Posting Guidelines
It’s very hard to keep up with all of the latest technologies and to know what is safe to post online. Below is a list of information and when it should or shouldn’t be posted. Please remember that these are only guidelines. There may be special circumstances where you will want to be more restrictive of what information is posted.
Names
Except for the Grand Worthy Advisor, State Master Councilor, Grand Bethel Honor Queen, Miss Jobs’s Daughter, and Miss Congeniality the full names of any youth should never be used online. The first name or first name and last initial of other youth can be used where appropriate.
Pictures and Videos
Before posting any image or video, make sure you have a media release for everybody in the image. Also, keep in mind that once it’s posted, it will always be out there.
Media can contain a lot more information than what you see.
Did you know that many images also contain the exact location, date, and time the image was taken. If you post any media that contains text (a program or flyer for instance), all of the text information will be available just like you had posted the contents directly.
Locations
-
Public events where you are encouraging non-members to attend should have the address posted.
-
Public events where you are not encouraging non-members held at public locations or masonic facilities can have the event’s location posted in general unless there is a specific concern.
-
Private events like meetings at a masonic facility can also have their locations posted.
-
Private events at youth homes or other sensitive locations should not have their location posted.
All events must always have at least two advisors present at all times. If the event is a co-ed event, you need to make sure one advisor is male and the other is female at all times. Proper advisor-youth ratios should be maintained, with a higher ratio needed for an event at a park versus at a lodge.
Dates & Times
The dates and times of events should always be included. The date and time are very important to holding any successful event, so everybody is encouraged to set these as early as possible, with at least 30 days ahead of time encouraged.
If a date or time needs to be changed, or an event is cancelled, a good practice is to leave the original event on your calendar, but postpend it’s title “Postponed”, “Rescheduled”, or “Cancelled”, and add all the details needed to the description of the event.
Contact Information
-
An adult advisor's information should always be included with all events along with instructions to contact that adult if they are interested in attending or would like more information.
A youth should never be the contact for any event and their contact information in any form should never be included in any posting or event.
Below is a list of information that should never be posted
- A youth's full name
- A youth's email address
- A youth's home address
- A youth's school
- A youth's social media account/profile
- Any other information tied to an individual youth should never be posted