Participation Rules

Rules of the Road for use of the Network, www.thewidowcoach.com and any affiliated websites, course or social media platforms, or properties.

1. 1. As The Widow Coach I recognize that faith and tradition are an integral part of your journey. We don’t restrict participation in our members area however, we ask that you do your part to keep this area supportive and welcoming:
      

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. If you share your faith or spiritual experiences, ensure that you don’t judge others or treat them differently
            2. Do not try to convert anyone to your faith tradition
               

1. 2. Widowhood cuts across the diversity of life and life experience. Please don’t engage in ANY activity that demeans an individual or group.  This includes, nationality, national origin, race, language, sexual orientation, or heritage.  As appropriate, we may set up forums for men only, women only, and those who identify as LGBT or other sexual orientations or other forums based on common life background or interests. In all our properties, respect and tolerance is the rule.
      
   3. This website is global, though much of the content is intended to be U.S.-specific. If you refer to culture or local legislation, reference your country so that others can identify and share.  We are not acting as an attorney, financial adviser or registered professional.  As I say often, “Generally, I do not tell you what to think, but I tell you what to think about.”  As always, validate any legal or financial information provided here with your OWN legal, financial or other professionals as appropriate
      
   4. If you have a bad day and are feeling punchy…. I understand. However, you should identify that in your communications by stating that you want to debate or vent.  Others may be needing unconditional support-I recommend you stay away from those discussions until your anger has passed and you can be the support, they need that day.
      
   5. About Marketing: Your guides on this site do everything we can to ensure that content we provide is absolutely suitable to our audience.  We ask those who are content providers to agree to a code of ethics before they participate in our site. We do feel strongly that widowed people need to support widowed people and thus the market place has a huge number of widowed-owned businesses.   That being said…. we encourage you to vet them just as you would any business.   Those referrals (and any associated affiliate commissions we receive) allow us to keep the price of our materials low, our content relevant and to support our outreach activities.
      

Moderators and Members are permitted to:

• • Refer to their product or service in passing
  • Mention a book, article or blog post as part of a conversation or to initiate a discussion.
  • Refer to factual information in their posts, but pure “marketing” posts with disinformation or designed to explicitly cause fear or scare participants will be banned
  • Refer you to their profile page on marketplace areas of the Network which may include links to their personal websites and other materials. We hope that members will visit the sites of other participants and we hope you will support widow-owned businesses. Members should understand that associated materials by moderators, members or partners are not part of our website and may include sales pitches, may collect your email or other information. We encourage you to vet those materials with the respective professionals on your team, and to review their privacy policy, terms of service, and rules of participation before you decide.  We do recommend products we know and love personally, or ones that we think will make your widowed journey easier, but as always, we are adults here and it is a personal choice what you use and engage in.

If you observe behavior that seems to cross the line, let us know at [email protected].

1. 6. In general, …
      • Be nice. Don’t use obscene, inflammatory, or disparaging language about a person, a group of people, OR their words or actions. If you say that someone has made a “stupid comment,” you should expect it to be interpreted (and responded to) as if you called that person stupid. As The Widow Coach, I understand that grief can make you want to curse or swear.  Please keep that in the private forums (as you don’t want it discoverable on a Facebook background search if you are looking for a job) and please do not direct it at anyone!
      • You own your words. Think before you post: picking a fight will likely work as people are all in different stages of grief. You should never have to delete any posting. People will consider you sneaky if you delete your words to avoid an apology — and we expect you to value these relationships as you value those “in real life.” Recognize that if you post on this site, your words can be quoted by others and used in material, with or without attribution.
      • Stay on topic. When participating in the network, stay on topic, or start a new area of discussion. For example, you can start a new thread (in an open discussion) if you have a new topic, concern, question, or insight to offer. Don’t talk about politics, except as legislation may affect the widowed community.
      • Share helpful information respectfully. DO feel free to talk about and provide links to books, articles, or blogs you’ve read or written. Our admins recognize that we also need to maintain a safe environment, so our comment is that “respectful information” is appropriate. Ultimately, the administrators of the networks reserve the right to determine what is appropriate.
      • Failure to abide by these rules of participation or to use them in a manner contrary to these rules may result in you getting removed from the network and identifying information shared with admins of other widowed networks.
      • By incorporation, we include the Terms of Service.

Questions? Comments? Want to get more involved? contact us at [email protected]