Community Guidelines
Welcome to Movers & Shakers.
A slack channel of founders, check writers, and ecosystem builders dedicated to fostering a community that helps each other move further, faster, together. We want everyone to feel welcome and respected here, so we’ve outlined some Community Guidelines to keep this place running smoothly.
Be kind.
As the saying goes: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This is a place where community members can lean on each other for help, advice, guidance, and support. When providing feedback, please do so thoughtfully. We’re here to build each other up, not tear each other down. Meaning constructive criticism is welcome, but personal attacks or insults are not.
Keep things tidy.
Slack hygiene is critical to this community’s success. Thankfully the structure is fairly straightforward with a few simple rules.
Use the right channel. It’s important to use the correct channel so information is shared and stored in a logical way. Here’s how we’ve organized channels to date:
Sector: There are channels dedicated to specific industry sectors (ie. healthcare, insurance, consumer, gaming, etc.). When you’re initially invited to Slack, we’ll try to add you to the channels that are the most relevant to you. Feel free to join others that interest you. All channels are open and visible, so you don’t have to join a channel to be able to view conversations happening there.
Function: There are channels dedicated to specific departments within an organization (ie. human resources, finance, sales, marketing, etc). Again, we’ll try to add you to the channels that align with your position, but don’t let that stop you from participating in others.
Location: We’ve set up channels dedicated to larger hub cities to help connect people who live in the same place. These channels are intended to make even closer personal connections. Feel free to get together with other Movers & Shakers in your city.
Avoid double posting. Double posting is rarely acceptable and highly frowned upon. If you have a question or need help on a specific topic, please refrain from blasting multiple channels with the same question. Examples of acceptable double posting:
Questions might overlap on Sector and Function, and there may be circumstances that you want opinions from both channels. Please be clear on your re-post so people are aware that this discussion is happening in multiple places.
This community is a great place to post job opportunities within your company. Please post your initial job opportunity in the #jobs channel. If you want to get additional visibility from a particular Sector or Function channel, use the re-post function in the proper channels.
Threads are our friends. Conversations are much easier to follow if you reply in a thread. Don’t worry if you accidentally forget. We’ll send a gentle reminder if we see discussions happening outside of threads and have people re-post their comments in the correct thread.
Safety first.
We want everyone to feel welcome and respected here, regardless of their background, identity, or beliefs. To create a positive and inclusive space, we have established the following expectations:
We expect all members to communicate respectfully and considerately with one another. We do not tolerate hate speech, discriminatory language, or any form of harassment, including bullying, trolling, or personal attacks.
We value diversity and strive to make our community a safe and welcoming space for people of all backgrounds and identities. We do not tolerate discrimination based on age, race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, or any other personal characteristic.
We take any violations of our community guidelines seriously and will take swift action to address them with a zero-tolerance policy. This will include deleting offensive content and removing members who engage in discriminatory or harmful behavior.
If you witness or experience any behavior that violates our community guidelines, please report it to a moderator or admin immediately. We will investigate all reports promptly and take appropriate action.
We believe in continuous learning and growth, and we encourage all members to educate themselves on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We also welcome respectful discussions and constructive feedback that help us create a better and more inclusive community.
By joining our Slack community, you agree to follow these guidelines and help us maintain a positive and respectful environment. Thank you for being part of our community, and let's work together to create a more inclusive and welcoming space for everyone.
Authenticity > everything.
This is a community where we show up and give first. People are here to collaborate and connect with others in a genuine way. Don’t ruin things by soliciting, scraping, or cold DM’ing for personal benefit. Keep these guidelines in mind as you participate:
If you’re a startup, by all means tell us about what you’re building and leverage this community for feedback, questions, and comments. Heck, even use the #shamelessplug channel to post official announcements about your business. But stop there. No one likes to feel like they’re being constantly sold, so be sure to treat others in the community as friends and thought partners, not targets and customers.
If you are a vendor, the same thing rings true. Many of our community members are subject matter experts in fields like finance, legal, human resources, real estate, marketing, etc. Vendor participation is extremely valuable, and this community is stronger with you here. We encourage you to contribute to discussions in an unbiased and authentic manner, sharing learnings and best practices, offering advice, and helping members discover ideas and solutions they wouldn’t have on their own. That is so powerful. Remember that you’re not limited to providing advice that applies to only your place of work. Share your holistic views on a topic or category, along with recommending products or solutions regardless of your company and its offerings.
Scraping community member’s contact information only to contact them outside of Slack is also prohibited. Any member found doing this will be removed immediately.
This is meant to be a place for learning and sharing, and therefore conversations should be public so the greater community can gain value from everyone's interactions. Please do not directly DM any member unless they have given explicit permission to do so.
By following these guidelines, we can create a positive and supportive community that benefits everyone involved. Thank you for being a part of Movers & Shakers.