IBM Champions

 View Only

EXTENDED: Nominations open for IBM Champions Class of 2025 through 29 November

By Libby Ingrassia posted Mon September 16, 2024 09:34 PM

  

Hello friends!  

It's IBM Champion nomination season!

We are excited to announce nominations are now open for IBM Champions class of 2025! You are invited to join this prestigious VIP program, a place for IBM technology enthusiasts who are dedicated to promoting and advancing the message about innovation backed by IBM technologies. IBM Champions are at the pinnacle of expertise and advocacy: these individuals are exceptional in their commitment to paying forward their knowledge and experiences. 

Take your place with them in the IBM Champions program by submitting your application today. Or, ensure that someone whose contributions you admire has a place with their peers by referring them to the program.

EXTENDED: Nominations are open through 29 November 2024. The committee will issue badges for all advocacy and name the 2025 IBM Champions in January.

Benefits 

Picture yourself here

Most members of our programs say that the best part is being engaged with this prestigious group, being connected to both their peers and IBMers. Membership in the program also brings other important benefits, designed to enhance professional development and eminence.

Some of the benefits of being part of the program include eligibility to receive: 

  • IBM Champions are the VIP guests at our flagship conferences, with complimentary passes, special gifts (have you seen the jackets?!), and exclusive experiences. Of course, you’ll also receive invitations and discounts to other IBM and industry events worldwide.

  • Keep your skills and expertise in good shape with discounts and complimentary access to IBM Learning and certifications.

  • Show off your status and get recognized at industry and IBM conferences, user group meet-ups (and sometimes in airports), with our unique logo gear.

  • Display your status with verified digital credentials issued through the Digital Badge program and Credly.
  • Exclusive access to online IBM product development teams and product previews. (under NDA). 

  • And much more 

How to Qualify 

Our selection committees are looking for numerous and quality examples of advocacy activities that match the program’s criteria, along with evidence of expertise in IBM offerings, products, services, or communities. In addition to sharing activities, it is important to provide a bio, links to your profiles and activities, and references who can speak to your contributions. 

Typically, IBM Champions have contributed 8 or more acts of advocacy over the past year. Activities may be externally available or internal- facing, but should be activities beyond the scope of your job that contribute content, code, feedback, answers, or other support to the larger community of IBM technology users.

 Mandatory: To qualify for IBM Champion all individuals must be members of the IBM TechXchange Community. Use your IBM ID to create a profile and join the IBM Champions topic group, if you're not already a member.

The Champions Nomination and Selection Process 

We are inviting top IBM technology advocates to nominate themselves or nominate someone they know to join this amazing group of 1150+ technical experts. All nominations follow a multi-step process:  

Nomination 

  1. If you are nominating an IBM client, business partner, consultant, or educator, complete this form. Before you complete this form on behalf of the candidate, ensure you have their informed consent to do so.  When you submit a nomination for someone else, they will be sent a second form, which will offer the opportunity to submit additional information about advocacy activities completed in the past 12 months. 

      Note: incomplete forms, or copy-pasted repetitive language may result in a disqualification. 

 Evaluation 

  1. As the first evaluation, all nominations will be reviewed for acts of advocacy. The program will issue advocacy badges for 2 (Contributor), 5 (Advocate), and 8 (Influencer) acts of advocacy. You can always submit additional acts of advocacy to strengthen your nomination.
  2. The selection committees from each technology area will review the quality of the nomination, relative acts of advocacy, and impact to determine who has earned the title of IBM Champion 

Submit final required data

All nominations that are flagged by the selection committees must still complete one final task and will be asked to submit some final required data (such a signature on our IBM Champions agreement, which includes a non-disclosure, a photo the program can use, and other data updates.

Champion announcements

After the final data is submitted, emails will be sent to all those named an IBM Champion. We will follow that with public blogs announcing the IBM Champions class of 2025.

When will I know if I am an IBM Champion class of 2025? 

We announce the IBM Champions class by mid-January of each year, which will be followed by a welcome call, a welcome survey, and more details about your participation in the program.   

What happens if you don’t (or your nominee doesn’t) qualify for IBM Champion?  

If you or your nominee do not have advocacy that rises to the impact level of IBM Champion status, you will still earn advocacy badges for the advocacy you have submitted. You can continue to report additional activities and take advantage of the activities and rewards of the IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge program. The program offers an open opportunity for participants to build and report their IBM advocacy activities in support of their journey to become an IBM Champion for the next round of nominations. 

It’s easy to join the IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge program and start reporting acts of advocacy. After first becoming a member of the IBM TechXchange Community, applicants can submit and update their acts of advocacy ongoing – which may lead to their qualification for future IBM Champion nomination opportunities.

Learn more about the program

Use the resources to learn more about the program and to get your questions answered.

More questions?  

Email us at ibmchampions@ibm.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.  


#ibmchampions-featured-blog-home

1 comment
590 views

Permalink

Comments

Sun September 22, 2024 03:47 PM

The IBM Champion program is now accepting nominations for the 2025 class! If you're passionate about IBM technologies and have made significant contributions to the community, this is your chance to apply or nominate someone you admire. The program offers many perks, including exclusive access to events, learning opportunities, and recognition. Nominations are open until November 15, 2024, so don't miss out!