Discord (online chat)
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The Society of Midwest Contesters has a Discord server online to facilitate real-time chatting among members.
All SMC members are welcome to participate in the discussions. There is no cost involved to participate. While it is most conveniently done utilizing the Discord app (available for all major desktop and mobile operating systems), it is also possible to join directly from a web browser. If you do not already have one, you will need to create an account on Discord. The good news is that you can use this same account to join as many different Discord environments as you wish. There are many other servers available, including other ham radio communities.
We’ve even provided a specific channel to replace the old contest chat on the website. This allows members who are in the assisted class to discuss the contest, advise of multiplier locations, etc. with other members without impacting members who choose to not participate in that area of discussion.
SMC Discord invite link
Use this link to join our Discord: https://discord.gg/Vyz6FDpfjb
Rules
The rules are pretty simple.
- SMC Reflector guidelines also apply on the Discord.
- Some quick notes about topics of discussion
- Topics for discussion are a bit more relaxed here than on the email reflectors. Let the conversation flow but let’s try to keep it ham radio related, or at least loosely related. See excluded topics list below.
- No station spotting, band condition discussions, or contest discussions during an active contest should occur outside of the active-contests channel. During a contest, please feel free to use the active-contests channel to point out mults, discuss conditions, etc. Use of this channel, including viewing only, constitutes assistance and should be claimed on your contest entry.
- This is a good community of good people, let’s keep the place nice and treat each other well.
Excluded Topics:
Posts of these nature will result some form of action. Depending upon the nature of the content it may be one time warning, others may result in immediate expulsion from the Discord server and potential forfeiture of your SMC membership.
- No hate speech or harmful language.
- No piracy, sexual, NSFW, or otherwise suspicious content.
- No political or religious topics.
Joining the server
In order to make it easy for members to have access to the invite link and yet still keep access to the chat limited to SMC members a simple process flow was implemented for the joining process.
- You may join the server at any point in time
- Upon joining you’ll be limited to a welcome channel that provides some useful information for getting started.
- Take a few minutes to read through this information, particularly the portion about setting your display name. This makes account verification a much simpler process for the moderation team.
- Upon joining, the moderation team is notified that you have joined. At their next opportunity they will verify that you are an SMC member and grant you normal access to our chat channels.
- The mod team is small with other responsibilities, so please be patient for us to get to your account. It may be anywhere from a few minutes to the next day.
- If you are a new member to SMC, please have additional patience as the mod team must wait for your SMC application paperwork to be fully processed by the club secretary before your membership can be verified.
- Once your account has been verified you’ll see the regular chat channels and are free to engage in conversation.
FAQs
Do I have do join the Discord?
No, joining the Discord server is entirely optional. It is just another facet of the SMC community and helps to build relationships considering our large geographical area.
Will I miss important information or announcements if I’m not on the Discord?
No, while information to be shared with the membership may also be shared within the online chat, they primary distribution method of such information will continue to be the general membership email reflector.
What do I do if I need help?
If you require help getting Discord set up, or getting into the SMC server, go ahead and post to the general email reflector.
If you’ve already joined the server and need some assistance, you can ask the general chat there, or feel free to reach out to a member of the moderation team. The online moderators are listed independently in the member list panel of Discord. Click the little people icon in the upper right corner if you don’t see the member list.
What if I do not renew my SMC membership?
If you choose to not renew your membership to the SMC, upon your removal from the roster by the club secretary, you’ll be removed from the Discord server.
