FAQ
We have had quite a lot of questions regarding what
exactly is Melbourne socialites is all about, we have provided this information
in the hope that not only newer members will understand what out group is
about, but also help established members better understand the why, how and who
of www.melbournesocialites.com.
We hope that also this section will be consulted if you
have any queries before posting a question on the forum.
General
Q. What is the Melbourne Socialites forum?
A. The online forum is a tool that enables people
to communicate and organise events. You can get to know the other members here,
find out what events are coming up, float your ideas and let people know when
you'll be coming along to an event. It's a way of keeping in touch with other
members and finding out what's coming up.
Q. Will you email me or ring me and tell me about
events?
A. No we couldn't possibly do that, as we are a
FREE social group and all work is voluntary. The cost and time it takes to
ring/email people would be simply too much. If you have trouble keeping up with
events sign up for the newsletter here: http://melbournesocialites.com/newsletter.html
Q. Who are the admins?
A. We are a group of six (Andrew, Chris, Danni,
Julia, mml and Russ) that help with the day to day running of this site, If we
are online we will appear in orange on the forum.
We help by keeping it spam free, running the technical
side of the site, overseeing the site to make sure it runs smoothly,
advertising the website, helping members with problems, updating the calendar,
writing and sending out newsletters, making sure that the site is up to date
and that's all before we even get to organising events! We are a diverse group
who volunteer our time and effort to the behind-the-scenes running of the site.
We all have full-time occupations and at times are quite busy. So as you can
see, as we already do a lot to help with running the site, we don't always have
time to organise events.
Q. What ages are everyone?
A. Mainly 20s to 30s. We're comfortable with older
and younger people, but have an age cut off of 18 as we feel that as an 18 year
old you are old enough to be responsible for your own well being and make your
own choices.
Q. There aren't enough events, why can't the admins
organise more events?
A. If you'd like to go out for coffee, you wouldn't
ask someone else to organise if for you - you'd organise it yourself. For MSC
to thrive we need as much member participation as possible, the admins are all
volunteers and they donate a lot of time already to organise as much as they
do. To do anymore would be impossible without paying someone to do it as a job,
which is a line we don't want to take. If there aren't any events that interest
you or you'd like to see more, please use your initiative and organise events
too.
Q. You don't charge membership fees -how does the site
support itself?
A. Our lovely member base all chip in to suggest
and organise themselves. Paid sites charge you a fee to join, then an annual
fee, and then a fee to come along to any event, so you could imagine what it
takes to organise this stuff! We don't pay anyone to plan events (or at all),
but by having our members all contribute towards the running of this site we
don't have to pay someone. Our members and admins all work for MSC to keep the
site free
Q. Can I volunteer to help the MSC?
A. We'd love you to volunteer and help for us. The
best way of helping is to organise and attend events. If you feel you'd like to
help out in other ways, please let one of the admins know and we'll discuss
volunteering with you. All the admins started as members like you and offered
help where they thought they could help.
Q. Can I advertise my business/band/club, etc on MSC?
A. MSC has a strict
no-advertising policy. We work hard to keep our website ad-free, so please
don't advertise on us. There are other places that are more appropriate for
this - such as gumtree.
Q. Can I link to the MSC on my website?
A. We'd love you to link
to us as the more people we have join us, the more events we'll have and the
merrier it will all be
Organising and attending an
event
Q. What is the best way to plan an event?
A. For some great suggestions, please click on the
link and read here: http://melbournesocialites.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=244 . Also a handy hint to see what works
is to look at how others have already planned events in the past, if you are
totally lost after these steps pm one of the admins and they will try and help
Q. How can I find out what dates would be best for my
event?
A. Check the calendar to
see what other events have been organised and then pick a date which is free.
The calendar is located here
http://melbournesocialites.com/calendar/
Q. How can I get my event on the calendar?
A. One of the admins needs
to update the calendar for you. If the calendar hasn't been updated and your
event has been up for a little while, please send one of the admins a gentle
reminder
Q. How do I know where and when an event is?
A. This is information should always be in the very
first post of an event thread, please check there before asking the organiser.
Q. How will I pick you guys out in a crowd
A. PM your mobile number to the event organiser. If
you're not comfortable doing that, be there at the set time, look out for those
who look nervous too or if at a bar or restaurant, ask staff.
Q. Do organisers rely on me when I register initial
interest in an event?
A. Yes, members will
generally only organise an event when enough interest has been posted on the
forum. The member can then spend hours organising said event and do so with the
knowledge that there is a set amount of interest, so please only register
interest in an event if you really feel like you will be able to come along.
Q What should I do if I can’t make it to an event that
I had said I'd be at?
A. Please let the organiser know as soon as
possible. You wouldn’t ditch your friends without telling them so please don’t
do it to us.
Q. Now that I have been to a lovely event, who should I
thank?
A. Please don't forget to thank the organiser of
the event, its quite a lot of effort to organise even what appears as a simple
dinner meet up. It is something you have no idea how much work is done behind
the scenes until you do one yourself, so please be courteous and let the person
know that you appreciate the work they have done. You never know, you could be
the reason they gone on to organise more events as everyone likes to feel
appreciated.
Forum
Q. What are
PMs?
A. PMs are private messages that members can send to one
another. They can't be seen by anyone apart from yourself and the person you're
sending them to. To check your private messages, click on the link at the top
of the page next to "profile". If you have a private message it
should say "you have x new messages".
Q. How do I send a PM?
A. To send a private
message, enter your private message section and click on 'new post'. Enter the
username of the person you want to send it to and type in your message; Click ‘submit’
to send it. You can also click on the pm button that appears on the bottom of
someone's post.
Q. How do I get a picture below my username?
A. There's a guide on how
to use avatars in the 'How to' section
http://melbournesocialites.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10
Q. How do I post pictures on the board?
A. There's a guide on how
to post pictures in the 'How to' section
http://melbournesocialites.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=441
Q. How do I get stars and a special name?
A. These are given out as
a special reward to those members that organise events
Q. PersonX said something really nasty to me. What do I
do?
A. Please let one of the
admins know straight away. Rude, disrespectful, inappropriate and downright
mean behaviour is not tolerated on here and we take all offences seriously.
People that display this behaviour will be warned. If they continue with such
behaviour they will be banned.
On top of this FAQ info which we thought was quite
vital for you all to have about the every day running of the group we also have
quite a lot of extended information about things like "how to run polls,
post pictures, use private messages" and many more in the How to guide
which is located here http://melbournesocialites.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5
Please think of reading this information when you hit a
snag, because more than likely someone else has hit the same snag before and
the answers should all be before you in either the FAQ or the How to guides.
Then if you are still lost please post your question out in the open board