Community Charter

[campbell]

Been some debate around this on SE yahoo group and also here on the BBS. There seems to be some support for the idea, basically to help clarify our shared values as a group etc.

So here is a proposed draft, which existing members are warmly invited to review within the next 14 days, and feed back any significant points of concern or omission. Note that we want to keep it relatively short, so the answer is tightening up what's there rather than adding more if poss!

All new members will see this as part of sign-up. It's hoped that all existing members (at least relatively active ones) will also take the chance to review the draft, or read the final version which will appear as a Sticky on one of the sub-forums.

Thanks for looking.

Welcome to Scottish Elises

...the friendly group for discussing everything to do with the Lotus Elise, all its derivatives and related cars. On the forum, you'll find discussions ranging from the social side of Lotus ownership, to meets, trackdays and motorsport events. We have some technical experts to help out with the inevitable niggles and you'll find help only a post away! Have a read through the following before posting and enjoy your stay.


General forum rules:

- Take some time to explore the sub-forums, their content and style, and even the personalities of some of the "regulars". Have a look at the "Sticky" posts which often provide guidance on the usage of a particular sub-forum.

- Please come along and introduce yourself, your interest, and your car (if you have one) in "Newbies"...you will be assured of a warm welcome

- Avoid abusive posts and victimisation of others...take specific disagreements offline to resolve, use the Private Message facility for example

- Write in reasonable English, not in txt spk pls!

- Don't write ALL IN CAPS...in internet speak, known as "shouting"

- If you start an off-topic thread, prefix the title with "NLC" for "No Lotus Content"

- Personal testimonials and recommendations to try a particular supplier or product etc are acceptable in the course of general on-topic posting

- If you have something to sell (essentially any personal item, not commercial trading) put your ad in the Classifieds sub-forum

- Outright sales pitches, campaigns or adverts are generally discouraged, however if you are launching a new venture etc please do contact the Admin team as we do want to encourage the prosperity of our bona fide members!


Now, the really important bit. By joining this community, you are agreeing to:

- abide by the Forum Rules posted on this site

- share the spirit in which the group was formed, namely as a collection of like-minded individuals with an interest in the Lotus Elise and all things (even vaguely) related

- represent Scottish Elises responsibly, particularly on the public highway and at trackdays and other public events

- remember that many will sport Scottish Elises logos and URLs on cars and clothing, so our identity may be more obvious than you think

- refrain from irresponsible or dangerous driving, particularly when taking part in meets, runs or other kinds of events

- refrain from boasting about such antics

- bring instances of others' irresponsible or dangerous driving to their attention as soon as practicable and encourage them to think about it from the perspective of other road users and other group members

- encourage the development and improvement of driving standards, technical knowledge, collective buying power and social networking amongst the Scottish Elises community

- above all, simply to contribute positively to this not-for-profit, informal group of enthusiasts.


Thanks for being a part of the Scottish Elises community

[thinfourth]

I always liked the line " welcome to scottish elises you don't need to own an elise or be scottish"


Also a paragraph about where this lot actually comes from via SE0.5 to SE1 to SE2 also have a link to TSE which we must get going again

[mac]

Just one minor comment about the personal testimonials/ recommendations - that these should not be made by anyone with a vested interest in the product, otherwise is just becomes trade advertising.


mac

[Alex 111s]

good stuff. we written. it doesn't come across as elitist or condescending.

[Lazydonkey]

Good stuff - credit for pulling it together

I like the bit about the encouraging the development of driving standards. What really nice about this place is how open everyone (even the track day tarts) is to driver training and continual improvement which then tends to filter down to the ham fisted amongst us. It also leads nicely into things like the autotest training day that was so successful earlier on in the year.

The only comment I'd make is that the community bit should maybe be before the specifics of posting etiquette? It's just some people (not me your honour) skim read and may miss out the community stuff assuming it's just forum niceties. Just a suggestion. May be mince.

[kenny]

Is the yahoo group still in existence?

[DDtB]

I'd suggest something like splitting the general chat section into two bits though, rather than telling folk to use the NLC prefix for drivel...... e.g. one subsection for NLC chat and one for Lotus chat, rather than having just one section with 80% of it prefixed (NLC) or having folk forgetting to do it and annoying those who find it annoying to click on a general chat thread and find it has NLC.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Cisco]

Reads well.

Take care,

Frank

[RDH]

Good stuff - credit for pulling it together

I like the bit about the encouraging the development of driving standards. What really nice about this place is how open everyone (even the track day tarts) is to driver training and continual improvement which then tends to filter down to the ham fisted amongst us.

Agreed - top work Campbell et al... Rather than ostracising people for driving like tw@ts, we should either collectively or individually have a quiet word.

Just one minor comment about the personal testimonials/ recommendations - that these should not be made by anyone with a vested interest in the product, otherwise is just becomes trade advertising.

mac

Agreed. Some products/services sell themselves without constant reminders/adverts.

2p

[Dominic]

Thanks for the efforts to get to this point.

[Shug]

I always liked the line " welcome to scottish elises you don't need to own an elise or be scottish"


Also a paragraph about where this lot actually comes from via SE0.5 to SE1 to SE2 also have a link to TSE which we must get going again

TSE is in hand - I think that sort of history is out of place in a charter. May want to put a post somewhere about that, but making this too long will render it useless.

[Shug]

I'd suggest something like splitting the general chat section into two bits though, rather than telling folk to use the NLC prefix for drivel...... e.g. one subsection for NLC chat and one for Lotus chat, rather than having just one section with 80% of it prefixed (NLC) or having folk forgetting to do it and annoying those who find it annoying to click on a general chat thread and find it has NLC.

Cheers,

Dave.

Unneccesary I think - difficult for newbies to differentiate where to post. NLC works fine if people use it (hence the mention in the charter). Chapman Arms in SELOC is a total pile of pish, which buries some threads that have merit - don't think we need to copy that...

If anyone else shares the view though, let us know...

[Shug]

Just one minor comment about the personal testimonials/ recommendations - that these should not be made by anyone with a vested interest in the product, otherwise is just becomes trade advertising.


mac

Pretty much says that, but something we'll watch. Certainly, trade ads can still happen if they are genuine members with something that may appeal to the membership. Process for that is detailed in the charter.

[Rag_It]

All fair enough, and good to see it laid out again for all to see!

Dave

[Scottd]

I'd suggest something like splitting the general chat section into two bits though, rather than telling folk to use the NLC prefix for drivel...... e.g. one subsection for NLC chat and one for Lotus chat, rather than having just one section with 80% of it prefixed (NLC) or having folk forgetting to do it and annoying those who find it annoying to click on a general chat thread and find it has NLC.

Cheers,

Dave.

Unneccesary I think - difficult for newbies to differentiate where to post. NLC works fine if people use it (hence the mention in the charter). Chapman Arms in SELOC is a total pile of pish, which buries some threads that have merit - don't think we need to copy that...

If anyone else shares the view though, let us know...

I actually think Dave made a really good point (there's a sentence I don't think I'll ever say again ). Chapman Arms is pish but it is easily avoided unlike the pish in our general forum. Where good, relevant threads are quickly lost and buried.

If you look at Seloc 'chat' v's our 'general' forum Selocs is actually more relevant to cars with much less crap. Something we all used to slag Seloc off for.