To All Forum Members,
In light of recent events on the SportfishingBC.com Forum, we have decided to take the extraordinary step of revamping our policies and rules of conduct regarding posting on the forum. These new standards are listed below, so please read them and follow them closely in the future.
Regrettably, things have changed in the Internet world since this forum was put in place in 1998. We work hard at attempting to allow the free flow of information on this forum because 99% of what is shared is extremely useful and helps all of us feel like we are part of a welcoming and caring community. It is a balancing act between freedom of speech and censorship that isn’t always easy to maintain. I know all of us are passionate about all things fishing and that passion recently took a far too negative tone on our forum. At a time when the fish need us more than ever, we have found a way to divide our community and this is not what our forum was ever intended to do.
For our part, I would like to take this opportunity to personally apologize to those of you who took the brunt of criticism in a few posts recently. Both Peter and I have spent countless hours volunteering for many different entities and have endured negative comments many times as well. Hindsight is always 20/20 and while we can’t go back to fix the damage, we can learn from what occurred and do a better job in the future.
The past is past. For those of you who already volunteer, we encourage you to stay the course and we applaud you. At the end of the day, we can keep fighting over the fish until there are no more to fight about, or we can fight for the fish and provide the same great opportunities to enjoy sport fishing for generations to come.
If you have any questions or concerns you may PM us at Admin on the forum.
Regards,
Brian and Peter
SportfishingBC.com
FORUM RULES
Although the administrators and moderators of SportfishingBC.com Forums will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of SportfishingBC.com Forums, nor vBulletin Solutions, Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.
By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are, obscene, vulgar, abusive, sexually-oriented, hateful, false, threatening, sexist, profane, harassing, defamatory, and inaccurate or otherwise violate any laws both Internationally or Federally.
Posting of sexually explicit material or material of an adult nature is strictly forbidden and will be cause for immediate removal of the forum member responsible. Suggestion or promotion of illegal activities is prohibited.
As users of this forum, members agree to NOT insult, slur, slander, threaten, defame, make remarks of a sexual nature, or verbally attack any individual or business enterprise. Advertising content within the SportfishingBC.com Forum will not be tolerated without the consent of the Administrators or Moderators of SportfishingBC.com. As of this writing, a text link within your post to a website is acceptable, and is subject to review and editing, or deletion at the sole discretion of the Administrators or Moderators of the forum.
The owners of SportfishingBC.com Forum reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content item for any reason. Any forum member in violation of the policies listed above or any other act perpetrated by a member that is deemed detrimental to the operation of said forum and SportfishingBC.com will be subject to sanctions or a permanent ban from said forum. These actions shall be taken at the sole discretion of the owners, Administrators or Moderators of the SportfishingBC.com Forum.
General Conduct
SportfishingBC.com strives to allow as much free flow and exchange of ideas in its forum as possible. To help this process stay on track and not turn into a community torn apart by personal attacks, arguments, and name calling, respect and decorum are required by all users. A couple of old school edicts come to mind in this regard. “Do unto others as you would have done to you” and, as our Mothers often reminded us, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
This may seem to over simplify situations that arise from time to time on a forum, but the common sense in those statements is as true today as it was before the advent of this large community called the internet.
Having said that, here are some reminders of ways to avoid having the Administrators or Moderators become involved in editing or sanctioning your posts. While it is perfectly logical and acceptable to disagree with someone’s point of view, it is not acceptable to call them an idiot, or any other derogatory term, before stating why you disagree. Again, while you are welcome to express your views on a particular subject, you will not be allowed to continually “stir the pot” to try and get your point across. It is not necessary to re-state your point of view over and over again. This only leads to arguments and generally destroys any constructive discussion from occurring.
When discussing a business it is perfectly acceptable to compare and state a preference or a possible option for other members to consider within the industry being discussed. However, it is not acceptable to share a personal experience that degrades that business. The operator of the business being discussed has no way to refute a claim made by a member without it becoming a “he said she said” event and should be dealt with in private.
Do not bring personal issues between yourself and another member to this forum. Those conversations need to take place via a personal form of communication between the members. Lastly, the word democracy is used regularly in our society as a means for some to justify saying anything they want in a public forum. A democracy is truly a place where you should be able to disagree with someone while being respectful and without causing harm to that individual or group of individuals. Democracies, while allowing freedom of thought and expression, also have laws and a policing system to enforce those laws. So, before you hit the post button, please take a moment to reflect on whether or not your post is respectful and follows the policies laid out above. This will allow for the exchange of knowledge about fishing to thrive for generations old and new.
Thank you for joining the SportfishingBC.com Forum. We look forward to your contributions to the Sports Fishing community.
If you agree to the terms, please check the 'I agree' checkbox and press the 'Complete Registration' button below. If you would like to cancel the registration, click here to return to the forums index.
Although the administrators and moderators of SportFishingBC Forums will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of SportFishingBC Forums, nor vBulletin Solutions, Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.
By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.
The owners of SportFishingBC Forums reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content item for any reason.
