Community guidelines

Many Spot users wonder what the main dos and don'ts are for this forum. We've therefore come up with some community guidelines for you. If we get the sense that the ship is starting to sail off-course, we'll continue to develop or modify them further. But we assume most people know how to behave themselves on our platform. And if they don’t, we have a special Spot dungeon where we can teach them better manners.

Spot is Schiphol only

Spot is the platform run by and for the 65,000 people who work at the 500 companies in the Schiphol region. There may be people who work just outside that catchment, but would still like to participate. If that's you, you're very welcome to join in. We're a little stricter when it comes to companies. If you're here to promote your business, there's only one option: join the other companies based in the Schiphol region! (You won't regret it, we promise.)

Spot is not an advertising platform

Nobody likes spam. Advertisements, link building, self-promotion, speculative job applications, pyramid schemes, Nigerian princes who need to cash a cheque... Most people don't want to see that kind of stuff in a community space. So we don't allow it on Spot.

Spot can be used to match supply with demand

We obviously don't want unsolicited advertising. But if you have an item you want to sell, rent out, give away, or lend – or if you're looking for something of that nature – of course you can announce that! We even have a separate group for that, the creatively named ‘Spot Marketplace’ (Marktplaats). We know. It took us months to come up with that one.

You're free to offer or request all sorts of products and services, but there's just one key rule: it can't relate to your core business. Got a spare office chair? Or some office space for a start-up? Maybe you're looking for a second-hand fax machine (a WHAT?) Or someone who can translate your brochure into Portuguese? If so, put it on Spot! But if you're a web agency, don't offer website development. If you're a recruitment consultant, don't offer temporary staff. And if you're a coffee house, don't offer your ground coffee. Let the beans speak for themselves.

Spot is space for positivity

Spot is a bit like a birthday party: the more the merrier, and we'd like it to be fun and friendly. It’s also best when it includes cake. Feel free to praise others, or to share other kinds of constructive feedback or useful experiences. But don't use the community to air your grievances. If you have a complaint about a company that has a presence on Spot, we recommend that you contact that company directly. If you have a complaint about Spot itself, you can e-mail the community manager

The right content, in the right place

Try to place your messages, questions and requests in the appropriate group. You should certainly avoid placing the same message in different groups. If you want to reach the members and followers of a number of different groups, we recommend that you place your message in the general Spot group. When you respond to messages, other users will also appreciate you staying on topic, and keeping to the subject under discussion. Nobody likes the guy who goes off on random tangents.

Note: your messages are in the public domain

Spot may be ‘Schiphol only’ for the purposes of responding to messages and taking part in discussions, but you should remember that anyone could be lurking. Search engines like Google index Spot’s content, just like any other online content. It's worth bearing this in mind when you post information or respond to others, especially if it's a sensitive topic. The world is watching. And your family might be, too. Behave accordingly.

Speak for yourself

Every participant is responsible for the content of his/her own messages, requests and responses. You can, however, ask the community manager to edit something. As a general rule, we don't remove profiles or messages, once they've become part of a discussion that other people have made the effort to participate in too.

But if you've posted a message or response that, in hindsight, you now feel is going to haunt you forever, you can e-mail the community manager explaining why. The community manager can make your profile and/or the message anonymous, if you want. It’s a bit like that little stick in Men in Black that erases people’s memory. Now you see it, now you don't.  

Where Spot draws the line

Spot will not tolerate hateful, racist, fascist, sexist, ageist, intolerant, threatening, sexually charged, insulting, slanderous or shocking messages, images or films. If you place any such content, we may remove your account.

You should also respect the privacy of others. Do not share the personal details of any third parties (such as their name, address, phone number or e-mail address). Our community managers have the right to remove any message or thread without stating a reason. But invasions of privacy are reason enough. So there.

Help us keep Spot spotless

Stumbled upon a broken link? Noticed some incorrect information? Or maybe someone posted a message that you think violates the guidelines? If so, e-mail our community manager, Annick. She'll get straight on it.

Our community managers have the final say

Spot is a moderated community. That means our community managers have the right to edit or remove any dubious messages, responses or discussions without stating their reasons. And they may sometimes get it wrong. After all, even the best referee will sometimes flag someone as offside when they actually weren't. And we don't have a VAR to refer to.

If you disagree with a moderator’s decision, we advise you to e-mail the community manager. Repeated violation of the guidelines or general terms and conditions by an individual user (or from a particular IP address) can result in that user (and/or the IP address) being banned.

The small print

Those are the main guidelines. But please note: there's some small print too. It's not a thrilling read, but still very relevant to Spot users. So make sure you click on our privacy policy. You know, when it’s almost the end of the day, and you have a few minutes to kill.