Article I Name, Purpose, and Governing Philosophy
Name: The official name of the organization is BAUS Community (Better AroundUs), with its exclusive membership layer operating as BAUS Society.
Purpose: BAUS Community is established as a safe, inclusive, and supportive space for Women in Memphis and surrounding areas to cultivate genuine platonic friendships, coordinate real world social interactions, discover local events, promote female entrepreneurship, and show up for one another.
Platonic Mandate: BAUS Community and BAUS Society are strictly platonic organizations. All features, interactions, gatherings, and member connections exist solely to build non romantic, non dating social networks and community support systems.
Core Philosophy: Community is built through active participation and real life presence. Digital features exist solely to facilitate real world connection, mutual support, and local economic empowerment.
Article II Membership Eligibility, Profile Requirements, and Age Limits
Age Requirements:
BAUS Community: Membership and access to the free community platform are strictly restricted to individuals who are 18 years of age or older.
BAUS Society: Membership, events, retreats, and gatherings for the BAUS Society exclusive tier are strictly restricted to individuals who are 21 years of age or older.
Gender Eligibility Policy: BAUS Community is a Women's Social Club and identifying as a Woman is a qualifier for joining. We host events designed by Women specifically for individuals who identify as Women. As we understand both gender and sex are a spectrum, we leave it up to each individual to decide if their presence will be a positive contribution for events curated to connect individuals who identify as Women with other individuals who identify as Women.
Geographic Eligibility: Membership is open to eligible individuals who reside in, work in, or frequently visit the greater Memphis area, who seek platonic relationships, and who agree to abide by all community rules and bylaws.
Compulsory Profile Photo and Selective Verification Policy:
Mandatory Profile Image: All registered members are required to upload a clear, recognizable photo of themselves to their BAUS Community profile.
An account may be flagged for verification based on low profile photo quality, suspected artificial intelligence generated imagery, potential impersonation, or other indicators suggesting a possible violation of our terms of service.
When selected for account verification, members must submit a valid government issued photo identification card, a live matching selfie, and confirm their registered email address to maintain active platform privileges. The verification form will be submitted to the email address on file for the account.
Unverified accounts under review will enter a restricted status for up to 7 calendar days while verification remains pending.
Should an initial verification attempt fail, the member will be granted 1 standard reattempt within an additional 3 day grace period.
Following two unsuccessful verification attempts, the account will either be routed to advanced account recovery procedures or designated for permanent removal, strictly at administrative discretion. The account email will be notified.
Notification and Account Resolution: Members flagged for review will receive an email containing direct instructions to complete verification. If verification is not completed within 7 days, or if all reattempts fail without resolution, the account will be permanently deleted from the platform.
Free Community Membership Tier (BAUS Community):
Grants full access to public and interest based features for members age 18 and older, including monthly event digests, interest micro communities, community boards, item swap features, business reviews, and badge progression systems.
Exclusive Membership Tier (BAUS Society):
Represents an elevated, paid or application based Social Club tier for members age 21 and older, offering access to Match and Mingle events, small group hangouts, special member perks, and curated local or travel retreats.
All Match and Mingle events and Society gatherings are strictly platonic social mixers designed for friendship and networking.
Members of BAUS Society must maintain an active BAUS Community profile in good standing.
Profile Content:
Profiles must contain authentic photos and descriptions focused on member interests, background, and community goals.
Profiles must not contain romantic solicitations, dating proposals, misleading information, impersonations, or unauthorized commercial solicitation.
Article III Community Standards, Diversity, and Code of Conduct
Courtesy and Empathy: Members must treat every member with courtesy, empathy, and kindness at all times across all digital spaces and offline gatherings.
Non Discrimination Policy: Members must avoid discriminatory language or actions based on race, age, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or any other characteristic.
Private Conflict Resolution: Personal disagreements must be handled privately, calmly, and respectfully. Public arguments, call outs, or harassment across forums, group chats, or live events are strictly prohibited.
Dialogue Process and Mediation: Members are required to attempt resolving issues between members using our established dialogue process or by requesting a community mediator to achieve positive, constructive outcomes.
Strictly Platonic Conduct:
Romantic advances, unwanted flirtation, dating solicitations, or inappropriate personal propositions are strictly prohibited across all digital channels and offline events.
Members seeking romantic relationships or dating opportunities must use appropriate external dating platforms rather than BAUS Community spaces.
Privacy and Confidentiality:
Information, personal stories, photos, and contact details shared within private micro communities or private chats are strictly confidential.
Screenshots or unauthorized sharing of private member information outside the platform is strictly prohibited.
Article IV Guest Policy and Member Responsibility
Guest Conduct: Members who bring guests to events are fully responsible for the behavior and conduct of those guests at all times.
Guest Age Adherence: Guests must meet the respective age requirements for the event tier (18 or older for general BAUS Community events, and 21 or older for BAUS Society events).
Rule Adherence for Guests: Guests are expected to follow the exact same rules, code of conduct, and safety standards that members agree to.
Guest Violations: Violations of community rules by a member guest can result in a financial fine, account suspension, permanent termination of the hosting member membership, and possible legal action where applicable.
Article V Community Board Policies and Usage Rules
Platonic Event Plus One Board:
Members may post on the community board to seek platonic companions for local events, concerts, dinners, or outings.
All plus one requests, postings, and responses must remain explicitly platonic. Dating or romantic propositions on the plus one board are strictly banned.
All plus one arrangements are voluntary, and members must exercise standard safety precautions when meeting in public.
Item Swap and Gift Board (No Selling Rule):
The community swap board is strictly designated for trading, swapping, or gifting items for free.
Absolute Prohibition: No cash sales, monetary transactions, peer to peer payment requests, gift card exchanges, or hidden fees are permitted on the swap board.
Local Questions and Recipe Sharing:
Members may ask local questions, request recommendations, and exchange recipes.
Posts must remain constructive, helpful, and free from spam or affiliate marketing link dumps.
Article VI Non BAUS Events Disclaimer and Reporting Policy
Third Party and Community Events Disclaimer:
BAUS Community aggregates, shares, and displays third party events across Memphis for information and community gathering purposes.
We are not responsible for any non BAUS events, external venues, third party hosts, ticket sales, or independent community meetups.
Personal Choice and Voluntary Attendance:
Attendance at any non BAUS event or third party gathering is entirely at your own choice, discretion, and personal risk.
Reporting Incidents and Scams:
If you are scammed, experience fraudulent activity, or encounter safety incidents at a non BAUS event, we urge you to report the details to platform administrators immediately.
Purpose of Reporting: Information submitted regarding scams or unsafe events is collected strictly for the benefit and warning of future community members, allowing us to flag or remove the involved person, place, event, or organizer.
Zero Assumption of Liability: Collecting reports or flagging entities is done solely as a community safety courtesy and does not mean BAUS Community bears any legal, financial, or operational responsibility for third party occurrences.
Article VII Women Owned Business Directory and Commercial Guidelines
Directory Inclusion: The platform maintains a dedicated searchable database of Women owned businesses across all commercial sectors.
Review Integrity:
Business reviews must reflect honest, firsthand experiences.
Ratings are calculated using a balanced system that evaluates trust, reliability, quality of work, and customer service.
Business owners may not post fake reviews or manipulate rating metrics.
Self Promotion Restrictions:
Self promotion, business listings, and service advertisements are strictly restricted to the official business directory and approved commercial boards.
Unsolicited commercial outreach via private micro community chats or direct messaging is strictly forbidden.
Article VIII Micro Communities and Gamification
Platonic Interest Based Micro Communities:
Members may join specialized interest groups such as Foodie, Party Girls, Culture, Craft, Not Just A Mom, or Club Dinner.
Each micro community operates as a private platonic club with dedicated group chats, photo albums, and event planning spaces focused purely on shared hobbies and female friendship.
Memphis Princess Badge Program:
Active participation is recognized through automated community rewards.
Members who contribute 100 constructive posts or comments earn the Memphis Princess badge displayed on their public profile.
Badges confer community recognition and may unlock special platform privileges.
Article IX Safety, Reporting, Account Removal, and Administration
Content Moderation: All posts, comments, reviews, plus one requests, and micro community discussions are subject to automated monitoring, community reporting, and administrative review.
Reporting Mechanism: Members are encouraged to use built in reporting tools to flag non platonic behavior, discrimination, harassment, unwanted advances, policy violations, safety concerns, failed verification checks, or fraudulent activity.
Right to Remove Accounts: Accounts can be removed for any reason. We reserve the right to modify content, issue warnings, assess fines, temporarily suspend, reject identity or age verifications, or permanently remove and ban any account or member profile at any time, for any reason, or for no reason, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Administrative Authority: Platform administrators maintain full authority to manage community spaces and enforce decisions without prior notice to protect the safety, platonic nature, operational health, and integrity of the community.
Article X Amendments and Bylaw Updates
Revisions: BAUS Community administration reserves the right to amend, update, or expand these bylaws as needed to ensure the growth, safety, platonic environment, and operational excellence of the platform.
Notice: Members will be notified of major policy changes via the monthly event email digest or platform wide announcements.
Article XI Privacy Policy
Information We Collect:
Account information: your email address, password (stored securely and never visible to us), and sign in activity.
Profile information: your name, profile photo, bio, interests, and any details you choose to share on your profile.
BAUS Society information: invitation code use, mailing address, dietary restrictions, and availability provided during Society registration.
Verification information: if your account is selected for verification, a government issued photo identification card and a live matching selfie, submitted through the verification form sent to your account email.
Community activity: posts, comments, reviews, photos, event RSVPs, check ins, reports you submit or receive, and club memberships.
How We Use Your Information:
To operate the platform, including event roundups, topic contact lists, club access, badges, and attendance recognition.
To keep the community safe, including moderation, report review, account verification, and enforcement of these bylaws.
To contact you about your account, verification requests, and major policy changes.
What We Never Do:
We never sell your personal information to anyone.
We never share your private profile details, Society address, or verification documents with other members.
Who Can See What:
Other signed in members can see your public profile name, photo, posts, and badges.
Private details such as your email, phone, address, and dietary restrictions are visible only to you and platform administrators.
Verification documents are used solely for the verification review and are not displayed anywhere on the platform.
Data Retention and Removal:
Your information is kept while your account is active. If your account is removed or you ask us to delete it, your personal details are deleted, while anonymized community safety records such as report history may be retained to protect other members.
Your Choices:
You may update your profile, email, and private details at any time from your dashboard. You may request account deletion by contacting platform administration.
Contact: Questions about this privacy policy can be sent to platform administration through the admin message and reporting tools on the site.