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The micro-enterprises forum has been set up by the National Development
Team so that people can share their experiences in developing micro-enterprises,
their problems and successes, and useful resources that they have
found. While we hope that the main focus will be practical and personal,
broader discussions about general principles and policy issues are
entirely acceptable, provided they are clearly relevant.
The way in which the group is used depends almost entirely on you,
the subscribers. With your help, it can become a lively forum where
people support each other in their efforts to develop micro-enterprises.
At the very least, the forum will be used by the NDT to announce events
and projects linked to micro-enterprises.
ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE GROUP
Most email forums, most of the time, are friendly and supportive places.
But once in a while things do go wrong. An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
is simply a set of rules and guidelines to make it less likely that
there will be problems, and to deal with them if they occur.
The Acceptable Use Policy for this group is as follows:
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Postings to the list should be clearly
relevant to the topic of the group, as set out above. |
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The group exists mainly to support
the development of micro-enterprises in the UK. People interested
in this topic who live outside the UK are welcome to subscribe
and contribute, provided that their postings do not unduly distract
the group from its UK focus. |
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Subscribers are expected to be respectful
towards each other. Where there is disagreement, it should be
expressed in ways that are respectful. |
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Language that is obscene or abusive,
including language that is sexist, racist, or disablist, will
not be tolerated. |
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As far as possible, subscribers should
aim to use plain language. Jargon and very technical language
should be avoided. Acronyms and other abbreviations (eg VPST,
DES, BILD) should be explained. |
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Subscribers are welcome to send relevant
announcements, news, etc., or to raise a relevant issue, without
waiting for discussion on that topic to start. It is not acceptable,
however, for a subscriber to dominate the group by repeatedly
sending the same or similar messages when there is no evidence
that other members of the forum are interested. |
OTHER GUIDELINES
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Attachments CANNOT be posted to the
group. This is to avoid people having to download files that
they may not want. If you want to share a document, invite people
to email you direct, or tell people where they can download
a copy on the Web. If the document has general value and relevance
to micro-enterprises, it may be possible to add it as a resource
on the NDT Web site. |
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When replying to another posting,
use the same subject line if you are replying on the same subject.
But if you are changing the topic to something else, put in
a new subject line to match. |
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When replying to another posting,
it's helpful to include some of the message you are replying
to, so that people can follow the exchanges. If possible, include
the part that you are answering. But please avoid including
more than is necessary to make the link, otherwise the posting
can become very long. |
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If you are replying to a message
on the list, please consider whether it should go to the whole
list or just the one person. Often the exchanges between two
people are interesting to other subscribers, but 'off-topic'
conversations should obviously not go to the group. |
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IMPORTANT:
Going on holiday? If you plan to put your email on auto-reply
BE SURE TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE GROUP FIRST. If you don't, it's
likely to cause a loop that sends dozens of messages to the
list that will be extremely annoying for everyone else. |
THE ROLE OF THE GROUP MODERATOR
The role of the moderator is to guide, and where necessary control,
the use of the forum. As moderator, I have the option to see messages
before they are posted to the group, and I may take this option
at first, or if some postings are causing difficulties. I imagine
that I would very rarely use this to stop a genuine posting - but
if I did, I would contact the person and explain why.
If a message is posted (or sent to be posted) to the group that
doesn't follow the guidelines, then usually I will make a gentle
request to the person concerned. In extreme cases, or where the
person continues to break the rules, a subscriber may be banned
from the group.
If you're not sure whether a posting is suitable for the group,
you are welcome to contact me.
SUBSCRIBING OR UNSUBSCRIBING TO THE GROUP
Every message posted to the group will reach you with a note at
the end that explains how to subscribe and unsubscribe.
________________________
Steve Dowson
Director of Development
National Development Team
February 2005
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