maine lake talk

community agreements

Welcome to Maine Lake Talk! We’re glad you’re here. Consider this a local town square, where we come together to share our knowledge to make our lakes safer and healthier for all who enjoy them (be they human or other living creatures).

We are delighted to be able to host this space for us to learn from and share with each other. To ensure this is a place we all enjoy, we’ve outlined some community commitments. Your participation and presence here assumes you’ve read and accepted these. While we hope never to do this, we will ask those who are disrespecting others to leave. Thank you for your support in making this a place from which we all benefit. 

• Lead with curiosity (we are a community that supports each other and is here to make us all stronger stewards of the lakes; when something's different or unclear, approach with curiosity, not judgment. Everyone has a different point of view so feel free to respectfully disagree, with kindness.)
• Facilitate conversation culture (we're not here to cancel each other or to encourage only one point of view; we are here to listen, be open, and to be tolerant of diverse points of view shared respectfully)
• Cultivate inclusivity (all who are invited in here are welcome, and we are all on the same team: supporting the conservation of our natural resources. Shaming of others / calling others out, bullying, targeting, or attacking a member of this group won't be tolerated.)
• Celebrate publicly, critique privately (if someone's done something awesome, share it for many to see; if you've got constructive criticism for someone, message them directly or, better yet, give them a call.)
• Encourage generosity (we’re here to help each other be better. If you have created tools and resources which may benefit other lakes, please share them. You’re welcome to advertise lake-related fundraisers, but private business sales are for another platform. No selling of items or advertising businesses.)
• Focus on policy not politics (while part of maintaining our lakes and waterways may be policy change, please keep comments to that side of the government. This is not a place for advertising or debating of political candidates, elections or political parties.) 

We (Maine Lakes and its trusted volunteers) will collect your name and email for Slack registration, and we promise not to share that information (please see our privacy policy here). Please note that you are entering a semi-public forum and any personal information you share once on the channels is available to any other member. Please consider consider that when posting and refrain from posting anything you wish to be truly confidential. 

To join Maine Lake Talk, click here.