Code of Conduct

Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of our community of community-owned & publicly-owned natural gas professionals. To ensure the best possible experience for all users, we have established some basic guidelines for participation. By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to only post discussions, blogs, shared files, and content to APGA's online forums that are relevant to solicit the advice of your community-owned gas industry peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions and login issues should be directed to APGA staff via the Contact Us link on this site.

Note: The APGA Community sends email notifications of its posts to members, and those emails are considered public record in many states. You can choose which emails you would or would not like to receive from the APGA Community at any time by updating your community digest & email settings on your community profile under the MY ACCOUNT tab.

The Rules

  • All messages must add to the body of knowledge around the community-owned & publicly-owned natural gas industry and should aim to engage APGA members in discussion and knowledge sharing. APGA reserves the right to reject any message for any reason.
  • Please refrain from discussing topics such as utility rates and salaries on the APGA Community as it could be seen as anti-competitive and a violation of APGA's anti-trust warning & guidelines which can be viewed at www.apga.org/anti-trust-warning.
  • Job postings are not allowed in APGA's online forums, libraries, blogs, events, or other areas of our website except on APGA’s Gas Career Opening webpage at www.apga.org/job-bank. Please contact APGA at info@apga.org about posting a job.
  • All unprofessional, defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal messaging & materials are strictly prohibited. Additionally, APGA strives to foster a culture of inclusiveness for our employees and our membership as per our statement at www.apga.org/aboutus/about. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation around topics relevant to the community-owned & publicly-owned natural gas utility industry from a variety of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Do not disparage, alienate, or attack others. Let others have their say, just as you may.
  • Refrain from solicitation, marketing, and sales activity on any discussion list, resource library entry, blog, direct message to individuals, or any other area of APGA’s community and website(s). Community contributions should be unbiased and free of promotional messaging like marketing of one’s product/services, non-APGA events or trainings, special offers and promotions, and company press releases. You may reply to APGA members directly with product and service information only if such information was specifically requested in their post(s). While informational posts about products or services that address specific needs are acceptable when solicited by a community participant, unsolicited promotional posts are not allowed and will be removed.
  • Use caution when discussing other companies’ products and services as community contributions should be unbiased and free from conflict of interest. See APGA's Anti-Trust Warning and Guidelines at www.apga.org/anti-trust-warning. Please refrain from making negative comments about the products, services, or offerings of a competitor or peer. The information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all APGA members (municipals, associates, and affiliate/joint action agency members) to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
  • Blogs are used exclusively by APGA staff to share association news.
  • Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted.

Discussion Group Etiquette

  • Discussion posts are meant to be a vehicle for engagement with your peers. Your post should include a question or an invitation for other APGA members to reply with feedback.  
  • Only create a message or add documents to the entire forum when it contains information that most APGA members can benefit from. Post your message or documents to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.  
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.  
  • Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information and put your response before the original posting.
  • Use the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message to send a direct message if you only want to send a quick note like "me, too" to a specific individual instead of the whole group.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the community notifications as a discussion post. If you would like to request any changes to your account, please notify APGA by emailing info@apga.org to assist you. You can also go to your profile’s email settings at https://www.apga.org/resources/members/profile/myaccount/my-settings?section=subscriptions to update your APGA Community digest email preferences.
  • The APGA Community is a forum for community-owned and natural gas utility professionals to discuss topics relevant to the industry, and APGA Community email notifications may be considered public record in various states. Do not post anything that you would not want your professional network (and the wider world) to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of the American Public Gas Association (APGA) and community-owned & publicly-owned natural gas system industry professionals.   APGA is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties concerning information posted on this site, whether posted by the APGA, its members, or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall APGA be liable for any damages whatsoever, including special, indirect, or consequential damages, resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, anticompetitive, or otherwise illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. Also, the posting party grants APGA and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate users to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

APGA does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of APGA, we will take appropriate action.

APGA reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines or remove any post or materials that are in violation of these rules or applicable laws without prior notice to the posting party. Further, APGA reserves the right to modify these Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines at any time and shall notify Community participants of such modifications.

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to the American Public Gas Association (APGA). You have the right to understand how APGA handles your personal identifiable information (PII) prior to providing it to APGA through the APGA Web site at www.apga.org and all subdomains. Please read our privacy policy at https://www.apga.org/privacy-policy. 

To better protect your privacy, our privacy policy explains our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available in the footer of the APGA website.

By using this site, you signify your assent to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the APGA Privacy Policy, please do not use the APGA Web site, www.apga.org. APGA reserves the right, at our complete discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Please check back periodically for any changes we may make to the policy. Your continued use of the APGA Web site, www.apga.org, and all following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies

A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc.). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Read more about APGA's usage of cookies in our privacy policy at https://www.apga.org/privacy-policy. 

Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet

While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information, please contact us using the Contact Us page.