Glowsticking.com Rules and Regulations Feb 1st, 2010

Introduction

Because of confusion as to what the punishment and stances of glowsticking.com, we will list and explain every rule and regulation here. The rules are subject to review by staff vote every year, with veto power by unanimous admin vote unless overruled by a 2/3's majority by rest of staff. In addition, a site wide poll will be held a week before that will gauge the popular opinion of members on the site. All of the votes will be public.

By joining Glowsticking.com, viewing our videos, and attending any meetup, you are hereby agreeing to follow these rules to the best of your abilities. Members who are a part of glowsticking.com officially or have friends with active or inactive glowsticking.com members will be assumed to know our "house" rules. It is the responsibility of every glowsticking.com member to spread our beliefs regarding our cultural stances.

If you need a refresher on what glowsticking.com stands for, please view this article.

Glowsticking.com is not interested in a debate about any of the core rules. We will explain these rules and engage in discussion about special cases. Glowsticking.com reserves the right to delete, lock, or modify posts, and warn, suspend, or ban members at any time for violation of any rules.

Specifically, Glowsticking.com reserves the right to delete, lock, or modify these types of posts:

• Posts which promote a competition.
• Posts which directly attacks any of the ideals listed below which Glowsticking.com has made it a mission to promote.
• Posts which are purely political in nature, ie. "farewell" posts which expresses a dissenting opinion as an aside.

Glowsticking.com will NOT concern itself with:

• Posts which asks questions about a particular rule, in good faith. We will assume good faith if you have no known history and you have an online identity confirming you as someone who is genuinely new.
• Posts which offer opinions that is not part of the below.
• Heated/Controversial posts including those of which staff members are a part of unless they pertain to a specific rule below.

Why were these rules created? Who do they apply to?
The rules apply to glowsticking.com members. Glowsticking.com has had a profound influence on glowsticking culture since 2001. Once you learn from us, watch our videos, attend our meetings, we ask you follow our cultural rules. These rules are generally well-known to most members, but we have decided to put them all here for reference.

If i have a question about a rule, where can I go to ask about it?

Browse here: http://www.glowsticking.com/articles-and-tutorials/culture/71-glowsticking-culture.html

and Browse here: http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/Glowsticking-Culture-f81.html

And then make a new thread if your questions have not been answered.

Core Rules

A. General Rules.

Members who do not know the rules will be allowed some leeway to all of these rules. It is assumed that any registered member will know the rules, but it is quite common for people to skip this text. Your behavior, then, will determine if you will be asked to leave or not. We will decide punishment (or in 99% of the time, a friendly warning) on a case by case basis.

1. Members shall not knowingly compete in competitions regarding glowsticking (talent shows with winners) or participate in informal "battle" circles.
2. Members shall not participate in what is known as a "crew" in the rave scene. Especially for glowsticking or if glowsticking is part of the characteristic of the crew. This does not apply to other uses of the word "crew" including an informal crew, or rave familys, etc.
3. Members shall not support competitions regarding glowsticking.
4. Members shall not glowstick at high school during normal operating hours of the school.
5. Members shall not glowstick during high school sponsored events including dances, field trips, camp, talent shows, etc.
6. Members shall not support the efforts of others which encourage the violation of any of the rules or have been found to be in violation of any of the rules.
7. It is perfectly okay to glowstick with your high school friends outside of school or during normal hours. If you were to find a safe private place on campus where nobody was watching, like an empty room, that would be okay. Trying to get attention by glowsticking in the middle of campus is of course, discouraged. We would just prefer you just meetup somewhere else like someone's home.

B. General Forum Rules

1. No encouragement of the violation of any of the general rules. You can disagree, but we ask that you leave voluntarily. We can delete your account. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Repeated violations will result in a formal banning. If you have a specific question on how a rule is to be interpreted, then please feel free to ask in our cultural forum.
2. No posts, PMs, or threads of any kind encouraging drug usage or mentioning personal drug usage or sale are allowed.
3. No racial slurs, prejudiced threads, or SPAM are allowed.
4. No threats of any kind are tolerated.
5. Most debates and heated conversations will be allowed. Crossing the lines regarding threats, racial slurs, etc will result in warnings and suspensions.
6. Pornographic material is not allowed
7. No posting under false identity
8. No posting after being banned or suspended. We will consider legal action as it is detrimental to the operation of the site.
9. No arguing with staff members. There is a specific set of actions you can follow which is listed below.

C. Meetup Rules

1. No banned or suspended members of any kind.
2. No encouragement of violation of any of the general rules
3. No weapons or drugs or alcohol.
4. Please check with staff members who are organizing about fire-poi. Fire poi is a legal liability and could jeopardize the meeting.

Discouraged Behavior- These are various things you can do which are discouraged but often accepted on a case by case basis.

• Before participating in an 18+ (non high school related) cultural showcase (in college), members are highly encouraged to speak with the overall community
• Before forming a club of any kind involving glowsticking, please let the overall community know as to give guidelines on what we would prefer.
• Before being compensated in anyway for glowsticking, please  let the overall community know as many are gray area.

Official Staff Procedures

Staff Etiqutte

• Staff will only state the facts and reasons behind any suspensions, bans, or warns (no heated debates, name calling, etc).
• Staff is allowed to have opinions, and other staff members can have other opinions, not involving the core rules of the site. This can often result in heated debate, but Glowsticking.com as a rule will not involve itself in that.

Staff Procedure for Warns/Suspends/Banning

• Warns can happen any time and is simply a staff member PMing a member to please follow our rules.
• Suspensions of up to 3 days can be made by any staff member.
• Suspensions of more than 3 days can be made by a staff member after consulting at least 2 other staff members.
• 3 staff members should agree that the banning should occur before a ban is decided upon.
• Most members will have 1 warning before receiving their suspension. After a suspension, any further violations will result in a banning.
• When a ban or suspension is made, this post will be referenced along with the specific section in which the rules were violated.

Staff Procedure for Moving Posts or Threads:

• A notification is made as a post that a post will be made, and the post will be moved to the correct section, along with a link previously.

When a post is made that violates our rules:

• If the thread is 'cut-and-dry', a staff member will hide the thread. This thread will eventually be deleted.
• If the thread could potentially fall under a gray area, a staff member will lock the thread, make a note that it is pending review, and consult with other staff members about it.

When offline actions are made that violates are rules for continual presence on glowsticking.com online and offline:

• If the offense is particularly egregious, for example, participating in a competition, no warning will be made and the person will be banned.
• If the offense falls under a gray area, for example, supporting a banned member in a competition or attending said competition, a suspension will be made.Another example is supporting the promotion of a site or a person who expresses the views which directly conflict with Glowsticking.com's stated mission.

How to disagree with a staff decision:

Every now and then, a staff member makes a decision that is later countermanded after further review. A member can rightfully with due process explain his actions and ask for a formal review by:
1. Posting here: http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/Technical-Support-f9.html
2. Emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

How to come back from a ban:

- A minimum 1 month time is normal for a ban. After this time, an honest and straightforward letter sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or posted in the general forum by another member is encouraged. We will debate this as a staff and let you know within 1 week.

How to rescind a suspension:

- Suspensions 3 days or lower cannot be rescinded. Suspensions 3 days or above will often have the same rules and regulations as a ban.

How to rescind a warning:

- Having a warning bar on your profile looks bad. If you have done nothing wrong for a long time, feel free to ask any staff members to speak on your behalf in the staff forum.