Core is the backbone of Keep Calm: the members who have stuck around, show up across our activities, give back, and help the community grow. They are the steady, familiar faces, not people passing through Barcelona for a season.
This document defines what Core is, how someone becomes Core, and the standard Core members are held to. For the message we send when inviting someone, see invite.md.
What Core is
Core is an invite-only group for the people at the heart of the community. It isn't tied to any one sport. It brings together the members who keep showing up across all our activities, so they can build real friendships, stay in touch beyond individual events, and help shape where Keep Calm goes next.
In a community with hundreds of members and new faces every week, it can be hard to get past a quick hello. Core is a calmer, smaller space for the people who are genuinely invested in each other and in the community.
The design is deliberately low-drama: no gatekeeping to get in once you've earned it, but real accountability once you're there - see Staying Core and Losing Core status below.
What Core is not
- It is not about status or being "better" than anyone.
- It is not a reward you apply for and tick off. Core members are usually already obvious to everyone.
- It does not require a title or formal role. Reliable, everyday contribution is enough.
How you become Core
Core is earned over time, then confirmed by the organiser team. Four things describe a Core member. They are a guide for a judgement, not a rigid scorecard, but all four should genuinely be true.
Organisers and admins: see the fast-track below - the role itself already proves most of this.
1. Time ⏳
An active member for 6+ months. Core members are familiar faces, not newcomers, and not just here for a season.
2. Participation 🎾
Has joined at least 5 Keep Calm events, genuinely spread across the community rather than all in one sport. Core is cross-community, so breadth counts as much as frequency: a few socials, or trying a different sport or two, counts toward this the same as your home sport does.
Being brilliant at running one sport is real Contribution (see below), but it is not on its own Participation. Someone who is superb at organising a single sport but never shows up anywhere else in the community hasn't yet demonstrated what Core is about - see What Core is.
3. Contribution 🙌
Has given back in a real way. That can be organising or co-organising an event, but it does not have to be. Consistent informal help counts just as much:
- Welcoming and onboarding newcomers
- Setup and cleanup at sessions
- Bringing or lending equipment
- Helping with Spanish or Catalan venue communications
- Taking photos for the community
A title is not required. Reliable help is. See Informal Contributions.
4. Conduct 💛
Treats people well and is someone the community trusts. Respected by other members, and with no unresolved conduct issues or active strikes. This is about more than avoiding strikes: Core members represent Keep Calm, so this also means a mature, welcoming tone day to day. Someone whose humour leans edgy, laddish, or exclusionary in group chats isn't yet setting the tone Core is meant to set, even if nothing rises to a formal conduct issue. This is the bar that matters most, and it is the one that keeps applying after someone joins (see The Core standard).
Endorsement and review
Core is confirmed by the organiser team. In practice it is rarely a surprise, because Core members are already well known.
The normal starting point is an existing Core member or organiser vouching for someone. The organisers then confirm against the four pillars above. We deliberately do not require a fixed number of referrals: that can't work before Core exists, and it risks turning Core into a clique, which runs against our inclusive values.
If someone clearly fits but no one has put their name forward, anyone can raise them with the organisers.
Organiser & admin fast-track
Taking on an organiser or admin role already demonstrates most of the four pillars above: it's Contribution by definition, and running a sport most weeks usually satisfies Participation too. Active organisers and admins can be confirmed for Core sooner than the general path:
- Time: 3+ months in an organiser or admin role, rather than 6+ months as a general member
- Participation: no separate event count needed - running your sessions counts
- Contribution: satisfied by the role itself
- Conduct: the same bar as everyone else - the fast-track shortens the wait, not the standard
This still isn't automatic - the organiser team confirms it, same as any Core invitation - but it recognises that someone showing up every week to run a sport has already proven what Core looks for. See Organiser Onboarding and Admin Onboarding for how this is presented when someone takes on the role.
Founding cohort
The first Core members are invited directly by the organisers to seed the group. Once that founding cohort exists, the criteria and endorsement process above apply for everyone after them.
The Core standard
Becoming Core is not a one-time gate. Because Core members represent Keep Calm and help set its tone, more is expected of them, not less. The community and its members deserve respect, and Core is where that is held to the highest standard.
Core members are expected to:
- Treat every member and guest with respect, especially newcomers
- Be reliable: show up when they commit, give notice when they can't
- Help resolve problems calmly rather than add to them
- Keep group-chat tone mature and welcoming - edgy, laddish, or exclusionary "banter" isn't the example Core is meant to set, even said in jest
- Uphold the Community Conduct rules and set the example
Staying Core: the ongoing activity bar
Core doesn't expire on its own, but it also isn't a badge you keep forever without showing up. There's one ongoing, low bar on top of the conduct standard above:
- Meet up in person at least once every 6 months. Any Keep Calm activity, any sport or social category, counts - this is the same Participation pillar you joined on, just checked on an ongoing basis instead of once.
That's it. No quotas beyond this, no rota, no duties - see Core Expectations for the full "bare minimum."
How it's monitored: Community Admin periodically checks the Core roster against event attendance registers (the same records already collected per How to Host an Event for community-wide activity tracking). If someone's coming up on 6 months with nothing recorded, they get a friendly, private heads-up around month 4-5, not a public callout - plenty of time to make it to something. See the Community Admin One-Pager for how this fits their role.
If nothing follows: Core status quietly lapses. No drama, no announcement, no group post. It isn't a ban - turn up to something and let an organiser know you'd like back in, and if you're still a good fit, getting reinstated doesn't require going through the full original four-pillar process again.
Losing Core status (conduct)
This is a different, separate thing from the activity bar above - conduct is never "quiet."
Core status is ongoing, not permanent. Serious or repeated conduct breaches, as handled under Community Conduct and the strike system, can mean leaving Core. Removal from Core is an organiser decision, handled privately and with the chance to be heard, in line with Decision Making.
This is the heart of accountability: Core is a position of trust, and the trust has to be kept.
Related documents
- Core Invitation - The message we send to invite someone to Core
- Core Expectations - The one-pager we send alongside the invitation
- Organiser Onboarding - Where the organiser fast-track is presented as a benefit
- Admin Onboarding - Where the admin fast-track is presented as a benefit
- Role Descriptions - Roles and informal contributions
- Decision Making - How decisions and appeals work
- Community Conduct - The conduct rules Core upholds
- Welcome to Keep Calm - Community mission and values