ACSA Protocols for Forums
ACSA’s member forums are for its community of members. Forums are offered and expected to facilitate conversations between DSPs, industry suppliers of products and/or services, and/or friends of our craft spirits community. ACSA identified areas of general interest for its membership. This list is not static and will be supplemented when new topics with wide appeal arise. To foster discussion most advantageous to our community, the following rules will apply.
Members who use the forums are encouraged to:
- Post notices that help fellow DSPs. For instance, we want you to share notice of equipment that is available, real estate that is perfect for a DSP, or conversely, request information on the same. Similarly, we want you to post notices of employment opportunities or alert others that you are seeking employment. You may provide contact information including cell numbers, email, and a website address;
- Lend expertise IF YOU HAVE THAT EXPERTISE without naming specific products, unless asked. If the expertise crosses into an area where safety is a concern, we ask for your utmost care in sharing that information. At ALL times, the information should not violate Federal or your own State’s regulations;
- Announce cool events at your DSPs. Help spread the excitement of our growing craft spirits community by letting others know about your openings, tasting events, and hospitality functions;
- Comment on issues related to the DSP community. Other thoughts might be better positioned in other forums so think about the value of your reflections to our craft spirits membership;
- Share excitement of ACSA webinars; education programs; conventions; spirits competition, and communications;
- Offer thoughts on marketing or generating capital to both start or expand a business;
- Help us help you by informing our moderators if you believe a post violates these protocols. It will be reviewed when you alert us and removed if inappropriate or noncompliant with these protocols;
- Consult ACSA’s previous posts before asking a question to determine if the topic has already been addressed;
- Respond in a timely fashion if you wish to comment or respond; and,
- Remain respectful of other members at all times. All posts should be professional and courteous even if you disagree with your fellow forum members.
Members who use the forums will refrain from:
- Providing or asking for information on how to illegally obtain copyrighted materials, trade secrets, or any other confidential intellectual property;
- Copying or plagiarizing other forum member’s comments;
- Disparaging, maligning, or “criticizing” any DSP, supplier or vendor of crafts spirits services or other industry members;
- Posting indecent, obscene or offensive material, which includes but is not limited to defamatory, harassing or discriminatory materials or statements;
- Posting spam or unrelated advertising, such as unsolicited advertisements for goods, services and/or other web sites, or posts with little, or completely unrelated content;
- Posting flagrant marketing of products or services, including but not limited to press releases, with an effort to simply increase your sales;
- Sending private messages to a large number of ACSA forum members;
- Posting anonymous comments or using others’ membership to secure access to the forums;
- Attacking politicians or public officials, including TTB staff;
- Advertising a competing educational program for which a fee is charged;
- Fundraising, asking for contributions, or linking to crowd-funding campaigns;
- Forwarding ACSA forum postings to non-members as this decreases the value of this service for ACSA members;
- Collecting or soliciting data (such as economic) which directly competes with ACSA efforts to do the same; and,
- Sharing ANY posts with non-members of ACSA in any means whatsoever, including but not limited to screen shots, email, social media, or making hard copies for distribution.
