http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/files/TSPolicy.htm

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TeaneckShuls E-mail Policy Reminder

Goal     Appropriate Emails     Repeat Posts; 2 Posts Per 7 Days     Business Ads     Tickets to Events; Ticket Transfers     Geographic Scope     Specify Price; Software     No Group Thank Yous     No Views or News     Political Endorsements     No All-Caps     Subject Lines     Be Brief     Sign Full Name     Not everything is "kosher"      Age Restrictions       TeaneckShulsAnnouncements     General Info     Moderators

The primary goal of the list is to be an effective tool in the building and maintenance of our community. Although the following rules are far from perfect, and we don't claim perfection in administering the list, the rules below are our best-intentioned attempt to keep the list running smoothly and to keep as many people involved with the list as possible. There are judgment calls involved and we do our best. We are, of course, open to suggestions and comments. Remember that we're volunteers.

1) Appropriate Emails -
The following are examples of emails that would ALWAYS BE APPROPRIATE: (i) community events; (ii) shul events of interest; (iii) shiva notices; (iv) community blood drives; etc.
The following are examples of emails that would GENERALLY BE APPROPRIATE: (i) houses for sale in the Teaneck area; (ii) garage sales; (iii) lost and found; (iv) information about softball leagues; (v) parlor meeting at your house; (vi) housekeeper requests; (vii) carpool requests; (viii) requests for community action on behalf of Israel; (ix) short targeted letter-writing campaigns for Israel; etc.
The following are examples of emails that would NEVER BE APPROPRIATE: (i) jokes; (ii) auctions; (iii) offensive or disparaging emails; (iv) Lashon Hara; and (v) anything illegal.
If you are inquiring about a store, service, professional, etc., please ask only for first-hand experience (not what they may have heard from others) and ask only if relevant and necessary (you should consult your rav with any issues in order to avoid lashon hara). 
We may reject posts that we believe are irrelevant to the vast majority of Teaneck members. We reserve the right to reject, delete or edit any message at any time. 

2) Repeat Posts; 2 Posts Per 7 Days -
Please do not repeat posts, except as follows: (i) you can repeat a post after a month; (ii) community-wide or local shul and yeshiva events can be posted once every 2 weeks; (iii) shul bulletins can be sent weekly; and (iv) business solicitations should only be sent during the biz days.  Posts on different topics can be sent without a waiting period. 

Due to the ever increasing message volume, we are forced to limit all members (with the exception of shuls, extraordinary situations & emergencies obviously) to a maximum of 2 messages per consecutive 7 day period. Please try to keep track of this, and please attempt to consolidate all of your posts within this limit.

3) Business Ads on TeaneckShuls -
We only allow business ads on TeaneckShuls during our occasional "business day (biz blast)."  The timing of these events varies, so please stay tuned to the list for current info.

The Goods & Services directory - which is a listing of goods & service providers in the Teaneck area, based on member recommendations.  The form at http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/gs should be used to submit an entry.

TeaneckShuls business day (BIZ BLAST) is a one day period per month where business ads that meet the criteria below may be posted on TeaneckShuls (send as an email directly to TeaneckShuls@yahoogroups.com).  This replaces the old business weeks that we had been running.  There will be no other exceptions for business postings. We will always announce the actual BIZ BLAST date way in advance, so the membership can plan their posts accordingly.

We have also amended our policy re: camps & playgroups for children. These may advertise during the monthly BIZ BLASTs, regardless of physical location (if relevant to the Teaneck members). Again, plan your posts accordingly, we will not be permitting such posts  at other times.

Businesses can only advertise in BIZ BLAST if the business is physically located n Bergen County. 

The word "BIZ" absolutely must be in the subject line (as well as the name or type of business). This is very beneficial to those who wish to avoid these posts during the course of their day.

Note that the business ad must be 50 words or less (link to your website for more info). You may only post the ad once during the biz blast.  If you have multiple Teaneck businesses, you may post a total of not more than two posts during the Biz Day.

The "business day only" rule includes, but is not limited to: playgroups, camps, preschools, art lessons, home-based businesses, tutoring, sales, gardening, bar/bat mitzvah lessons, music lessons, yoga classes, dance lessons, karate classes, sales of children's clothing, flowers, hats, etc.

Teenagers may post seeking employment for snow shoveling, succah building, summer & vacation periods, etc. outside the biz day.  However they may not post tutoring ads, as this is a profession that is more suited for adults seeking work, which we only permit during our business days.  (See 15 below re posts by children.)

You can always ask for referrals for such businesses, but the businesses cannot advertise outside the business days.

We do allow outside business day posts by housekeepers, babysitters, home health aides, fundraisers, shiurim and lectures (unless intended primarily for profit or as a come-in to a business), but all subject to a once a month limit and subject to moderator discretion.

We also allow outside of business day (but not more than once a month): garage sales, items for free, lost & found and shul boutiques. See below regarding tickets to events.

We continue to allow posts of change of address of a business or notice of an opening of a new business in town at any time (not only during "business week/day"), assuming they are for a brick & mortar office or store (not a home business).

We also allow posts looking for full time employment if posted by the person looking for the employment, as well as "babysitter to share" ads.  Posts by businesses offering jobs will also be allowed (but if by a headhunter, must so indicate, and should be limited to once per week for the headhunter).

Sales of homes (including open houses) in Teaneck, Bergenfield or New Milford, which often cannot be planned in advance, will be allowed (either by broker or by owner-but not both) not more than once per month.  Please state maximum price for home sales & rentals.  Short-term vacation rentals posted by owner (e.g. for Jerusalem and other frequented locations), may be allowed on occasion at moderators' discretion.  Student apartments to share at local areas with a lot of Teaneck students may also be allowed at the moderators' discretion.

Businesses do have the option of availing themselves of our "sponsor of the week" program ($180 for charity) or our "individual email sponsorship" program ($90 for charity) through which TeaneckShuls has contributed a significant amount to various charities. Info here: http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/sponsorships/guidelines.htm .  Speak to bryan@TeaneckShuls.org for sponsor of week or chaim@TeaneckShuls.org for individual sponsorship.

You are also encouraged to list your business on our Goods & Services directory at: http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/gs/ which can be done at any time.

If you are in doubt, ask one of the moderators.

4) Tickets to Events / Ticket Transfers -  Postings of tickets to events for sale are subject to the rules above about repeat posts (i.e., not more than once a month). In addition, you cannot post tickets for sale more frequently than once every two weeks even if they are for different events and even if you are not a ticket broker. All postings for tickets sales must clearly state the face value, as well as the asking price - which may not be more than face value plus ticketmaster charges (if any). Any statement to the effect of "or best offer" can only mean "best offer below face value". Scalping of tickets on the list is not permitted.

The sale of bus or train tickets or parking passes, or the sale of airline tickets or awards may not be posted on the list (they are typically illegal, and we don't have the resources to determine when they are or are not legal).

5) Geographic Scope for Community Events - Please only post community events outside Teaneck if they are likely to get a significant number of Teaneck members. We will sometimes allow such postings for Manhattan, Riverdale, Passaic, Monsey and Bergen County. As stated above, we may reject posts that we believe are irrelevant to the vast majority of Teaneck members. We do not permit posts for social network groups such as Facebook, etc.

6) Specify Price; Software - When selling items (including houses), you must specify a price.  You may add - "or best offer below that price," but it must have the maximum price.  TeaneckShuls is not intended to replace eBay.  Also, list cannot be used for swapping, borrowing or selling of used software (which is generally illegal).

7) Reply to Sender; No Group Thank Yous - Please do not reply to entire list unless it's something extremely important that you would have posted independently. Please do not thank whole group, just senders. Otherwise we'll double the email load.

8) No Views or News -  Views, opinions and news items should not be posted on the TeaneckShuls.  We do allow short targeted letter-writing campaigns for Israel (to keep short please use hyperlinks).  We do not permit posts asking for signatures for online petitions.  On occasion we also allow FYI news items (hyperlinks only) that are of particular relevance to the Teaneck Jewish community.

9) Political Endorsements - We currently do not allow specific endorsements of political candidates on TeaneckShuls (except as a sponsor-of-the-week ad).  Reminders to vote, notices of events, notice of a new web site, or similar announcements can generally be posted on TeaneckShuls.

10) No All-Caps - Please do not send messages or type subject lines in ALL-CAPS.

11) Subject Lines - Use descriptive subject lines (especially try to use the words "seeking" or "offering" where applicable).  If you reply to a digest, adjust the subject line.

12) Try to be Brief - That's how people like their emails.

13) Sign Full Name - Please sign your full name in all emails, unless your name is obvious from your email address.  If you forget to sign your name, we may reject the message or we may sign your email for you if we know your name (so if you have a reason you don't want the email signed please let the moderators know in advance).

14) Not everything posted is "kosher" - TeaneckShuls is a community-wide diverse list, and people should not automatically assume that all posts are kosher or are endorsed by the local synagogues.  At the same time, we do ask that you be conscious of the various sensitivities of all our members.  Also, remember that some of the members are teenagers.

15) Age Restrictions - Because of various federal laws, children under the age of 13 may not post on TeaneckShuls (even if using an adult's email address).

16) Dupe TeaneckShulsAnnouncements list - Teaneck community announcements and shiva info should be posted to TeaneckShulsAnnouncements@yahoogroups.com IN ADDITION TO being posted to this list.  We will attempt to forward important community announcements that were not copied to TeaneckShulsAnnouncements.  If you read the TeaneckShuls emails there should be no reason to join TeaneckShulsAnnouncements (although if you post community announcements you may want to consider joining on a web-only basis).  See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeaneckShulsAnnouncements for more information.

17) General Information About the List  -
 Purpose - TeaneckShuls@YahooGroups.com is intended for announcements of interest to shul-goers in the Teaneck/Bergenfield vicinity.  (Created Sep 8, 2000.)
To subscribe go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeaneckShuls/join or send a blank email to TeaneckShuls-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .
To send an email to the list, address it to TeaneckShuls@yahoogroups.com   Reply only to sender.
To log into the yahoogroups web page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeaneckShuls  you may need a Yahoo ID.  See http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/files/HowToSignIntoYahoo.htm
For community links go to http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/files/TeaneckLinks.htm
For selected TeaneckShuls posts see http://www.TeaneckShuls.org/SelectedPosts
See more information at http://www.TeaneckShuls.org

Thanks
 

Moderators moderators@TeaneckShuls.org -

Bryan Alter bryan@TeaneckShuls.org
Kevie Feit kevie@TeaneckShuls.org
Aaron Kornbluth aaron@TeaneckShuls.org 
Ruthie Levi ruthie@TeaneckShuls.org

Sallie Levi sallielevi@optonline.net

Chaim Shulman chaim@TeaneckShuls.org  
Moderator for new memberships and technical issues - Debby Teicher  debby.teicher@gmail.com

 

(Last edited July 16, 2010.)

 

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