User talk:Matthewatflyinghouse

Welcome!
Hello, Matthewatflyinghouse, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on talk pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place  before the question. Again, welcome! WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 21:55, 23 July 2012 (UTC)
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Copyright violation
You may not copy text verbatim from another website to use at Wikipedia, as you did at Seattle Men's Chorus (copying from here). WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 21:31, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Here's the deal: I work for the Seattle Men's Chorus and we want to incorporate all of the info on our website onto Wikipedia, so it's more accurate. It's not a copyright violation, because we're taking it from our website and putting it on Wikipedia. And what we're putting on there is about us! So please don't remove material when I copy and paste it from our website. Thank you.
 * Even if you claim here that you work for Flying House Productions (and I have no reason to believe that you don't), that is not a sufficient disclaimer to allow the material to be copied. There is a path to donate copyrighted materials, but even if the copyright issue is resolved, the material still needs to meet Wikipedia's guidelines.  The text that I deleted from the page (and I deleted a ton of text) was not only directly copied from Flying House Production's website, but it was also written as a personal reflection, with no sources, which means it wasn't really an encyclopedia article at all. Also, material copied directly from your website is likely to be overly promotional.  Your organization has a website to present to the public the image of the organization it wants the public to see.  Wikipedia articles do not exist to bolster your public image, but to report factually and neutrally.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 22:00, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Actually, that first-person history of the organization was there before (for quite some time...I guess no one caught it) and I removed it (maybe we both did, but I tried). That's not what I wanted to upload. All I wanted to put on Wikipedia is our history, mission, vision, etc. Very similar to what I've seen for other groups. Now the page has next to no information. Matthewatflyinghouse (talk) 22:16, 23 July 2012 (UTC)


 * The page has next to no information, because there is next to no information available from reliable sources. I came very close to nominating it for deletion.  However, because the group does get a fair amount of local press (but nothing beyond local), I thought I'd let it sit for a while and see if anyone can improve upon the bare facts with something useful.  Posting the full detailed history of a group, based solely on the group's own website, is a bad idea as it is not verifiable.  Many groups' histories are well-documented enough in third party sources that reliable histories can be written.  Your group does not fall into that category.  As for a mission statement, there is an essay addressing that very point, showing why it is almost always a bad idea to include a group's mission statement on Wikipedia.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 22:14, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

Can you tell me how to edit things like the staff list, which is on our website but has no other verifiable source? Matthewatflyinghouse (talk) 22:23, 23 July 2012 (UTC)
 * If the members of your staff are independently notable, then the fact that they are on your board would also be notable. But then, such information would be found published elsewhere if it were so notable.  As it is, maybe the members are not so notable.  Remember, Wikipedia is not your webhost.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 02:51, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Conflict of interest
Hello, Matthewatflyinghouse. We welcome your contributions to Wikipedia, but if you are affiliated with some of the people, places or things you have written about in the article Seattle Men's Chorus, you may have a conflict of interest or close connection to the subject.

All editors are required to comply with Wikipedia's neutral point of view content policy. People who are very close to a subject often have a distorted view of it, which may cause them to inadvertently edit in ways that make the article either too flattering or too disparaging. People with a close connection to a subject are not absolutely prohibited from editing about that subject, but they need to be especially careful about ensuring their edits are verified by reliable sources and writing with as little bias as possible.

If you are very close to a subject, here are some ways you can reduce the risk of problems:


 * Avoid or exercise great caution when editing or creating articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with.
 * Be cautious about deletion discussions. Everyone is welcome to provide information about independent sources in deletion discussions, but avoid advocating for deletion of articles about your competitors.
 * Avoid linking to the Wikipedia article or website of your organization in other articles (see Spam).
 * Exercise great caution so that you do not accidentally breach Wikipedia's content policies.

Please familiarize yourself with relevant content policies and guidelines, especially those pertaining to neutral point of view, verifiability of information, and autobiographies.

For information on how to contribute to Wikipedia when you have a conflict of interest, please see our frequently asked questions for organizations. Thank you. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 21:55, 23 July 2012 (UTC)