Purpose, tone, tolerance, and respect
3D-PRO exists as a positive resource to help and be helped by others. It exists to share and discuss information & ideas in a thoughtful way.
And it exists to help people network with some of the most influential contributors in the industry and others who will someday be among them.
I have no issues with controversial topics, strong opinions, or unconventional ideas. And I don’t care about whether someone ends up being correct or not.
What I care about is the quality of the discussions on this list and the impact they have on others.
I care about maintaining the kind of environment where people feel free to share information, ideas & their opinions without feeling like they will be personally attacked for them.
I care about people presenting information, opinions & facts in a logical way without relying on aggressive tactics or snide remarks to stifle a conversation, intimidate others, or make it seem as if their argument carries more weight than it does.
And I care about the tone of conversations carried on by this community. 3D-PRO is not a dumping ground for complaints and criticism.
Yes, these things are welcome, but should be offered in the spirit of learning something, being open to having one’s mind changed, or discussing ways in which something might be improved upon.
Problems in this world are exceptionally easy to find and people love bonding with others over what they hate, but there’s a huge difference between discussing something to simply complain and discussing something with the goal of learning something or helping to solve a problem.
We, as a community, hold a tremendous amount of potential influence within the industry as well as the lives of our members (professionally and personally). It is a shame to waste that by not focusing on how we might help one another and change things for the better.
As the founder of this list, I feel strongly about the core values of this community and I will not stand back and let this list turn into a bunch of self-righteous assholes shouting “facts” at each other. There are already a ton of places where people can do that. 3D-PRO isn’t one of them.
If you can’t be excellent to each other (or commit to trying) – even if you share vastly different opinions – or you can’t focus on finding solutions instead of just pointing out problems, or if you just want to criticize and complain, this community isn’t for you.
If you are here to learn, have thoughtful discussions, respect others, and help make a positive difference in the industry and the professional & personal lives of others in this community, I’m happy you’re here
The future of this community
Please know that the future of this list is dependent on how each member chooses to contribute to it. Please be mindful of the fact this list works best when people take an active role in sharing posts, participating in conversations, or introducing fellow professionals and talented and knowledgeable people to our community.
This community thrives on engagement. When everyone sits back waiting for others to contribute, we end up with far fewer people contributing, far fewer posts, and much less engagement. If you run across something you think is worth sharing and/or talking about, please share it here — yes, even if you’ve seen in on social media. Because we can’t have an active community conversation about something until someone actually presents it to our community. When everyone wants to consume and no one wants to contribute, we starve
If you’re more of a consumer of content than a contributor, you can still help. Please consider inviting others you feel might have something to add to our community. You don’t have to know someone personally to invite them to 3D-PRO (but it helps). So please be mindful of folks you work with, are professionally connected to, inspired by, or follow on social media and then reach out to them about 3D-PRO.
And know that we are always looking for ways to add to the diversity of this community.
Controversial topics
I have no issue with potentially controversial topics provided they are discussed in ways that don’t make them personal. *The exception being religion and politics, as these topics tend to be too polarizing and don’t belong here. I don’t consider this a political thread (not in the Red vs Blue sense).
I also want to remind people that differences of opinion are a good thing — educated and informed opinions even more so. The real danger is being within a group of people who all think exactly the same way. While people may discuss experiences they’ve had — and they are absolutely true from the person who had them — they may not actually be reflective of those having experiences outside of that bubble.
And that very much relates to the theme of this thread.
Differences of opinion help us question, alter, or reaffirm our beliefs based on new information. And this often happens when we really don’t like what we’re hearing. But it is absolutely vital to moving forward as a culture to be able to _consider_ other people’s points of view.
Moderation
Please remember that it’s not up to any single member to decide what’s appropriate for others to post — so please don’t step in to moderate.
If folks have an issue with something, contact me directly, we can discuss it, and I’ll take action if necessary or consult the list for consideration.
NM: (New Member) messages & replies
I just want to remind folks that welcoming people who join our community is a friendly thing to do and not something to discourage. So although NM: replies do add to the noise of the list, I consider it welcome noise.
Not only do replies to NM messages help people feel welcome, it also allows them to immediately connect with others who they may know who are already a part of our community. Remember, every new member is experiencing 3D-PRO for the first time. They have no frame of reference as to what this community is like until they actually experience it. And being welcomed, along with some banter, is encouraged.
Image & file attachments
In general, if folks have a relatively small file — under a MB or two — it’s not a huge issue (in my opinion) to attach it. But sending out 15mb worth of data to a large number of people — some of whom may have data limitations based on how they access this list, can be a bit… inconvenient. I know when I’m traveling, there are times the only way I can get this list is via roaming on my phone. So something to consider.
So for large files/images, please post them to the cloud and then provide a link to them in your email. This is the safest bet because not everyone who reads this list is necessarily interested in every subject or downloading images or files that don’t pertain to those interests.
Check your spam folder
There are some instances in which messages from 3D-PRO get filtered to spam. It’s good to check — and set up a filter so that messages from the list are always sent to your inbox (or at least never spam)
Member privacy and unsolicited email
1. Collecting list emails and sending unsolicited messages to members is not only in poor form and a breach of people’s privacy, it’s against the rules. If you receive unwelcome & unsolicited messages from members, let me know.
2. This is not a public list. All 3D-PRO messages should be considered potentially sensitive in nature. Please exercise caution & common sense or get permission from people before sharing or forwarding information.
In that same regard, messages sent privately and directly to list members should not be shared without explicit permission from the original author.
If you would like further information with regard to the above, feel free to contact me directly.
Please don’t use brackets in subjects
We use subject header keys, not brackets. Brackets are bad. Don’t use brackets.