Terms and Conditions

Beta Gamma Sigma Community, Rules & Etiquette, and Privacy Guidelines

Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) is committed to fostering a welcoming, respectful, and professional environment across all virtual platforms and events. Whether you’re participating in webinars, discussion groups, or collaborative forums like ConnectBGS, we ask that all members follow these community guidelines to ensure a positive and productive experience for everyone. 

General Expectations 

  • Be Respectful: Treat all presenters, moderators, and fellow members with respect. Engage in discussions with courtesy and professionalism. 

  • Be Mindful of Your Environment: If you are on camera during virtual events or meetings, please be aware of your surroundings and ensure they are appropriate. 

  • Stay On Topic: Keep discussions focused on the content, not on the individual. Offer constructive input and avoid personal attacks or inflammatory remarks. 

  • Foster a Welcoming Community: Encourage open dialogue and be especially welcoming to newer members. There are no "stupid questions", only opportunities to learn and connect. 

Virtual Events Guidelines (Webinars & Live Events) 

  • Respect the time and effort of presenters, moderators, and fellow attendees by minimizing distractions and refraining from disruptive behavior. 

  • Keep your microphone muted when not speaking. 

  • Avoid multitasking or other activities that could take attention away from the event and disturb others. 

  • Refrain from promoting personal products or services unless directly relevant to the event and approved in advance. 

  • Use chat features responsibly, contributing meaningfully to discussions and avoiding spam or off-topic comments. 

  • Moderators reserve the right to mute attendees or take appropriate action if behavior becomes disruptive or inappropriate. 

  • Be mindful of cultural differences when speaking or sharing; what may be acceptable in one culture may not be in another. Practice sensitivity and inclusivity in all communications. 

ConnectBGS Community Guidelines 

The Rules 

  • Respect Others: Focus on ideas, not individuals. Assume good intentions, and engage in healthy, respectful discourse. 

  • Use the Platform as Intended: Share personal and professional experiences, seek advice, offer support, and celebrate milestones. Avoid direct solicitation or promotion of products and services. 

  • Post Responsibly: All content should be professional and appropriate for a global audience. Avoid defamatory, offensive, or illegal material. 

  • Protect Intellectual Property: Only share content you’ve created or have permission to share. Credit the original creators and specify if materials can or cannot be reused. 

  • Be Legally Mindful: Avoid content that may violate libel, slander, or antitrust laws, particularly when discussing third-party products or services. 

Discussion Group Etiquette 

  • Clear Subject Lines: Summarize your post clearly to make it easy for others to engage and search. 

  • Reply Thoughtfully: Send acknowledgments like "thank you" or "me too" privately using “Reply to Sender” to avoid unnecessary group emails. 

  • Avoid Administrative Posts: Do not post messages like “unsubscribe me” to the entire group. Use your account settings to manage your subscription preferences. 

Content Sharing & Reuse 

When posting shared documents or resources, indicate clearly if the item is available for reuse. 

If you wish to reuse someone else's content, it’s best practice to contact the original poster for permission. 

Violations & Enforcement 

BGS reserves the right to moderate and remove content or users that violate these guidelines. Violations may result in a warning, suspension, or removal from the platform or event, depending on the severity.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of Beta Gamma Sigma.  Beta Gamma Sigma is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Beta Gamma Sigma or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Beta Gamma Sigma be 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, 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 Beta Gamma Sigma 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 members 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.

Beta Gamma Sigma does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of Beta Gamma Sigma, we will take all appropriate action.

Beta Gamma Sigma reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Privacy Policy

Any personal information you provide to us, including and similar to your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

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. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds.

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.

Help & Questions 

If you have questions about these guidelines or experience any issues, please contact the BGS team at marketing@betagammasigma.org. 

Thank you for helping make BGS Virtual Events and Communities respectful, inclusive, and valuable for all members.