Hosting Guidelines

Once upon a time, Ricky and David were the only hosts on Flow Club.

As the community grew, people started raising their hands to host sessions. They wanted control over session times, the music, and the chance to lead with their own flair. We had a classical music teacher who would introduce the history of the piece before playing it, a yoga teacher who would lead a stretch to get your out of your chair for a few seconds, and an entrepreneur who'd share a fun fact from history to share a laugh and a smile before everyone dives into their own work. Most importantly, hosting became the best way to make yourself more accountable because you feel the pressure to lead by example. In return, you also get to feel the love from the community for playing a small but meaningful role in their success.

To help onboard new hosts, we wrote a guide to explain what makes Flow Club work so well:

The principles still form the foundation of Flow Club today, memorialized in our Community Values and in "Hosting On Flow Club" section of our Help Center. If you are here reading this, thank you for choosing to hold space!

On this page, you'll find the basic hosting rules and standards along with how we would enforce them to make sure Flow Club is a consistently magical experience for everyone. We recognize that hosting is completely voluntary, but you are volunteering in a community space and community spaces need guidelines to function effectively. As part of the community, if you have feedback or suggestions, please share them with us at hosts@flow.club.

Hosting Rules

Hosts are leaders held to a higher standard. These Hosting Rules are enforceable in addition to our Community Rules

Be reliable

Join your sessions on-time and stay for the full duration. If you anticipate being late or absent, cancel in advance to allow for substitution. We understand life happens and our community is very understanding. However, excessive reports of your absence or tardiness may lead to a reminder or warning from us. If you continue to be unreliable, we may ask you to take a break from hosting.

Facilitate the check-ins ritual

Lead participants in setting intentions at the start of the session and reflecting on progress at the end. We recommend going first, then calling on each person by their name one at a time to avoid the awkwardness of not knowing whose turn it is. If it's a chat-only session, do this via chat. If you promise to check-in during breaks, do so. Skipping this ritual deprives the community of a meaningful interaction that helps them be accountable. If you anticipate being unable to facilitate, cancel in advance to allow for substitution. Excessive omission of this ritual may lead to a reminder, warning, and being asked to take a break from hosting.

Follow community rules

As a leader holding space for the community, you are expected to uphold and adhere to all the Rules in our Community Guidelines. These rules ensure that all interactions in Flow Club remain respectful, inclusive, and aligned with our shared values. We take these very serious. The Community Rules are:

  • Respect each other
  • Protect everyone's privacy
  • Keep it light
  • Keep it appropriate
  • Avoid solicitation & self-promotion
  • Display names should be names
  • This isn't the right place to ask for crisis support

Hosting Standards

While not strict rules, these standards reflect Flow Club’s core values and help ensure a high-quality experience for everyone. They are inspired by the Community Etiquette and the role hosts play in fostering focus and flow.

  • Model active participation: Keep your camera on and stay engaged unless you can't or would be distracting for others. As a host, your behavior sets the tone for others. Show up fully, work intentionally, and celebrate progress.
  • Maintain structure and punctuality: Keep sessions on track by managing the clock. Starting and ending segments on time is a way to show we respect everyone's time. This is especially true for the working segment. If you promised 50 minutes of deep work, give 50 minutes. If someone shows up late, acknowledge them and check in the chat.
  • Share briefly and intentionally: Model concise sharing to keep the session focused. If anyone dominates the conversation, kindly remind them we have limited time and  have to get going. Conversations can be taken offline.
  • Be friendly and respect boundaries: Create a welcoming, judgment-free environment. Avoid prying into personal matters or making negative remarks. When in doubt, keep it to yourself. If a boundary is crossed by anyone, kindly  remind everyone to refocus on the purpose of the gathering.
  • Minimize distractions: Ensure your presence on camera and behavior aren’t disruptive. Help participants stay focused by modeling mindfulness and minimizing interruptions. If you're hosting a "Phone Free" session, turn it on and keep it on to encourage others to do the same.
  • Welcome newcomers and celebrate progress: Showing up is no easy task! Acknowledge new participants, shout out  session milestones, and create an atmosphere that rewards progress of all kinds.
  • Bring your authentic self: Infuse your personality, musical choice (you're the DJ!), and unique energy into the session. You are what people love about Flow Club
  • Protect the community: We rely on everyone to help protect the community, especially hosts. If you encounter a tricky situation, email us right away at safety@flow.club. If necessary, kick the person, encourage others to leave in the chat, then remove yourself from the session.

Enforcement

Action

We believe when you host you are committed to the Flow Club community and the rules that make it possible. We would only enforce the rules in the case of excessive offense because we understand life happens. The typical steps are as follows:

  1. Friendly Reminder: We will send a nice email clarifying the issue and asking for improvements.
  2. Formal Warning: If you continue to shirk the rules, we will issue a more serious warning.
  3. Break from Hosting: We will ask you to take a break from hosting if we don't see a change, with the option to temporarily or permanently suspend your hosting privilege.

In the rarest instances if you severely violate our hosting or community rules, we may assume that the Flow Club community is not the right fit for you, and we reserve the right to immediately cancel your membership and permanently remove you from the app. [Please note that this action will be reversible in case of error.]

Appeals

If you ever believe our decision was incorrect or if you have additional context to share, you can send an appeal at any stage of the process. Please respond to the email you received or contact us at hosts+appeals@flow.club

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