MENC Forum Rules of Conduct and Behavior
The MENC forum is an area for discussing professional concerns and music education. Participants post and respond to questions and concerns within their profession. Registration is currently free. By registering and posting to the MENC forum you agree to abide by the forum's rules.
Comments about these rules, and the actions taken by administrators or moderators (the forum staff) should be directed to the contact email. These comments will be considered and clarified where possible. If you would like to cancel your registration, let us know. Posts made to the forum regarding the rules or actions of the forum staff may be removed without notice or warning.
Anyone with Internet access may view this forum. The posts are not private, and your user information is not confidential. Please use care when posting, particularly when mentioning situations at school, students, and/or parents. Avoid the use of names or information that may identify you and/or anyone involved. If you provide personal information to other participants through the public forum or private message system, it is at your own risk.
It is recommended you select a username that doesn't include your full name. Usernames may not be obscenities or variations on obscenities, suggestive, provocative, racist or insulting names, or URLs. You may contact us if you'd like to change your username. Do not register with multiple usernames. Personal information, such as your email address, will not be sold or shared. We reserve the right to reveal whatever information we have about you in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any post, submission, or action by you. All actions on the site are identified by an IP address accessible by forum administrators.
Avatar pictures may not contain political or otherwise provocative symbols, nudity, sexually explicit content, violent or offensive material, or copyrighted images. Do not post images of other people without their permission. Any profile picture that is offensive will be removed immediately.
Signatures are not allowed, nor are the inclusion of images in posts. Special titles may be awarded to participants who have distinguished themselves in some manner on the forums. Do not ask for a special title.
The forum staff reserves the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread or post for any reason. We will attempt to keep all objectionable posts off this forum, however it is impossible to review every post. The posts express the views of the author, and neither MENC nor the developers of this forum will be held responsible for the content of any post.
Inappropriate posts include job announcements, job seeking, personal announcements, self-promotion, advertising or soliciting of any kind, sexual or offensive content, abusive language, and content that violates any laws. You may not invite members to contact you by private message or email. These types of posts will be removed from the forum, and offenders will be banned.
The forum is intended to be a supportive atmosphere. Participants are expected to be professional and respectful in their posts. The free exchange of thoughts and ideas must be tempered with self-control and consideration of others. Disagreements should stick to the issue and avoid personal attacks. Posts containing rudeness, insults, inflammatory arguments, and attempts to get the last word are considered abusive behavior and will be removed from the forum. Threads that sink to the level of mindless back-and-forth will be closed, and the participants will receive a warning. Repeat offenders may be banned.
"Trolls", people who delight in sowing discord on the Internet, are not welcome and will be banned. A troll is someone who tries to provoke a reaction, start an argument or upset people for their own amusement. They are identified by the fact that they are constantly at odds with other members of the forum, and often tease individuals they have disagreed with in the past. If you suspect someone of being a troll, the best recourse is to ignore them and contact the forum staff.
Posts containing negative comments can be made, but such comments must be respectful and avoid exaggeration. Present your issues, do not vent them. Rants of any kind will not be tolerated. This may include generalities such as "The conference is horrible", which is not exactly a rant, but contains no useful information. An acceptable example would be: "I thought there were too many special events, and the workshops were hard to find."
Do not post the same thread in multiple categories (Band, Chorus, etc.). Choose the category that best fits your topic, and post only in there. Do not post your thread more than once, or start new threads on topics already being discussed. If the thread is in one category, all the replies can be made in one place, and participants trying to help can build on previous replies. Multiple posting causes confusion.
Do not take a thread off topic. Taking a thread off topic by discussing a subject entirely unrelated to the subject at hand is called "thread hijacking", and is impolite. The original poster can end up confused or disrespected by the direction a thread takes. If an existing thread sparks an idea, please start a new thread rather than hijacking the current one. Discussion can occasionally head off on a tangent, but an effort should be made to get back on topic rather than continue to a full-fledged hijack.
Casual, off-topic conversation is discouraged. The MENC forums are not a place for idle chitchat. Watch your language. Users resorting to profanity will be warned, and their posts may be removed. Do not type your post in all caps, IT LOOKS LIKE SHOUTING AND IS RUDE. The best way to emphasize something is to bold it. Links in a post should be relevant to the discussion. Even so, it is inappropriate to include your link or announce it in multiple posts throughout the forum.
Participants breaking these rules will be warned, and if their conduct does not immediately improve, they will be banned.
Do not take it upon yourself to confront someone you feel is breaking the rules. Do not accuse someone of crossing the line. Use the contact email if you see a problem post and allow the forum staff to do the moderating.
These rules cover most common situations, but they cannot anticipate everything. Therefore the forum staff reserves the right to take any actions they deem appropriate to ensure the MENC forums are not disrupted or abused in any way. The forum staff will be the sole decision-makers of what does and what does not violate the rules. The forum staff reserves the right to remove offensive posts without notice. The forum staff reserves the right to ban anyone who willfully breaks the MENC forum rules.
