Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

TEDDY TALK: The chosen name....Teddy Talk....implies what this forum is all about. We're all here to talk teddies!

FRIENDLINESS, WELCOME & CAMARADERIE are keywords on Teddy Talk. Let's keep things friendly for the sake of all! Members of the Teddy Talk community are reminded to treat each other with consistent respect and dignity if they wish to remain in good standing on the board. Please be considerate when you name a person, company or product on Teddy Talk. Negative, derogatory, or name-calling comments about any person, company or product, including comments about the Teddy Talk forum, its Advisors, Vendors, or sponsor, could result in your thread or post being deleted without notification, or other appropriate consequences, as determined by the site Administrator. Teddy Talk is a privately owned and sponsored forum; it is not a member-designed democracy. The Admin of Teddy Talk retain the exclusive right to design and enforce the RULES OF USE for this forum according to ethical, intelligent business practices, and to delete posts and suspend or revoke member privileges at their sole discretion whenever members violate stated RULES OF USE. All such decisions are final and confidential and will not be discussed with the readership.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: We support your right to express yourself, but you must follow stated board policies when doing so. As a show of respect for your right to express yourself, and as part of our commitment to open and broad-minded discussion, we stretch as far as possible in allowing gray-area or uncomfortable content to remain on the public board. However, please know that Admin will step in and decisively remove inappropriate content which clearly violates RULES OF USE policies whenever such content presents itself; we now operate under a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for rule violations. All such decisions are final and confidential and will not be discussed with the readership.

HELP ADVISORS: Help Advisors are craftpersons, artisans, and technical specialists whose leadership abilities, subject area knowledge, and people skills led the Admin at Teddy Talk to appoint them your site "guides." Help Advisors are here to cheerlead, support, and assist all things teddy bear! They are unpaid volunteers, happy to be here, and more than willing to lend you a helping hand whenever and wherever possible, time permitting. They do not make scheduled appearances at Teddy Talk but rather fit their responsibilities here into already busy personal and professional schedules. If you have an immediate need for help, please make a direct request to an Advisor via eMail or PM rather than waiting for them to "find" your help request on the board. Help Advisors post as individuals as well as forum representatives here at Teddy Talk; therefore, please keep in mind that their comments do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsor, Intercal Trading Group. Help Advisors are here to advise you in the creative and business aspects of teddy bear making, and to guide your use and navigation of the Teddy Talk site, including public and/or private reminders of the RULES OF USE for the site if and when indicated. Help Advisors are NOT Mediators and will not directly mediate disputes between board members. Help Advisors are NOT site Moderators and do not have the ability to delete, edit, move, or otherwise alter problematic posts. Those responsibilities belong to the site Admin exclusively.

HOW TO SETTLE A DISPUTE: We strive to create a cooperative environment here at Teddy Talk that's safe and welcoming to all. Therefore, we ask that you handle disputes and disagreements privately; please keep them off the public board. If you disagree with a statement or a posting by a fellow board member, contact that board member privately via eMail or PM. If you've made a post you'd like to change or remove, please note that EDIT and/or DELETE functions are available in the lower right corner of YOUR original post. Please do not ask a Help Advisor to edit or delete a posting by another member of Teddy Talk. Remember: Help Advisors are NOT Mediators. Intercal Trading Group, and/or Teddy Talk's Help Advisors will not participate in or mediate any disputes arising between board members.

COMMERCIAL-FREE: We would like to keep Teddy Talk commercial-free.....except for the TEDDY BEARS & PALS Forum (please observe LISTING RULES), and ads and commercials designed to fund the operation of Teddy Talk including banner and other ads. Other commercials, advertisements and/or For Sale Postings in any other form or forum are subject to removal without notification.

WHAT'S NOT ALLOWED: In keeping with our wish to support the industry via the individual artisan, we ask that retailers please refrain from listing inventory. We also request that you not promote, list, sell, trade or swap mass-produced, manufactured, orphan/secondary market/used items, collections, supplies or other items not appropriate for this forum.

Out of respect for our sponsor, Intercal Trading Group, we ask that you do not post and/or link to other sites featuring similar products as our sponsor. Your understanding in this regard is appreciated.

We reserve the right to remove any listing without notification.

AVATARS: An avatar is a forum identifier; an image which identifies you to forum readers. Advertisements for products, affiliations, events, and services should not be included in your avatar. We acknowledge that the inclusion of your website URL or contact information in your avatar is a form of "personal advertising" but accept that as part of your "personal identification."

BANNER ADS: Please consider an inexpensive Banner Ad to assist in the sale of goods and services relating to the creation, accessorizing, marketing/advertising and sale of teddy bears and friends. For details, click on the ADVERTISE button in our masthead, or visit the VENDORS Forum. Banner ads for products, services and web sites competing with our sponsor, Intercal Trading Group, will not be accepted. All banner ads are subject to approval by the system Administrator. Banner Advertisers who actively post at Teddy Talk must abide by the RULES OF USE for this forum the same as every other Teddy Talk member; being a Vendor here does not grant special exemptions or privileges. Your understanding in this regard is appreciated.

ACCOUNT: Only one account per user is allowed. Violators will be banned.

PRIVACY POLICIES / REGARDING PRIVATE MESSAGING AND PROFILE INFORMATION: Private messages are just that: private. The content of all messages you send and receive is for your eyes only; it is not accessible to Help Advisors or other Teddy Talk members under any circumstances. Your PROFILE information is kept strictly confidential and it not accessible to Help Advisors or other Teddy Talk members, except where you indicate it may be used as part of your forum identification and shared contact info. Software programmers for the Teddy Talk site do have the ability to manipulate the location or inclusion/exclusion of site content including private messaging and personal information. However, at no time are your private messages viewed or "read" and at no time is your PROFILE information altered in any way. We value both your privacy and our own integrity and will maintain this standard of privacy and protection of personal information for the life of the forum.

Misuse of the private messaging system will not be tolerated and will result in ban of membership. If you receive any unwanted messages which violate the rules of this forum, including abusive language or content or even spam, please notify the forum moderators immediately for appropriation actions to be taken.

FAILURE TO FOLLOW GUIDELINES: We've learned a few things about forum management as our site has grown and changed. The year 2007 ushers in a new ZERO TOLERANCE policy here at Teddy Talk. Our RULES OF USE will be strictly and consistently enforced by the site Admin. Photos and/or posts not following the RULES OF USE, or deemed otherwise inappropriate by the site Admin, may be deleted without notice. Misplaced photos and/or posts may be moved to a new location without notice. Members who show blatant disregard for forum RULES OF USE may have their membership privileges suspended or permanently revoked, even after a single incident, at the sole discretion of the site Admin. All such decisions are final and confidential and will not be discussed with the readership.

BANNING: Any attempt to circumvent any forum rules will result in your post being deleted without notification. If repeated, such action will result in you being banned from the forum. If you are banned from Teddy Talk for violating Teddy Talk policies, ALL present and/or future messages from your account will be deleted without notification including ALL messages from the same IP number.

YOUR IDEAS: Teddy Talk is a private panel dedicated to the teddy bear community and we value and welcome your input on any subject including ways in which we might improve our site to better meet your needs! Suggestions by Teddy Talk members are taken under careful consideration by the Administration to determine if such suggestions fit the goals of Teddy Talk. While the Administration thanks you sincerely for your input, the Administration is not required to disclose its findings to the board or to act on the suggestions of our readership.

YOUR AGREEMENT: Teddy-Talk is not responsible for the content or actions of its users. By signing up for the services provided by Teddy-Talk, you specifically agree not to sue, claim damages and/or keep Teddy-Talk itself, its Members, Help Advisors, Advertisers and/or Sponsors responsible for any event that may occur during your use of Teddy-Talk. If you cannot agree to these terms, please refrain from participating here.

revised February 28, 2012