Reminder to Members

Hello Polyglots and Hallyu fans!

It has come to my attention that we’ve had increased number of regretful incidences involving chat features and member harassment in our groups. Usually matters like these are handled quietly. I regret that I feel the dire need to make the following announcements.


May We Remind You:

1. Treat each other with utmost respect. We’ve noticed that some members make inappropriate remarks to or about other members to a point of embarrassment and insults -- publicly. KLCX/KoreanLA staff makes a mental note of any member who shows disrespect to others, which may affect your member status and even RSVP status, when necessary.
2. You did not join a dating group. We do not prohibit members from exchanging phone numbers, which may lead to happy outcome. In fact, we have members who got married with children now. So why not get to know each other further? Meanwhile, please remember this is not a dating group. Let’s have fun without sacrificing our professionalism and maturity. Let’s focus on our mutual interests.
3. No solicitation, please. One of the recent complaints come from members who have been solicited by other group leaders/members and who were being added to groups or email lists without expressed interest. We are not here to compete with other groups or businesses; we’re here to support them too. But if you joined KCLX/KoreanLA groups to solicit members, please talk to the Director first. Let’s help and support each other. It's only ethical.

Measures You Can Take

1. Don’t give out your personal information. Only the authorized KLCX/KoreanLA staff will ask for your contact information when we need for the purpose of event organization. If you don’t know the person, don’t give. 
2. Use your “Mental Block.” Sometimes it’s the best way to handle the situation.
3. Block members. Most sites give you a feature that allows you to completely block the individual you do not want to see or being seen to. You can also “go off line” if you don’t want to use the chat feature. 
4. Document it. If something starts to go awry, stop, copy, paste the content into your email, and send it to yourself. We recommend Gmail; it keeps all and every email you’ve ever received or sent unless you manually delete them permanently. 
5. Give him/her/them a benefit of doubt. Everyone is kind. We all make mistakes. Forgive at least once. Give them a chance to apologize and correct it.
6. Talk to your Event Host in advance. If you discover you and the other person came to the same event, and you wish not to seat at the same table, please inform the event host in advance. We have small-group study groups, language exchange, and many events that it is important everyone follows the rule. Inform your hosts in advance; we'll do our best to arrange something for you.

Measures We Take as Staff - We Need Your Help
Earlier in August 2011, I had to remove and ban a couple of members from our Facebook and Google groups for their abusive behaviors. This is the third time I ever had to remove and ban members from any groups I organize for past 10+ years. I regret that it had to come to this point, especially when we all tend to be very forgiving people.

As staff, we can take appropriate actions only under certain circumstances to be fair.

1. We need to hear from you first-hand. Third-person message and hearsays such as “Jack told me Jill did this,” “Dick was upset because Harry did this” are not admissible. We need to hear from a “victim” first hand, and we need to have “proof.” If you encountered an upsetting situation, and you decided that we as a group need to do something about it, please contact the staff first-hand. If you can, please send us the copy of the chat, email, etc.
2. We need to see the pattern in his/her/their behaviors. Everyone makes a mistake. For instance, if you are late for work, that can happen. But if you’re late for work every day for a month, then there’s a pattern. We need to see the same in order to decide if we need to take an action. Also, some incidences can happen once per person. If we receive same complaints from multiple people, we can take an action against it too. So every report you make helps us keep this group healthy and fun for everyone.
3. Actions we take: Based on what we have, we may downgrade member status, adjust his/her RSVP status, suspend or remove from the group, or even ban. Also, we've also had members who forge reports to the point of legal case of defamation. Please know that I take forgery quite seriously.

Reminder: Group Policy

1. Use your common sense.
2. We go with common practice in running groups.
3. Read RSVP/No-Show Policy. Click here.

We are a casual group for adults. When you join this group, you’re responsible for your own actions. Your staff are volunteers who love giving by putting in their own time, resource and even their own money without being asked. We will not babysit you, but we will do what it takes to make sure this group is fun, pleasant and professional for everyone. All this is possible because you’re here to share your lives with us! So thank you very much! You make us fee alive!

* This announcement will be continually modified to update you about our measures.