Hello, LSN Members! Welcome to the beta test of our new LSNSJ.com Web site! [This beta test will run to 04/04/09.]

Please read these "How to Navigate LSNSJ.com" and our "Netiquette Rules" to refresh your memory about appropriate use of the LSN Website. BE ADVISED THIS IS THE 'READER'S DIGEST' VERSION OF OUR "TERMS OF USE". OUR "TERMS OF USE" SET OUT IN VERY PRECISE TERMS WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT DO ON THIS SITE. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THEM.

HOW TO NAVIGATE LSNSJ.COM

Here are the three (3) SIMPLE steps to become a part of the new LSN social networking community:

STEP 1: If you received an email invitation from us, you are already preregistered and you can use that logon and password to get into the site. Please immediately change the password once you've signed in to ensure your privacy. If you did not receive a pre-registration email from us, just register as a new member.

STEP 2: Once a member, please update your member profile with some basic information and a photo or avatar if you like. You must fill in fields that have a red asterisk *. Until you add some basic information into the member profile, no one can find you! Especially important - if you don't fill in your Date of Birth, you will not show up in the Members' List (format for DOB is DD/MM/YYYY). Don't worry - your DOB is not visible to other members! Please consider adding as little or as much additional information as you wish.

PLEASE NOTE: A weekly "LSN Upcoming Events" email will STILL come your way to keep you up to date on what's happening, but please bookmark this site and check back often for new stuff! LSNSJ.com is the place where all discussions and information are posted and read. Unlike the Yahoo Group, posts and discussions on this site will NOT be sent to your email address.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THE NOTICE BELOW ABOUT OUR PRIVACY & TERMS OF USE POLICIES ...then please read the policies!

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: We respect your privacy. Please read our Privacy Policy. In fact, we really, really want you to read both our Privacy Policy AND our Terms of Use. [There is a Link at the top of every page to this important information.] Yes, they are lengthy and detailed, but we want you to know that we take our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use agreement seriously... and you should too. By agreeing to these when you become a member you are, of course, subject to the code of behavior cited within. During our beta test and beyond, we will monitor posts to the site and Terms of Use will be strictly enforced.

STEP 3: Sign in and explore!

SEE UPCOMING LSN EVENTS. Since this site is first and foremost a place to find LSN events, click the EVENTS link to see a listing of upcoming events. ONLY LSN EVENTS WILL BE POSTED to this calendar. We reserve the right to delete non-LSN events that are posted to the LSN Events Calendar. We do, however, encourage you to post non-LSN events - Please post non-LSN events by going to FORUMS->South Jersey/Philly Area Lesbian Events. There you may post, comment, discuss or ask questions of non-LSN event hosts, sponsors or attendees.

More on posting, discussing, joining, buying, selling, blogging and everything else you can do here on the new LSNSJ.com Website:

HOW TO RSVP for an LSN Event: Our new site has the ability to collect registrations for LSN Events. If an event requires an RSVP - and there is not a specific note within the individual event's description advising that the "Join" function is not being used to RSVP for that event - you can scroll to the bottom of the event that you want to attend and click "JOIN"; you will then be added to the list of participants for that event.

DISCUSS LSN Events: Want to comment or ask a question about an event? Then go to FORUMS, select the LSN Arts and Entertainment Forum and then the "Discuss LSN Events" and select the relevant item on which you'd like to comment or ask a question about a post by selecting 'post'.

Want to post, comment on or discuss an event that is NOT an LSN event? Go to the FORUM called South Jersey/Philly Area Lesbian Events for NON-LSN Events such as: Esther's Circle of Friendship Dinner, Carolyn's Over 45 Singles Mingle, BCLA, Ladies 2000 and much more. Please do not post event announcements more often than once per week.

DISCUSS ANYTHING ELSE: Visit our other FORUMS (such as General Discussions, Politics, and New Members) to post your thoughts or questions, read what other members have to say, and join in the conversation.

ABOUT CLASSIFIEDS: Want to buy, sell, promote, announce or trade something? Click Classifieds-ADD CLASSIFIEDS. When you post your Classified, you may also post a ONE-time notice within the General Discussion Forum to point members to your ad; please note that on-going advertisements within the Forums is not allowed. In the future, we reserve the right to request a small fee for posting classifieds to subsidize the maintenance of this Web site. For now, it is free!

ABOUT BLOGS: We encourage members to start a blog. For example, recently, there was some interest in posting poetry and now there is a place to do it. One member has volunteered to blog on Lesbian Health Issues; another will be blogging on cool websites, tech tips, and tips for searching the Web.

ABOUT LSNSJ MAIL: LSNSJ.com has a MAIL function that allows you to send messages to other LSNSJ members. If you know the member's LSNSJ ID, you can go to "My Mail" (at the top of the page next to the log), click on "Write", fill in the member's ID and write your message. At the bottom of the page, you can choose to either send your message to the recipient's personal email, their LSNSJ site mail, or both. If you do not know a member's LSNSJ ID, you can go to "Members", click on the profile of the member whom you wish to contact, and click on "Send a Letter" located under the member's profile photo. Please note that LSNSJ site mail is not a substitute or replacement for your personal email (Yahoo, Comcast, AOL, etc.) - you cannot send email to someone who's not an LSNSJ member, and messages in your LSNSJ site mail are stored for a limited amount of time.

WE NEED FEEDBACK: Until April 4, 2009, this Web site will be a work in progress, a "beta" best. So have patience with us! We'll be changing & improving along the way and need your feedback. Your feedback is especially important during this beta phase so we can see what works and what doesn't. Please contact us at Pat@LSNSJ.com and Susan@LSNSJ.com with your feedback. Please remember that we both have demanding, full-time jobs, so please don't expect immediate responses.

LSN NETIQUETTE RULES

We have created LSN to offer a safe, supportive venue for lesbians to meet face to face throughout the South Jersey area. First and foremost, this Web site is the place where we announce LSN sponsored events for that purpose. The beauty of the Internet allows us to also offer members a place to gather 'virtually' on the Web. We encourage our members to communicate other lesbian events, lesbian-relevant news, informal gatherings, and support/advice throughout other sections of the site. These include the Forums and Blogs sections. We encourage members to gather, post, and ask questions of other group members in these sections of the Web site.

Here are some basic netiquette rules for you to adhere to when using the LSN Website. Again: for the 'fine print' on these rules, please read our "Terms of Use":

PLEASE:

* Make you subject line relevant to your FORUM message. (e.g., a subject line with "thank you for hosting the potluck" is preferred over a subject line that just reads "thank you").

* Do not send attachments or graphics to the list. They are automatically discarded to protect from viruses.

* Do not forward chain letters, virus alerts or other warnings. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they are hoaxes. Check out the veracity of such material first at http://www.snopes.com.

* Respect other's opinions. If you disagree, do it politely in a personal email.

* Vulgar language is a no-no.

* If you wish to start a personal conversation with another member, email them directly - don't post it to the group.

* Do not post advertisements or solicitations. We've created "Classified Ads" to provide members with a place to let other members know about their businesses or services by posting a description and a link to business or personal websites.

* We respect our members' privacy. Members' individual email addresses are for LSN related use only and for individual members to communicate amongst themselves. It is not permissible to use LSN members' email addresses for mass emailing or commercial purposes or to collect and distribute members' email addresses for any purpose. See LSN's Privacy Policy for more information
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* Before scheduling an event, please check the LSN calendar and do your best to avoid scheduling something that conflicts with an already-planned LSN event.

* When posting invitations/info on your own or another group or organization's social activities, please do not overload the group by posting the information more than ONCE per week.

* DO NOT publish, forward or give out another member's email address, phone number or home address without permission.

* DO NOT TYPE YOUR ENTIRE MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS. IT IS VERY ANNOYING AND LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE YELLING.

* PLEASE sign your FORUM posting with your first name or nickname. It's friendly and helps us all get to know one another.

Posts sent to the LSN Website by members are periodically reviewed by the moderators; as the group owners, we reserve the right to approve, edit or reject messages.

If we receive complaints about the content of posted material and/or frequency of repeat postings, or we determine that particular members are consistently ignoring the LSN guidelines, please be advised that we will exercise our prerogative as the moderators & owners of LSN and at our discretion may ban persons from the group entirely who do not follow LSN guidelines.

If you have any comments, or need clarification, please contact us directly: Pat (Pat@lsnsj.com) and Susan (Susan@lsnsj.com)

Your cooperation and understanding are appreciated!

Thank you,

Pat and Susan

Co-Moderators, Lesbian Social Network of South Jersey

http://www.lsnsj.com