Rules and Guidelines for Coffee Break Forum Threads and Posts

energy said:

As you can see, the Political and Religious threads are gone. As soon as a thread begins to reflect either, it's gone. I think we all know when someone is making a political or religious statement. I mean, everybody here is a professional and will know the rules. Simple.

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Simple? Think so? Okay, we'll see.

Okay...here's what I'm seeing so far...

Topics

• Humour - Jokes, Roadkill Recipes, Fun Quizzes, Links to Fun Sites
• Sports and Hobbies - Everything from Football to Racing, from Recipe Trading to Reading
• Announcements - Celebrations, Weddings, Births, Events, Special Requests
• Work - Discussions on work-place situations/dilemmas/stories, but not related to any existing business thread
• Social Scene - Meetings, conventions, get-togethers, the Cove Classifieds
• Removed Posts - Area for Moderators to explain why a post has been removed

That last one was a last minute thought with one of the rule regarding deleted posts.

Rules

• You shall not post profanity - direct or implied.
• You shall not make any insults or deragatory comments. Discussion is why we are here.
• If a thread is closed/deleted, you shall not contact the moderator - the moderator shall post an announcement explaining why.
• The "3 Strike Rule" is in effect. You shall be removed from the Cove's list if you are contacted by a Moderator for the third time.
• You shall cease posting on a certain topic, should a moderator ask you to do so. Take it outside - i.e., continue your conversation along another line of communication if you wish, but not within the Cove.

Posting Guidelines

• Simple rule of thumb with posting - keep it clean. Would you want your 15 year old child to see that you posted something like this? Would you want your Supervisor/Customer to see that you posted something like this?
• If uncertain about whether your post/thread topic is acceptable, contact a Moderator for their thoughts first.
• THINK before you POST!
• RE-READ before you POST!

Time to start adding/modifying. This thread is for the rules of the Coffee Break forum. Please keep personal remarks within the other thread about the possible demise of our water cooler.

Any changes or revisions are appreciated along with your reasoning as to why.

energy said:

If we want these threads to exist outside the Business/Quality threads, I would use this one simple test. If I have to wonder if my post is approaching an area that we all agree that is off limits, it probably is. Re-word it or bite your fingers and move on to something else.

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So, are you saying that this is ALL the guideline we need to keep this forum? No further rules are needed? More importantly, does your guideline meet Marc's requirement for:

Marc said:

I realize the Coffee Break forum is enjoyed by many people. If you want to keep it, then make up a reasonable set of posting rules.

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if so cool, let's use it and go on. If not, what then do we need? :thedeal:

Our Facilitator

ddhartma said:

So, are you saying that this is ALL the guideline we need to keep this forum?

if so cool, let's use it and go on. If not, what then do we need?

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I think this is what Marc had in mind. Our resident Facilitator utilized her work related skills to present a package that I have no problem with. When, and if, Marc authorizes these "standards", I will print them out and it becomes my worksheet. All other threads in this Forum will be trashed, unless that's one more area that we have to address. I think good progress was made in a very short time.

just my $.02 worth

I will post this in both threads.

My thoughts are to eliminate the coffee break boards altogether.

Some of you that have been around for a while can remember when there wasn't a coffee break board. Marc started it at the request of several members in order to prevent cluttering the business forums with humor and road kill recipes.

The coffee break board has brought a lot of trouble to Marc, probably much more than any of us know. Not to long ago, this site was completely off line for several days while the database was riffled through. How many of you would keep this up after that?

We may complain and cry and stomp our feet about wanting these boards left on. To that…I can only say that I am grateful that our profession has such a dedicated individual as Marc Smith.

I have enjoyed many of the discussions and the debates, but that is not why I am here. I am here for an exchange of information and knowledge. There are plenty of other places to discuss the issues that have been brought up on this board.

JMHO,

CarolX

I agree with the above and will do my best to "play by the rules" with one last thought: Although it was "abused", the Water Cooler Forum was certainly a way to vent in a manner I don't think my employer or peers (at work) might always have appreciated. While I hope I didn't ever cross the line and upset anyone, I'm sure a couple of my posts were "pushin' it"

I, also, wasn't particularly offended by the postings I read in the politics/anthropology (or whatever) threads. I didn't read them that often and chose not to participate in them. I agree with Carol's note of being here to learn from and to help my fellow practitioners make some sense out of what we're supposed to be doing.

Excellent opening list Rhonda. :thedeal:

But I can't resist - Since I can't root for my beloved (beleagured??) Tigers any more this season - GO CUBS!!!!

Sorry
Bill

I'm holding back those fingers...

CarolX said:

I will post this in both threads.

We may complain and cry and stomp our feet about wanting these boards left on. To that…I can only say that I am grateful that our profession has such a dedicated individual as Marc Smith.

CarolX

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I'm editing this post to reflect what I'm really thinking, rather than my impromptu initial post. By using the boards font options to accent the word "I", are you suggesting that those who want a reduced, regulated Coffee Break Forum, somehow are ungrateful to Marc? Are we complaining, stomping our feet and crying because the board may be removed? Has anybody blasted the profession? I didn't want this thread to become contentious and I still don't. We were given a mandate to come up with a scheme to allow some Forum to discuss issues not well suited for the Business end. I think it made excellent progress. Now, a poll was started, based on your post to do away with the Coffee break threads totally. It shows, so far, overwhelmingly, support for retaining some kind of Forum. Maybe, we have to add another catagory to the rules. I don't know what to call it, though.

What is the definition of profanity?

What is the definition of derogatory?

What defines an insult?

Now it's definitions

Randy said:

What is the definition of profanity?

What is the definition of derogatory?

What defines an insult?

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Do you know the meaning of obfuscation?

If you need to ask what profanity, insult and derogatory is, then maybe Marc should turn off the lights. How hard is this, Folks? I think I know what is going on, but I won't say it, yet.

Randy said:

What is the definition of profanity?

What is the definition of derogatory?

What defines an insult?

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Randy, I think I know where you're going with this and yes, we all agree that this is not a black-and-white issue. However, as we've said in other posts, think and re-read before you post. Would you want your child to see what you're about to post? Would you want your co-workers to see what you're about to post? Would you want your customer to see what you're about to post?

I don't believe sensorship is being attempted here. Just adding some "food for thought" so that our posts and discussions, work-related or otherwise, remain top quality - i.e., informative, entertaining, without the occasionally perceived offensive material.

We are here to discuss and learn and share information...there is no need to include insults, profanity, and/or deragatory comments within our discussions.

Bill Ryan said:

Excellent opening list Rhonda.

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Rhonda?!?! That's a new one for me...