Guidelines

Welcome to the JTFD2 Community! Feel free to share, connect, communicate and make business happen with other members in any of our different community areas. Once you’ve read the following rules and guidelines, jump right in.

Guidelines for Community Participation

1. Don't post any advertising, promotional materials, referrals, press releases, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation.
2. Don't post with the intent to disrupt or disturb the community or to interfere with other members' use and enjoyment of our community.
3. Don't attack the character or damage the reputation of other members, name-call, insult, ridicule, harass, mock or otherwise verbally assault other members of this community. This is a professional network and all behavior should reflect accordingly.
4. Don’t bully or intimidate other members. Constructive criticism is welcome, but language that can be construed as belittling or rude is not.
5. Don't post anything hateful — including targeting race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, weight or disability.
6. Don't create a screen name to hide your identity while you are violating our guidelines.
7. Don't post or link to inappropriate content. Inappropriate content is anything JTFD2 deems obscene or vulgar, harassing, humiliating, defamatory, libelous, untrue or invasive of someone else’s privacy. This content includes including graphics, images, stories, blog posts, discussion threads, events or videos.
8. Don't post anything you don't have the right to publish or violate any copyright or other proprietary rights in your posts. That includes published articles, images or videos, without the author or owner's permission.
9. Don't transfer issues or posts from one group to another with the intention of drawing negative attention to the post.
10. Don't hit and run. Please don't go to a group where you don't ordinarily post simply to point out the wrongness of another poster or group's actions, beliefs, or comments.
11. Don't use all capital letters in your postings unless you REALLY MEAN TO YELL!
12. Don't post the same message more than once in multiple forums (such as blogs or discussion threads) or on groups.
13. Don't flood. This includes repeatedly "bumping" a thread, disrupting an online chat event by entering the same phrase over and over again, or otherwise using up bandwidth for no reason
14. Don't post on behalf of banned members. If you do this, you may be banned without notice or warning.
15. Please consult the job board if you are looking to hire or acquire a job, and do not indiscriminately post to various groups, blogs or discussion threads. You may promote your job posting in the appropriate groups. For instance, if you are an Atlanta-based firm, you should place the job description in the Jobs section and then return to an Atlanta or Georgia-oriented group and promote the job as you listed it.


Self-promotion

We understand the desire for members to use JTFD2 as a way to promote themselves and their businesses. We want to encourage and foster this, but there are acceptable and unacceptable ways to do this:
1. You may not directly advertise or promote yourself en masse to the membership via messaging, in any comment, blog post, discussion thread, group, or any media, including both photos and videos. The content in question is subject to removal at JTFD2’s discretion. Additionally, this content should not resemble that which you’d normally find on a press release or advertisement or late-night infomercial.
2. The appropriate way to attract attention is to be a periodic contributor of valued content to the site. In the blog posts, discussion threads, photos, videos of groups started by you or fellow members, share your expertise, knowledge and thoughts with the group as you would with any client, without directly soliciting them for business as you do so, or promoting your business or company. Your knowledge should speak for itself and therefore build your reputation and brand at the site within the community areas.
3. In blog posts, photos, groups, discussion threads or videos, you are welcome to link back to your member profile page only. You may not include any contact information, including the name of your business, in these areas. Acceptable language includes “Please stop by my home at JTFD2” or “Visit my member profile page for more information about me.” Oftentimes videos or photos contain brief, promotional language or text within them, which is acceptable, as long as the videos and pictures contain educational or useful material.
4. If you would like to advertise your company, products or services to the membership at large, please contact us about advertising on JTFD2.
5. A serious violation is poaching or directly soliciting JTFD2 members using JTFD2 itself. We are not against competition. However, using the JTFD2 internal email messaging, our technology or platform to post a self-promoting blog, discussion, or comment on any profile wall with the intent to solicit members to or advertise a competitive site is in violation of our community guidelines and you will be subject to an immediate ban, and open to legal prosecution. Banned members lose all points.


Membership Profiles

1. Your profile should include your name and an avatar, and some simple, clear details that let us all know a little bit about you, including your city and state. An avatar is your computerized representation of yourself, like a headshot or image. Remember this is a network! If you want to connect, communicate, collaborate, and be found by colleagues and friends, a more complete profile will help.
2. Using your company logo for an avatar is perfectly acceptable, but again, make sure somewhere on your profile is a spot to let people know the identity of the person behind the company profile if your member profile name is, for instance “JTFD2.com.” We like to encourage as much real-person interaction as possible, as opposed to interacting solely with a nameless, faceless brand. Your customers and clients would appreciate it, too.
3. You may use your member profile page to promote your company or business, including any links to company Web sites, blogs or contact information.
4. You may not alter your page so dramatically that it competes with any JTFD2-branded materials, including any and all advertisements posted by JTFD2, anywhere on the site. Such alteration of Web pages – which includes banner ad-like promotional materials running atop membership profiles – is strictly forbidden, subject to review and will be removed.
5. You may set up widgets to use as promotional materials on your member profile page, as long as the branding is clear that any and all material is solely that which you are providing and are not JTFD2-created content or endorsements.


Blogs

Blogs are an excellent way for people to get to know you better. Start a blog post to discuss current trends, observations, share news articles (with proper attribution), funny stories, personal experiences, business dilemmas or successes.
1. You may include pictures or images in your posts. If you need help, please contact Erin Shea, Director of Community Development, if you need guidance on this.
2. You may include content from previously published, print or online, materials with proper attribution. If you can, provide a link to where the content originates.
3. Blogs are easy to start and are great ways for you to express yourself to the community. Great blogs we'll feature on the main page for all to see. There are several ways to start a blog. You can click on The Blogs menu tab and then click "Add Blog Post". You can also find "Add Blog Post" at the bottom of the "What's Cooking" (Blog) section on the main page.
4. Please review the “Self-promotion” section of these guidelines for more information.


Discussions

A Discussion thread is more of a short topic or question posed to the community where replies are generally desired. You can also create a new topic for discussion or ask a question by clicking on the Start a New Discussion link. Here you can give it a title, write the discussion text/question and even upload file attachments if desired. We encourage you to pick a category that's applicable or general if none apply and to add tags that help people find your discussion!
1. You may include pictures or images in your posts. If you need help, please contact Erin Shea, Director of Community Development, if you need guidance on this.
2. You may include content from previously published, print or online, materials with proper attribution. If you can, provide a link to where the content originates.
3. Unlike a blog, which is more directed towards personal commentary, discussion threads are used to solicit feedback. There is no right or wrong application here.
4. Please review the “Self-promotion” section of these guidelines for more information.


Groups

Groups allow you to invite or include people who have a common interest around a particular topic. You can share it, socialize it, communicate to other members in the group, edit and manage. It’s your group… make it special. For instance, those who are interested in issues surrounding restaurant marketing would want to join a group that focuses on those issues. If no such group exists, feel free to create one, using the following guidelines:
1. If you start a group, you are responsible for that group and to ensure that it remains lively and active. The JTFD2 staff will remove any group that appears to be inactive for more than 60 days.
2. When you start a group, make sure that you include a headline, appropriate avatar and a brief description of the group. Also included should be at least one or two discussion threads that tackle an issue the group – or you - may want to discuss. Any group started with no discussion threads in it will be removed after 60 days of its creation.
3. Groups themselves may not be promotional in nature. For instance, if you work for Acme Menu Boards, you may not start a group that is called "Acme Menu Boards." This is considered promotional in nature and will be removed. You are welcome, however, to start a group about menu boards in general.
4. As group creator, make sure to visit your group frequently and chat with your fellow members, no matter the discussion thread. Create new discussions daily. The direction your group takes, and the conversation within, is up to you. Reach out to your fellow group members directly by asking them to join in on conversations.
5. Group landing pages or discussion threads may not include promotional links or feeds to your company or personal blog. You are welcome to use feeds as long as they are not promotional in nature. You are welcome to link to your member profile within a discussion thread, but not on the landing page of a particular group.
6. Invite JTFD2 friends to join your group, or promote your group within your blog.
7. Participation in any group is similar to that in a blog or discussion thread. Language and content in groups should adhere to the same policies as blogs and discussion threads. Please review the “Self-promotion” section of these guidelines for more information.


Events

The Events section of JTFD2 is the perfect place for you to get the word out on any events or promotions you may be aware of or are hosting yourself. These can be free or paid events. This is a free service provided by JTFD2.
1. You can specify time, location and information about your event and invite people to RSVP.
2. It can be public or private.
3. When you invite people and to a commercial event, please make certain that you’re respectful and not invasive.


Violations of Community Guidelines

If you violate the JTFD2 community guidelines, expect to be contacted individually by community staff. Your actions may result in a warning, a suspension, or permanent banning from participation in our community.
1. JTFD2 has adopted a “Three Strikes” policy when it comes to banning. JTFD2 will contact you directly to inform you of a violation of the community guidelines. After three violations, you will be banned from the community. JTFD2 reserves the right to handle each violation on a case-by-case basis and, if the situation warrants, to ban any member at any time, for any reason, with or without warning.
2. Members who have been reprimanded for violating any JTFD2 community guidelines will have 48 hours to rectify the violation. If no action is taken during this period, members will be reprimanded again and the action will be counted against their “Three Strikes” allotment.
3. Banning is done at the community staff's discretion and is the result of our sole determination of a member's demonstrated inability or disinclination to follow our guidelines.
4. If you poach and solicit JTFD2 members using JTFD2 messaging, you may be prosecuted. We do not publicly discuss or announce warnings, suspensions or bannings.
5. If a thread that contains a violation of these guidelines has information that's useful to the original poster or other members of the site, it may be edited or locked. However, if in our sole judgment a thread was created for the purpose of violating the guidelines, violates enough guidelines to be irredeemable, or contains no otherwise useful information, it may be removed.
6. Because of the size of our community, we can't monitor all posts on the site. If you see a message you believe violates our guidelines, please contact us.


Your Rights and Responsibilities

Please bear in mind that all of the material you read in our community areas comes from other members. Because our community is very large, JTFD2 doesn't monitor or verify all the information posted by our members. The comments, opinions, and statements posted on our bulletin boards, forums, groups and chats don't necessarily reflect the views of JTFD2. The information posted on our boards and blog postings, including advice and opinions, is the responsibility of those members who create the posts.

Please consult your business advisors or other qualified professionals before relying on information you find in the community areas. JTFD2 is not responsible for the accuracy of posts and is not liable for any damage or loss that may result from your reliance on what other members have said.

All JTFD2 communications, including blogs, group discussion and forum posts, are public and not private communications. JTFD2 has the right to modify and publish, both on our site and in other media, any information you post in our community areas. Please note that the material you post may be indexed by search engines such as Yahoo and Google.

Community staff and volunteer hosts may use your membership e-mail to contact you regarding your messages in our community. You're responsible for keeping your e-mail address active and updated. Failure to keep your e-mail address updated may result in your being banned until we can confirm that you have a valid e-mail address associated with your JTFD2 membership.

Keep your login information, including your password, private. Sharing of memberships or screen names is not allowed and may result in your being banned. JTFD2 accepts no responsibility for use of your membership or computer by third parties, with or without your permission.

We reserve the right to modify or change these guidelines without notice.

Privacy Guidelines

Never provide your password, telephone numbers, or home address to anyone online. Be very careful about responding to solicitations for interviews or research. Note, however, that JTFD2 editors might invite you to respond to such solicitations from time to time.

Never divulge any private or personal information about another person online. That includes the person's real name or address, e-mail address, and any other personal information that the person has not asked you to make public. Don't forward or post private messages that someone has sent to you unless you have his or her permission. Only send e-mail to another JTFD2 member if he or she has given you expressed permission. Please don't solicit other members' personal information.

The e-mail address you provide is for our use only, unless you provide it to other members. By accepting friendships on JTFD2, you take full responsibility for any e-mail you receive. JTFD2 does not monitor such communications and will not intervene between members who use this function. The only way to keep from receiving undesirable e-mail is to remove the offending member from your friends list and not share your e-mail address.

JTFD2 reserves the right to resend invitations by members, and will only resend invitations once per month. JTFD2 will do its best to resend invitations only once. Members of the JTFD2 community sometimes organize donations, gift exchanges, reunions, and other offline activities. Such arrangements are private and are not sponsored, vetted, or hosted by JTFD2. You participate at your own risk. If you're looking for subjects to interview or participants for a study, please contact the Community Manager to ask for permission before querying the JTFD2 community.

James Bessemer is your Director of Community Development, and welcomes any and all comments and feedback. Please contact her regarding the following situations:
1. Report any concern you have about our community
2. Get help navigating the site or participating in our community
3. Get clarification of these guidelines or any other aspect of our community
4. Alert us to a violation of these guidelines
5. Ask about our Rewards Program JTFD2’s community policies are based on our belief that everyone has a right to free expression and that by talking openly with others we can all become better people and better professionals. We are committed to helping our members do the best job they can for their restaurants and businesses. To that end, we respect individual differences in philosophies, beliefs, opinions, and work styles, and we expect our community members to do the same.