VetMedTeam Community Rules & Etiquette
The VetMedTeam Community provides members with a resource for learning and sharing with others in the veterinary community. The community's goals are to improve every aspect of caring for animals and to increase individual expertise and performance. Words that describe the culture are inclusive, encouraging, friendly, collegial, respectful, dedicated and caring.
Guiding Principles
- Discussions encompass subjects of interest to members of the veterinary community
- The discourse will remain professional at all times
- All members are equally respected contributors to the team regardless of their professional role or status
- Sharing knowledge and opinion is highly supported but facts should never be confused with opinion
Discussion Group Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, position, credentialing, and location.
- State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
- Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting.
- Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
- Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals - not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
- Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list. Members can update their email addresses from within their VetMedTeam member profile.
- Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message."
Participation Guidelines
To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If at any time you have questions or concerns please reach out to us at
Community@VetMedTeam.com. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.
The Rules
- Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.
- Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted.
- Remember that other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this site unless you specify otherwise.
- Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
- All messages must add to the body of knowledge. We reserve the right to reject any message for any reason.
- Anonymous postings are allowed but will be moderated. The posting must demonstrate a clear need for privacy to be approved.
Commercial Postings
Members are encouraged to share information regarding products and services they, or their practice, have personally found beneficial. Members with direct connection to companies, such as any degree of ownership, employee status, independent contractor status, or any relationship to a company beyond that of customer, are prohibited from posting within, or regarding, that relationship without the permission of VetMedTeam. This includes advertising any type of consultant services without prior permission from VetMedTeam. VetMedTeam has a number of options for those seeking to share this type of information with
members so
please don't
hesitate to reach out to us. We are not seeking to block the sharing of valuable resource information. It just needs to be done in an equitable manner.
Protecting Each Other's Privacy
Any and all information obtained regarding another member via participation in this community is to be treated with utmost protection. Under no circumstances may personal information be shared with others without the express permission of the member.
The Legal Stuff
This site is provided as a service for the members of VetMedTeam. VetMedTeam is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by VetMedTeam or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall VetMedTeam be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any
damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants VetMedTeam and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display,
copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers
or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
VetMedTeam does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of VetMedTeam we will take all appropriate action.
VetMedTeam reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
Three Strikes Policy
- Upon the first violation, the participant will receive a written warning from a staff member
- A second violation of the Code of Conduct will result in a three-month suspension from the Community
- A third violation will cause a permanent suspension of all Community privileges