To the members of our ethics committee and the webmaster,
Please be advised that Google and other search engines are picking up the reputation associated with our membership, in doing so I believe #3 of our own Ethics is being violated by our own message board system and should cease and desist immediately.
Copied from NACHI Code of Ethics
Duty to the Profession and NACHI
The NACHI member will strive to improve the Home Inspection Industry by sharing his/her lessons and/or experiences for the benefit of all. This does not preclude the member from copyrighting or marketing his/her expertise to other Inspectors or the public in any manner permitted by law.
The NACHI member shall assist the NACHI leadership in disseminating and publicizing the benefits of NACHI membership.
*]The NACHI member will not engage in any act or practice that could be deemed damaging, seditious or destructive to NACHI, fellow NACHI members, NACHI employees, leadership or directors. Member(s) accused of acting or deemed in violation of such rules shall be reviewed by the Ethics committee for possible sanctions and/or expulsion from NACHI.
Please advise,
Barry, you have an interesting complaint. Please be specific as to what particular member you are lodging this complaint against and email me or any other committee member a full explanation as to how you feel these actions have been harmful to NACHI members, to include any specific responses made by the public to this Google search result. Thanks.
Please keep in mind of the precedent that such an action would establish…
If you post something that offends me or that I perceive could cause me harm…and Google picks it up…have you necessarily acted unethically? Was it your intention to make a statement on the NACHI message board to NACHI members or to the world, through Google?
Again, your argument is interesting and should be looked at. Just give us as much real facts as you can muster. Generalities do not help in an ethics complaint of this nature.
Please read again and tell me that my previous statement is not factual.
The NACHI member will not engage in any act or practice that could be deemed damaging, seditious or destructive to NACHI, fellow NACHI members, NACHI employees, leadership or directors. Member(s) accused of acting or deemed in violation of such rules shall be reviewed by the Ethics committee for possible sanctions and/or expulsion from NACHI.
Jame – me thinks you are off base on this one – The ethics violation was done by a NACHI staff member who created a system where members could hurt other members without knowing it. This was not an intentional violation of the COE
Now that this is known if some one blasts someone with red flags and it hurts the member then the blaster is in violation
Where I see the problem is when the information that might hurt is true
Rather than an Ethics issue, shouldn’t Chris be asked, begged, or whatever to get rid of this immediately? I see no reason this “reputation” system was even started.
Nick,
In all these threads about the rep system, I’ve not seen one person stick up for it. Most say they want it gone. What if we did a poll and 90% of the message board users said to get rid of it? Would that do it for you? I know this isn’t exactly a democracy, but members should have some say, don’t you think?
I think this system was started as a result of the “Canadian Thread Debacle” and the number of non-members that continued to post garbage on the board. I have no problem with this system as it applies to NON-Members but current MEMBERS should have a choice.
It would be best that the whole system be turned off for all MEMBERS and those that wish to keep it, should be able to turn their own back on. It should be a “user initiated” choice.
If it is your intent to exercise your right as a member to file an actual complaint regarding the ethical conduct of another member, you should provide your complaint and the facts supporting it, in an email to a member of the committee. All complaints are reviewed on their own merit and are taken seriously.
If it is your intent to simply engage in a discussion as to the merits of your general remarks, then this would be the forum to do so. Please understand that, for obvious reasons, ethics complaints are not dealt with on the open board.
When a charge is made by a member that another member has violated the COE, the burden of proof is on the accuser. They must be specific as to the member they are charging, the nature of the charge as it applies to the COE, and they must provide proof to support their claim.
Now…for the purposes of the open discussion now taking place and without regard to any specific complaint that may or may not be filed in this regard (for, as yet, none has)…and speaking only for myself and not the ESOP Committee…I would like to share a few of my own thoughts on what has been brought forth, here.
A system has been designed by Chris Morrell that could just as easily reflect “Extremely Helpful” next to the name of every member that is Googled. His system, in effect, is neutral regarding the reputation of any member. How and if it is being used by the membership is outside of his control and does not reflect upon his own thoughts, actions, or behaviour toward any particular NACHI member.
A “bad” reputation is no more of a violation by Chris than a “good” reputation would be to his credit.
Personally, I think the whole system and the silly discussions and arguments resulting from it are absurd.
I don’t understand what members mean by “get rid of it.” It is already gone for those members who wish to opt-out (get rid of it) from their mb profile.
It is only non-members who are not given a choice to opt-out.
“I think that when someone does a google search for any of us in NACHI it would be harmful to our businesses and to NACHI to have a statement like …has had a little positive feedback”
Another poor use of wording is “…hasn’t had much positive or negative feedback”
Just yesterday I received a 1 red and 2 gray feedback just for asking how many positive feedback it takes to advance to the next level of the feedback system.
At least get rid of the phrases that go with the system. I’m sure that the comments left by those who leave them will be harmful also, but the feedback phrases harm everyone!
This is a good idea. But if you (Nick) are so determined to keep it, I don’t think most would have a problem with it if the comments didn’t show up on Google. Is there a way Chris could fix that?
Chris changed the OPt Out ability by removing the “square” in messages of Opted out members, but the Star is still there and people can still “give them reputation”, and those who have opted out can still give reputation to those who are still in. If they’re out then why can they still participate, a little hypocritical don’t you think.
The system has never met its intended purpose, unless that was to create a NACHI popularity contest, and allowing members to post comments in the system without revealing their identity is chickensh**, especially when those comments come from people who have opted out.
