IML: How the Rules Work Here

[Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx>]

Folks, 

We recently had an email come through that pushed up
to and then washed over the boundaries/rules that we
have in place.  


This event has been addressed off-list, but some
comments have been made that seem to ignore certain
realities that all here must face.

We have the rules posted at the club-house door here:
http://imperialclub.com/IML-specific/Etiquette.htm



Folks that find these rules objectionable or overly
confining are encouraged to remember that they're not
obligated to remain here, but please know that we
genuinely want everyone that can agree to the pretty
simple rules (Imperial only, pls) to stay.    

Folks that feel that the rules are enforced unevenly
or unfairly aren't apparently in posession of a full
set of facts, so here are a few that seem to be
repeatedly misunderstood by the conspiracy-oriented
folks in our ranks:

1.  We have permanently banned at least 1, and likely
no more than 2 people in the last 8 years, based on my
recall of the events that I've seen on the Admin Group
messages (and I've seen them all).    

The first one wound up in a murder-suicide situation
months later, so being booted out of the IML was
merely one upper step on a descending spiral
staircase.

Someone wrote a rejoinder to our current event saying
that the author should not be "banished" from the
list. 

-Nobody has been banished.  Posting priveleges
temporarily pulled, yes, but posting priveleges will
be restored IF the person involved swallows their
medicine and agrees to toe the line on the simple
rules in play that everyone else is abiding by.

Only people that refuse to stop breaking rules get
"banished", and since we don't banish folks all that
often, it's fair to say that almost everyone here has
a good chance of setting things right.  

This is a virtual message board about old cars. 
Virtual means that it technically doesn't exist in
actual realtiy.  Missing car-related messages
containing words for a short period of time is at most
inconvenient, but please keep things in perspective.


2.  We rarely pull people's posting priveleges.  Maybe
3-4 times per year, if that.  Usually for a period
ranging from days to weeks, or until we hear back and
get our concerns satisfied.  

See Fact #1 for how often that doesn't work out.  Most
people here are adults and things sort themselves out
amicably.  A few folks that got a ruler across the
knuckles when they were new went on to be really super
contributors here, so it's not all bad news. 

3. Admin messages notifying people that they're
out-of-bounds/knock-it-off go out maybe once per month
on average, with each message maybe going to 1-3
people, depending on who's chewing away on a bad
thread.  Most folks apologize and we all move on.  

4.  Admin messages are normally 2-5 sentences, never
contain emotion or insults, and are based on fact and
the framework that we've all agreed to by being here.

All messages that I've seen were much more
even-handed, fair, and nice than I'd be inclined to
write.  Dealing with bone-headed and sometimes rude
people nicely isn't always the easiest thing to do
gracefully.  Our folks do that regularly and
consistently as far as I can tell.

5.  Such messages go out to the author - the person
that should be responsible for their actions, and
nobody else that didn't join in a dog-pile.  This is
to avoid public humiliation in front of one's peers,
since it's deemed best to tamp down these sorts of
things discreetly and promptly to maintain civility
and order in the common space that we share.  

We want a change in behavior, not mortal embarassment
in front of your buddies over dumb words that are
almost always of the correctable/mistake variety.



Nobody likes being called on their crap, and some
really resent it.  The rest of the group would prefer
not to spend time reading a stream of messages that
are profane or otherwise unrelated to the topic at
hand, so that's why/where the line gets drawn.

If you see something that's obviously out of bounds,
the best thing you can do is ignore it and presume
that it will be addressed off-list by the moderators,
who are always available for comments.  

See something wrong?  WRITE TO US.  We get perhaps 3-5
inbound comments PER YEAR (and we do take them
seriously), so either we're doing OK or the people
with the problems that are complaining off-list about
being "afraid" of making a mistake are un-motivated to
resolve them  

In a group this large, you're statistically bound to
have a few of the black-helicopter folks, but the
place is run by people that are genuinely trying to do
the right thing, and nothing else.  



Please note that Rush Limaugh, Hillary Clinton, and
President Bush are all absent from our Pantheon Of
Heroes:

http://imperialclub.com/OIC-specific/donors.htm


Hopefully it'll stay that way and we can focus on what
we came here for.


 

Kenyon Wills
on behalf of the OIC Admin Team


 
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