Congratulations! You are accessing this page because you have been chosen
as a new Community Leader for a chat here at Pregnancy & Parenting. Please
read this entire message as it contains important information for you.
Please save this link for future reference.
I'm including some basic information about
your new responsibilities. As a representative of iVillage, it's very
important that you understand iVillage policies. If you are not familiar
with our
Terms of Service (TOS), please
take some time to review them. You should also be familiar with the
iVillage
Rules of Play. We strongly
recommend that you review both of these documents, in addition to the
following information.
CL Name
You now have a CL name - it is simply cl-membername. For example, my name
is cmshari. As a CL it would be cl-cmshari. Your password is the same
as with your regular membername. Use your CL name only when hosting your
scheduled chat, on our Team boards and attending Basic Chat Training.
Chat Host
Training
You will need to contact chatedits@mail.ivillage.com
to
receive the official
CL Chat Training Document. This
document must be read before you can begin your weekly scheduled chat.
Once you finish reading this document, please let us know if you have any
questions as well as your preferred chat time.
Community Cafe
As a CL you can now also access the Community Cafe, which is a place for
all CLs to exchange ideas and ask questions. You will find it at:
http://www.ivillage.com/ccafe.
You'll have to log in with your cl-membername.
NOTE: The Cafe is provided for Community Leaders and Community Team ONLY.
Please do not share this link. Any CL that shares this link or other links
within the Cafe, will be released as Community Leader and their membership
will be revoked.
Here is some additional information for you. Please review it and let me
know if you have any questions at all.
Community Leaders are the
backbone of our site. As a Leader, you are the eyes and ears of our
community. Your goal is to stimulate discussion, and most importantly,
foster a warm and supportive environment.
When you become Pregnancy & Parenting Leader, you're no longer just a
"chatter" or "poster" -- you're building a lively and welcoming place for
members to meet, share ideas and get to know one another.
-:-
Your Role as
volunteer Community Leader -:-
-
You're the "host": Community Leaders are non-paid volunteers
who host iVillage's message boards or chats. Why would anyone volunteer
to lead a board or chat? Many of our CLs say that they volunteer because
other iVillagers helped them and now they want to "give back" to the
community.
Your primary role as leader is to keep the conversation lively. Start
discussions, welcome new members, ask and answer questions or share tips
and insights and offer links to other iVillage boards, articles and
information that members of your community might find useful. If you
enjoy conversation, members will gravitate toward your board or chat.
-
Chat and email requirements: You should be present for every
chat session. Of course, we realize that emergencies occur from time to
time, but please make sure to notify us if you will not be able to meet
your leadership responsibilities (chatedits@mail.ivillage.com).
You should promptly answer emails from your Community Moderator.
-
Dealing with community issues: Please notify me if you
encounter a situation where a member is harassing another member or you
find an inappropriate post or any similar situation.
-
Dealing with other CLs: Please make sure to use your CL name
when posting on your own board or hosting your own chat. You should also
wear your "cl hat" when posting on the boards in the Community Café. As
a courtesy to other CLs, do NOT use your CL name when posting on boards
or attending chats that are hosted by other Community Leaders.
-
Dealing with staff members and policy issues: If you have a
disagreement with your community moderator or other iVillage staff
members or you disagree with an iVillage policy, we ask that you attempt
to resolve the problem via email. Do NOT discuss these problems in
public areas of our site, such as message boards, chats, Member Websites
or on other sites. Failure to abide by this policy will result in loss
of your CL status.
-
Chat reports: All Chat Community Leaders must file weekly
chat reports. I appreciate your taking the time to send in your reports,
and I read every single one. Once you get your CL-name, you can find the
report in the
Community Café. Please
bookmark this page and complete your report by Monday for the previous
week's activity.
-
Dismissal policies: Failure to abide by expectations or
violation of our rules will result in dismissal. More information is
provided in the CL Guidebook. This guidebook will be emailed to you. It
is also available
online.
Although there are no cut-and-dried rules for building a fun, compelling
and safe community, use the following as some guidelines:
-:-
Member to member support -:-
Please feel free to express your ideas, pose questions to other members
and stimulate discussion- after all, you're here to get people talking!
And although we are a community of people who love to give support, we are
not advice experts - please do not state your opinion or suggestions as if
you are an expert.
-:- Always post welcome notes in chat -:-
This is your chance to detail what the chat will focus on, and to detail
how you plan to manage and maintain your community. Encourage suggestions,
ideas and feedback so visitors feel welcome to join in. Let people know
your chat is a great place to talk.
-:- Acknowledge and respond to messages -:-
It's important for members to feel your presence as a leader as well as a
participant.
-:-
Agree to disagree -:-
Welcome differing opinions and perspectives. Like every community, not
everyone is going to agree. Members will challenge each other's opinions -
don't take these differences of opinion personally. Remember that as a
Leader your role is to foster communication and the sharing of ideas,
which includes unpopular ones. Encourage (and practice) tolerance.
-:- Know the rules -:-
It is your responsibility as a Community Leader to be familiar with the
Terms of Service at http://www.ivillage.com/about/0,,qr4p,00.html.
Direct members to this document or to me directly if they have questions
about posting guidelines in our chats.
-:-
Proud to Be a Pregnancy & Parenting CL -:-
Feel free to use these images on your iVillage member website or as your
avatar for your cl-membername. It is important that you save these images
to your own computer. Simply right-click the image and choose "Save
Picture As..." to save the image to your computer.
Additional links you
should visit:
If you have any questions
about these guidelines, please let us know - chatedits@mail.ivillage.com. Welcome- and THANK
YOU so much for taking on this responsibility!
Shari
Community Moderator, Chat
Pregnancy & Parenting
http://parenting.ivillage.com
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