BAVeg :: Post Guidelines

Posting Guidelines

The Bay Area Vegetarians community and its online resources are a shared space for us to communicate with others who share our dietary choice and interest in veg*nism. Please remember that we are a large group, with varying levels of interest, participation, and commitment to vegetarianism, veganism, and animal rights. To insure a peaceful co-existence, we need to respect the different paths or reasons that have brought us to this intersection where our paths cross: veg*nism.

The mailing list SFBAVEG and online bulletin board/forum are resources for members of Bay Area Vegetarians. Usage of these resources is subject to the following guidelines and policies, as determined and monitored by the List Owners/Admins. The purpose of these guidelines is to maintain the usefulness of our resources for the local San Francisco Bay Area vegetarian, vegan, and animal rights community.

General Guidelines

With hundreds of messages submitted to SFBAVEG and the forum every month, we need to balance and incorporate the various needs that different folks have for this shared resource. Some folks are new/aspiring vegetarians while others are strong vegan advocates or animal rights activists. Everyone's interest and participation level is different.

Members in good standing may submit messages or event notices to the SFBAVEG mailing list and forum. Each individual is responsible for the content of their posts, and any posts which they forward on to the list. All messages submitted must adhere to these standards:

On-topic and relevant
- Help maintain manageable and meaningful volume by keeping posts relevant.
  - On-topic (veg or animal rights related)
  - Locally relevant when appropriate (for example: announcing an event, action alerts, fundraising appeals)
  - Please do not send repeated and redundant updates about the same event or ongoing project, or simple "me too" type emails that don't further a discussion. These emails become "noise" or "spam" and would eventually diminish the effectiveness of our mailing list and alienate the community that we are trying to support.
Signed with your name, or contain your name in the email header. If you aren't willing to put your name to your post, then it should not be posted.
Decorous content: Polite, and not promote prohibited activities or actions. Please be open-minded and supportive in your messages; remember, not everyone is at the same point in their veg*nism as you are. Today's aspiring vegetarian could be tomorrow's vegan advocate.
Use good email etiquette
Adhere to additional guidelines for events, commercial announcements, etc. as appropriate

Posts which do not meet these guidelines may be deleted or rejected without notice. Posters who repeatedly violate posting guidelines may have their posting privileges suspended or removed at the discretion of the List Owners.

Please, respect the spirit and intent of the Bay Area Vegetarians community and keep all posts relevant and on-topic.
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Email Etiquette

Cut/Paste for replies - When replying to posts, please include only the relevant portion of the original email. This improves the readability of your message, especially for digest subscribers, who receive one email that is a daily compilation of all the individual messages. When these messages are in fact replies containing the preceding earlier message(s), it gets very convoluted to read, unnecessarily large, and typically people will miss your response.
Good subject lines - please also keep subject lines relevant to your post. As discussions sometimes change in focus, so should the subject line. If you're a digest subscriber, please replace the generic 'sfbaveg digest' label with a relevant topic.
Forwarding emails - please do not forward private email conversations to the list unless they are relevant and you have the permission of all parties involved. This also applies to forwarding list emails. Otherwise, when forwarding messages on to the list, remember who your audience is and, as appropriate, preface it with an introduction and remove any information not relevant.

You're encouraged to read more on mailing list manners.
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Animals, Events & Services Posting Guidelines

Animal Adoption/Rescue

This is not the primary purpose of the SFBAVEG mailing list. However, members who are directly and individually involved with adoption and placement of rescued animals may post about animals that they are personally assisting in the broader San Francisco Bay Area (i.e. you rescued them, they are at your home, you are responsible to find them a new living situation).

Under no circumstances are animals for sale allowed to be posted to SFBAVEG.

Note: The primary purpose of SFBAVEG is to promote veg*nism and animal rights. Finding homes for animals is a GOOD thing, but it is not the primary purpose of THIS list, and it is not why people joined SFBAVEG. Our members joined to read posts that support and foster veg*nism and animal rights. Let's try to keep veg*nism/animal rights as our purpose and the main focus of our SFBAVEG posts. There are other excellent links devoted primarily to finding homes for animals. Many of them are listed on BayAreaVeg.org

Non-Profit Events

These are events organized by a non-profit veg or animal rights organization. It also includes events organized by an individual where no profit is being made.

Event notices should only be posted once. Regularly occurring events may be posted once for each occurrence (i.e. monthly events may be posted monthly).

Note: BAV-sponsored events are exempt from preceding guideline.

Any event which serves meat or promotes cruelty to animals is prohibited from being promoted; there is no exception to this so please do not ask.
Please double-check that your post is complete and accurate (date, time, location, purpose) and includes:
Cost
Event beneficiary (if event cost)
Food: whether any food is served at the event, and whether the food is vegetarian or vegan.
Name and contact info for event organizer

If you are not sure about any of the above info, please check before posting. Additionally, just because an event has veg*n food does not necessarily make the event appropriate for posting to the list. For example, the event must either encourage vegetarian community, educate about vegetarianism, or benefit/promote a veg/AR organization.

Example of an inappropriate event: The Girl Scouts host a pancake breakfast.
Example of an appropriate event: A new veggie moves to town and wants to connect with other veggies and organizes a veggie community gathering at a local veg restaurant. A new veg restaurant opens and you decide to organize a casual dinner there.
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For-Profit Events, Services, Housing, Other "business" type posts:

If your event has a cost to participate and it is not benefiting a non-profit veg/AR organization, then it is a for-profit event. Likewise, if you provide a service with the intention to make a profit not benefiting a non-profit veg/AR organization, then it is a for-profit business.

As a general rule, for-profit events or posts of a commercial or profit-seeking nature are not appropriate to post to the SFBAVEG mailing list or forum; our resources exist to build community, not your business. If you have questions, please ask first.

Under the following limitations, commercial endeavors may use Bay Area Vegetarians resources as follows:

One time announcement or introduction of services provided specially for veg*ns or services provided by veg*n owned companies are welcome since they are part of our veg community. Please just post only once to the SFBAVEG mailing list and once to the forum.
If appropriate, you may advertise your business in the Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Room/House share notices - please only post if household is vegetarian or vegan (& specify in post which it is); do not post more than once a month (30 calendar days).

We do allow limited advertising on our popular website.

Action Alerts, News Posts, and Reposts

National activist alerts

Please do not repost activist alerts for national / international issues as (sadly) they would soon overrun the list. We are a local / regional organization and alerts should address local issues or California state legislation.

News Posts
- Please do not repost news stories unless it is locally relevant or if there is a specific aspect that you wish to discuss. This is necessary to keep list volume at a manageable level.
- When posting news stories, please preface it with your personal discussion point or comment about its relevance. Please do not send the entire article (unless it's short); it's preferable if you can summarize the article, share a relevant excerpt, and/or include a link to the full article. For long links, you may wish to use a "tinyurl" instead. As a guideline, please keep this summary or excerpt under two screens worth of information.
Continuous reposts from other lists or websites
- Please do not continuously resend posts or contents from other published sources. It is best to send an example, along with a short summary of the list or resource, and instructions on how to join that list as appropriate. Additionally, unless you have permission, it is not considered good etiquette to forward/cross-posts messages from one list to another.

Below are some examples of appropriate and inappropriate posts.
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Examples of appropriate posts

Introductions -- we love to hear from our new members!
Questions about vegetarianism or AR
Vegetarian or AR news -- with a local slant is best. Or, if not local, include in your preface why you feel it is of relevance to us. Raise a point in the article that you want to discuss or have a question on.

Questions or Reviews of veggie products, restaurants, services, etc. are welcome. Disclosure of any financial interest or gain is required.
Local activist alerts requiring attention (state legislation, letters to the editor for local papers, etc)
Local support of national campaign -- If you are organizing local activity, please let folks know how they can get involved.
Ask for advice or recommendations on situations needing attention, or local veg or AR resources
Organize a group of new & old friends to have dinner at your favorite vegan restaurant
Share successful strategies for promoting a veg lifestyle

Examples of inappropriate posts or behavior

Off-topic (not related to vegetarianism or animal rights) or out-of-scope posts (i.e. not locally related)
News posts -- that are not local, not relevant or do not have a preface with added questions or points of discussion. Just because it's in the local paper doesn't make it relevant! (Suggested news lists)
Promotion of events or activities that do not support vegetarianism or animal rights, such as
- events that serve meat
- activities that directly/indirectly support animal exploitation
- sale of individual animals
Mean-spirited criticism or belittlement of other community members or veg businesses

Politics, religion, pro/anti war discussions (this is a surefire way to divide our already small community). Please be very specific in your post to keep it veggie/AR related and NOT a disingenuous post about pro/anti-war, politics or religion.
Poetry, prose, and fiction

If you need assistance in determining whether your post is relevant, please let our quiz page guide you or contact the list moderators by clicking .
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Content of Posts

Posters are encouraged to utilize SFBAVEG and our discussion forum for the free expression of on-topic content limited only by the imaginations of the posters. However, in order to maintain decorum, posters are urged to always show respect for the views of others, even if they disagree with the views expressed. When disagreeing with other views expressed, posters are urged to disagree with the views expressed and not with the poster personally.

If you feel a post is off-topic, or otherwise violates the posting guidelines, it is recommended that you bring it to the attention of the List Owners/List Admins by contacting them directly, not by replying to the email list. Evidence of any abuse of this list should be sent, along with any complaint, to the List Administrators. Unsigned (anonymous) e-mails will be discarded.

Individuals or organizations that repeatedly violate the posting guidelines, harass other list members, or denigrate BAV, whether by public posts or by privately sent posts, may have their posting privileges and/or membership suspended at the discretion of the SFBAVEG List Admins and Directors.
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Misc Info

Here is some additional information that you may find useful regarding the SFBAVEG mailing list.

Not all posts are moderated, so on occasion there may be an inappropriate post published.
Many SFBAVEG subscribers are on digest, and it is always a much appreciated courtesy to cut/paste only the relevant portion, especially when replying to earlier posts.
Attachments are only distributed to subscribers receiving individual emails, and are not available to subscribers on digest or reading list archives online.
For long URLs, to prevent the link from breaking when it is distributed via yahoogroups, you may wish to use a "tinyurl" instead.
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List Administration

Bay Area Vegetarians' 4 mailing lists and online forum are managed entirely by volunteers.

Karen, List Admin for SFBAVEG
Doug, List Admin for SFBAVEG
Tammy & Chris, co-founders of BAV and List Owners/Admins of all mailing lists/forum

Decisions made by List Admins/Owners regarding the mailing list are final, and not subject to debate or discussion on the list. We welcome comments or suggestions sent via email; you may contact the List Owners or List Admins by clicking . You may also share your comments or suggestions in person, too.
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Liability

Bay Area Vegetarians does not condone or support activities or messages which are illegal, or designed to intimidate individuals or businesses. Furthermore, we do not support any organizations engaged in those types of behavior or actions, or events benefiting such organizations.

The views expressed on our mailing lists and forum are the individual views and responsibility of the poster. Posters assume all liability for the content of their posts and hereby waive any and all claims that might arise against Bay Area Vegetarians, its volunteers, management, moderators and administrators.

If you accept an invitation to an event posted on our website or to our mailing lists, you agree to participate at your own risk and expressly waive any and all liability on the part of Bay Area Vegetarians, its volunteers, management, moderators and administrators.
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More Info

Questions?

If you have other questions about SFBAVEG, the forum, etc., please see our "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions)

Suggested News Lists

For folks who want all the vegetarian and animal rights news, there are dedicated mailing lists available. Below are two examples:

AR-NEWS - international source for animal rights related news, dozens of news items posted every day
IVU-VEG-NEWS - Daily news about vegetarian and animal rights issues (200-400 posts per month)

Additionally, we have a news feed on the BAV website.
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