So, if you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed some new additions to the GWC community. You may have noticed the new icons that have been appearing on certain user’s forum posts and in their profiles. These are the newest additions to our Member Rewards Program.

The GWC team realizes the importance of community participation on the site and the effort made by those who contribute frequently. So, if you haven’t heard about it before, the GWC Member Rewards program is a system to reward the most loyal and active members of the Global WebSphere Community. As a GWC member you earn loyalty points based on your activity in the Global WebSphere Community (blogging, commenting, posting in forums, etc.).  You can see the list of activities and that earn you points here. And each month in our newsletter, we announce a special activity focus that will earn you extra points that month. The points are accrued over time and your lifetime points are displayed on your profile and on your My GWC page.

Now, these new icons enhance your achievements with a bolder, graphical representation of your contribution efforts. Your My GWC page and your profile will include new achievement level badges, icons that indicate you’ve reached a certain level of contribution to the site. In addition, when you post in a forum or reply to a forum post, your achievement level will be noted with a visual image of the badge or badges you’ve earned.

Badges are earned at the following levels:

500 lifetime points = Rising Star

1500 lifetime points (I’m almost there) = Comet

5000 lifetime points = Super Nova

If you notice that you have enough points for a badge, but don’t see them on your profile, just do a quick activity on the site that earns you points, and you should see the badges the next time you refresh your page.

On top of all that, each quarter, the Member Rewards Program awards prizes to GWC members with the most Lifetime Points for that quarter. Prizes vary, but we’ve awarded free online WebSphere Education courses (valued as much as $3000), free tablets, and free Impact passes.

So, get started today: earn points, achieve badges, get prizes.