NIRI welcomes everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or disability. NIRI is committed to providing a safe, productive, inclusive, and welcoming environment for attendees, volunteers, staff, and others engaged in programs, meetings, events, and activities, including chapter programs. Diversity is valued in governance, speaking, thought leadership and other roles within NIRI.
E-Group Rules & Etiquette
Thank you for being part of NIRI's eGroups community, a members-only forum. This Code of Conduct has been established to ensure the best possible experience for all users. By participating in eGroups, you agree that you have read and will abide by this Code of Conduct.
This is a self-moderated forum. NIRI does not actively monitor eGroups for inappropriate content and instead relies on members to "self-police" the site. NIRI encourages all members to actively engage by providing high quality dialogue that serves to elevate the investor relations profession. eGroups is best used to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in ongoing conversations in a non-commercial environment.
To preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, NIRI reserves the right to suspend participation in eGroups or terminate the NIRI membership of members who violate these rules.
The Rules
All eGroups users and posters must follow these important rules:
- Do not post commercial or promotional messages for a product or service in which you or your employer has a business interest in. If you believe that you can help a member with a product or service offered by you or your employer, you should contact that member directly. Promoting products and services is the #1 complaint of eGroups users. If you are considering making a posting but are unsure about the commercial nature of it, you should assume NIRI members will view it negatively as a commercial (spam) message.
- You are welcome to post white papers and other thought leadership resources that other members would benefit from, provided that: 1) the resources don’t include promotional/commercial messages; and 2) members would not be required to submit their email address or contact details in order to access that content.
- Do not attack others. eGroups discussions are meant to stimulate conversation, not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.
- Use caution when discussing, reviewing, or evaluating products or services. Information posted on eGroups is available for all members to see, and comments can be subject to civil lawsuits as well as prosecution under state and/or federal antitrust laws.
- Access to eGroups is restricted to NIRI members. eGroups postings should not be shared with anyone outside of the membership. This includes forwarding e-mails, taking screen shots, printing, posting to other social media platforms, or any other means of distribution.
- Do not post material, non-public information about your company (or client companies). Although eGroups access is limited to NIRI members, these forums should be considered public.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or discriminatory comments are strictly prohibited and are subject to removal.
- Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner.
- Send your message only to the most appropriate eGroups list(s). Do not spam several lists with the same message.
Penalties for Violations
Violations of the eGroups Code of Conduct may be punished by suspension from eGroups. Subsequent violations may result in expulsion from NIRI membership. Specifically, violations will be subject to the following penalties:
- First offense: NIRI staff will issue a private e-mail warning to the poster. If the poster disagrees that a violation has been committed, the poster may appeal to NIRI’s CEO, who will refer the matter to the NIRI Ethics Council for a decision.
- Second offense within 12 months of the first offense: NIRI’s CEO may suspend the poster from eGroups for 30 days; any appeal will be referred to the Executive Committee of NIRI’s Board of Directors.
- Third offense within a two-year period: will be referred to the Board Executive Committee, which may suspend the offending poster from eGroups. The decision of the Board Executive Committee can be appealed to the full NIRI Board of Directors.
- Any additional violation – ever -- after a one-year suspension has been imposed: the offender will be immediately suspended from eGroups. The offender will be referred to the Ethics Council, which may recommend termination of membership by the NIRI Board of Directors pursuant to the procedures outlined in the NIRI Bylaws.
Posting Etiquette
Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me too" directly to individuals -- not to the entire list.
Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” through eGroups. Instead, change your account settings to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
Legal Information
The eGroups platform is provided as a NIRI member benefit. NIRI is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. NIRI disclaims all warranties about information posted on this site, whether posted by NIRI or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. NIRI is not liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever 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, discriminatory, or 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. In addition, the posting party grants NIRI and users of this list 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 members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or indirectly 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.
NIRI does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, if any inappropriate posting is brought to NIRI’s attention, NIRI reserves the right to take all appropriate action.
NIRI reserves the right to delete messages, postings, and comments.
NIRI reserves the right to terminate eGroups access to any user who does not abide by this Code of Conduct.