WIFCHAT GUIDELINES

You will be held accountable for following these guidelines while using
WIF CHAT list-serv (public) and/or WIFSFBA forum (members only).

WIFCHAT is a list-serv for the WIFSFBA community to share information, resources, jobs, events and more. This list-serv is moderated by the Board of Directors of Women In Film San Francisco Bay Area.

You may promote yourself & your projects! 

1. No spam / Advertising in the forums

Spam is unsolicited advertisement for goods, services and/or other web sites, or posts with little, or completely unrelated content.  Spamming also includes sending private messages to a large number of different users in this group and or any individuals in this group with the sole intention of selling.

Do not ask for email addresses or phone numbers unless it is relevant to your post or purpose on the forum.

Your account will be banned permanently and your posts will be deleted.

For projects, products, services related to this film, video, television and media, you may add links and self-promote your website, business or forums etc. 

You may promote yourself, your projects and share recommendations of other projects, services, products and people related to doing creative work in our industry and even share that you have an apartment to sublet to another filmmaker, but never sell random stuff or post spam. Thank you!

Create a safe space for your peers

2. Do not post “offensive” posts, links or images

Any material which constitutes defamation, harassment, or abuse is strictly prohibited. Material that is sexually or otherwise obscene, racist, or otherwise overly discriminatory is not permitted on these forums. This includes user pictures. Use common sense and respect or you will be removed. Feel free to use thoughtful feedback, compassion and humor while posting.

We will not allow bullying in this space. If you abuse this forum, you will be removed immediately. 

Share your unique genius to the group

3. Search for answers before you post a new topic/question. 

There is a pretty good chance that unless you have some really odd or unique problem that it has been addressed on our forum before. Please use the forum’s search feature first to see if there are already some good threads on the subject. It’s easy to search – just click the “Search” button at the top of the page.  Refrain from posting the same question that someone else has posted. A lot of people come in and post threads without thinking and it creates redundancies. 

Keep info available for all

4. Do not pm (private message) users asking for help

Do not send private messages to any users asking for help. If you need help, make a new thread in the appropriate forum, then the whole community can reply to the thread and also benefit from the knowledge being shared. However, you can connect with other members in a mutually beneficial way.

Celebrate one another

5. Remain respectful of other members at all times

What we do is hard work. We are here to raise one another up. All posts should be professional and courteous. You have every right to disagree with your fellow community members and explain your perspective. However, you are not free to attack, degrade, insult, or otherwise belittle them or the quality of this community. It does not matter what title or power you hold in these forums, you are expected to obey this rule. If you abuse this forum, you will be removed immediately. 

Post a smart title

6. Be descriptive and don’t use “dumb” topic names

Be thoughtful about your post topics! Without realizing it, you may not get help because of the way they posted the question. Here are some general guidelines.

PLEASE post a descriptive topic name by giving a short summary of your problem IN THE SUBJECT.  (Don’t use attention-getting subjects, they don’t get attention and only annoy people).

Sample of a good title - Here is a good example of a way to post a question;

SUBJECT: “How to calculate the cost of Administrative and Research in the Development section of my film budget”

or

SUBJECT: “Time Sensitive: Where is the best place to rent Cinematic Lenses for a Sony Fs7?”

or

SUBJECT: “I'm looking for a great entertainment tax person, does anyone have any recommendations?”

or

SUBJECT: "Urgent: Beware of working with "COMPANY NAME" out of Los Angeles, they don't pay their people."

or

SUBJECT: "I've entered my film into a contest, please vote for me!"

You should not post anything like this - which is unacceptable;

SUBJECT: "Help me,  Hello,  Very urgent, I have a question!"

or

SUBJECT: "What's wrong with people?"

or

SUBJECT:  "For sale; tires for a car."

IMPORTANT: Should you post a title like the one above, as moderators of this forum, we reserve the right to change your title to something that makes sense. Using this forum automatically indicates you have read this and understand that this is a possibility.

Keep it professional, always

7. Remember when people help you, they are doing you a favor

Be patient, help people out by posting good descriptions of what you need help with, and not snapping at people with garbage such as

“if you aren’t going to help don’t waste my time replying”.

We are looking for moderators

In order to apply to be a moderator, you must:

Please reach out to the bod-admin@wifsfba.org if you are interested. Thanks.