. Please also read our Privacy Policy to understand how we collect, protect and use your information.

BY ACCESSING OUR SITES AND PLATFORMS, OR PLACING AN ORDER OR MAKING PURCHASES FROM OUR SITE OR PLATFORM, YOU AGREE YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE AND AGREE TO ACCEPT AND BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS. YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OR ARE NOT OF THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THE JURISDICTION FROM WHERE YOU ACCESS THE SITE.

EXCEPT FOR LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED HEREIN, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION, OR TO A TRIAL BY JURY. PLEASE SEE SECTION 8 (LAW AND ARBITRATION), FOR MORE INFORMATION.

We reserve the right to amend these Terms & Conditions from time to time without prior notice to you. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and your continued use of the sites and platforms after we post revised Terms & Conditions constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to such changes. You should review these Terms & Conditions each time you use our sites and platforms. In the event that we make material changes to these Terms & Conditions, we will let you know by posting a prominent notice on the sites and platforms or by sending you an email to your last known email address, or other similar method of contacting you.

Sections in this Policy

About Our Platforms & Third Party Terms
Membership
Virtual Tickets
Online Event Platform Rules
In-Person Tickets
In-Person Event Rules
Limitation of Liability
Law and Arbitration
Other Provisions
Marketing & Personal Information
Changes
Contact Us

1. About Our Platforms & Third Party Terms

The websites GSM operates may include a collection of third party integrations, hosting companies, servers and subdomains under the GSM umbrella of brands, including GSMCON, S4SCON, SocialGov Masterclass, Golden Post Awards, GovGirl, GSM professional association and any other brands owned by GSM. Your use of our web properties may also be governed by any end-user Terms & Conditions implemented by the third party platforms we use.

Our webpages located at governmentsocialmedia.com are hosted on a platform by Kajabi, LLC, a California limited liability company. Please also review the Kajabi® website terms of use at https://newkajabi.com/policies/terms which also governs use of the site. Our member network pages located at members.governmentsocialmedia.com are hosted by Mighty Software, Inc., and other subdomains and URLs may be hosted on other platforms. Our social media profiles, accounts, groups and pages are also hosted on third party platforms. Note that the information you choose to post on social networks, groups, chat rooms and other mediums may be public record and social media sites and the privacy terms of each network should be reviewed and accepted by anyone choosing to connect with us on those platforms.

2. Membership

GSM operates the Government Social Media professional association as well as a gated network for social media practitioners (both, eligible “Members”). We reserve the right to limit your use of our sites or terminate your membership at any time if you violate these terms.

A. Eligibility

This is a government-only network and professional association. Unless otherwise officially noted, Members must be employed by a government agency and the other institutions described in our current Membership Guidebook. All other profiles are subject to removal by GSM.

B. Non-Refundable

Memberships may not be transferred to another person. All sales are final and there are no refunds, prorated or otherwise, for memberships canceled or terminated.

C. Member Code of Conduct

In support of our mission to support the professionalism, integrity and credibility of the social media manager profession, our Members in the network and professional association are held to a code of conduct. We reserve the right to moderate and remove content that violates these expectations, including termination of membership. We accept no responsibility for the opinions and information posted by Members or other third parties on our sites.

Members agree to the following terms and conditions:

Demonstrate and be dedicated to the highest ideals of ethical integrity in your role as a public sector employee
Respect and show proper consideration for the privacy of citizens, colleagues and other Members
Be respectful to others and treat others with civility, even in disagreement. Attempt to resolve disagreements and different views with other Members constructively
Never unlawfully harass or mistreat other Members
Never use data you obtain from your GSM membership, including contacts in the membership directory, for your own gain, marketing, consulting or for-profit work
While this is a Member-only network, you agree to comply with your state/local public records laws when discussing official government business, refraining from including private information on citizens, etc.

Additionally, users of our sites, platforms and networks should not, and you agree not to, post any of the following: Personal attacks or threats, comments or content that promotes or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, national origin, physical or intellectual disability or sexual orientation; obscene language; spam or commercial material, comments or content that advocates illegal activity; content or comments that infringe on copyrights or trademarks; personally identifiable medical information; information that may compromise the safety, security or proceedings of public systems or any criminal or civil investigations; comments or content that violates the public or private rights of any other person; comments or content that impersonate any other person or entity; anything that interferes with or disrupts the operation of our websites; files or links to files containing malicious code, viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer or network.

D. Use of Content & Resources Contributed by Members

Any content you upload to our sites, including specialized areas such as the COVID-19 SocialGov Hub and professional association, must be your own work or you must have permission from your agency to share the resource. You may not upload the works from others and/or your agency without having approval from the author to do so. By uploading to our sites, you expressly give permission for others to download the content you share.

Copyrighted material must not be used without permission. If you wish to reuse or adapt content downloaded from the member-only networks, reach out to the member who uploaded the content in order to determine to what extent you can use, repurpose or adapt the material.

You are not authorized to use or adapt any content in the Member-only networks for commercial purposes, such as for use in consulting or to share with outside companies.

Content provided in the Member-only networks is for your information only. GSM and its officers do not take responsibility or hold liability for the resources shared by Members in the Member-only areas, or for their use or adaptation. We reserve the right to monitor and remove inappropriate material and to change this policy at any time. Violation of our Terms & Conditions may result in a revoked membership status.

3. Virtual Tickets

Virtual Tickets may be purchased for both Online-Only Events and In-Person Events. Purchasers and participants must, and You expressly, agree to the following terms. Additionally, official sponsors must follow our sponsor terms & conditions.

Refer to the Online Event Platform Rules section below for the terms of using the virtual platform.

A. Cancelation & Refunds (Virtual Tickets)

Virtual tickets and upgrades are nonrefundable (except in the below circumstances as noted), but may be transferred to anyone you choose in your place. See the TRANSFERS section for requirements.
In the event that the virtual event is rescheduled for any reason, participants’ will be informed of the new dates and able to attend the event.
If the virtual event is cancelled, and not rescheduled, your ticket cost may be eligible for a full refund.

B. Transfers (Virtual Tickets)

You may transfer your virtual ticket to someone you choose in your place (does not have to represent the same agency/company), if you follow the below procedures.
You must complete a transfer request by the deadline, which is 5pm Pacific Time one business day prior to the event. Please email [email protected] to request the form, so we can ensure we get the platform login credentials to the new participant.
Important: If you use your event platform login credentials, provided to you prior to the event, even to log in once, you will not be eligible to transfer your ticket to someone else.

4. Online Event Platform Rules

A. Session Recordings

Post-conference access to recorded sessions is available to view online for 90 days after the event. You may not edit, modify, or redistribute the session recordings or materials provided during the event without prior consent from both the presenter(s) and GSM.

B. Event Communications & Participant Profiles

Participants will receive transactional emails and may receive marketing emails from GSM and event sponsors. Our Privacy Policy states how we collect, protect and use your information and should be reviewed prior to making any event purchase.

Participants may be represented on the virtual event platform by their name, profile picture, and additional information they wish to share. Our virtual event platforms allow you to participate without being visible to other participants, however this will reduce your overall networking and collaboration experience. Your profile does not disclose your email, phone number, or other personal contact information by default. You may opt to share certain additional details – please see our Privacy Policy to learn how GSM may use screenshots or footage of virtual events in promotional or marketing materials.

C. Personal & Financial Data Security

Any personal information or data supplied to GSM as part of the registration and/or purchase process will be collected, stored and used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Credit card information is processed via a secure third party service, and no financial data is retained by Government Social Media LLC.

No participants are allowed to scrape, pull, data mine or reuse other participants’ contact data for purposes other than interacting with them appropriately throughout the event. Participants may not use contact data for sharing with vendors, cold calls, making their own database, sending bulk mail, or any similar purposes.

D. Event Platform Limits of Liability

GSM will not be held liable for participants who are unable to access or use the platform due to issues with their personal viewing environment, including, but not limited to, hardware, software, internet or power issues in the participant’s local area. GSM is not responsible for any impacts to the network, hardware, software or peripherals that participants use to access the virtual platform, including malware, viruses, and any other adverse impacts beyond the control of GSM.

The views, information, and opinions expressed during the virtual event by presenters or participants are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of GSM. GSM is not responsible for and does not verify the accuracy of any of the information contained in the sessions. The primary purpose of our events are to educate and inform. Any information disseminated during our events does not constitute professional advice or service. GSM virtual events are available for individual, non-commercial use only.

E. Changes to Program

Speakers, topics and time slot changes may occur in the program. GSM will not be held liable for such changes, although we will try to secure other speakers to participate in the program.

F. No Solicitation

Non-sponsor attendees may not actively solicit services, products, consulting or other business to any participants, including through messages, chats, and other interactive features such as video meetings. Vendors may register as official event sponsors or exhibitors, and are bound by the rules of their Sponsorship Agreement.

G. Videotaping/Recording by Participants

No sessions or any part of the event program (including, but not limited to, general sessions, keynotes, breakout sessions, chat rooms and other interactive features such as video chats and meetings) may be video or audio recorded by any event participants (whether recording for personal use or for social media), unless explicitly given permission for a particular segment by GSM event organizers. You agree to observe the foregoing restrictions.

H. Online Event Participant Code of Conduct

All attendees, speakers, sponsors, media and staff must be considerate and respectful of others. GSM reserves the right to revoke, without refund, the login credentials of any attendee in violation of any of our Terms & Conditions or policies. In addition to these Terms & Conditions, speakers and sponsors also have additional terms outlined in separate agreements.

GSM encourages participation in the chat and polling, opinions, and collaboration throughout the conference. The intent of the conference is for education and information. Participants are to be mindful of other participants, presenters, and moderators during interactive sessions. Respect for other opinions is important to the success of this event. Online chats during live sessions should be used to discuss the topic at hand. GSM has the right to remove profile pictures, backgrounds or any images or video and any text that GSM deems indecent or obscene.

GSM has the right to revoke, without refund, the login credentials for anyone who spams or is reported for harassment through chat or messaging features. Participants must be mindful of any public records or laws their agency is obligated to follow along with any standards their agency has set forth when representing such agency.

I. Platform Use

Use of the Virtual Event platform is intended for registered participants only and you do not have permission to share publicly, share login credentials, or re-sell any portion of the platform or content.

You understand and agree that you may need to accept an End User Policy or similar agreement with the 3rd-party online event platform provider in order to use such platform to participate in the event.

5. In-Person Tickets

In-Person Tickets are for physical attendance at a GSM event. Some premium levels of In-Person Tickets may include virtual access as a ticket feature, which is not considered a separate Virtual Ticket.

Purchasers and participants, and You expressly, agree to the following terms. Additionally, official sponsors must follow our sponsor terms & conditions.

Refer to the In-Person Event Rules section below for additional requirements for In-Person ticket holders.

A. Transfers (In-Person Tickets)

Your attendee ticket is transferable to another individual if you cannot attend. You must submit a Transfer Request Form by the stated deadline and indicate information about your ticket and the person you wish to transfer the ticket to. There is no fee for ticket transfers. Email [email protected] to request the form.

B. Cancelation & Refund Deadlines (In-Person Tickets)

Attendee ticket refunds and add-on workshop refunds may be issued, provided you submit our Refund Request Form by midnight by the stated deadline. Email [email protected] to request the form.

Cancelation Request Submitted | Refund Eligibility

Refund request submitted more than 90 days prior to event | Full registration fee refunded, minus a $50 non-refundable processing fee.
Refund request submitted between 90 days and 60 days prior to event | 50% of registration fee refunded.
Less than 60 days prior to the event | No refunds will be issued after this date for cancelations or no-shows, but transfers to another person are still allowed.

C. Event Cancelation (In-Person Tickets)

We reserve the right to reschedule, postpone or cancel any event, whether or not due to events beyond the control of the conference organizers (including but not limited to events known as force majeure, which include epidemics, pandemics, virus and disease outbreaks, natural disasters, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires, severe weather, terrorist attacks, curtailment of transportation facilities) or due to other events which are not attributable to wrongful intent or gross negligence of the conference organizers. GSM and the event organizers cannot be held liable for any damages, costs, or losses incurred, including but not limited to transportation costs, accommodation costs, and financial losses, resulting from any rescheduled, postponed, or canceled event.

In addition, you acknowledge and agree that you have no right to lodge damage claims against GSM and/or the conference organizers should you not be able to attend the event due to cancelled or delayed travel means which affect you.

Subject to these Terms & Conditions, GSM and the conference organizers reserve the right to retain the entire payment for registration, or to reimburse the purchaser for a portion of the ticket price, to be solely determined by GSM. You understand and agree that as the event gets closer, many costs, including operating expenses, have already been expended in planning the event, and that event revenues may be used year-round for event planning. It is therefore recommended that you take out personal insurance. Travel insurance is not included, and participants are therefore advised to take out their own travel insurance and to extend their policy to cover personal possessions as the conference does not cover individuals against cancellations or theft or damage to belongings.

D. Travel Cancelation Insurance (In-Person Tickets)

If an illness, injury or another unexpected event forces you to cancel your plans before you leave, cut your trip short or delay your return home, you could lose your full prepayment for accommodations or registration costs. We therefore highly recommend purchasing a “Travel Cancelation and Interruption Coverage Insurance” in case of emergency as a financial protection for you.

6. In-Person Event Rules

A. Event Communications & Privacy

Participants will receive transactional emails and may receive marketing emails from GSM and event sponsors. We also use event photos and videos, which may include your appearance, in any GSM promotional or marketing materials. Our Privacy Policy states how we collect, protect and use this information and should be reviewed prior to making any event purchase.

B. Personal & Financial Data Security

C. Changes to Program

Speakers, topics and time slot changes may occur in the program. GSM will not be held liable for such changes, although we will try to secure other speakers to participate in the program.

D. No Solicitation

Non-sponsor attendees may not actively solicit services, products, or other business to any participants, including passing out marketing material or arranging events. Vendors may register as official event sponsors or exhibitors. Sponsors and exhibitors are bound by the rules of the Sponsorship Agreement.

E. Videotaping/Recording by Participants

No sessions or any part of the event program (including, but not limited to, general sessions, keynotes, award program and breakout sessions) may be video or audio recorded by any event participant (whether recording for personal use or for social media), unless explicitly given permission for a particular segment by GSM event organizers during on-stage announcements, via email or similar. However, attendees may record or livestream original video, podcasts or interviews in other areas of the conference, or before the start of sessions or after sessions conclude, as long as doing so does not interfere with other participants or event operations. You agree to observe the foregoing restrictions.

F. Event Participant Code of Conduct

All attendees, speakers, sponsors, media and staff must be considerate and respectful of others. GSM reserves the right to revoke, without refund, the badge of any attendee in violation of any of our Terms & Conditions, policies or any policies of the venue where events are held. In addition to these Terms & Conditions, speakers and sponsors also have additional terms outlined in separate agreements.

G. Venue

Attendees are responsible for reserving and covering the cost of hotel room nights on their own separately from our event registration. The hotel will have its own policies for reservation, cancellation and changes.

H. Liability Waiver

You confirm that you will participate in any event activities at your own risk. Accordingly, you agree to hold GSM, its committees, staff, contractors, and agents harmless against all injury that you might suffer at any time during this event.

I. On-Demand Disclaimer

In addition to the general terms above, ticket holders with a ticket level that includes access to on-demand session recordings must also understand and agree that:

Starting within 10 days after the event, we will begin to publish video, audio and supporting materials for viewing online. Videos are not downloadable. On-demand sessions are available as-is. Videos will be hosted via Vimeo or similar service and available via password protected webpage. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to ensure their computer, internet connection and/or network are sufficient to watch the online videos.

On-demand recordings include access to recordings of most of the keynotes and general sessions. Breakout sessions may be audio-only, edited with speaker slides. PDFs of speaker slides may be available for download. Workshops may be available for an added fee. On-demand content is available for 90 days after the event. On-demand content is for attendee use only and you do not have permission to share publicly or re-sell any of the content.

Should GSM be unable to make available the majority of the recordings of the event, GSM will initiate a refund of any virtual-only ticket. There will be no further remunerations or monies owed. Technical malfunction for any reason causing some recordings not to be published will not be cause for GSM to initiate a refund. No refunds will be issued under any circumstances for on-demand access included for no cost as a part of an attendee registration.

7. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall GSM be liable for any indirect, punitive, incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of or in any way connected with the use of our sites, services or products, or with the delay or inability to use our sites, or for any information, services, programs, products and materials available through our sites, whether based in contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if you have been advised of the possibility of such damages. You agree that our aggregate, maximum and total liability to you, and your sole and exclusive remedy for any financial losses or other damages incurred by you, shall be limited to a refund of the amounts paid by you for our products.

8. Law and Arbitration

A. Governing Law and Timing of Disputes

These Terms & Conditions are governed by the laws of the State of Nevada, without regard to its conflicts of law principles. A printed version of these Terms & Conditions and of any related notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in arbitration, judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to these Terms & Conditions and Usage Policies to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS OR USAGE POLICIES MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

B. Arbitration

You shall use your best efforts to settle any dispute, claim, question, or disagreement with us arising out of or relating to the subject matter of these Terms & Conditions or the Usage Policies directly through good-faith negotiations, which shall be a precondition to either party initiating arbitration. If such negotiations do not resolve the dispute, such dispute shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with this Section 8 and the American Arbitration Association Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect (“Rules”) by one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving commercial contract disputes. You may review the American Arbitration Association Consumer Arbitration Rules online at https://www.adr.org/sites/default/files/Consumer-Rules-Web.pdf. The arbitrator, we, and you will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments and awards, including, but not limited to, all information gathered, prepared and presented for purposes of the arbitration or related to the dispute(s) therein. You acknowledge that there is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. The arbitrator will conduct hearings, if any, by personal appearances in Reno, Nevada. The arbitrator’s decision will be final and binding. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance, but only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

C. Class Action Waiver

You agree that any arbitration will take place on an individual basis. You acknowledge and agree that (i) class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted, and (ii) you are giving up the ability to participate in a class action. In any case in which (A) a dispute is filed as a class, collective, or representative action, and (B) there is a final judicial determination that all or part of this class action waiver is unenforceable, then the class, collective, or representative action, to that extent, must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to these Terms & Conditions, but the portion of such class action waiver that is enforceable shall be enforced in arbitration.

D. Venue; Waiver of Jury Trial

In any circumstances where the foregoing arbitration provisions are deemed unenforceable or are inapplicable (such as when you opt out of binding arbitration, pursuant to Section 8(f)), then disputes or claims arising out of or relating to the subject matter of these Terms & Conditions or the Usage Policies shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the appropriate courts located in Reno, Nevada. EACH PARTY IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY: (i) SUBMITS TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF SUCH COURTS; (ii) WAIVES ANY OBJECTION TO SUCH COURTS BASED ON VENUE OR INCONVENIENCE; AND (iii) WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY.

9. Other Provisions

In connection with your access and use of our sites, platforms and services, you agree:

That you have the ability to enter into a legally enforceable contract, and are authorized to accept these Terms & Conditions on your behalf and on behalf of any entity funding your purchase.
Not to use our sites or platforms for illegal purposes or for the transmission of material that is unlawful or that may infringe on the intellectual property or other rights of another.
Not to use our sites or platforms for the transmission of junk mail, spam, chain letters or unsolicited mass distribution of emails.
That GSM, in its sole discretion, may remove posts by you or terminate your access if it believes that you may have in any way violated the Terms & Conditions.
That use of our sites and platforms are for users authorized by GSM, and you will not share your access information with parties not authorized by GSM.
Not to share member profile information obtained through our sites and platforms with any other individual or entity for marketing or commercial purposes.

10. Marketing & Personal Information

We collect personally identifiable information and use it for marketing purposes, which may include our partnerships with third parties. Our Privacy Policy states how we collect, protect and use your information.

11. Changes

These terms are subject to revision. See the revision date at the top of the page. All modifications will be posted on this site. You must notify GSM of any change in your notification email address.

12. Contact Us

You may contact us by phone, email or in writing at:
[email protected]
1-(888) 803-9401
Government Social Media LLC
245 E. Liberty St., Suite 230
Reno, NV 89501