the Band Forum

[iabcb]

These forums were created with the intention of providing a comfortable place for people with a common interest in Brass & Concert Bands in Ireland to meet, exchange ideas, share information and enjoy each other's company. These forums are maintained in that spirit and members are expected to honour those goals. The basic guide to etiquette is this: be polite, be mature, keep your language clean and respect the opinions of others (even if you disagree). You are reminded that you agreed to our Terms and Conditions when signing up to the forum. We also expect that any member contributing to this forum respect these rules and etiquette guidelines. Please remember that you are contributing on a forum that is fully open to the public. You should remember this when making a post.

The forum administrator will browse the forums from time to time to ensure that the guidelines are being followed. Anyone not following the guidelines may find their posts deleted and risk being banned if the problem continues. If you notice any posts that do not adhere to these guidelines, please notify the forum administrator by internal mail to 'Admin' or email (iabcbie@iabcb.ie).

LURK TO START WITH

Lurk (anonymously observe) before you leap. When you jump into a forum, do not post any comments right away. Try to read and catch up with what is going on and observe what people are saying. After you feel comfortable and think you are ready to add useful information/comments to the conversation, please do so. If you are looking for certain information you may find it has already been posted on the relevant forum so have a look through the recent topic titles. Consider using the forums' search facility -located via the top menu bar. At the very least, please read the Latest Topics page before posting - you may find your question/information has already recently been answered/posted.

POST ON THE APPROPRIATE FORUM

There are a number of different forums on these message boards - the full list is on the 'forum index' page. Please use the appropriate forum when starting a new topic. Messages relating to a specific item should be posted on that item's own forum and if a forum has not been set up for that subject then please create a new Forum.

ANONYMOUS MEMBERS

The Band Forum is intended to provide a platform for those interested in Brass & Concert Bands in Ireland to exchange views and ideas and develop contacts & relationships within the wider Band Community in Ireland. The participation in discussions on the forum by anonymous users, while not prohibited, is therefore not encouraged.

KEEP ON TOPIC

Do try and keep to the topic of the thread. If you want to raise a new issue then consider whether a new topic is more appropriate.

PERSONAL DISPUTES

Please do not use these forums for personal disputes, heated debates, flame wars etc. You are expected to treat each other with respect in the forums and take any personal disputes to a private mode of discussion off the forums. If you should find that your discussion is becoming too heated or someone is becoming far too passionate about their argument, please take the discussion to private message or email.

PERSONAL TOPICS

Personal topics are threads that, whilst posted in public forum, are intended for a discussion between only a few members. These kinds of topics are frowned on and will be locked/removed as soon as they are discovered. Public posts should be open and inviting to all members. Personal discussions among a select group of users should take place in private message - use your messaging facilities accessed from your community home page.

RESPECT OTHER USERS

Sometimes people can write something that you may find offensive. Before launching into a public condemnation though, please consider that the person may not have intended to cause offence. It is very easy to misinterpret a post on forums. There is absolutely no need to resort to insults. Respect others' views even if you disagree with them.

ADVERTISING/SOLICITATION

Advertising for the sake of advertising is not allowed. Posts that are off topic will be deleted at the decresion of the Aminstrator of the day .

LINKS

Links to relevant news sources are encouraged. In particular, when posting news please provide the source for the information. Links that are off topic are not allowed and may be deleted. The IABCB will not accept any responsibility or liability for the information contained in websites linked to from our forums. It is at your sole discretion and risk whether you decide to clink on links provided in the forum

NO TROLLING

What is a troll? It's a person who posts something which is bound to stir people up and then sits back and watches as dozens of people jump in and start arguing. Sometimes trolls get their friends to join in or post under different names. Generally they will do anything it takes to get attention. If you see a message like this, please try and refrain from replying to it - it may well be deleted anyway.

POWER-POSTING

Power-posting is when board members post 'empty' messages to the board, in order to simply increase their number of posts more quickly. Examples of power-posting are replying to a message with only 'LOL' or 'I agree', but failing to contribute anything further to the discussion. If you reply to a message, make sure you have something to say. Power posting clutters up the forums, clutters up the 'new posts' function, and uses extra bandwidth and server space. While we don't mind people using bandwidth to chat usefully on the board, we do mind people using it just because they want a more impressive 'post counter'. If you're not sure if you're power-posting, take a moment and think it over before you post. If all your post contains is a 'LOL' or an emoticon, it's a power-post. If it adds something to the discussion, it isn't.

IGNORE SPAMMERS

Spam is a blight upon the face of the net. Nobody likes it. However, it is hard to avoid. Despite our best efforts, you will occasionally see spam on the forums. Complaining about spam in public increases noise, but not signal. It may make you feel better, but it doesn't help. Mail Admin who will remove the spam.