SPO General Policy Statement - PLEASE read carefully

[thombone]

To ALL:

When you sign up for this site, you agree to remain civil and to treat other members here with respect, no matter who they are. No matter the issue, we are to treat others with kindness, respect and make honest attempts to understand their points of view. Personal problems need to be solved one on one, not in public.

It's our only rule: There will be no slander or hate speech on SPO. Personal attacks in public are not allowed here. If you cannot state your opinions without taking a shot at someone and without flaming, then please do not say anything. If you violate this only rule intentionally, you will be warned, moderated, and in extreme cases, banned for the sake of this community.

We do not censor anything here that isn't hate speech. We also do not edit posts for content. What we will do when absolutely necessary is moderate or remove content that clearly violates the above. This specifically means that we will only remove the line(s) in question if that will suffice. We will only remove the post or thread itself if it is a violation in its entirety. But we will not ever edit someone's statements or ideas for content, nor will we add anything to their posts that they did not write.

And that is not censorship, it is cleaning up a clear violation of the posted rules. Please do not confuse the two.

Multiple offenders who ignore warnings to please stop this behavior will be banned to keep the peace here.

We only ask that people who choose to participate in this community do so with tolerance and respect for it. If you cannot do that, then do not log in here. When you decide to log in to SPO, you have a personal decision to make: are you going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution? It's truly up to you. Everyone has the same chance here to succeed. We all start out as equals and we remain equal as long as we maintain respect for each other.

In SPO's entire history thus far, only two threads have ever had to be removed because they were harming others and then only when the community at large voted for us to do so. The number of posts that have been editied in any way, of them, over 90% was to correct spelling or formatting errors as a courtesy. The other 10% violated the rules against either hate speech or slander. The total number of posts moderated for slander is currently under 20 in the entire history of SPO. Out of over 30000 posts thus far, this is only 0.000625% of total posts!

SPO's only mission is to try to do what we can to unite this scene the best way that we can: together. All are invited to participate here and we in turn will do everything in the open and in full view for that reason. However, anyone that has an agenda that is clearly meant to tear down this community or anyone in it to the extent that they are trying to cause this community harm is not welcome here.

My name is Thom Bone, and I am the Administrator here. I have a very good team of volunteers helping me run this site, and for that I am grateful. I also invite anyone who cares about their scene to get involved here and offer their help. I truly dream of a scene where everyone feels that they can express themselves in whichever way they like, in a spirit of true unity and respect for others. I am hoping to share this dream with all like-minded people not only in the Seattle area, but ultimately, around the world. I would hope that one day SPO can be seen as a benchmark and a beacon for others who also wish to unite their scene. I can only hope that together, we can prove to the world that the Pacific Northwest can be united and that together, we can make some seriously amazing art in all its forms.

To those who do not understand this concept or would purposefully work against it, we must not allow them to do damage to us. It's unfortunate that such people exist. But even so, these people are not excluded. Even those that may be banned are invited, at any time, to rejoin us in our quest here. We would welcome them with open arms if they ever chose to be a part of the solution to the problems that were plaguing this scene long before SPO even started.

We hope that one day, we can achieve this for the benefit of all music fans, bands, venues, artists, performers, writers, poets, photographers, bloggers, underground groups and collectives, DIY organizations and more.

This site and this scene are built on your efforts. If you have any questions about this policy or problems with posts that have been moderated, please contact a moderator. If you have problems with the way the board is moderated and think that you can do better,  become a moderator. If you have exhausted your options and still have problems with the free services that this site is providing you, you are welcome to start your own site. If you chose to take no action other than derailing discussions on this board with complaints about policies and their enforcement, you are only contributing to these problems. Real change occurs through actions. If you do not like the way this site is run and make no actions to change it, your inaction is contributing to any flaws in this scene or site.

Thank you for reading.

Now, let's build a kick ass scene together!

[thombone]

An addendum, more to come later:

SPO's main focus is to be a trusted promotional machine for clubs, venues, bands, artists and the community at large, a networking tool, a free resource for all, an honest booking connection, a gathering place for fans, friends, bands, artists, and more.

SPO is about a theory: that at the end of the day, the underground is the underground, regardless of genre. Yes, we're named "seattlepunk.org" but the irony of it is (and I love irony) that SPO is neither wholly focused on Seattle nor is it wholly focused on punk. To define "punk" in terms of the SPO vision, it simply means "open to new ideas". To define "Seattle" in terms of SPO, Seattle is merely where we are based, but our aim is to be a resource for the entire Pacific Northwest, all scenes. The reason for this is that the we believe that we are all "one" scene at the end of the day, and the idea is that if local and regional scenes can bond together and work together and share resources, then those individual scenes become more able to serve themselves as well as each other.

We hope to aid and serve all music scenes that are underground (read: grass roots) and all arts that are also independent. There is no sense in artists having to struggle so much when with some effort by all of us we can all give a little of ourselves so that everyone can receive a lot!

We really ARE inclusive, never exclusive. Those who wish to exclude themselves do so by their own hand. And you know what? We'll try to help them anyway, or stand ready to if they ever ask.

It's all about resources. We're trying to set an example by being helpful to anyone that asks, whenever possible, in an altruistic manner and as an avocation. That is WHY we are a .ORG. We are not out for personal gain as a priority, although I'm certain that individuals here hope that this can help make their lives better, their art seen and heard, and if that helps them to profit and live a better life, it's all good. No, it's great!

We are also about cross-promotion. You promote us, we'll promote you. You don't want to promote us? We'll still promote you. We're taking the high road, always.

That being said, we also believe that to the extent that privacy is an important issue in general, personal lives should remain personal. There are many other tools to use for that type of communication if two people feel it's necessary. SPO's public forums are not meant for nor are they designed to be one of them. Also, any personal information people offer here is their own choice, and is neither encouraged nor discouraged.

[thombone]

It's really simple, people: you DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT to come here and disrupt this forum.

If you do disrupt this forum, then not only do you not respect SPO, but you do not respect every other member here, and for that we have every right and reason to clean up your messes.

We shall do so, when it happens, and you only have yourself to blame for it.

If you want the right to attack people, start your own damn forum or go get a soapbox. It IS NOT ALLOWED HERE FOR ANY REASON.

We are about the music and we are a networking tool. We don't give TWO SHITS about your personal problems or issues beyond that.

If you're in a band, or you are an artist, or a booker, venue, whatever, looking for help or to network, advertise a show or event or otherwise collaborate at any level for any reason, then SPO is the place for you to do so.

If you have personal issues, we're not your group therapy. Please take it elsewhere, as we have work to do trying to help artists, bands and venues thrive and survive.

Either step up and help, stay out of the way of those who are stepping up, or piss off. We dont' need the negative bullshit. We're doing what we do here as a labor of love and we owe you NOTHING in return.

What we offer is a free service meant to be used by all who find it to be of value and can appreciate it for what it is and for what it offers to this region and various music and creative scenes.

If you do not appreciate it, then simply do not use it. Don't log on here or use our resources.

If you're just her to bitch, whine, gripe, tear down or scream about some supposed rights you have here to be a douche to other people, then don't bother. The fact is, we don't owe you this service; we don't owe you anything. Stop acting like we do--you're wrong.

What we do here we do for fun and for free. Therefore, we owe you nothing.

Therefore, if you come here to disrupt this forum, we don't owe you the platform to do so.

Stay within our guidelines and posting policy and show SPO and the other members here some respect and you have nothing to worry about. Disrupt our forum with nonsense or non-constructive flames and your posts WILL be deleted. In severe cases, you may even be banned.

It all comes down to respect. If you have none, that's not our fault.

[Roscoe X]

& FURTHERMORE, no flash posting in fucking sigs!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Carry on......................