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Author Topic: New forum bylaws question  (Read 3759 times)

Offline Sean Kelly

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New forum bylaws question
« on: January 05, 2009, 01:35:06 am »
I had a question about rule #3 in John's post from the main page about advertising.  Recently I posted a reminder to local beeks that the Pierce County Beekeeper's Association's meeting was coming up and that the WSU beekeeping classes were starting and to register.  Is this considered advertising or is something like this ok?  I don't want to break the rules.  :-)

Sean Kelly
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Offline beemaster

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Re: New forum bylaws question
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2009, 02:22:57 am »
Hi Sean:

Advertizing club events, social gathering (whether coover charges) anything like that is fine - I'm concerned with big companies who have (done this before) planted members here who boast about products, litterally polling members about products and swearing it is the next best thing since slice bread.

We have allowed people with websites (even small business websites) to add their web address in small links in the signature area of their post - with the KNOWLEDGE that it is NOT why they are here, that is selling a product(s) or talking about what they offer in the posts. This curtesy is more for the members to checkout links that may lead them to something helpful - although if any product talk is to be done, it should be in Private Messaging, not open forum.

It is too easy for members to join a few weeks apart and then setup dialog that is commercial in content as they ask seemingly harmless questions. I again can't get into all the schemes of how advertizing makes its way into forums in general, it is fair though to say there are hundreds of schemes out there.

There is nothing wrong with endorsing a product you found to be exceptional, what draws a line is when the majority of your posts surround that product - that is spamming by anyone's definition.

It really gets down to common sense - Commercial Free is pretty self explanitory, if you are making money off of something, then it isn't allowed here - except the few exceptions in the Trading post where deals are kept private.

If you are announcing events that are relative to beekeepers, mentioning new books or movies you  have seen, read or heard about - all that is fine. Just don't come in here thinking you can unload 5,000 copies of "Smarter than a Beekeeper" cause you thought it sounded like a good place to sell off your cases of books.

All the rules are are meant to be accepted as written, an easy guide to DOs and Don'ts. I wrote these rules, as a guide for members to shape their understanding of what is allowed - if they are wrong, we'll let them know. No MODERATOR here wants to break anyone's cookies on these rules, but if OBVIOUS rule breaking is done, swift action and severe action will take place. Someone just trying to post a message and messing up what they understood was allowed leads to a message explaining what needs to be changed and why.

Remember, rules are like road signs and traffic lights, they are meant to allow traffic to move smoothly about its way, not to cause pile-ups at intersections. Anyone here long enough to see what happens when rules are broken KNOW by now what they shouldn't do. You will find less rules at other forums on any topic, but without basic and simple rules choas will always follow. Hope that helps, I wrote that for everyone Sean, not just for you - I hope it helps :)
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Offline Sean Kelly

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Re: New forum bylaws question
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2009, 08:11:40 am »
John, that's what I love about this forum here.  Its fun, safe, and has a family feel.  No one wants to fight or sell me stuff which is awesome.  This is my home on the net and always the first place I visit when sitting behind my computer.  :-)

I just wanted to make sure promoting my county's bee club meetings was okay.

Thanks again John!  You're awesome like always!!!

Sean Kelly
"My son,  eat  thou honey,  because it is good;  and the honeycomb,  which is sweet  to thy taste"          - Proverbs 24:13

Offline beemaster

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Re: New forum bylaws question
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2009, 12:25:02 pm »
Sean:

Just another thought: that is why we have the calendar, you can post dates of events and as long of a description as you wish to go with with it.

The one feature we have which really isn't utilized is the groups feature - let's say you have a local club, they can organize themselves here and have messaging (mass mailings) that will go just to the members. This feature (if I understand it right) could include their own forum, seen by the members of the club (well, and forum admin staff people) but generallu speaking it is a site already in existance where a smaller or larger club has a place to meet, post minutes from club events and still have easy access to the rest of the forum.

I need to read up on this a bit more, but I really think this feature could come in handy, even if people only wanted a cyber (regional, country, etc.) club online. Pretty neat though :)
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Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

 

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