Welcome to The Magic Pebble, an online community of thoughtful and insightful magicians to discuss the art and craft of close-up and platform magic of all kinds. We are pleased and honored to have founded this forum and make it available to the membership. There are many magic boards across the Internet, each with their own methods and models, and most operate in similar fashions. The Magic Pebble uses a model that is somewhat unique in several ways but for very specific reasons.

1. THE FIRST PRINCIPLE

   1. The Magic Pebble is a forum that’s run, to the greatest extent possible, by its members. Rather than regarding the founder of the board as the administrator, it’s more accurate to think of him as a facilitator, one who makes it possible, even likely, for effective dialogue to take place but not necessarily one charged with overseeing the running of the forum or dictating the behavior of the membership. Instead, we’d like you, the member, to feel your ownership of this forum and, in tandem with the rest of the group, act to make it work well. This includes your taking on some tasks that are traditionally performed by a forum administrator:
      
      • The solicitation and/or approval (or disapproval) of new members
      • Approving or disapproving the re‐entry of members with expired accounts
      • Providing input on banning or restoring members (should such actions become necessary)
      • Suggesting and approving or disapproving policy changes
      • Upholding the integrity and quality of the board
      Every once in a while, we receive comments similar to, “It’s your house and your rules,” and while we appreciate the
      sentiment and the respect, we’d much rather it be YOUR house and YOUR rules. By having part ownership in what goes on,
      we hope you feel a greater tie to the board and to the other members. #

2. CONDUCT

   1. The Magic Pebble prides itself not only on being a group of intelligent and considerate citizens, but also a light‐hearted and open community. Conversations can sometimes be edgy, raucous or racy. However, some boundaries must be in effect: #
   2. Civility is required.
      
      Footnote: For the most part, the membership is expected to police itself in all exchanges. All members of the board have equal authority in bringing to the attention of another member an issue with their conduct. Such alerts are required to be respectful, however, and not, in their nature, an attack. Alternately, any member or post can be reported to the forum host as problematic by PM, email, or by clicking on the “Report This Post” button. #
   3. There is no subject matter that is disallowed on The Magic Pebble, but there are three types of posts that are problematic and will be acted upon.
      
      LEWD, ILLEGAL, OR MORALLY OFFENSIVE MATERIAL
      
      You literally cannot offend the forum hosts, but the posting of lewd material or content that is illegal or morally offensive by modern societal norms is against the terms of service with the company that provides our hosting, so we cannot allow it on the forum.
      
      PERSONAL ATTACKS
      
      1. Two or more members can discuss nearly any topic on The Magic Pebble, and conversations may even occasionally become heated. At all times, though, a certain level of civility must be maintained. Attacking another member via name-calling or personal denigration will not be tolerated.
      2. For first and second occurrences, the administrators of the forum will arrive at a consensus as to whether action is appropriate. They may not always agree with you whether something falls into this category.
      3. If administrators deem to act, there will be one and only one request to desist.
      4. If the member continues, they will immediately be placed in a Read-Only status on the forum.
      5. A member in Read-Only status can see the forum as they usually do, but they cannot participate. They cannot post, reply to posts, engage in private messaging, send emails via the forum, download attachments, or vote in polls.
      6. The duration of this Read-Only status will be 14 days, after which their normal access will be returned.
      7. If, at any point after being restored from Read-Only status, a member engages in unacceptable behavior a second time, they will again be placed in Read-Only status for a period of 30 days, after which standard access is restored.
      8. If, at any point after a second restoration of status, the member again engages in unacceptable behavior, they will be temporarily blocked from the forum while a poll is conducted and the membership at large will engage in a 48-hour simple majority vote on whether the offending member will be permanently banned. A membership “Yes” vote will result in the member’s account permanently being deactivated.
      Footnote: the lines aren’t always clear, but the administrators will do their best to judge things as fairly as possible. Having said that, they will also not entertain interminable appeals to reverse decisions, nor will they give weight to every claim of being affronted just because someone may disagree with an opinion. This policy isn’t meant as a tool to settle every dispute or instance of hurt feelings.
      
      HATE SPEECH
      
      (n., abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses disparagement of or promotes violence toward an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, or sexual orientation.)
      
      This category of behavior rises to a different level and is approached accordingly. It includes the posting of text, attachments, or links to material in written, audio or video formats that meet standard and common definitions of hate speech.
      
      If the forum administrators deem something to be hate speech, the member is immediately blocked from the forum for 48 hours while the membership votes in a poll to determine the best and appropriate response.
      
      While there may be some variation depending on the situation, the poll options generally will be for the membership to vote for:
      • No action at all, if they deem the behavior or posted material to be inoffensive,
      • A 30-day Read-Only status
      • A temporary ban of 30 days
      • A permanent ban
      A simple majority will determine the outcome.
      
      Whether a post is considered a personal attack or hate speech, the original offending post(s) will generally remain, but it/they will be publicly flagged or noted as being inconsistent with the community standards of The Magic Pebble. Posts containing lewd material will have the offending content removed. #
   4. It is acceptable to discuss methods of routines and tricks on The Magic Pebble, as long as such discussions do not venture so far as to disrespect or harm the creators of said items, either financially or personally. It is okay to discuss a method, for instance, if it can clearly be understood that the owner of the effect has no concern over these types of discussions. It is not okay to discuss a method if so doing unravels an effect the creator would like to keep to himself or preserve for the market. If in doubt, members should err on the side of caution. It is irrelevant toward these points whether the owner of an effect is a member of The Magic Pebble or not.
      
      It is not considered good form for members of The Magic Pebble to share posts, statements, or other material on the forum with non‐members. While this is very difficult to enforce, if it is learned that a member is sharing such material, depending on the situation, the membership may be called to decide a proper course of action.
      
      Sharing account passwords is not permitted.
      
      Owning multiple accounts is not permitted.
      
      While members may use “handles” for their account names, it is also expected that they make themselves known to the membership under their real names as well. A field on users’ profiles displays the actual name. #
   5. Whether a post is considered a personal attack or hate speech, the original offending post(s) will generally remain, but it/they will be publicly flagged or noted as being inconsistent with the community standards of The Magic Pebble. Posts containing lewd material will have the offending content removed. #

3. POLICY CHANGES

   1. Any policy of The Magic Pebble is subject to revision by the collective will of the membership. Members who wish to propose a change or express a concern may do so by creating a new topic on the forum or by sending a PM to the forum host. If a proposed change has merit, it will be brought to the membership for opinion and possibly a vote. In the event of a vote, a simple majority will determine the outcome.
      
      Footnote: The forum host put in place a set of default practices and policies to start the board, but over time, all changes have occurred with the assent of the membership. The forum host will always solicit approval and will not countermand the collective will of the membership. #

4. APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP

   1. The forum host seeks every opportunity to allow members ownership of the forum. One critical tool toward this end is the membership’s approval or disapproval of new applicants.
      
      Any applicant must fulfill three requirements for consideration as a new member: 1) sponsorship, 2) registration, and 3) an e‐mail of introduction. #
   2. SPONSORSHIP -- New applicants must be sponsored by a current member of the forum. Only members of one year or more may sponsor new applicants (added March 17, 2013 by majority vote of the members; it was felt that newer members needed a period of time to become intimately familiar with The Magic Pebble before introducing new applicants). #
   3. REGISTRATION -- Besides having a sponsor, applicants must also complete the online registration form for the forum. This collects information for their user profile should they be approved as new members. #
   4. EMAIL OF INTRODUCTION -- The third requirement of new applicants is the submission of an e‐mail to the forum host introducing themselves to the membership and relating a bit of personal information. #
   5. In order to prevent perceptions of bias or favoritism, ALL applicants must submit all three elements, regardless of fame or stature in the magic community. #
   6. If an applicant provides all the required elements, the forum host will initiate a topic and the sponsor must post comments regarding the applicant. Failure of the sponsor to write on behalf of the applicant will stop the process.
      
      Once the sponsor has posted, the applicant’s introductory e‐mail is posted on the board and a poll created for the members to vote on their acceptance.
      
      Footnote: Discussion of the applicant and their possible membership in the voting thread are highly encouraged. This allows a beneficial sharing of knowledge and results in more educated voting. You can vote yes or no for any reason you choose; however, you’re encouraged to vote yes or no based more on your feelings as to whether board would benefit from the applicant’s presence more than on any other factor).
      
      The topic created to hold the poll is placed globally, so that it appears on every area of the board. A poll may start on any day of the week, at any time of day, and polls are always open for 48 hours.
      
      Footnote: We recognize that not everyone checks The Magic Pebble daily and that occasionally members may miss an opportunity to vote. The 48‐hour period allows us to get a majority vote that is likely to be representative of the most active members of the board while enabling us to respond to the applicant in a reasonable and quick time frame. The 48‐hour time frame was decided upon by the membership.
      
      Footnote: This voting process has provided the forum several advantages:
      
      • The makeup of the membership is not subject to the bias of the forum host. It’s standard for forum hosts to have sole control over approving or disapproving members, and this tends to work well…where it works well. However, there’s a different tone when members vote on new applicants, both from the members toward the applicant and vice versa. Knowing that someone is on the board only through the grace of everyone else tends to engender respect.
      • The board grows very slowly. Unlimited expansion is almost never a positive thing, whether you’re talking about corporations, populations, or Internet forums. By making sure the board grows at a comfortable pace, it avoids the stresses of other boards that expand too quickly with people coming on daily. It also ensures that the members get to know each other better.
      • The membership remains small.
      
      While The Magic Pebble has no upper limit on how many members it can have, there is an undeniable advantage to having a small number of members who are nonetheless active and dynamic. The group remains intimate and familiar, and there is a feeling of specialness to it.
      
      The effect of these combined requirements is to ensure that the discussion on the board remains at as high a level of quality as possible. Because the list of forum members is not visible to non‐members, having a sponsor nearly always entails a current member soliciting someone they know to apply. This helps ensure that newcomers are nearly always good fits for the forum, since current members tend to hand select them. The sponsor is simply a current member of one year or more who vouches for the applicant. There are no expectations of a sponsor than simply that.
      
      Likewise, an introductory e‐mail allows the general membership to get some sense of who the applicant is. Members are encouraged to research the applicant, viewing their activities on other boards, videos that may be available on the Internet, products (if any), etc., and share what they’ve learned with other members. #
   7. In all votes for new applicants, a membership majority of 75% yes votes must be attained before the applicant can become a member.
      
      Footnote: Effective July 11, 2014, a majority of the membership voted to change the requirement from a simple majority to a super
      majority.
      
      Footnote: Effective July 28, 2014, a majority of the membership voted that the super majority shall be 75%. #
   8. After a poll closes, the entire topic discussing the applicant is archived, and the applicant is informed of the outcome. No records of the members’ discussions regarding the applicant are publicly available. No details are disclosed to the applicant as to the count of the vote or any discussion that took place regarding their possible membership.
      
      Footnote: Formerly, expired polls and the accompanying threads were deleted. Beginning January 15, 2011, they are archived instead.
      
      Footnote: The topic is archived after a vote to ensure that members can converse candidly without fear that that the applicant will read them upon entry to The Magic Pebble. #

5. FORUM ADMINISTRATION

   1. The forum host will never make it a general practice to edit, censor, or delete content based on personal preference or other factors (except as previously described). There are certain circumstances, though, where editing may occur (generally, the reasons for editing will be noted in the edited post):
      
      • The forum host may edit a post if content in the post interferes with the layout or the function of the forum.
      • The forum host may occasionally relocate a topic for the sake of organization if it is felt that it better belongs in a different category.
      • The forum host may occasionally split a topic if it is felt that different subject matter in the same topic warrants separate attention.
      • The forum host may occasionally correct misspellings in posts (but often not), particularly magicians’ names. He will not, however, edit content.
      • The forum host may occasionally replace a URL pointing to an online video or audio file with the code for an embedded media player.
      • The forum host may occasionally replace a URL with an embedded link.
      • The forum host may occasionally replace a URL pointing to an image with the code to embed the image.
      • The forum host may occasionally create new forums or combine forums for the sake of organization or to assist the dynamic of the board.
      Policies posted here are considered the source of understanding for all members, and members have the responsibility to be aware of their existence and be familiar with their contents. Members are also responsible for helping improve these policies where possible. #

6. THE COVENANT

   1. The forum host has a contract with the membership:
      
      • The forum host will seek every possible opportunity to delegate ownership of the board to the membership.
      • The forum host will never sponsor applicants, solicit members, promote The Magic Pebble outside of the forum, vote in new applicant polls (unless there is need for a tie‐breaker), make unilateral decisions concerning lengths of bans or allowing banned or deactivated members to return to the board, or act in any way that could be considered influential over the make‐up of the membership.
      • The forum host will not bend nor break any provisions or any policies of The Magic Pebble in favor of an individual or group or for any reason.
      • The forum host will not yield to pressure to compromise his relationship with the membership or his enforcement of any policies.
      • The forum host will strive to meet every reasonable expectation that might be held of his capacity.
      • The forum host will never consider The Magic Pebble or the policies of The Magic Pebble his own; he will never have a personal investment in them; and he will clearly separate his involvement as a member from his activities as host.
      #