What is a private board and how do they work?

Owners have expressed the need to communicate privately with their peers when discussing sensitive issues. To meet this demand, dance.net has developed special private boards.
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In a private board, the thread titles are still viewable by all, but only studio owners will be able to read, post or reply. This allows potential members to see the benefits of joining while maintaining privacy for current members. All the studio owners boards are now private with the exception of the Ask a Studio Owner board.

Why is dance.net requiring a one-time fee to participate in the studio owners boards?

The one-time fee helps cover the cost of verifying credentials and general program maintenance and development.


Will there be a non-private board that aspiring owners can access?

The "Ask a Studio Owner" board remains publicly accessible by all.

When will access be restricted on the private boards

All the studio owners boards are now private with the exception of Ask a Studio Owner.

Is the fee one-time or an annual fee?

The fee is required one time to join the private studio owners board. It grants you access to the private boards and other features like the studio owners private chat room. In addition, you'll get a free one-year entry in the dance.net Global Dance Directory.

How much does it cost to join?

The fee is $50 for the premier directory package. (We used to offer a $10 basic listing, but no longer offer it due to administrative reasons.)

What is the difference between the basic and premier packages?

The basic package lists your studio and contact information with an auto-generated map link. When the full entry is viewed, you can provide detailed information about your studio using simple markup tags like in the forums here.

In addition to all the features in the basic package, the premier directory package will display a thumbnail photo in your directory listing and allow you to easily add and maintain a class schedule that is searchable by dance.net members looking for a specific class in your area. We are enhancing this package to include other features such as: staff and about pages, private forums for your teachers and students, and email/newsletter tools. In short, everything you could want in a professional website. Let us know which features are most important and we can prioritize our development.

As an aside, if you are a new owner, it may be very advantageous to get the premier package since it can act as your online presence. A professional database-backed website with your class schedules, about & staff pages, map, email tools, linked to by the most popular dance site on the 'net (that is, dance.net ) would cost much more than $50 per year. If you already have a website, the tools in the premier package can enhance your own offering.

How long does the directory entry last?

The directory entry will last one year at which time we hope you'll see the value and renew the entry for the same fee, but it's not required. It's your choice. You'll keep your membership status on these private boards regardless.

Can I pay nothing and not get the directory entry?

Sorry, the initial fee is required. Think of the one-year directory entry as a free gift for joining the studio owners group here. It still costs us time and expenses to verify credentials, and administer and develop this program. If you don't want the free directory entry, then let us know and we can remove your entry after you join.

So, how do I join?

Visit this link: dance.net . . . and click on the Create an Entry button at the left or bottom of the page. Please choose the schools/studios category. You can specify all the class types you teach without additional cost.
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At the end of the process, you'll be prompted for payment when you publish your entry. We currently use Paypal to accept payments securely. Once your payment clears, you'll get instant access to the private boards. Note that e-checks will take longer to process and may delay access while credit cards are nearly instantaneous.

In addition, you'll also need to verify studio/school ownership by providing one more piece of information by email or fax. (See below)


What else do I have to submit as proof that I'm a studio owner?

In addition to creating a directory entry, you'll need to provide one other item by fax or email to confirm you are a studio owner.

We'll accept one or more of the following:

• The web address of your school. Only professional websites will be accepted: You must own the domain name and not use a free provider like Yahoo Geocities.


• A copy of your business license


• A copy of your yellow page advertisement


• Or a dance.net salute photo in front of your school.

Note that the verification process may include contacting you, the owner, to confirm that you are the one who registered at dance.net.


Send your additional verification information...

by email: so@dance.net

by fax: (206) 337-0327

What about people who have contributed here, but don't yet have a studio or are in the support business?

I think it would be fair to "grandfather" people who have contributed here over the years and do not yet own a studio. (In other words, if you were an active contributor to the boards before this change and have a vested interest in being here, then you should be given the chance to continue your membership.) For now, this site's administrator will review each case individually. In the future, we may be able to set up a voting method to allow current owners a say in each case. If accepted by either method, you would then pay a one-time fee as usual.

If you don't have a studio but have participated here and think you are qualified to be "grandfathered" into the new private boards, please send an email describing yourself and your situation to: so@dance.net
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You must provide at minimum:

• Your full name (first and last) and your dance.net login name


• Your job title, business street address, and contact phone number


• Description of your job and why you should be grandfathered

In general, we'll review your posting history and may contact you to confirm details. Note that this information may be made available to current studio owners (please specify if you wish to keep any of it confidential). If accepted, you'll be sent information on how to pay for the one-time membership fee.
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Please let us know if you have ideas or feedback on this process.

So how do we send the money or pay if we have no credit card, no accounts, no paypal, and no one close enough to allow us to use theirs?

I am confused about the proof...it would be very easy for anyone to send you a link to a website, cut out a yellow page ad, or send in a photo in front of the school. I guess the actual act of doing all that would probably keep away most parents, but you never know...just seems, I don't know, not very full-proof.

Tumblebug, if you know another member well, you could have him/her buy a directory listing certificate and transfer it to you, and repay them afterwards. I'm working on a way to accept checks, and will post the address when ready.

As for the proof, balletstar05, part of the verification process is vetting the information provided, and that may mean calling a studio to confirm that the owner is the one who registered here at dance.net.

Well, it's better than what we had before!!

So former owners who were contributing but don't currently own a studio for one reason or another will no longer have access ?

What about people who have contributed here, but don't yet have a studio or are in the support business?

I think it would be fair to "grandfather" people who have contributed here over the years and do not yet own a studio. The exact details haven't been worked out, but either this site's administrator will review each case individually or we may be able to set up a voting method to allow current owners a say in each case. If accepted by either method, you would then pay a one-time fee as usual.

That was the last paragraph. Not sure if you caught that or not.

I PM'd Linh about it, but haven't heard back yet about the details. I kinda want to know before I pay the fee.

the other board i joined has a "studio owner" and then a "teacher" that way you are sure to get into at least one... might work for this site too?

I've updated this guide now that we have made all the required changes to make the boards private. Please review it again if you have any questions. The last Q&A deals with non-owners who still wish to access the private boards.

And ccdance, we will start upgrading the Teachers Only forums to have private boards after things settle down here.

Hi there, I just went through the entire process but am still being denied access to the studio owner page! What's up with that? Does it take a little time or what? Please email me at allthatdance@qwest.net

There are three of us that own my studio and would we all have access under our separate member names with the one fee? I know one of my partners had been checking this almost daily like I do.

So are we going to have to pay another fee for the Teacher board's then too?

How long does it take to find out if we qualify or not?

There are comments that I posted myself that I cannot access anymore and I would appreciate being able to access them.

Why Can I Not Access the board when I have paid the $50 fee yesterday in the morning, and I still cannot get on tonight at 10pm after I have received paypal confirmation and receipt of the money being taken out of my account? I don't understand what the delay is to be granted access? When will I have this?

This is so lame. I don't ask many questions at all, maybe I've asked like 2 or 3 and I don't understand why this has to be PRIVATE. I'm a senior in college and I'm going to start working on my business plan and everything after i graduate and this website WAS helpful until this happened...the privacy thing. Stupid, lame, SELFISH. All I have to say is that this is LAME. I'm angry and I assume other might be too. I am not yet an owner so I can't get access but it's so STUPID because I go in and look at the questions and answers to better form my business....what's working for other people, what's not working. Which costume companies suck, which are better,.....LOTS of things. and now that's been taken away from me so these SO's can have "privacy" on the site. LAME. YOU GUYS SUCK. Boot me off DDN if you want or whatever because now everything informative for owning a studio has been taken away and I am mad and I have not as much respect for this web site anymore. Ok, i've said my piece.

^Um, can't you go to the ask a studio owner section? Many studio owners will help you with whatever you need even financial information because some of us don't care if we disclose that, and some people will PM you the information. The other board was created to give some people the privacy that they have been asking for over the last year that I have been a moderator.

I guess I just don't understand what all the anger and hostility is for, but I am trying and really want to help make the boards work well for everyone. Feel free to PM me if you'd like. I do not have to do all the programming that Linh has to do, so I may be able to help you sooner because my plate is not as full.

I feel that the anger and hostility is because there are those who have been posting on the onwers board who are not truely owners. So now they can not provide proof of ownership so they can no longer participate. It just what we were trying to do . Keep the non-owners out of it. Seems as though it is working !

I just discovered this new deal for Studio Owners. YEAH!
Could someone summerize the steps to get on here? I quickly skimmed the FAQs. I have my credit card ready, so now what?
This may be harsh, but here it goes:
For the college student who is so p***ed off~~ ~~your temper won't serve you well if you are planning to open a dance studio soon. Personally, I am quite insulted by your arrogance & sense of entitlement. You can view the other zillion other messages posted on here & still learn from the parents,students & teachers boards. Selfish? Sharing ideas is actually the whole point in having a studio owner board. But it should be reserved for members, just like any other reputable professional organization's message board. Lame? how can you even think that? You should be grateful it's been free this long. Dance.net is making it as affordable as possible for all sizes for schools.
We studio owners are NOT selfish. We've shared for a long time with young girls like you who end up opening a studio across the street from us.

Kicks5678 :They are showing that they are not mature enough , hence the lanuage "lame" about 10 times , to participate in the studio owners board. When you grow up you can play with the big girls for now though you must play with kids your own age.

daninqueen-
"I feel that the anger and hostility is because there are those who have been posting on the onwers board who are not truely owners. So now they can not provide proof of ownership so they can no longer participate. It just what we were trying to do . Keep the non-owners out of it. Seems as though it is working !"

I think you are quite wrong there. The board is not soley for studio owners, but also for previous owners, directors, managers, etc. Those of us contributing members can be grandfathered onto the board, so there is no reason to be mad about that. The majority are upset because they cannot access their own posts and that the board was not started fresh. I guarantee you there would be little to no complaints if the board had been started fresh like all the other studio owner boards were as they were added (i.e.: financial, marketing, policies, etc). The point of the board was not to "keep out the non owners", it was to eliminate parents and children from viewing and responding.

Also, side note, what does your name mean?

To Tumblbug... What my name means is none of your business , but thanks for asking.
I understand that maybe they should have started the board fresh, I will grant you that. That is what I thougt they were going to do. But all of the whineing and complaining is just stupid. This is the best thing that could have happened to this board. Keep the childish questions and answers off of the boards where owner want to have serious conversations.

"To Tumblbug... What my name means is none of your business , but thanks for asking."

Excuse me for trying to be friendly and strike up some conversation. Your response was quite rude in my opinion. The first time I saw it, I thought you had misspelled dancinqueen and left out the C. Then once I saw you were a studio owner, I assumed that it wasn't that and probably meant something special and I was curious. Of course seeing that you misspelled my name above, I guess its quite possible you could have misspelled your own. Most of us have shared what our name means to us on other threads on this site. I didn't realize it was so private to you.

Sorry to bother you with my 'childish' questions. I can see you are way above that as you have presented yourself so here.

If you read your post it sounds like your are being sarcastic. Sorry , I guess it just came off that way . Words have no tone so that is how I read it.

I have found it is best to give benefit of doubt when reading written words on a message board. Yes, they have no tone, and assuming the best (instead of the worst) seems to be the way to keep peace.

I don't think those who are "whining" are doing so b/c they are not truly involved in the business. It was meant to keep parents out, and I don't see any parents on here whining. While I agree there is an abundance of complaints, I believe they are valid concerns made by a lot of knowledgable people who have proved to be worthy posters in the past.

heyy...I am a new studio owner, ..i would like to keep coming to this site, i will gladly pay the fee...but i don't get the whole proof method....i am not listed in the yellow pages yet...why cant my business/company document be enough? I Don't think it's fair that i cant access anything because of the yellow pages..

I also am confused about the proof. I am a studio owner and do not have a website or yellow pages and what is a dance.net salute outside the studio? Please let me know so I can join, thank you.