3^rd Rock Grid Community Charter

The 3rd Rock Virtual World Grid (“3RG”), is made available by the 3rd Rock Company. It is a virtual world that comprises of two main areas: private regions (sims), surrounding a large area of connected regions, called the 3RG Core (“Core”). The Core is further divided into estates, residential areas, commercial areas, and more. At the center of Core an area of 25 regions, called Community Core, houses the 3rd Rock Grid Community (“community”). This community is a self-governing group of people who share a vision of spending quality time together in an environment that brings out the best in people and enables them to grow personally. The community is open to all who share this vision.

This 3rd Rock Grid Community Charter (“charter”) defines the various aspects of the community, including but not limited to its relation (contract) with the 3rd Rock Grid Owners and Operators (“management”), its governance model, and various standards and procedures that safeguard the integrity of the community.

The community charter and all that follows from it only apply to the shared community areas of the grid (the community core) and not necessarily to privately owned estates where different rules and standards may apply.

Community Vision

The vision of the 3RG Community is to provide its citizens with a stress-free and safe environment. An environment where all are welcome, regardless of their background; where all can grow together through sharing, participation, and cooperation, without regard to personal gain or status. An environment that is open, honest, and rational, without the pressures of marketing, religion, or domestic politics.

The community vision is therefore very much an attitude - a state of mind. Citizens of the 3rd Rock Grid that participate in the community are expected to:

• be respectful, cooperative, courteous, helpful, and tolerant

• have a sense of community

• attempt to be rational, honest, impartial, fair-minded, and positive

• care about other citizens and for other citizens

• enable and facilitate each others aspirations

• be inclusive; all are welcome

To facilitate the community vision, a portion of the grid has been set aside for the community: the community core. The OneCore plan furthermore aims to translate the vision into functions the community wants to offer and allocates them to a location in community core.

Community Contract

While the community is self-governing and can shape itself without approval or consent from the management, there exists an understanding - a quid pro quo – in the form of a contract with management over the use of the community core. In this understanding, the community is asked to provide the following:

• A welcome area for new citizens

• Greet new citizens in person and help them get established

• Act as a hub to the grid as a whole

• Enable and facilitate citizens to live their virtual dream

It should be noted that the community contract can only be implemented by volunteers. Citizens are encouraged to contribute to the community, but nobody should ever feel unwelcome when unable to do so. In this sense the community contract only provides direction for residents of the grid and can only be enacted with sufficient support from the citizenship.

The community vision and contract together imply that the community core is not intended to be utilised for anybody's personal gain. All activities aiming to achieve personal gain, including (but not limited to) commerce, should be conducted in designated areas outside the community core (i.e. other parts of core or private areas).

Community Governance

The community is governed by its members:

• Each community member has an equal vote in community matters

• All community members are eligible for the role of Community Elder, Senior, or Officer

Governance is all about managing change. Two types of change are recognized:

• Operational change (the world around us has changed, we need to respond)

• Strategic change (the community itself is constantly evolving/changing)

The management has the right to veto any decision that violates the TOS or threatens the integrity of the grid.

Operational governance

The community delegates the governance of operational change to functionaries elected from the community: the Community Elders. On the operational side the community finds itself supported by the following roles:

• Community Elders, responsible for an area of operational affairs (portfolio)

• Community Seniors, cooperating with the community elder

• Council of Elders, supporting unassigned and unforeseen issues

• Community Officer, overseeing and/or executing procedures (temporary role)

The operational affairs of the community are split into the following portfolios:

• events (events and activities, liaison private events/activities)

• education (courses/classes/workshops, liaison private educators)

• reception (welcome center, new arrivals, greeting and unassisted)

• property (land, structures, community bank)

• information (community corner, web-info, forums, newsletter, community meeting)

On unassigned and unforeseen operational matters the community decides but will be procedurally supported by the council of elders, through a community officer. Most notable among these matters is the election of elders.

Operational decisions need to conform to:

• The Community Vision, and

• The Community Contract, and

• The OneCore plan, and

• Standards and policies set by the community

The community has the right to reverse (veto) any operational decision.

The community elders may defer any operational decision to the community

Strategic governance

The community itself will take all strategic decisions. The strategic decisions are assumed to include some special cases. A community decision is required for:

• Proposals that are strategic in nature

• Operational plans on request of the responsible elder

• Operational plans the community chooses to decide on

• The election of Community Elders

• Any unforeseen issues that emerge

All proposals submitted to the community will be submitted through the council of elders, who support the decision processes. The council of elders will:

• Refer operational plans to the responsible elder for a decision

• Assign a community officer to:

  • organize and execute a consultative decision on proposals;

  • organize and oversee an majority vote on all other decisions

When taking decisions, the community aims to:

• be inclusive, offering all the opportunity to participate

• open, all relevant information needs to be available to all

• take informed decisions, relying on facts and ratio

• protect itself against opportunistic behaviors (“vote-rigging”)

All strategic decisions need to conform to:

• The Community Vision, and

• The Community Contract

Community Roles and Remits

Community Elder

A Community Elder is elected by the community to manage an operational portfolio with the following remit:

• Responsible for a portfolio and answerable to both community and management

• Recruit Community Seniors in a supporting role (maximum 3)

• Coordinate/manage the affairs in a portfolio

• Liaise with management on issues that extend beyond the community (core)

• Liaise with other portfolio holders on issues that overlap

• Liaise with the community and individuals on suggestions, offers, criticisms, and queries

• Enable and facilitate community citizens

• Recruit Community Citizens to help with the activities and projects

• Take immediate action to stop conflicts in community core from escalating

Community Senior

A Community Senior is recruited by a community elder. The remit of a Community Senior is identical to that of the elder with the following exceptions:

• The Community Elder is ultimately responsible for a given portfolio

• Only the Community Elder may recruit Community Seniors.

A community senior may represent the community elder

Council of Elders

The community elders will form a Council of Elders with the following remit:

• Resolve disputes where portfolios overlap

• Formally resolve conflicts reported from within the community.

• Approve or appoint community officers

• Process proposals (including appeals)

• Compile a candidate list when a new elder needs to be elected

• Support a community decision procedurally when an unforeseen issue emerges.

Community Officer

The role of a Community Officer is a temporary role for the duration of the procedure the officer is assigned to. The Community Officer:

• Is answerable to the community

• Executes decision procedures on behalf of the community

Note that any community member is eligible to the role of community officer, including community elders and community seniors.

Community Citizen

All who visit the 3RG are considered citizens. A community citizen:

• May visit all areas of community core

• Is expected to observe community standards and policies in community core

• May attend all community functions, including the community meeting

• May submit ideas or plans to the community

• May contribute to and/or participante in community activities/projects

Community Member

A community member is an established and involved citizen who may also:

• Participate in the decision processes of the community

• Be a candidate for the roles of Community Elder, Senior, and/or Officer

Rocks

The owners, administrators, technicians, and management team of the grid are (often) recognized by the surname Rock. Wearing their official hat, they have no say in community matters other than where the TOS is violated or the integrity of the grid is threatened.

Most Rocks also use alts or simply visit the grid in a non-official capacity. In that case they are full members of the community (Community Members). The community trusts the Rocks to avoid situations where a conflict of interest may cause undesirable controversy.

Procedures

The community devises and maintains procedures to formalize the strategic decision processes.

The council of elders is encouraged to devise procedures to support its remit.

The procedures are part of the community charter and are found in a document titled 'Community Charter – Procedures'.

The OneCore plan

The community develops and maintains a OneCore plan that contains:

• A list of all the functions the community offers or aims to offer

• A zone allocation map that places each function on a location in community core

• The basic requirement that each location imposes.

The OneCore plan is:

• Available to all citizens

• Designed to enable/facilitate designers/builders interested in improving community core

The OneCore plan is part of the community charter and is found in a document titled 'Community Charter – OneCore'.

Standards and policies

The community creates and maintains a set of standards and policies for community core that:

• Encourage behavior in line with the community vision

The standards/policies are part of the community charter and are found in a document titled 'Community Charter – Policies'.