VERSION
OBC Advisory Committee
Rules of Conduct
The OBC
Advisory committee (hereinafter referred to as the OBCAC) shall act on matters
concerning the whole of OBC and its future direction. It shall make decisions
pertaining to membership, both current and new, and resolve any conflicts or
issues that arise among individual members that can not be resolved between the
parties involved.
Members shall
serve on the OBCAC for one year from March 1 to the end of February of the
following year. The first vacancy that occurs will be filled by the alternate
member. Any additional vacancies shall
be filled by appointment of the remaining OBCAC members. The appointee shall have
been a current member of OBC in good standing for at least 3 years.
OBCAC
facilitator
The
non-voting member shall act as the facilitator for the OBCAC. The facilitator’s
role is to set the agenda for the voting members and report on the OBCAC
activities to the group on a monthly basis. The report is not necessarily OBCAC
minutes, but a synopsis of the previous month's business and a call for agenda
items for the current month. The facilitator will take into account these
proposed items in setting the agenda for each month, allowing the voting
members to set the policy. A vacancy in the facilitator position may be filled
by a majority vote of the OBCAC. (revised OBCAC
OBCAC business
may be conducted via chat rooms, email, or other means as determined by the
OBCAC. (revised OBCAC
OBC Treasurer
After the new OBCAC is elected each year, they shall select an OBC member to
serve as treasurer during their one year term. The treasurer must have been a
member of OBC for at least 3 years. The OBC treasurer collects dues, and
reports to the OBCAC any member who fails to pay dues. The OBC treasurer
distributes funds only as directed by the OBCAC, and will provide the OBCAC
with all account information when requested.
(Added
AC Meeting of
OBCAC New Member Contact
A member of the OBC should be appointed as the new
member contact person. The main duties
of the new member contact person is are to assist applicants in
submitting a complete application, confirming sponsors, and expediting the
application process. Requirements for new applicants are listed in the FAQ and
OBC Rules of Conduct.
New Member
Contact Checklist
1. Check
applications page at least once a week.
2. Ensure application is complete.
a) Name address phone number etc
b) 3 sponsors must be listed (ALL sponsors must be an OBC member for at least TWO years).
3. Email potential member if application is incomplete and state which
requirements have not been met.
4. Email the listed sponsors to ensure recommendation.
5. Post potential members name on the announcements server and request that all
OBC members review the completed application. Also seek feedback from all OBC
members on the potential member for one week.
6. Assign potential member a mentor.
7. Submit name of potential member, name of mentor, and a summary of received
comments to OBCAC Facilitator for vote.
(Added
AC Meeting of
The OBC directory is a
password protected page which is linked to the Directory page of the OBC web-site. This
information is available at any time to any member of OBC. It is the responsibility of the
individual members to keep directory information and their collecting goals current. This
can be done by accessing the update link on the Directory page. New members to OBC will be
instructed by the OBCAC appointed new member coordinator how to establish and maintain their
directory information. The new member coordinator will also contact the e-group server
moderator to add the new member to the appropriate e-mail groups.
The OBCAC shall appoint an OBC member to conduct the membership poll. Twice a year, in
January and in July this appointee will send to the active membership an email that must be
responded to in order to maintain active membership status. Any member who does not respond
to the membership poll will be moved to inactive status, removed from the active OBC Directory
and placed on a separate Non-active / Alumni Roster which will also be accessible from the
main Directory page. Inactive members are not required to respond to the membership poll.
Any inactive member who wishes to return to active status can do so by simply making a
request of the OBCAC for reinstatement.
A copy of the directory will be distributed once a year as part of the membership poll.
Members can take this opportunity to check and update their directory information and change
their membership status at this time. At no time should members share any directory information
with non-members as this is private information.
All OBCAC members
will review current applicants here and vote on
admission. Upon receipt of an application the membership will be notified that
an applicant has applied for membership. The membership would then have one
week from the posting to notify the OBCAC of any necessary information
regarding that person's qualifications for membership. The facilitator will
receive all votes and the keeper of the OBC Directory will announce to the
general membership the incoming member. If an applicant is refused he may
resubmit his application at a later date to be determined by the OBCAC.
All new members
will be assigned an OBC Mentor. For new member introduction to the group, we
have devised a mentoring, or coaching system. This is meant so as to provide
each new member with a "buddy" who can give some helpful advice on
the protocol, swapping and communications of our group. We suggest that new
members contact their mentor, by e-mail or by phone to get a dialog going in
the first week. Then, have contact with their mentor frequently. There are no
"rules", but sometimes hurt feelings, misunderstood communications,
or disordered trades leave bad tastes that can be avoided by discussing with the
mentor before leaping head first! We trust this "coach" will help you
move quickly into the fun world of OBC.
Any member may
submit a member of OBC for removal from membership. The OBC member must write
to the OBCAC detailing his problem. The OBCAC will review and discuss the
merits of the complaint and on a majority vote that a substantive issue exists,
the accused member will be asked to respond. After review of the response the
committee can remove the offending member on a vote of 5 OBCAC members for
removal. (Revised AC
Anyone wishing
to be removed from the directory before the semi-annual roll call should
contact the OBCAC and express their desire for removal. (Revised AC
Any former
member, who was in good standing at
the time of his resignation, may reapply for membership by simply emailing to
the advisory committee his desire to be returned to active membership. The
request will then be announced to the general membership and considered at the
next meeting of the committee. (Amended by AC meeting of 1997)
Your doubles
box was emptied months ago. Your local card shop has either closed its doors,
or you have located and purchased every off grade card he had in stock. When
was the last time you found a bargain on eBay? Maybe you just can’t keep up
anymore? But you treasure your OBC Membership. An OBC Inactive Membership might
be for you.
OBC Inactive Members Procedures:
1.
An
inactive member’s entry in the directory will be labeled “inactive member.”
Entries will include the inactive member’s name and email link only. A link to
the inactive member’s wantlist or homepage is not
permitted.
2.
Inactive
members are granted access to all the OBC mailservers.
3.
Inactive
members may keep their entry in the OBC Bios page.
4.
Inactive members are
not required to respond to OBC Membership Polls. The OBC Membership Poll is for the current
active membership.
5.
Inactive
members may not serve on the OBCAC (Advisory Committee).
Current OBC members may move
to the inactive membership list by contacting any OBCAC member. The
OBCAC member will then notify both the webmaster (to move the member to the INACTIVE page
and kill the link to their wantlist) and the OBC directory manager (to place the word
"INACTIVE" next to the members name in the directory).
B: IF the inactive member desires no more
e-mail as well and can't figure out how to take their names off the servers
themselves, then that should be indicated to the AC member who will also notify
the e-mail server moderator to take care of that for them. (However, at no time
should the member's name be unsubscribed from the 'Announcements' server, as important
information for both ACTIVE and INACTIVE members will be shared on this server.)
When the member is ready to become active again, they
notify an OBCAC member to that fact and they in turn notify the same people as
above to replace the link to their wantlist and
remove the word "INACTIVE" from above their listing in the directory.
(If their wantlist URL has changed during the time
they were inactive or they can't resubscribe to the
e-mail servers themselves, then they should let the AC member know.)
Most OBC
communication occurs via Email. In order to control the volume of Email,four mail servers have been
established. Announcements: for official OBC-wide announcements. Membership on this list is mandatory. Only OBCAC members and others approved by the
facilitator may post messages to this list.
Thanks: For posting messages thanking members for items received.
Ramblings: For general conversation, observations, and communication. Wantlist: For the distribution of your wantlist.
Please remember that OBC thanks and wantlist servers
(and the ramblings server as it relates to cards) are for pre-1981 cards. Discussions about newer cards should be
restricted to a short thank you for unmentionables. Directions on how to subscribe to the OBC
mail servers, along with the available options, will be provided to all new
members. (Changed AC Meeting of
Combine posts
when possible.
When posting wantlists via Email make sure it is dated and post the wantlist only. Name your wantlist
in the subject line with some form of your screen name. Try not to list every
card you received. Give us the flavor of the package. Always thank or acknowledge
the person who sent cards, at least privately, so they know they got there and
were appreciated. Send outgoings privately so guys know things are coming their
way. Always tell us what is happening in your life. These are the things that
make OBC what it is.
It is the
responsibility of each member to maintain a current wantlist.
The OBC website provides a link to each member’s homepage or OBC wantlist. Directions on maintaining your OBC wantlist will be provided to all new members. Wantlists may also be sent to the OBC wantlist
mail server. Want lists are sent to the server monthly,
or whenever significant changes occur. (Added AC Meeting of
Every member
is placed on the directory page with a link to their wantlist.
The page linked to the directory must contain a wantlist
of exclusively pre-1981 cards. All primary want lists links will point to a
page that contains only pre 1981 cards. Any member who sees a violation of the
guideline can report the violation to the OBCAC. A letter is then sent to the member whose page is in violation
asking them to comply within 30 days. If they do not comply
by then, their link can be inactivated by a majority vote of the AC. Once
the wantlist fits the guidelines, the member may
petition the OBCAC to reactivate the link. (Amended AC Meeting of
For the safety of
the individual members wantlists should not include personal information such as
addresses and phone numbers. Since OBC is more than just the cardboard we trade,
under certain circumstances a member may refrain from keeping an online wantlist.
The OBCAC should have an accounting from any member who does not wish to keep or have
a link to their online webpage.
(Revised
OBCAC
The OBC Webmaster is a
volunteer position appointed by the OBCAC. The purpose of the OBC Webmaster is
to review, evaluate, and implement website suggestions and maintain website
content on his/her own initiative while under the general guidance of the
OBCAC. The OBC Webmaster serves as the OBCAC technical focal point for the
issues that effect OBC, and provides guidance and input on these matters. The
OBC Webmaster may appoint capable volunteers from the membership to assist as
needed.
Dealer
Requirements
For a dealer to be listed on the “OBC Friendly Dealer” section of the OBC web site requires a recommendation of 5 different
OBC members. Any OBC member can petition the OBCAC with the name of an "OBC Friendly Dealer" accompanied by at least 4 additional recommendations for that dealer from the
membership. The OBCAC will then decide on the inclusion of the recommended dealer. "OBC Friendly Dealers" can be removed from the list; if an OBC member complains to the
OBCAC about a dealer listed, the OBCAC will approach the membership to gather enough information to either retain or remove said dealer. (added
OBCAC
O B C : A T r a d i t i o n o f E x c e l l e n c e S i n c e 1 9 9 1
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