Howdy albert1987!

It's great to welcome you to TalkCity, and to the hosting program. We're delighted that you want to become an even bigger part of what makes Talk City the great place it is.

This email is intended to provide you with information on the Host Training Classes necessary for all new TalkCity hosts. Please read the information carefully and follow the procedures properly in order to enter and complete the program successfully. :-)

All TalkCity volunteer hosts are required to attend each of the 5 sessions:

Session 1 - Standards Discussion

Session 2 - Formal Conferencing

Session 3 - Operator Commands

Session 4 - "OD" shifts

Session 5 - Miscellaneous Hosting Issues

The sessions can be taken in any order, and when you receive this email, you'll have a month in which to arrange to attend each of the various sessions once. All sessions last approximately one hour, and you should show up about 5 min. before scheduled start time.

To help you understand what's involved in the TCC Training, we've setup a special web site that explains the process in more detail at:

http://rooms.talkcity.com/training/

Bookmark this URL or write it down!

Because not everyone who wants to become a TCC is invited to training, you need a password to access the area.

Use the following username and password combination when prompted:

Username: albert1987

Password: 5865

Be sure to read ALL of the info there carefully, it's important! ;-)

If, after reading the information you decide that you don't want to be a TCC at this time, that's OK, just let us know by emailing dazyccc@hosts.talkcity.com and we'll take you off the list. You can always rejoin later if you change your mind.

HOW TO SIGNUP:

Because space on each training class is limited you need to sign up in advance for the ones you want to attend. You should check the schedule on the web site above to see what classes are available but please don't sign up for a class unless you expect to attend. If you miss more than three classes that you sign up for, you may be removed from the training program.

You can sign up for a class as early as you like but all sign-ups are considered on a first-come/first-served basis, so the sooner the better. Once a class is full (20 trainees), no one else can select that session. The deadline for signing up for new sessions is 24 hours before the session starts.

If you sign up for a shift but later find you cannot attend for any reason, please let the trainer know. You'll get instructions on how to do this when you sign up for classes. If you miss classes without informing your trainer in advance, you may be removed from training.

WHEN TO COMMUNICATE WITH US:

- If your email address changes (email DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com) - If you've been confirmed for a class and are unable to attend (email the trainer that confirmed to you to explain the situation) - If you miss a class (email the trainer that confirmed to you to explain the situation) - If you have problems with the material in a particular class and would like help or clarification (email the trainer from the session) - If you have extenuating circumstances which will prevent you from attending any of the scheduled days/times (email DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com) - If you change your mind about hosting (email DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com AND your forum leader!!) - If you have extenuating circumstances which will prevent you from completing training within 1-month (ie. a death in the family, you won't have access to a computer or WebTV for a week or more, or similar *emergencies*; email DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com) - If you have questions about training or about signing up or are having problems you need to discuss (email DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com)

We hope you enjoy the training sessions and that you learn a lot from them. It's great to have you joining our team!

DazyCCC & the Talk City Host Training Team

***Please Note: This is an auto-response! If you have specific questions regarding the Host Training Program in TalkCity, email DazyCCC@talkcity.com with subject line: Training Q

TCC Training

Welcome TCC to the host training area of Talkcity. Remember this area is accessed by permission only and all information herein and html's are to remain confidential. In order to complete this course you will need to attend all 5 training sessions.

Your first step will be to visit the to see the schedule of classes and review the information. Time Zones: Because TalkCity is based in California in the US, much of what we do refers to US pacific time zones. If you're unsure of the time difference for you, ask any CCC the current time in US pacific and do your figuring from there. All times listed are in US pacific.

The training site is divided into sections best suited to helping you learn the who, what, where and whys of conferencing, following rules and enforcing rules on Talkcity. The basic areas are Indexed below for ease of study. All subjects may not be covered in detail in class so please feel free to ask any questions you have there.

This page will go over why we conference in TalkCity, how to make conferencing better, the use of text macros, and the basics of good interviewing.

How to host in an open forum chatroom such as Towntalk. Included is discussion of protocol and modified-protocol conferencing .

TalkCity's Standards and rules of conduct are discussed here.

Includes a complete listing of IRC commands and explanations of how to use the most popular IRC savvy commands.

Links to helpful software and information on how to best utilize some of the programs available to PC users.

This page covers the jobs and roles expected in those wishing to become games hosts. Games hosting also requires a separate post training course.

Meet your training team. With downloadable images suitable for all dart boards.

OTHER

Hints and tips from CCC's and other host for better hosting.

Schedule:(effective Feb 1 1999)

*(Read Everything- if you don't you could end up not getting your

classes)*

It's great to welcome you to TalkCity, and to the hosting program.

This page provides you with information on the Host Training Classes necessary for all new TalkCity

hosts.

Please read the information carefully and follow the procedures properly in order to enter and

complete the program successfully.

After doing so visit the Host Sign Up Form

Please bear in mind that not all classes listed are available at all times. The available classes will be

found at the sign up form.

All TalkCity volunteer hosts are required to attend 1 of each of the 5 sessions:

session 1 - * Monday - 2am, 9am, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm *Saturday 1am

*Sunday - 9am, 3pm

session 2 - * Tuesday - 2am, 9am, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm * Saturday 2am

*Sunday - 10am, 4pm

session 3 - * Wednesday - 2am, 9am, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm * *Sunday -

11am, 5pm

session 4 - * Thursday - 2am, 9am, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm * Saturday 9am

*Sunday - 12pm, 6pm

session 5 - * Friday - 2am, 9am, 3pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm *Saturday 10am

*Sunday - 1pm, 7pm

The sessions can be taken in any order, you'll have a month in which to arrange to attend each of the

various sessions once. All sessions last approximately one hour, and you should show up about 5

min. before scheduled start time.

Time Zones: Because TalkCity is based in California in the US, much of what we do refers to

US pacific time zones. If you're unsure of the time difference for you, ask any CCC the current time

in US pacific and do your figuring from there. All times listed below are in US pacific:

Class Times listed with the Primary Trainer.

As you can see, each session is offered several times through the week and during each day in order

to accomodate various schedules and time zones.

Procedures: In order to attend any session, you must "sign-up" via our online Host

Sign Up Form. Due to the volume of email generated by this process, it's *very

important* that you follow these procedures *exactly* so we don't lose you in the

shuffle!

To sign up for shifts, use the Host Sign Up Form

You are required to enter your Nickname and password, which you recieved from us.

This will take you into the signup system

Just follow the instructions. Its that easy.

All sign-ups are considered on a first-come/first-served basis as well.

3 STRIKES AND YER OUT! IMPORTANT INFO TO READ!!

"3 strikes" rule for Talk City Host Training. Any trainee missing more than 3 confirmed

classes as a "no-show" - an unexcused absence - will be removed from training, and

from potential hosting in Talk City.You can avoid unpleasant repercussions by:

1. contacting the trainer(s) that had confirmed a class to you, if you will need to miss a

class you were confirmed for. If it's impossible to contact them *beforehand* then it's

important that you contact them as soon as possible after the session.

2. making note of the sessions you sign up for, as well as the classes - dates and times!

- that you are confirmed for, and bending over backwards to be there

3. contacting DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com if you have extenuating circumstances that

are keeping you from completing your training. We are understanding about special

circumstances and can even help you work through them, *if* we are informed.

If you communicate with us, we make note of that in our records and will try to work with you. We

know that you are all doing this in order to host as a *volunteer* for Talk City, and that *is*

appreciated.

There are a *lot* of folks in Talk City wanting to volunteer their time here, and we are taking *our*

time to train you all to be good hosts. Please give us the courtesy of being respectful of that, and

COMMUNICATE with us - after all, that's what this is all about, right? Communication! :-)

SizeLimits: Each session has a limit of trainees, so it's possible that a session you attempt to

sign-up for could fill up. Sign up early! If a class fills, we'll attempt to give you priority for that same

session at that time for the week after, and a trainer will contact you to inform you.

Completion: Through the course of your training, your class attendance will be monitored. After

the completion of your final session, you should receive an email from us letting you know you're

finished, and your appropriate forum leader will be made aware of your completion. If you haven't

heard anything within 3 days of your final class, drop an email to DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com and

we'll double-check our records.

WebTV users and Palace hosts, be aware that some information you'll receive may not apply to you

at this time, but it's still important for you to learn, so you are aware of all of our hosting procedures -

the information may come in handy in the future. :

If at any time you have any questions regarding the Host Training Program, please drop an email to

DazyCCC@hosts.talkcity.com with subject line: Training Q and we'll get back to you as soon as

possible. Please do not send questions to the TrainMe@talkcity.com address - this is used *only*

for session sign-ups!

We hope you enjoy the training sessions and that you learn a lot from them. It's great to have you

joining our staff!

TCCod: Towntalk hosting and Protocol

Hosting a "volunteer" shift in TownTalk. OD stands for "On Duty".

Our goal is to have a host On Duty at all times in many rooms. This gives visitors a

place to go to where a host is available to answer questions, help with problems, and

help keep up a lively flow of conversation. OD shifts sometimes last anywhere from an

hour to *several* hours.

Greetings / Room Flow / Protocol Type Hosting / A Word on Hugs

There's certainly a lot more to an OD shift than just sitting in a room and chatting - it

can be a lot of hard work.

Some hosts *love* OD, others hate it; one thing is certain, though, and that is that

being the Host is a great way to experience just about everything a Host *can*

experience - both good and bad!

While you are the HostOD, your duties are quite varied. Your main objective though is

to keep that screen moving and keep the Talk Citizens happy and comfortable so they

keep coming back.

GREETING:

Your greeting will be the first impression you make on people, and will make them feel

welcomed and noticed right away.

OD's should try to welcome folks to your Room:

Hi so&so, Welcome to TownTalk :-)

Howdy MrX, nice to see you could join us!

Hey chiquita, come on in and join us! We're just chatting!

With server upgrades there is already an autogreet that welcomes users to the rooms.

So, keep your greeting in check. It is always more important to keep the conversation

flowing.

A real good way to do this is set up an auto greet or manually greet in different ways

such as /msg then /notice then in the open room. Cycling your greets gives everyone's

eyes in a busy room a rest..

/msg soandso Glad you can make it. Feel free to chat or vist my

webpage at http://home.talkcity.com/GalleryDr/artfreaccc/

/notice MrX We all welcome you to chat with us. Or visit the home

pages at http://home.talkcity.com/

Hi MissZ pull up a keyboard.

Don't get so caught up in your greetings though that it encompasses the room! One

good way to keep yourself in check is to greet a few folks all at once:

Welcome Chatter, MrX, so&so.. join us!

Likewise, while it's nice to throw out a: WB Chatter!

In conjunction with this, it's nice to give a parting comment to a chatter that has just

announced their departure:

Cya MrX, thanks for stopping by!

Have a nice night, Chatter, come back again!

For new folks in particular, a warm greeting or friendly Welcome.

..if Chatter has left and returned 20 times in the last 10 minutes - use your best

judgment! Folks do not want to see an entire channel of host greets and

re-greets.

MANAGING ROOM FLOW:

Don't get so caught up in your greets, either, that you forget to watch the room.

On top of your greeting, it is your job as CCCoD to try to stimulate lively discussion.

Some CCC's like to keep a topic on hand to draw folks out if the chat lulls - I find that

asking how the weekend was, or the holiday, or what plans folks have for the coming

weekend usually works in a pinch.

Keep your eyes open for questions folks may have as well, and try to answer them if

you can.

If you can't, try to direct them to someone who can or somewhere that they can find

the answer.

Sometimes if another CCC is present, you can say:

I'm not sure of that myself, Chatter, but maybe OtherCCC could help?

OtherCCC, do you know....

Or you can even poll the channel for help:

Chatter wants to know about WebTV, but I'm on a PC, not a WebTV. Any

WebTV folks here who can help Chatter out with WebTV?

You would be amazed sometimes at how helpful folks will be if they're just *asked*!

Make sure you're familiar with shorthand such as smileys, LOL, ROFL, AFK, BAK,

CCC, CSA, etc. - you all know them already, but often new folks may inquire.

LOL means Laughing Out Loud

ROFL means Rolling On Floor Laughing

ROFLMAO means... well nevermind.. im not gonna tell you!

Macro alert:

It's best to have some standard things like this already in your macro program, so you

can quickly and easily get folks informed.

You will be recieving a list of examples. Please customize them to fit your style as you

wish and get them into your macro program for when you need them. Feel free to add

any other macros you feel might be necessary as well.

Standards violation:

Keep an eye on the room for any standards violations as well, and handle them

accordingly.

Remember, our goal is to educate, not humiliate.

Do not be on a witch hunt. You are there to educate and inform and to keep the flow

of the chat moving.

Do not waste time dealing with people for non violations such as: CAPSLOCKS,

age/sex checks or hugging.

Be prepared to point people to the City Ordinances web

page(http://www.TalkCity.com/csa/) and answer any questions they may have about

them.

Don't be afraid to call on a CCC or a CSA for assistance if you feel you're being

over-whelmed in any way.

Keep in mind that as a CCC, you should be setting the example for what is appropriate

behavior in TalkCity.

Often new folks aren't familiar enough with TalkCity yet to know about our rules.

Keep in mind also, that as a host on *or* off-duty you also want to set the best

example to make people feel welcomed and comfortable and included.

Wake up pay attention:

We don't want folks to feel that there is an "in" crowd and that they might be crashing a

party.

For example, even if you know another nickname a person usually uses, or their real

name, address them by the nickname(or a form of it) that they are currently using. That

way folks won't be confused as to why everyone's talking to Dave and Dave's not

here!

{{{age/sex checks and hugging}}}:

Likewise, we ask that Hosts refrain from {{hugging}}

It's not that we have anything against a good hug, but it can be overwhelming to a new

person or to those that don't know as many people in TalkCity, to come into a room

where everyone's hugging and smooching if they don't know people well enough to be

hugged and smooched too!

While we're on the subject, there is *no* rule against such things as age/sex checks

CAPSLOCKS or hugging.

These are things that are a typical part of online life and we are never going to be able

to stop it, and we don't want to.

However, not everyone wants to be hugged, or wants to respond to age/sex checks,

so we prefer to set the example by refraining ourselves, so as to not unintentionally

exclude any Talk Citizens.

To some folks, age/sex checks or hugs are as much a part of online existence as

smileys.

And that's something almost all of us do! :-)

So Instead of thinking of hugs or age/sex checks or even ALL

CAPS as a violation learn to ignore these things and pay more

attention to the context of the room.

PROTOCOL:

Protocol: as used in conferencing, is a way to control the flow of questions and

answers. This is used most often in large conferences and is considered a more formal

approach to conferencing.

The basic structure of protocol requires that users/audience get permission to speak

befor sending to the room. It is up to the hosts to keep track of who is to speak next,

who has questions or comments, and when to que the next speaker, host or guest. The

host is also responsable for informing users as to the rules of protocol when it is in use.

In a protocol conference, if guests have a question, they type a ?, if they have a

comment, they type a !, and when they're done typing, they type GA (for go ahead) to

let everyone know they're finished.

Keeping the queue isn't that tough, and a good grasp of cut/paste can get you by. I

usually start by typing into my clipboard a simple: "Question Queue: " . Then, when

someone puts up a ? I just add their name, select and copy the entire "Question Queue:

Bob" line, and send it to the channel. When new folks put up a ? just paste the copied

line to your text input line, add the new names in order - and remove any that have had

their turn - reselect and copy the line, and send the newly-altered and copied line:

"Question Queue: Bob, Chatter, Talker, "

It is best to bump comments to the front of the line -- since, if you wait they will likely

no longer be relevant.

Every once in a while you should post your queue to the public window (especially if

one questioner is taking a lot of time): this lets people know they are still in line and it

reminds them not to jump in until it is their turn.

If you're running a protocol, or modified protocol conference, you MUST tell folks

how it works in your greeting to them. ** Example: Welcome! Tonight we're talking

about the price of tea in China with our guest, MrLipton. We're using protocol, so if

you have a question, type ? and if you have a comment, type ! and I'll let you know

when it's your turn. Type GA when you're done. Thanks!

**

Modified protocol differs from full protocol, in that, with the modified version, you

allow people to comment freely with LOLs, ROFLs or the like, but they must use ? to

ask a question. In most cases, you can get away with using modified protocol rather

than full protocol.

That basically is how protocol works we will get a chance to pratice this in class.

CONFERENCING: BASICS

Training sessions will be hosted by teams of CCCo-hosts. If at any time you have any

questions, you may contact a trainer

This area will cover reasons why we conference in TalkCity, how to control and run these

conferences with the help of text macros, and basics of asking "good" interviewing questions.

Greeting / Premise-question Pairs / Macros / Hosting Guidlines

Let's start with our broadbrush conferencing goals:

**to bring people together

**to educate/inform

** to entertain

** to assist

It's important, as we build this community, that new folks feel welcome and

informed--not excluded by an "in" crowd.

Greeting:

Greeting via private message: when users come in the door lets them know what's going on

and that they're welcome - both of which are quite important.

Include in your greeting your TC home page. Or guide the user to a Talkcity home page. This

helps generate traffic throughout all of Talkcity.

Example:

Welcome to Artcity! Feel free to join into the conversation or Visit my webpage at:

http://home.talkcity.com/GalleryDr/artfreaccc/

Some types of conferences, such as games or Protocol- format conferences, may

require a slightly different or lengthier private greeting. Both of those will be covered, so

don't worry about it too much just yet.

For a conference with a guest,the very easiest way to get your opening macro is to

send the guest a ____-filled paragraph.

Something like:

Our guest today is Madonna, she'll be talking about _____ . She's been researching _____

for ___ years, but is still interested in it because ____ . When she's not busy singing, she likes

to ____ .

A successful interviewer asks good questions of the guest, acknowledges audience

questions, and is always very prepared.

Premise/Question Pairs:

In a non-guest conference, think of your audience as your guest.

Your goal is to get your audience interested, and involved. The best way to do this is through

the use of"premise/question" pairs.

A premise/question pair engages people whether they have something to say or not, by giving

them a fact or idea and a related question to ponder.

For example:

"Raised on TV we are all familuar with cartoons. From Speed Racer to Yogi bear to

Ren and Stimpy. Todays youth are able to watch cartoons around the clock thanks to

cable and Cartoon network. How might this activity be effecting our youth?"

If you've built some good premise/question pairs, your audience will find it easy to participate.

In order to keep things moving, then, you can use follow-up questions based on their

responses.

Be sure to acknowledge individuals, because it pulls them in more and makes them feel that

people care about what they have to say.

Once your audience is hooked and participating, make sure *they* are the focus, not you. It's

fine to contribute your own thoughts, as long as you don't wind up dominating.

Remember - you are the host, and they are your guests. You should be *guiding* the

discussion rather than controlling it.

Use your prepared premise/questions to reel them in if things stray too far off-topic, to

stimulate further discussion on related issues, or to re-group if discussion comes to a halt.

Remember to prepair both opening and closing macros. These will be discussed in further

detail in class.

MACROS

--Hopefully you have a text macro program installed, and are familiar with how to use it.

If you don't and need one try the Links page of the training area.

What is a macro?

Go into rooms with CCC or experienced hosts and watch them. Feel free to 'steal' their

macros if you find them useful or appropriate.

It helps to go open up your own room when you get a chance and practice a bit. Try out

some longer macros as well as shorter ones.

And now for the official guidelines to hosting:

Introduction / Getting Ready / Types of Conferences / Ready to go! / Final

Thought

Host Basics

I. Introduction

Welcome to the world of Internet chats! At Talk City, we believe that our professional

hosts provide the best chat experience on the Internet. A good host makes it look easy,

but it requires a lot of preparation and practice. This document is written for anyone

who wants to host a conference with a professional flair. It's also mandatory reading for

those of you who want to go through Talk City Host Training :-)

Before we begin, we'd like to give you some general pointers:

· It's normal to be nervous before a conference, and we all have different ways of

showing it. For some of us our fingers get cold and for others our heart starts beating a

little faster.

· Correct spelling and grammar are important for macros, but it's okay to make a

mistake while typing real-time. It's more important to get the thought out in an

expedient manner than to spend time thinking about your mistakes.

· It's important that you're familiar with Talk City Ordinances

(http://www.talkcity.com/csa/) and prepared to enforce them without being

heavy-handed. In many cases people aren't aware of the rules but are willing to follow

them once they know what they are. Also, keep in mind this is a family environment

even though there are adult-oriented topics in some channels. Don't think that because

it's after midnight (your time) the kids will all be in bed!

· There's always someone around to help with problem conference attendees. Most of

the time the other people in the room will put the pressure on the offenders to stop but

you can always send a message to a City Standards Advisor (CSA) by typing /msg

CSA MessageHere

· While you're hosting your conference, it's good to acknowledge people along the

way. You can acknowledge your guest for the excellent answers and being smart and

the attendees for their good questions and manners. You'll hear this again, but we don't

think we can say it often enough.

· The best advice we have to offer is that you be enthusiastic and don't censor your

words unless they're inappropriate. It is our experience that the best conference hosts

are those who let their personalities shine through.

Ready to begin? First we'll take you through the process of preparing for your conference,

then we'll tell you about the four types of conferences - freeform, protocol, modified protocol,

and moderated. In our final section we'll walk through a conference. Then you're ready to

practice what you've learned and/or head off to Host Training!

II. Step-by-Step Instructions for Preparing for a Conference

Follow these eight easy steps (State a purpose, choose a topic, Decide if a guest is needed,

Determine the Number of hosts needed, Select a date and time, Prepare the guest, Search the

Internet, Create Macros ) and you're on your way to a rewarding experience for yourself and

your conference attendees. The first time you go through them it will take a while, so make

sure you have plenty of time before your conference! After that you can figure out what

shortcuts to take and what works best for you and your style.

1. State the purpose. What do you want to accomplish during this conference? Is it to

impart information about your company, product, or services? Are you soliciting feedback of

any kind? Is this a general discussion on a particular topic that is important to you? Is it a

one-time conference or will you hold it on a regularly scheduled basis? Do you already have a

guest lined up? Who do you think will come to your conference and what kind of information

will they expect or want to hear?

2. Choose the topic. It is important to choose a topic for each chat, whether or not you

actually adhere to it. People feel more comfortable when there is a topic because they know

what to expect, and you won't have to suffer through people entering your conference and

immediately asking what you're talking about.

With IRC client software it is easy to change the topic line, so people will always know what

the conference is about either before or as they enter the room. With most IRC clients you

can type:

/topic WhatTheRoomisAbout

or in some cases

/topic #Roomname WhatTheRoomisAbout.

When choosing a topic, it is better to have a specific topic within a broader scope rather than

something that is very general. This seems to spark the creative juices and people relate to it

more easily. Also, in Host Training we talk a lot about what we call a "premise/question

pair," which can also be used as a topic. It consists of a fact or opinion and then asks a

question that relates to it.

An example of a premise/question pair is:

"Tigers are becoming extinct in the wild, primarily due to habitat loss and poaching for

the Asian medicine market. Do you think the Asian culture should give up using tiger

parts in this ancient form of medicine?" This engages people whether they have

something to say or not, by giving them a fact or idea and a related question.

3. Decide whether or not you're going to have a guest and what type of

conference it will be.

If you're going to have a regularly scheduled conference of once a week or more, you

may want to consider having an occasional guest. This will infuse more energy and

opinions into your conferences.

What qualities should you look for in a guest? There's no guarantee, but generally speaking,

people with strong opinions and/or love to share their knowledge tend to make the best

guests. They should be loquacious and be able to answer questions with more than a

monosyllabic yes or no. It's also important that your guest be sensitive to the audience and try

to answer their questions instead of getting on a soapbox.

Before you do book that guest, however, find out how fast he can type! A slow typist is a

host's worst nightmare... it doesn't matter how funny or smart or articulate they are if what

they have to say doesn't come out fast enough. Your guest can have someone else do the

typing either there in person or if that's not possible then over the phone. If your guest is

determined to do his own typing, ask him to type very short lines and hit the return often to

keep the screen moving, and help him create some macros ahead of time. You'll be glad you

did!

4. Determine the number of hosts you'll need for your conference based on what

type of conference you're going to have.

Will you be hosting the chat on your own or will you need another person to help?

We've found that one person can efficiently host a topic-oriented chat when there are

under 25 attendees, however any more than that can be overwhelming. It's optimum to

have one host and one greeter for an average conference.

If your conference happens to be a game that involves scoring, a scorekeeper is also

required.

We also think it's good to have a second host even if it's on an informal basis-perhaps

someone who attends your chats regularly will volunteer-to welcome people as they

come into the chat room.

A friendly greeting from two people will make a new person feel welcome even when

many of the people in the room already know each other.

If you use protocol in your chat room or it is a moderated conference you do need two

people to pull it off...one person to act as host, and one person to keep track of the question

queue.

In the beginning, we like to ask our friends to come to our conferences and support us by

asking good questions. If we don't have a greeter, we also ask them to answer off-topic

questions privately but to let everyone know in the public window by saying "Tsubasa, I'll

answer your question in a private message."

5. Select a date and time for your conference.

Allow at least two weeks to prepare for the first one. This will give you time to work

out the details, rehearse, and make changes. Be sure to factor in additional time for

creating and distributing promotional materials if required.

6. Prep the guest.

Make sure the guest knows:

· the date and time of the chat

· where the chat is to be held and how to get there

· what hardware and software is required

· your screen name (you should know the guest screen name as well)

· how to send private messages and when to recognize them

· what protocol is and whether or not it will be used

· what questions you will be asking if there aren't any coming from the attendees

Find out some information about the guest (and the topic if you're not an expert) before your

chat! Be sure to get the correct spelling of the guest's name and title and ask for background

information to include in your macros. Discuss questions that may come up that the guest

doesn't want to answer so you can help move the conversation into a different direction, and

what questions the guest anticipates. Come up with a list of your own questions using the

premise/question pair format to ask the guest in case the attendees don't have any, and be

sure to let the guest know what they are ahead of time!

Whenever possible, get online with the guest two or three days before the chat to iron out any

last-minute bugs and go over the agenda, or at least 1/2 hour early the day of the chat to

establish an online rapport.

7. Search the Internet.

As we all know, there is a wealth of information on the internet

about...well....everything!

Take advantage of this and do a little surfing for the best sites that support your topic.

When there is a lag in the conversation or your guest needs to take a break, you can

always give out a URL or two and explain what's on the sites.

8. Create Macros!

If you already use a macro maker program, that's great!

This type of program (so to speak) enables you to set up "canned" text ahead of time,

giving you more time to be creative off line.

Once your conference begins, macros will help you keep it moving at a fast pace.

Keyboard Express, available as shareware from http://www.shareware.com, is a good

program for PC users.

If you have a Macintosh, TypeIt4Me is an excellent program and you can find it at

http://www.shareware.com as well. If you don't have a macro maker and you're not

using EZTalk, you can always create a document that you can cut and paste from.

You can use macros to introduce yourself and your guest, ask or answer specific questions,

promote your company product or other conferences, and add closing remarks. You don't

want to overuse macros as it will take away the excitement of "live" chat, however if you

know you'll be asked certain questions-especially from week to week-it will save you a lot of

time and effort.

Typically, a set of conference macros includes the following:

1) Pre-conference greeting and conference greeting

2) Introduction

3) List of 15-20 premise/question pairs

4) Handy macros to have for every conference- protocol statement, City Ordinance

reminders, upcoming events, etc.

5) Closing

That's it for the steps you'll need to take, now we'll describe the four different types of

conferences and in the last section we'll walk through a conference with some examples.

III. Types of Conferences

There are four types of conferences: free-form, modified protocol, full protocol, and

moderated. We strongly recommend that you use free-form whenever possible, as it

encourages the most audience participation and greatest flow of information. If you find

yourself being overwhelmed, you can always institute protocol at any time during the

conference. Once the questions drop off, switch back to free-form. Use good judgment and

discretion: even if you have a large number of people in a conference room and only two are

asking questions, drop the protocol.

1. Free-form. A free-form conference lets attendees talk without any kind of

moderation, they can join in with questions and comments at any time. The host's primary

responsibility in this type of conference is to come up with a good topic and have plenty of

statement/question pairs ready in case there are only a few people or people don't have much

to say.

This format is excellent for a discussion-based conference where the host wants a lot of

audience participation, and is good for any conference where you want to solicit opinions

about the topic. Free-form is also excellent when the number of attendees is not very high or

the number of people asking questions is low. Remember, you can always switch to a

modified protocol if it gets too unruly!

2. Modified protocol. A modified protocol conference requires people to type in a ?

when they want to ask a question and someone (usually a co-host or volunteer) keeps track

of a queue. Comments may be made at any time as long as they pertain the current topic. If

comments off-topic are made that require a response, let the person know they've asked a

question and you'll add them to the queue.

To manage the queue, create a cheat sheet to help you track the comments and

questions...open a new memo and get ready to paste. When the first person types their ?,

double-click on their name and copy it (this saves time because you never misspell using

copy/paste!), then paste it into your cheat sheet.

Sample cheat sheet:

Question queue: Snoopy, AlaskaJim, NetSurfer

Every once in a while you should post your queue to the public window to let everyone know

where they are in line. Once the question of the moment has been answered, you can tell the

next person in the queue to Go Ahead, or GA and state their name.

Sometimes you won't know if the guest is finished answering the question or not, so go ahead

and ask. You can say,

Done, TigerExpert?

If you have only one or two questions in your queue, you should post something like:

Host: Only one question remaining in the queue (NetSurfer, that's

you! :-), if you have a question, type ? and I will add you to

Host: the queue.

If this does not elicit more questions, change your format to a free-form chat. If there are only

one or two questions, you don't need protocol.

Modified protocol conferences are excellent when there is a guest and/or attendees have a

lot of questions. This really helps the guest or host keep track of where they are and remain

focused.

3. Full protocol. A full protocol conference requires people to type in a ? when they

want to ask a question and a ! when they have a comment. Someone (usually a co-host or

volunteer) keeps track of a queue. Comments are always bumped to the top of the queue as

they should relate to the immediate topic. If comments off-topic are made that require a

response, let the person know they've asked a question and you'll add them to the question

queue.

Sample cheat sheet:

Question queue: Snoopy, AlaskaJim, NetSurfer Comments: PBear,Sunny

Again, you should periodically post the queue to the public window and if you don't have

many comments consider changing the format to modified-protocol, or even free-form.

Stay away from full protocol whenever possible. The only time to seriously consider using

full protocol is when your guest is confused by too many comments. If you have a very large

crowd, however, or one that is very unruly, you can always switch to full protocol to calm

things down.

4. Moderated. A moderated conference effectively "gags" everyone in the channel and

you can give permission to individual members to speak via the queue and private messages.

This is all done with IRC commands.

A moderated conference is excellent for large conferences where you want to control the

questions.

IV. Let's Chat

You're prepared and ready to go, so let's create a room!

To do this, type:

/join #roomname

some programs you can type /j roomname

other programs you need to type in the roomname on a menu

experiment with your own system to see what you need to do

As soon as you enter the room, it's a good idea to create that topic line immediately.

Simply type:

/topic #roomname WhatTheRoomIsAbout

By the way, it's a good idea to create your room at least 10 minutes before you're scheduled

to start, or earlier if you're going to meet and practice with your guest.

Next, turn on the log if your IRC client has that functionality. You'll want to have a record of

all your conferences to send to people who arrive late or you may want to post them

somewhere.

If people show up early, you can talk about your topic in an informal fashion. It's also okay to

talk about anything...movies, books, and chocolate are always popular subjects.

Be prepared with a message to post to the public window:

Host: Hi! We're sitting around chatting about tigers in captivity, until our

guest TigerExpert shows up for our conference, which is scheduled to

begin at (7:00) p.m. Please join us!

If several people stay in the room, it's better to just say hello to new people in the public

window and send them a private message with the current topic of discussion. Or, you can

periodically post the topic to the public window if a lot of people come in at the same time.

As soon as your conference begins, your co-host or greeter should start sending a greeting to

everyone, which should be as short as possible and still get the message across. Also, stay

away from using any "return" characters because the greeting becomes interpreted as an

intrusion. It should be in the form of a private message:

/msg UserName Message

It might look like this:

/msg Sunny Hi <screenname here>, and welcome! Tonight's guest is TigerExpert,

author of a new book titled "Tigers: Will they survive the 20th Century?" We're not

following protocol this evening, so jump right in with comments and questions. We're

sure glad you're here!

Now you're ready to send out your intro macro:

***************************************************

**** TIGERS **** TIGERS **** TIGERS **** TIGERS ****

With TigerExpert Mowgli.

Host: Good Evening everybody, and thanks for coming! TigerExpert

Host: is our very special guest this evening, and he's here to talk about his new book.

Host: TigerExpert was one of those kids who grew up with posters of tigers all over his room

and used to tell his mother he

Host: would grow up and bring one home one day. He hasn't brought one home yet, but he

has been traveling

Host: to all of the tiger range states and he has quite a story to tell.

Host: This is a free-form conference this evening, so please join in with questions and

comments. Please be courteous and don't overwhelm our guest with too many questions at

one time.

Host: TigerExpert, we're so glad you could join us this evening!

(TigerExpert says thanks, it's good to be here)

Host: And now, to get the discussion going, I'm going to ask the first question....TigerExpert,

where do tigers live and how

Host: many are left in the wild?

Remember to continue to greet people as they walk into your channel, because they see only

a blank screen until somebody says something. If you don't jump in and say hello, they may

see nothing but the tail end of many different conversation threads-that is generally not the best

introduction to a chat.

As the conference moves along, make sure to acknowledge the guest and attendees by saying

:

"Thanks, TigerExpert, that's a frightening thought,"

or "Good question, Pumpkin."

If someone is making a point, electronic body language

:::: nodding at TygerDan ::::

or :::: jumping up and down with excitement :::

can do wonders to bring people out.

Towards the middle of the conference you can advertise the book or anything else that you

want people to know with another macro:

Host: Isn't this fascinating? You can find out more about tigers by looking

at the 5tigers web site.

Host: The URL is http://www.5tigers.org, and it has information about all

8 subspecies of tigers, including 3 that have been

Host: extinct in the wild for at least 20 years.

As the perfect host, make sure that people get their questions answered or at least pointed in

the right direction to find the information they're looking for. If you think a question has been

overlooked by a guest, send a private message to the person and ask. If the question hasn't

been answered let the guest know by typing:

"TigerExpert, Judi had a question earlier about the Sumatran tiger that hasn't been

answered. Judi, can you restate the question?"

Other macros can be interspersed as appropriate, and could include information about

upcoming feature guests, special contests and promotions, or other types of reminders.

At the end of the conference, it's time for your last macro to thank the guest and attendees for

coming and remind them of the upcoming schedule:

Host: It looks like time is up for this week, so we'd like to thank

TigerExpert for being such an inspiration to all of us! Also,

Host: we'd like to thank you all for coming tonight. We hope to see you

again next week, when the topic will be The Sumatran Tiger Project.

Host: TigerExpert, thanks again, and we hope you'll come back and visit

with us another time!

Host: Although this ends our formal conference, please feel free to stay

and chat for as long as you like. I'll be here for another 10-15 minutes.

Congratulations, that's the end of the conference and you're still here!

We have one final issue to address in this document.

What happens when the audience take over the conference?

Every once in a while you'll have a conference that gets totally out of control. Don't feel bad, it

happens to all of us once in a while.

Here's what you do: Use all caps and shout:

"SLOW IT DOWN FOLKS, AND LET'S USE MODIFIED PROTOCOL TO GET

THIS CONFERENCE BACK ON TRACK. YOU'RE WEARING OUT YOUR

HOST!! THANK YOU!!!

That's all there is to hosting a chat! We'd like our final words to be to remember to use

humor, be yourself, and have fun!

Standards

Basically there are 3 standards we center TalkCity's Community around.

-These standards of course pertain to all rooms whether Talk City or member

started and all rooms have to meet City Ordinances.

Harrassment / Legal Activities / Disruptive Communication / CSA discussion of the Standards

-This area discusses delicate subjects and some specific words are used as examples if

you wish not to read these words but prefer to have them masked click here :

-Private rooms, though, are exactly that! Private. Do not bother with

them. Those are for CSA's to worry about.

We don't tolerate harassment.

- This is fairly basic and covers many things:

-A first thing you should know is that Freespeech is myth and it

applies to government not private enterprises. Talkcity is a

private business and the standards set by us are perfectly

reasonable and legal.

-When you tell someone that they cannot talk about something

don't get into a debate on free speech. You are there to host a

channel.. Pass it off to the CSA.

-Hate comments and tasteless and indecorous remarks fall into this

area.

-Talk of physical harm, or threats are not tolorated.

-Vulgar discussion of bodily functions or graphic discriptions of

things basically vile are also not appropriate.

-References reflecting racism, prejudice or profanity are not a part

of Talkcity. And are to be kept out of the public forums.

-Notice I did not say anything about G rated etc.

-TalkCity is family oriented and we keep it clean.

-Yet, reference to a G rating may only be understood by American users

for many countries do not know what G rated means or may have

differing standards for a G rating.

So, it would be a good idea to keep references to G ratings out of your

macros.

- We do not have, per se, a list of words that are OK and not OK.

- we take what is said in context.

-For example: someone might be talking about cooking some

Chicken Picata and use the word 'breast' this, of course, is fine.

-Also, a nursing mother may mention breasts when discussing the

subject, this too would be fine though as host you may want to

guide them to open a discussion channel to discuss that particular

topic.

-But if someone is talking about fondling an others breasts it would

not be allowed.

-At least not in most public Channels. Again, its all in the context.

This example can be applied to a number of words and

circumstances. Use your best judgement.

We allow only legal activities.

-Again, this one is pretty simple we go by US laws and the state of

California.

-So if someone says that smoking marijuana is legal in their country

and wishes to continue a protracted 'party' we are glad but not on

our server.

-As for the discussion of legalizing drugs etc. we take it in

CONTEXT.

-What we do not want are discussions about the best bong or how

to grow plants etc.

-We do not allow this in public rooms.

But if someone was seriously wanting to discuss its medical or

social impact we could suggest they open a channel dedicated to

the topic, or maybe send email to Jenna and request a serious

conference on the subject, this of course depends on the channel

and the topic.

-Also, trading of software or other copyrighted material is not

allowed in Talkcity.

-A common example you may see is the term 'warez'. -

"Warez" refers to the trading of software, usually copyrighted

expensive software, so make sure you are aware of this term.

-And threats or discussion of other illegal activity such as, theft,

assault, murder, etc. are not allowed.

We do our best to encourage comfort and discourage

disruptive communication.

This includes users typing things to rooms that cause others to not enjoy the chat.

Included in this area are things like Scrolling, Pop-ups, ASCI art, Spaming, Flooding,

personal harrassment, and off topic chat.

-Scrolling:This is quite common especially amongst new

users. Repeating long or short lines of text to 'get attention' or just be

annoying.

for example: User: Hi!

User: Hi!

User: Hi!

User: ajdskfa;ldfa;ljdajdfa

User: a;sljdf;alsdjkf

User: HI HI HI HI

User: HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!

User: HIHIHIHIH

Also Mini Graphics ASCI Art are included as scrolling.

./^ó-ò^\........

...{_º_}__ / ....

..(_ø _ _ø)....

....{_{_)ø{_)......

....................

Use your best judgement. ASCI alone isn't against the rules

unless done in a disruptive manner. ASCI is usually harmless

and done without malice. A simple message to the user to

try using the art in their own room or to only use it when

appropriate to the conversation would probably be enough

to stem the use of ASCI.

Pop-ups: many IRC programs use what are called 'pop-ups'. These

get their name from how they are triggered. Usually by right clicking onto

a nickname in the room and a list of choices pop-up. When a choice is

made the pop-up includes the clicked on users name in its text.

Most pop-ups include colors. A general pop-up is a fancy

hug:

{{{{{{USER I MISSED YOU }}}}}}

But many pop-ups take up many lines and can get

disruptive.

Also PC users see colors differently then Mac users and

EZtalk and WebTV users see them differently as well. So a

pop-up that looks lovely on a PC might resemble something

Godzilla left behind on a Mac.

Again its best to ask the pop-uper to just use their pop-up if

appropriate to the conversation or to pratice using them in a

private room.

Generally if a pop-up is over 2 lines in length it is too long.

As we encourage open chat and original though the avid

pop-up user can become disruptive just because he isnt

participating or interjecting any orginal thoughts of his/her

own.

-Of course the server is automatically set to zap users offline when they scroll

too many lines at once.

-Spaming: Veries slightly from Scrolling by Repeating a message over and

over.. This includes the hit and run 'For a really good time, Join #joeuser!'. When said

once its not a problem but when they jump in and run the invite several times in a row it

becomes disruptive. Notify the CSA or /msg the person about it. Hopefully they won't

do it again.

Protocol dictates that a polite spammer should ask the op if they can send

the message/ad to the room befor doing so.You may want to let them

know that if they pop in and spam your room.

Advertising a product isnt allowed. So if someone is advertising a sales

gimic via spam tell the CSA. This includes things like get rich quick

schemes, commercial websites, pornography, pic trading, and products.

-Flooding: Another form of scrolling but usually done as an attack in an attempt

to 'knock' someone off the server. Many users call scrolling flooding, but in reality

flooding is a bit more personal in its attack and generally uses what is called a CTCP

mode.

CTCP is a protocol that directly checks a computer for

specific information. See the IRC commands for more

information on CTCP.

-Flooding a channel or of course bots and hacking ops

would be disruptive and very uncomfortable and also the

sending of viruses etc would be covered here.

-Personal Harrassment: Things that make someone 'uncomfortable' could

take many forms... Ranging from direct assults to public humiliation to a customized

nickname.

-Directly calling names or refering to users in a derogatory

manner would fall in this catagory. This sometimes is done in

a private message to a user and the one being harrassed will

tell the host that there is a problem .. Send them to the CSA

for such a violation.

-Name calling in public fits here too. Subtle name calling to

obvious harrassing name calling is disruptive to the room.

Ask them to stop then if they do not stop tell the CSA.

-Most obvious would be odd nicknames... such as "

JewKilla' or 'CopKilla' or "JoeIZaJerk' 'SpamySucks" etc...

Report these to the CSA.

-But on a milder note a user who just will not leave another

user alone is also making things obviously uncomfortable for

the user.

Off Topic and other animals:

-Another disruptive arena includes someone that is chatting off topic in a topic specific

conference.

-Also people that are walking that profanity line with innuendos suggesting things that

are outside the public forums limits.

-Well you get the idea.

This is an article about the standards and how to handle them as written

by LuisCSA: Luis is the head of the CSA staff.

(caution: strong language here.click here to go to a censored page.)

All too often I receive eMail referring to a standard that we actually do not state or

mention in our City Ordinances. One of them is about what is and is not acceptable

language. Just for the record here is the ordinance:

*^*^*^*^*

We do not tolerate harassment.

We welcome people of all ages, races, religions, genders, national origins, sexual

orientations and points of view. We don't tolerate expressions of bigotry, hatred,

harassment or abuse, nor will we tolerate threats of harm to anyone.

Because we encourage discussion and exchange of ideas, we don't allow defamatory,

abusive, tasteless or indecorous statements. For the same reason, we don't allow

sexually explicit material in conversations or nicknames.

*^*^*^*^*^*

We have 3 other standards but this is the one that deals with language and nicknames.I

have previously listed some guidelines to use in judging appropriate language but its

always good to refresh our memories.

***Don'ts***

(1) Crude Language; Explicit Sexual References

A. Crude references, direct or indirect to intercourse: Fuck, bugger,

mother-fucker cock-sucker, penis-breath, etc.

B. Crude references to genitalia: prick, cock, pussy, twat, cunt, etc.

C. Explicit street slang for intercourse or genitalia.

(2) Strong, Vulgar Language

A. Strong, but not crude, language for genitalia: asshole, butthole, dork,

dong, pecker, schlong, dick, etc.

B. Strong language for bodily functions or elimination: Shit, piss, cum,

asswipe, buttwipe, etc.

C. Strong language for sexual functions or intercourse: jerk-off, balling,

schtupping, screwing, boffing, cumming, etc.

D. References to genitalia used in a sexual setting including the use of

penis, vagina, rectum, semen, etc.

(3) Obscene Gestures

A. Any described gestures, body movements, such as flipping the bird,

mooning, non-verbal indications of sexual insult, etc., indicating any of the

above ( i. e. ASCII art scrolled online ).

B. Any described innuendo, euphemisms, street slang, double-entendre

for any of the above.

(4) Profanity References to God or Jesus used as swearing: God, Jesus,

God-damned, Jesus Christ.

(5) Moderate Expletives The words bastard, son-of-a-bitch, bitch, turd, crap.

(6) Mild Terms for Body Functions Piss and poop not used in a sexual context

(7) Mild Expletives

A. The words hell and damn,

B. Ass and horse's ass, BUT NOT Asshole, Assface, Asswipe, etc.

C. Butthead and buttface BUT NOT butthole and buttwipe.

(8) Epithet

A disparaging or abusive word or phrase used in the place of the name of

any of these groups. There are many examples of slang terms which, in

any given historical period, function almost exclusively as epithets: e.g.,

honky, nigger, coon, spic, greaser, chink, slant, faggot, etc. In addition,

sometimes a word which is not in and of itself an epithet functions as one

because of context. For example, in some contexts the word "pig" may be

used in place of "police officer," thus becoming an epithet. In other

contexts, and at different times, the word "monkey" has been used as an

epithet to refer to individuals of Asian descent and to individuals of

African descent.

(9) Hate Speech

Any portrayal (words, speech etc.) which strongly denigrates, defames,

or otherwise devalues a person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity,

religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or disability is considered

to be hate speech. Any use of an epithet is considered hate speech. Any

description of one of these groups or group members that uses

stronglanguage, crude language, explicit sexual references, or obscene

gestures is considered hate speech.

(10) Extreme Hate Speech

The combination of vulgar language with hate speech or epithets;

advocating violence or harm against a person or group.

***Do's*** (what we will tolerate with in reason)

(1) Inoffensive Slang

No profanity, expletives, vulgar gestures, innuendo, double-entendre,

vulgar street slang other than listed below.

A. Inoffensive slang: darn, drat, golly, gosh, dang, rats, sheesh, geeze, gee

wiz.

B. Screw to indicate cheated or harmed, BUT NOT screw in any sexual

context such as "We screwed until the sun came up."

C. Butt to indicate one's rear end as in "Get your butt out of here, 'or "I'm

going to paddle your butt," or "He fell on his butt.," BUT NOT Butthead,

Butthole, Buttface, Buttwipe, etc.

D. Ass when referring to the animal, but not "Horse's ass."

E. Dork used in a non-sexual context as in, "He's a dork."

F. Sucks used in a non-sexual contest as in, "That sucks," or "He sucks."

(2) Non-Sexual Anatomical References

Penis, vagina, rectum, semen used in a non-sexual context. In general we

would allow these in hosted rooms where the conversation would be of a

nature that does not appeal to prurient interests

(3) Under hate speech

it is important to understand and differentiate between a political entity,

organization or institution and a person or group on the basis of race,

ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. So

for example someone may feel that a certain political entity, organization

or institution may "suck" because of a certain policy or action of this body.

As long as the speech is clearly addressed towards the government and

or its policy and it meets the other standards its acceptable. Remember

the hate test is that the comment make a portrayal that strongly denigrates,

defames, or otherwise devalues.

IRC Commands.

Most of the server commands that you will find helpful for doing your Hosting duties.

In IRC there are commands that help you to manage a room or check information about users

online.

Most Irc Chat programs use these commands: PC users we recommend you use

TCPirch or Mac Users use IRCLE.

WebTV users do not have the ability 'yet' to change modes. But many of the

commands are available. Please read and absorb the information for reference and for

use for when WebTV does initiate these things.

Operator commands...

These commands are called 'modes'. Mode commands can help you to:

***open a room

***set a topic

***make a room secret

***limit the number of users in a room

***find a user

***get information on a user

***check who's in a room

***modify the protocol

***remove a disruptive user

***or any of a number of advanced functions

Modes are sent to the server's "system" and the system then responds by following the

instructions of the command.

These modes can be divided into 3 catagories.

**room based

**user based

**server based

To send a command we always start by typing a backslash (/).

ROOM BASED

Most of us have already used some of these commands.

JOIN

The most commonly used are the room based commands.

The "/join" command for example used to enter or initiate a room.

Typing "/join #roomname" allows you to enter the room of your choice or open a new

room, if one by the name you select doesn't exist yet.

Some programs and webtv do not require the "#" sign instead leave it out "/join

roomname"

So what do we do with our room? Good question!

If you are the first to open the room you are automatically the room operator and are

given certain abilities (ops) in that room.

Ops or +o gives you control of your topic and other aspects of the room.

Most of us are already familiar with some of this, but we'll go over a few of the more

common and more helpful commands you might need to use as a host :-)

Registered rooms are opened by the owner/operator or any of the operators that are

given the password. enter a registered room using the password as such: "/join

#roomname PasswordHere"

As hosts you will be authenticated and will not be required to enter a room using its

room password (WebTV users may need the password option) but will be opped

automatically in your forum's authorized rooms.

TOPIC

To set the topic for your room, type: /topic #roomname topicgoeshere

This sets up the topic you want for your room, and will show up in the room listing for

other folks to see.

Many programs need only type /topic NewTopicHere

Also look to see if your program automates this proceedure with a 'field' or 'button'

* Most mode commands can be reversed by using the command with a minus

symbol(-) instead of the plus (+).

SECRET

To make your room secret, hiding it from public view, type: >>>/mode #roomname

+s

This will remove your room from the room listing. This is good to do if you want an

exclusive room for your conferences and want to keep it around for your own use.

Once empty a user opened room dissapears.

Any user can request a permanent room by going to

http://www.talkcity.com/irc/apply.html

User registered permanent rooms are saved on the server in a +s mode and the

operator needs to make it public for it to be seen on the rooms list.

When you are ready to open it up to the public, you can just 'un-secret' the room to

place it back on the list for folks to see again: >>>/mode #roomname -s

PASSWORDS

Registered room are hidden until the registered ops joins them and unhides them. This

is done during the join command: /join #roomname password. HOSTED rooms are

preset to automatically OP any authenticated user. Authentication is what we use to set

the HOST status and will be explained in the class. Authenticated users do not have to

type a password to enter an official room or to get ops in an official room. (official

rooms are rooms set up by Talkcity for conferencing and generally requested by

CCC's or Talkcity Staff.)

PRIVATE:

private rooms, /mode #roomname +s sets the room to private allowing those who

know the room name to enter as the room will no longer be seen on the list.

INVITE ONLY:

invite rooms, /mode #roomname +i sets the room to invited users only. To invite a

user to your channel type /invite username #roomname

OPS

In your room, you may want to give another user shared operator status. This is easily

done by typing: >>>/mode #roomname +o nickname

Remember that anyone you give operator status to will have the same access as

you to the room commands - IE: changing the topic or password, hiding the room

or un-hiding it, etc.

No non-TalkCity staff should ever be given room operator status to

an official TalkCity room. And HOSTS's do not give operator

status to users in member rooms... if anyone asks for this refer

them to a CSA.

You can remove someone's operator status if you are already an operator in that room

by typing: >>>/mode #roomname -o nickname

MODERATED

Finally if you want to run a serious no holds barred protocol conference you can run it

in Moderated mode..

This means you actually gag everyone in the room from speaking within the room and

give each member permission to speak via a que and ../msg..

>>>/mode #roomname +m

sets the room to moderated... at this point no one would be able to type into the room.

>>>>/mode user +v

gives the user the ability to be seen...

>>>>/mode user -v

takes that ability away

>>>>/mode #roomname -m

removes the moderated mode.

USER AND SERVER COMMANDS

User commands and server commands ask the server for information specifically

related to users..

These commands will let you look around the place without having to actually hop from

room to room, and for a HOST this can become an important thing to do.

You'll find that not all of these commands will work on all IRC clients however, so you

may need to experiment and decide what works best for you.

/whois

To view information on an individual user or find out if they are currently on the

TalkCity server, type:

>>>/whois usernickname

This will bring up their isp information, including

what the user has entered in his personal info on his chat client.

What room they are in.

And how long they have been logged in.

WebTV users recieve just a notice that the user is online: /whois ArtFreaCCC will

return the answer "ArtFreaCCC is ArtFreaCCC" if ArtFreaCCC is indeed on the

server. Otherwise you will see "ArtFreaCCC is ||"

*Note: you will not be able to see the name of a room a user is in if the room is hidden

(mode +s)

/who

To check who is in any TalkCity channel, type:

>>>/who #roomname.

This gives you the list of everyone in the specified room including their ISP information.

You can also check for users using 'wildcards'. For example to fine all the CCCs online

just type: /who *ccc* the " * " acts as a wildcard and looks for anything with a CCC

within the nickname.

ISP searches are also possible: /who *!*@*.netcom.com will search for all users

using netcom to log into Talkcity.

variations: base *!*@*

*!*username@*

*!*@isp.connection.com

nickname!*@*

/names

If you do not wish to see all the user information but just want to know what names are

in a room try typing "/names #RoomNameHere" this will return a list of names within

that room without you actually having to go into the room.

/lusers

To find out how many users are actually online, type:

>>>/lusers

this gives you the current # of users as well as the current periods peak # of users..

/list

To view the list of available rooms, type:

>>>/list

You will see a list of currently available rooms, as well as their topic lines.

On Global chat, you can just type command-D.(PC alt D)

Again as the community grows, this list can get quite lengthy.

/mode *** +l

Many of you have noticed that you cannot get into Towntalk or Towntalk1 becouse

they have a 'limit'.

. The +l <---thats a small L--<< mode sets this, type: >>/mode #roomname +l 4

and you set the limit to 4 users.

This is best when you have a specific chat or require privacy.

setting the limit to +0 makes it unlimited in size.

Note: Talkcity limits all rooms to 50 users as a rule of thumb. Never raise your room

limit to over 50 unless authorized by the forum leader. This is usually done for games or

special events.

Making the limit smaller then 50 is allowed if the room is out of control and needs to be

gotten into control.

/ctcp

Another server command is the CTCP

by typing /ctcp (UserName) or #(roomname) (Command)

you can find out all sorts of helpful information about a user.

The most useful of which: >>>/ctcp username version

.........returns the type of application a user is using.

This comes in handy when someone is asking a techy question and can't tell you which

program they are on. :-)

>>>other things you can check are : system, gestalt, time, and ping. System

works on most applications but gestalt is only good on IRCLE so far.

both these return loads of informantion about the users computer.

/ping or /cping

Ping when typed /ping or /cping username returns the lag time of a user.

and Time tells you what time is on their computer.

if you want to find out about the whole channel just substitute username with

#roomname.

/time

think you are late for your shift? Type /time and the server will return its time signature

telling you the 'official' time.

/kick

Finally a quick note on kicking users from your room.

We learned in our Standards session that we dont allow certian behaviour.

When officially handling a channel you are moderating not only the flow but the comfort

zone.

If someone gets out of hand, again refer to your notes on standards, you can kick

them out of your room.

This is the Kick Type:

>>>/kick #roomname username ReasonWhy

and they are kicked.

Type:

>>>/kick #towntalk username you bad bad user you.!!

and they are kicked with the message 'you bad bad user you.!!

It is no longer necessary to send a note to the CSA on what you did and

why you did it and to whom it was done to.

Example: >>/msg CSA JoeUser was kicked from room #Trainme

for cursing.

But keep in mind that a member of the CSA staff may ask you about it if

the one kicked puts up a big stink about being removed.

You should always tell the CSA staff about tasteless nicknames, or

consistant problem makers.

A brief review of most server commands for irc: note many of these will not work on

Talkcity others will only work with certian Programs. Practice in a private room to see

if your program will do any of this.

/away message marks you as being away (no message = not away)

/ban nick bans 'nick' from the current room

/bye message displays 'message' and quits IRC

/broadcast message sends a message to all of your windows

/cping nick shows response time for nick in seconds

/ctcp target command issues a CTCP command. Do /ctcp target clientinfo for more info.

sound sndname plays the sound 'sndname' at 'nick's computer

sound displays the list of available sounds on 'nick's computer

xdcc list displays the list of available files on 'nick's computer

xdcc version shows the xdcc version (currently 1.0)

xdcc send # asks 'nick' to send file number # to your computer

action = /me

finger shows the idle time and/or email address of a user

source shows where to obtain ircle.

version shows the (ircle) version.

clientinfo shows all ctcp commands of a client.

userinfo displays the userinfo field of a user.

ping pings a user to see he/she is still there

face get gets a face file from a user.

face exist shows if a user has a face file

time shows the local time of a user.

/date display date and time

/dcc command nick issues a DCC command (explained below)

/exit message = /bye

/ignore pattern ignore messages from nick!user@host (may contain wildcards)

-pattern removes a pattern from the ignore list

/invite nick room invites nick to room

/join joins room last invited to

/join room [passwd] enters the room

/kick room nick :msg kicks nick from room with message, clicking Kick in the user window

does the same. Option click lets you set a kick message.

/leave room leave a room, same as closing a room window

/list list rooms. Note: on some servers you'll get disconnected because of the large amount of data

/list generates. You cannot use wildcards -yet-

/lusers display statistics: the number of users on irc server and the number of rooms.

/massop gives operator status to everyone on a room

/massdeop removes operator status from everyone but you on a room

/massunban removes all bans from a room

/me action sends an action description, can also be used on a dcc chat window (private action)

/mode room parm set channel mode:

+p private channel

+s secret channel

+i invite-only channel

+m moderated channel, noone can speak except users with mode +v

+n no messages from outside channel

+t only channel operator may set topic

+l # channel may hold at most # users

+v nick let nick speak on moderated channel

+b ban list. Not implemented on some servers.

+b nick!username@hostname ban nick

+k key set channel password

+o nick nick becomes channel operator

-x removes flag x, where x is one of the above

You can also you the switches in the Userlist window for this.

/mode nick parm set user mode:

+i invisible user

+s receive server notices

+o IRC operator

/motd [server] show message-of-the-day [of another irc server]

/msg nick message sends nick a private message. Pressing TAB automatically sets the inputline

to /MSG and the nickname that last sent you a message. Ircle remembers up 10 nicks until 15

minutes after the last activity.

/names room list users on room

/nick newnick change your nickname-->note on Talkcity only authenticated staff can change their

nickname.

/notice user|channel msg (almost) like /msg

/notify show notify list

/notify nick adds nick to notification list (show each signon/off)

-nick removes nick from notification list

put the /notify command in the startup command to have it run whenever you connect.

/omsg text send a message to all room operators in your room.

/onotice text send a notice to all room operators in your room.

/op nick gives nick operator status

/deop nick removes operator status from nick

/part channel = /leave

/ping User pings a user. to measure the delay use /cping

/query nick open window for private messages to nick

/quit message = /bye

/server hostname [port] switch to a different server

/silence show ignored users list

/silence mask ignores users with selected mask

/signoff message = /bye

/sound nick soundname see ctcp sound

/time = /date

/topic channel text set a channel topic (double clicking in the title bar of a channel lets you

achieve the same)

/type type a text file to the current channel

/unban opens the unban dialog, allowing to view and unban hosts with a simple click.

/unban nickmask removes 'mask (nick!username@hostname) from the channel ban list

/users (x)

/version show server version

/who #room list people in room

/whois give information about nick that last joined the channel or sent private message

/whois nick give information about nick

/whowas nick give information about nick no longer online

Valid commands for /dcc are:

chat - requests CHAT connection for nick or answers such a request.

send - send a file.

tsend - send a text file.

get - receive a file (to be answered to a SEND request).

tget - receive a text file.

list - list all DCC connections.

Links

This page contains links to Chat Clients, helpful software and Macro Programs

Chat Clients:

client= program used for IRC

Talk City Recommended Software:

TC-PIRCH (Windows) Talkcity and the engineers at PIRCH made a version

specifically geared to Talkcity. We ask that ALL PC hosts revert to using this version

of PIRCH instead of the regular PIRCH or MIRC.

Byte Size: 1,128,439

Cost: FREE

Download: http://www.talkcity.com/download

Ircle Great IRC Chat client for Mac Users. Latest version features customizable

buttons and the ability to open several connections and channels at once. This is the

required program for mac users who wish to be CCC's.

Version Number: 3.0b10

Revision Date: January 6, 1997

Byte Size: 1,203,885

License: Shareware

Home Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~ircle/

Description: One of the best IRC chat clients. Good instructions and a multitude of

features. Sure to fulfill all your IRC needs. Winner Golden Calf Award for February

1998

EZTalk (Requires Java Capabile Browser) TalkCity's own Java based chat client.

Platform: Windows and Mac

No downloads necessary This client is run entirely through your Browser. For best

results use Microsoft explorer 4.0 or better, or Netscape 4.0 or better. Its a java

based client. As a host for talkcity you should already be familuar with this one.

Versions: Pro and Lite and WebTV are available

Other useful chat clients:

MIRC A top quality Chat Client for PC/Windows users. Has scriptable

commands and can do most anything a chat client is expected to do. Only drawback

can not see banners.

latest version: Version Number: 5.31

Byte Size: 876,544

License: Shareware, 30 day evaluation

Cost: $20.00

Home Page: http://www.mirc.com

Also Available: Windows 3.x Version

NT Compatible: Yes

Description: One of the most popular IRC clients around. Automates all IRC transfers

and connections. Incudes colored text, DCC, XDCC, file servers and much more.

PIRCH (Windows) Another wonderful PC/Windows based chat client. Not with

as many bells and whistles as MIRC but just as effective.

Byte Size: 1,065,747

License: Shareware

Cost $10.00

Download the TCVersion for Free: http://www.talkcity.com/clients/pirch/download

Description: A well implemented IRC client, offering all the popular IRC features and

functions.

The Palace Client Talkcity has its own site on this graphical interface. Users

appear as avatars and you can customize your costumes. download this then set it to

palace.talkcity.com

Platform: Windows and Mac, Version Number: 2.5

Revision Date: October 9, 1997

Byte Size: 1,347,566

License: Shareware

Home Page: http://www.thepalace.com/

Also Available: The Palace Client 68k version (1,217,667)

Description: The Palace is an Internet-based multimedia chat architecture, kind of a

cross between IRC and hypercard yet completely unique in many respects. You can

author and run your own social online environment on your server, and visit other

people's servers.

VIRC 97 Platform:Windows, Version Number: 1.00

Byte Size: 1,134,470

License: Freeware beta

Home Page: http://www.megalith.co.uk/virc/

NT Compatible: Yes

Description: ViRC '97's unique features include an Office 97-like user interface, voice

chat, video conferencing, a powerful, object-oriented scripting language (ViRCScript),

support for Active Scripting, allowing VBScript and JavaScript code (and any other

Active Scripting language too, including Perl and Python) to be seamlessly combined

with ViRCScript code for the ultimate in flexibility. ViRC '97 combines ease-of-use

with extensive customizability and features never seen before in an IRC client to create

the most powerful IRC client ever produced, suitable for the novice and expert alike.

MacIrc Exellent Chat Client for the mac. Being upgraded constantly but well

worth a looksee. (PPC)

Platform: Mac, Version Number: .096

Byte Size: 283,469

License: Shareware

Cost: $20

Also Available: 68k version (206,330)

Home Page: http://www.macirc.com/

Description: This is a quick little IRC client which supports multiple connections, DCC

and most of the options anyone would need on IRC. All and all a great little IRC client.

Microsoft Chat Platform: Windows, Version Number: 2.1

Byte Size: 1,112,184

License: Freeware

Home Page: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/chat/

Description: Microsoft Chat is a new kind of graphical chat program. As users type

text a comic strip unfolds showing the various participants in the conversation as comics

characters, and their utterances in word balloons.

XiRCON Platform: Windows , Version Number: 1.0 beta 4

Byte Size: 962,350

License: Freeware beta

Home Page: http://www.xircon.com/

NT Compatible: Yes

Description: 'IRC without limits.' An IRC client with nearly endless configurability and

uses. Very clean sharp interface that caters to the inexperienced as well as the veteran.

ShadowIRC Platform: Mac, Version Number: 0.6.3

Byte Size: 351,264

License: Commercial Demo (30 days)

Cost: $20.00

Home Page: http://www.glue.umd.edu/~dshadow/shadowirc/

Description: ShadowIRC is a new MacOS IRC client, written specifically with speed

and extensibility in mind. This means that not only is it fast, it will also be expandable to

do whatever you need it to do. Look for useful extensions in the near future.

Macro Programs

Type It 4 Me Macro program for the Macintosh- Shareware. www.shareware.com

Keyboard Express Macro program for the Windows user. Search.shareware.com

Ghost Tools Macro program for Windows Users. www.tucows.com

Games Basics.

Games Hosting!

This information is strictly to give you some basic background on what is involved for a host who

works with games, and this will *not* be a graduation requirement, but it's important for you to

know.

Host / Scorekeeper / Greeter

Sometimes a regular member of a games team will need someone to cover for them for

a night, and we want to make sure that if you volunteer to do so, you won't be going

into it blindly. ;-)

However, if you plan on making games a regular part of your HOST duties, you will

need to speak to TropiCCCal, TalkCity's Games Producer, about attending a *full*

Games Training class.

We'll be discussing the special duties of each Games HOST, as well as how to run a

great game. We'll give you some time to ask questions, but keep in mind that this is an

*overview* - full Games Training comes later. :-)

TalkCity games are so popular with our users because our games are comprised of

several key components:

* An excellent team of Host, Scorekeeper, and Greeter

* Innovative and well-designed macros

* Friendly greetings that make users feel welcome

* Keen observation and handling of Standards issues and

other items that can bog down a game

* Respect for all players and team members

The Games Host is not just the person running the macros,

he/she is the captain of the team. It is up to him/her to make sure that the

game is a fun, enjoyable experience. Among his/her duties are:

* Writes the macro file for the game or gets the

macro

file in advance from the Games Producer

*Confirms that the Scorer and Greeter will be present

*Sends a copy of the macros to the Scorekeeper,

Greeter, and Games Producer

*Practices with the macros until they are very smooth

*Writes a greeting file for the Greeter

*Runs a transcript log of the game, as a back-up

copy

*Hosts the game and avoids things that bog down a

game

*Alerts the Scorer or Greeter if there is a problem

requiring their attention

The Scorer is often perceived as the hardest working member

of the Games Team. And it is true, Scorers do work hard:

*They have to keep track of all those LOLs and

ROFLs

*They have to keep eagle eyes out for the 1st correct

answers

*They have to make sure players only vote once, and

not for themselves

*They have to judge whether to accept an answer or

to give points to someone else

*They have to keep scrolling back to make sure they

did not miss anything.

In addition, a Games Scorer:

*Gets the macro file from the Host

*Acts as substitute Host if the original Host is punted

*Prepares the answers for easy access during the

game

*Provides score updates after each round (depending

on the game)

*Tallies the final scores and announces them at game

end

*Acts as a back-up greeter

*Keeps watch for Standards issues.

The Greeter is responsible for a great many things, including making sure the

atmosphere is correct and that everything runs smoothly!

Among the Greeters duties are:

*Gets the greeting file and macros from the Host

*Becomes familiar with the answers, in case s/he has

to step in as substitute Scorekeeper.

*Records the games transcript log

*Opens or unsecrets the channel 5 to 10 minutes

before the game is scheduled to start

*Greets everyone onscreen and via private message

*Sends a /message with the gameÕs rules if

requested

*Answers players questions during the game via

/message, giving priority to game-related questions.

*Watches for Standards violations, reacting to them

both onscreen and via /message to the violator

THE GREETERS GREET! *An opening line that welcomes and

identifies the game.= (Hi! Welcome to Draw-A-Blank!)

*A brief, upbeat description about the game and how

to play.= (Our host will give us a phrase with a blank

in it. Just fill in the blank with something funny! We

vote for our favorites after each round.)

*An invitation to participate=(Join us!)

*A closing ego-stroke statement =(Were glad youre

here!)

So you see, hosting Games here in TalkCity isn't really *all* fun and games - although it

can be as well - it also takes a lot of time and hard work, too.

Not all of you will be interested in being a member of the Games Staff, and that's fine

too. Games hosting involves some unique duties you won't find anywhere else, but once

you're given all of the tools you need, it can be a lot of fun as well. :-)

The Training Team

Here they are infamous, famous or

just 'in'.

Your friendly Training Team.

ArtFreaCCC, DazyCCC, TeaCCCher,

CCCturtle, SoCCCer, MacCCC,

CCComet, LunaCCC, MouseCCC,

WaterCCC,

Name/weblink

Lovely Imagry

Favorite hosting related hint, quote, or

tip.

ArtFreaCCC

The use of Caps in any room is NOT a

Talk City violation and rarely merits any

direct action other than ignoring by

others in rooms.

CCComet

"When you are older you can play on

the nintendo son. NO don't touch its all

mine!"

CCCturtle

no pic available

DazyCCC

"Remember to Educate and Inform

*first* - don't humiliate!"

LunaCCC

no pic available

MacCCC

"Hello I'm in your monitor. Hello? ..

Lemme out~!"

MouseCCC

I wish she would let me ride my

motorcycle more often. G'Day mate!

SoCCCer

"Three rules to live by:

#1) You are not a monitor, you are a

host;

#2) Educate, don't humiliate;

#3) Enjoy yourself. It is acceptible to

have fun! :-P"

TeaCCCher

no pic available

WaterCCC

"hey! Trade ya my cigar for your

bubbles thing."

This is your last stop befor you

sign up.

READ THIS!

After you select your classes and submit the form,

PLEASE be sure to wait for the next page to load,

and make a note of the information there!

This page will include:

- day/date/time of each session you signed up for

- Trainer for each session

- room each session will be held in

At this time, this will be your *SOLE*

confirmation, and it's your responsibility to save

that information!

I have read everything.

Code of Conduct

The Talk City chat service is provided by Talk City, Inc. In this document, "we" refers to Talk City, Inc., "user"

refers to you, and "Standards" refers to our Talk City Standards.

As a user, you are subject to the terms of the Talk City Standards, and other rules that may be published

from time to time by Talk City. You may also want to read our Home Page Standards, Privacy Policy, and

Child Safety Information.

Talk City is provided currently as a free service to users who agree to abide by the terms and conditions of

our Standards. Talk City reserves the right to change the nature of this relationship at any time. Users who

violate the terms of our Standards may permanently be banned from using Talk City.

Talk City is a commercial chat service, and not a public chat network. Your right to speak freely here must

be exercised with courtesy and self-restraint. When you enter Talk City, it is the same as entering any real

privately owned facility, like a conference room, movie theater, restaurant, or shopping mall. The manners

and laws of real life apply, and we have the right to remove you if you exceed the Standards below.

When you enter a chat room in Talk City, that constitutes your acceptance of the terms and conditions listed

below. If you do not agree to abide by our Standards, please do not enter Talk City chat rooms.

In Talk City, we wish to promote communication in an atmosphere of mutual respect. We call this a "Clean,

Well Lighted Place for Chat." We remind all of our users you are entirely responsible and liable for all

activities conducted through your chat on Talk City. Here are our standards:

* We don't tolerate harassment.

We welcome people of all ages, races, religions, genders, national origins, sexual orientations and points of

view. We don't tolerate expressions of bigotry, hatred, harassment or abuse, nor will we tolerate threats of

harm to anyone.

Because we encourage discussion and exchange of ideas, we don't allow threatening, defamatory, abusive,

tasteless or indecorous statements. For the same reason, we don't allow sexually explicit material in

conversations, room titles, room topics or nicknames.

We recognize that kids and teens need to have rooms that nurture them. Rooms with the designation of

"4Kids" have standards that, in addition to all other standards, do not allow sexually suggestive

conversations or names. In addition, we do not allow rooms that suggest or encourage interaction between

kids and teens and adults for improper or illegal purposes. For the same reason, we don't allow sexually

suggestive innuendoes or double entendre. Topics dealing with human sexuality and other similar subjects

can be discussed, but in an educationally structured and monitored environment.

We invite people to open public rooms and to apply for permanent rooms. Creators (Operators) of such

rooms must follow our City Ordinances in choosing a room name, topic, and content. We reserve the right to

limit the number of redundant open rooms, rooms not starting with a letter in the alphabet, rooms with

extraneous characters such as !@#$%& etc, or extremely long room names. Operators may use the /kick

command only if a participant violates one of the City Ordinances. Operators should then contact the City

Standards Advisor about the kicked offender (/msg CSA Message).

We encourage chat room participants not to give personal identifying information or passwords to anyone in

the chat rooms. Users should be aware that, when they disclose personal identifying information such as

their actual name, member name, e-mail address, etc., in a chat room, the information may be collected and

used by others to send that person unsolicited e-mail from other parties. We do not provide offer e-mail

service to users and cannot act directly to prevent or stop unsolicited or harassing e-mail.

* We allow only legal activities.

Although this seems obvious, we don't allow any illegal activities. Specifically, we won't let you advocate

illegal conduct or participate in illegal or fraudulent schemes. You can't use our chat rooms (channels) to

distribute unauthorized copies of copyrighted material, including photos, artwork, text, recordings, designs or

computer programs. In addition, we do not allow the trading or swapping of images that are sexually explicit,

obscene or vulgar. Because there can be no way of ensuring compliance with this section, rooms titled for

the purpose of exchanging or swapping images are not allowed. Even though it's not exactly illegal, we won't

let you impersonate someone else, including one of our trained chat hosts.

Please do not use a deceptive nickname that would lead people to believe you are a member of the City

Conference Crew, Forum Volunteers or Community Standards Advisors (that is, including the letters TCC,

CCC or CSA). People depend on our hosts as official representatives, and respect the fact that they have

earned their TCCs, CCCs or CSAs through special training.

Stalking of others, in our chat rooms or in other manners, is a serious offense. In many areas, such behavior

is considered to be a criminal act. We reserve the right to release information to the proper authorities,

because of a violation of our standards or because of unlawful acts, if the information is subpoenaed, and if

we deem it necessary and/or appropriate.

We cannot guarantee the content of comments that you will receive while you are online. Other people's

comments may be offensive, harmful or inaccurate.

While Talk City conducts chats on a broad range of topics, the Talk City staff and volunteer hosts do not offer

professional advice of any kind. Hosts speak from their own experience and voice their own opinions when

helpful for conducting a conversation. Chat hosts claim no professional or expertise or authority, and Talk

City claims no responsibility for their remarks.

*We do our best to encourage comfort and discourage disruptive communication.

Talk City doesn't allow posting or use of computer programs that contain destructive features, such as

viruses, worms, Trojan horses, etc. We also do not allow any bots or scripts on the server, whether they are

benign or destructive in intent.

We also discourage disruptive conduct: Persistent off-topic comments in a topic-oriented conference,

statements that incite others to violate the City ordinances, or the physical act of "scrolling" -- repeatedly

hitting the Return key in a conference -- all are considered disruptive.

The use of pop-ups that are excessively long (more than two lines of text), and the use of pop-ups or sound

waves in a repetitive manner that disrupts the topic or conversation in a room, are not allowed. Users inviting

others to visit Web sites with content that would not comply with Talk City Standards are considered to be in

violation of our Standards and subject to action by the CSA and other staff.

* We do not allow unauthorized commercial activity.

We encourage communication between our members, but posting or transmitting of unauthorized or

unsolicited advertising, promotional materials, or any other forms of solicitation to other users, in Talk City,

except in those areas that maybe designated for such a purpose, is not allowed.

Your right to privacy is addressed in our Talk City Privacy statement. You can review a copy of this policy by

clicking on the phrase Your Privacy"

* We encourage your participation in upholding City Standards

We want your visit here to be enjoyable. If you have questions about City Standards, or need to report a

violation, ask a conference host or a Community Standards Advisor to help you (someone with CCC or CSA

attached to their nickname). We reserve the right to immediately terminate or suspend access to our chats

for conduct that we believe interferes with other peoples' enjoyment. We also reserve the right to amend or

change these guidelines at any time and without notice.

Here is some very specific legal langauge that we are adding so that our lawyers can have a good nights

sleep:

Neither Talk City, its partners, advertisers or third party contentproviders make any warranty with respect to

any content, information or services provided through or in conjunction with our chats and our site. Talk City,

its partners, advertisers or third party content providers are not liable for conduct by any user in chatrooms,

auditoriums, private messages, web pages, profiles or message boards. Talk City, its partners, advertisers or

third pary content providers make no guarantee of the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any

information on the site, and are not responsible for: (i) any errors of omission arising from the use of such

information; (ii) any failures, delays or interruptions in the delivery of any content or service contained within

the site; (iii) any libelous or unlawful material contained within user web pages, resumes, profiles or postings.

As a user, you agree to indemnify Talk City, its partners, advertisers or third party content providers against

any and all claims and expenses, including attorney's fees, arising from the use of mchatrooms and site.

This expressly includes: (i) user responsibility for any and all liability arising from the violation or infringement

of proprietary rights or copyrights, and (ii) any libelous or unlawful material contained within user chat

comments, web pages, resumes, profiles or message board postings.

When in doubt about appropriate behavior here, remember that Talk City is an electronic world, but the

people here are real.

Child Safety

On The Information Highway*

Putting the Issue in Perspective

Although there have been some highly-publicized cases of abuse involving computers, reported cases are

relatively infrequent. Of course, like most crimes against children, many cases go unreported, especially if

the child is engaged in an activity that he or she does not want to discuss with a parent. The fact that crimes

are being committed online, however, is not a reason to avoid using these services. To tell children to stop

using these services would be like telling them to forgo attending college because students are sometimes

victimized on campus. A better strategy would be for children to learn how to be "street smart" in order to

better safeguard themselves in any potentially dangerous situation.

How Parents Can Reduce the Risks

The Internet and some private bulletin boards contain areas designed specifically for adults who wish to post,

view, or read sexually explicit material. Most private bulletin board operators who post such material limit

access to people who attest that they are adults but, like any other safeguards, be aware that there are

always going to be cases where adults fail to enforce them or children find ways around them.

The best way to assure that your children are having positive online experiences is to stay in touch with what

they are doing. One way to do this is to spend time with your children while they are online. Have them show

you what they do and ask them to teach you how to access the services.

While children and teenagers need a certain amount of privacy, they also need parental involvement and

supervision in their daily lives. The same general parenting skills that apply to the "real world" also apply

while online.

If you have cause for concern about your children's online activities, talk to them. Also seek out the advice

and counseling of other computer users in your area. and become familiar with literature on these systems.

Open communication with your children, utilization of such computer resources, and getting online yourself

will help you obtain the full benefits of these systems and alert you to any potential problem that may occur

with their use.

*This material was written by Lawrence J. Magid, a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, who is

author of Cruising Online: Larry Magid's Guide to the New Digital Highway (Random House, 1994) and The

Little PC Book (Peachpit Press, 1993). The brochure, Child Safety on the Information Highway, was jointly

produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Interactive Services Association

(8403 Colesville Road, Suite 865, Silver Spring, MD 20910)

Copyright 1994 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 550,

Arlington, Virginia 22201-3052

Home Page Standards

Terms of Service and Conditions of Use

Welcome to Talk City. This Agreement states the terms and conditions governing the use of membership

services on the Talk City Web Site (home.talkcity.com), hereafter called the "Site." Membership on the Site

provides registered Members (each a "Citizen") with a package of content and services. Talk City may, at its

discretion, add or delete features. By registering as a Citizen, you agree to use the Site in a manner

consistent with all applicable laws and regulations and in accordance with the terms and conditions stated

below.

1. Price and Payment

Talk City membership content and services are available free of charge, exclusive of other

Internet or other telecommunications fees. Talk City may offer fee-based membership programs

in the future.

2. Terms of Citizenship

Citizenship is available to anyone who registers all required information, provides an accurate,

legitimate electronic mail address, and obtains a unique Talk City Citizen Name and password.

Talk City does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, or ethnicity. Citizenship is

intended for personal use only and is non-transferable. Please see the "Termination of Service"

clause below for additional Citizenship information.

No information should be submitted to or posted at Talk City's Web Sites by children 16 years

of age or under without their parent's or guardian's consent. Talk City makes a special effort to

advise those 16 and under to get parental permission before providing information or submitting

any material to put online, and we urge parents to supervise their children's online use.

3. Citizen Web Page Guidelines

Talk City provides Citizen Web pages and the associated storage space in the Site as a

service to Citizens. Talk City is not responsible for the content of any personal home page, and

the views expressed in the Site are the responsibility of the posting Citizen and not Talk City.

Talk City does not review Citizen Web pages in any way before they appear on the Site. Talk

City reserves the right to remove any page from the Site. Talk City places an advertisement, a

Talk City home button, and a navigational masthead at the top of all pages in the Site. Talk

City also places a legal disclaimer at the bottom of all pages within the Site. Removal of the

advertisement, Talk City home button, navigational masthead, and or disclaimer or any

additional information placed on the Citizen's page by Talk City is grounds for removal of that

page and termination of Talk City Citizenship.

Talk City provides space for Citizen Web pages, but makes no implied or express warranties

about the reliability of these pages. Talk City is not responsible for any damage caused by loss

of access to, or deletion or alteration of Citizen pages; individual Citizens are responsible for

monitoring and creating backups of their pages.

Every Citizen creating a home page must adhere to Talk City's standards of content. We have

found the following standards promote communication in an atmosphere of mutual respect:

A) We don't tolerate harassment.

We welcome people of all ages, races, religions, genders, national origins,

sexual orientations and points of view. We don't tolerate expressions of bigotry,

hatred, harassment or abuse, nor will we tolerate threats of harm to anyone.

Because we encourage discussion and exchange of ideas, we don't allow

defamatory, abusive, tasteless or indecorous content or statements. For the

same reason, we don't allow sexually explicit material on the Citizen Web pages,

nor links to such material. Topics dealing with human sexuality and other similar

subjects can be discussed, but in an educational structured and monitored

environment.

B) We allow only legal activities.

Although this seems obvious, we don't allow any illegal activities. Specifically, we

won't let you advocate illegal conduct or participate in illegal or fraudulent

schemes. You can't use Citizen Web pages to distribute unauthorized copies of

copyrighted material, including photos, artwork, text, recordings, designs or

computer programs.

Talk City does not allow the posting or use of computer programs that contain

destructive features, such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, bots scripts and any

other form of invasive software. Talk City will not condone the following activities

on Talk City:

i) making available copyrighted software which has been "cracked"

- i.e., the copyright protection has been removed from the software;

ii) making available serial numbers for software which can be used

to illegally validate or register software;

iii) making available tools which can be used for no purpose other

than for "cracking" software (this does not include tools which have

legitimate uses for software developers, system administrators,

etc.).

If Talk City becomes aware of the presence of copyright infringing material on its

server either in the course of its ordinary and reasonable business activities, or

through notification by a third party who alerts Talk City, preferably by certified

mail, of the specific location of the alleged presence of such materials, Talk City

will:

i) Contact the Citizen responsible for the page and alert him or her

of the allegations of copyright infringement, and notify the person

that within five days he or she must respond as to why the

allegedly infringing material does not infringe the purported

copyright. Talk City will also alert the Citizen that absent such a

response, Talk City reserves the right to delete the page; and

ii) If the Citizen fails to respond within five days, Talk City will make

a decision whether to remove the page. If the alerted party

responds to the allegations and claims the page is not infringing,

Talk City will either forward the response to the third party alleging

the infringement, or in the case that Talk City has discovered the

infringement, make a decision whether to remove the page. If in its

sole discretion, Talk City concludes that one of its Citizen web

pages contains a particularly egregious copyright violation, Talk

City reserves the right to delete the offending web page at any

time.

We reserve the right to immediately remove your Citizen Web pages for content that we believe

interferes with other peoples' enjoyment.

We want your use of your Citizen Web pages here to be enjoyable. If you have questions about

our standards, or you find a Citizen's page that is particularly enjoyable, or one that you feel

violates our standards, then please tell us about it by clicking on the "Your Comments On This

Page?" button on that page.

4. Commercial Activity on Citizen Web Pages.

Use of your Citizen Web pages for commercial purposes is limited by the following:

A) No offering for sale of any products or services;

B) No soliciting for advertisers or sponsors;

C) No displaying of a sponsorship banner of any kind, including those that are

generated by banner or link exchange services, with the sole exception of those

placed there by Talk City or its affiliates;

D) No displaying of banners for services that provide cash or cash-equivalent

prizes to users in exchange for hyperlinks to their web site;

E) No promoting or soliciting for participation in multi-level marketing or pyramid

schemes;

F) No conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee;

G) No violating Internet standards for the purpose of promoting your Citizen Web

pages; i.e., mass mailing of unsolicited email to others; mass cross posting to

Newsgroups, etc.;

H) No developing pages that consist of hyperlinks to content not allowed in Talk

City.

5. Talk City Citizen Profiles

Initially, Citizen Web pages will be created from the information entered into your Talk City

Citizen Profile. Therefore, the content contained on Citizen Profiles should conform to the same

content standards described in this Agreement. In addition it is suggested that no revealing

personal information be placed in the Citizen Profile, or later, when customization of Citizen

Web pages is available, on those pages.

6. Rules for Online Conduct: Talk City Message Boards, Chatrooms, and

Auditoriums

By participating in any of the above services, the Citizen agrees to follow the Talk City

Standards as outlined at http://www.talkcity.com/csa/index.htmpl. The information on that

page (and as amended) is deemed to be incorporated into this document.

Postings to Message Boards, and communication in Chatrooms and Auditoriums are not

reviewed prior to appearing on the Site. Talk City reserves the right to edit, delete, or move any

Postings to Message Boards and to terminate or suspend access to our chats for conduct that

we believe interferes with other peoples' enjoyment.

Talk City provides chats on a number of topics, but Talk City staff or volunteer hosts do not

offer professional advice of any kind, and are speaking from their own experience or opinion as

is helpful for the facilitating of conversation. Such personnel claim no professional expertise or

authority.

We do our best to encourage comfort and discourage disruptive communication. We also

discourage disruptive statements that incite others to violate our standards. We encourage

your participation in upholding our standards.

When in doubt about appropriate behavior here, remember that Talk City is an electronic world,

but the people here are real. So, just as when you join any gathering of people, we ask that

you treat others with respect and with care.

7. Privacy

Please review our policy with regards to a users right to privacy at

http://www.talkcity.com/csa/privacy.htmpl. The information on that page (and as amended) is

deemed to be incorporated into this document.

The exchange between Talk City and the Citizen of information such as passwords or

electronic mail may not be secure given the current state of the Internet. Talk City encourages

Citizens to change their passwords frequently.

Postings and other communications with Talk City are not private and may be published and

edited at the discretion of Talk City unless specifically instructed otherwise.

8. Copyrighted Material

All material on the Site, including, without limitation, text, software, photos, video, graphics,

music and sound, are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws, both as individual

works and as a collection. The downloading or use of copyrighted material provided by Talk

City or a third-party content provider is allowed by Citizens for personal use only on the Site.

Citizens may not copy, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, publish, commercially exploit, or

otherwise transfer any such copyrighted material in any format, electronic or otherwise.

Any material protected by copyright may not be placed on the Site or the Citizenship area

without the express permission of the author or owner of the copyright on that material. With

specific regard to issues of software piracy, please see section 3B above.

9. Limitations of Liability and Warranty

The Citizen agrees that the use of the Site is entirely at the Citizen's own risk. The Site is

provided on an "as is" basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied.

Furthermore, neither Talk City nor any third-party content provider makes any warranty with

respect to any content, information, services, or products provided through or in conjunction

with the Site.

The Citizen specifically agrees that Talk City or third-party content providers are not liable for

any conduct by Citizens associated with the Site, including, but not limited to, Citizen Web

pages, Citizen Profiles, message boards, chatrooms, or auditoriums.

Talk City and third-party content providers make no guarantee of the accuracy, correctness, or

completeness of any information on the Site and are not responsible for (i) any errors or

omissions arising from the use of such information; (ii) any failures, delays, or interruptions in

the delivery of any content or services contained within the Site; or (iii) losses or damages

arising from the use of the content or services provided by the Site.

10. Indemnity

As a Citizen, you agree to indemnify Talk City and any third-party information provider against

any and all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from the Citizen's use of the

Site. This expressly includes: (i) Citizen's responsibility for any and all liability arising from the

violation or infringement of proprietary rights or copyrights and (ii) any libelous or unlawful

material contained within Citizen Web pages, resumes, profiles, or Postings.

11. Termination of Service

Talk City may terminate Citizenship and any and all information, communications, Postings, or

Web pages at any time, without notice, for conduct that violates this Agreement or other

policies or guidelines set out by Talk City elsewhere on the Site. Talk City may terminate

Citizenship and delete any and all information, communications, Postings, or Web pages for

online conduct that Talk City believes is harmful to other Citizens, the business of Talk City, or

other third-party information providers.

12. Choice of Law

This Agreement shall be constructed and controlled by the laws of the State of California,

without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any dispute arising hereunder will be governed

by the laws of the State of California. The Citizen agrees to personal jurisdiction by the state

and federal courts of the State of California.

13. Merger Clause

This Agreement, and the content of the referred to URL locations, constitutes the entire

agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter contained herein and

supersedes any other agreement, proposals and communications, written or oral, between Talk

City representatives and the Citizen. Talk City may amend this Agreement at any time with

notice from Talk City to the Citizen as published on the Site.

Your Privacy In Our Community

It is Talk City's (and its parent studio, LiveWorld Productions') policy to use its best efforts to respect the

privacy of its on-line visitors. Talk City does not use cookie technology to obtain any information from its

on-line visitors. Talk City's cookie "lives" on your hard drive and keeps track of our predefined browser

settings: tool bar off and music on, as well as demographic information, preferred client, and nickname. This

allows us to optimize your on-line experience.

We also track the total number of visitors to our site in an aggregate form (this means you're one of the

bunch, your information isn't singled out) to allow us to update and improve our site, and tell other people

something about the numbers of people who come to talkcity.com. Personally identifiable information is not

extracted in this process.

Talk City only collects personally identifiable data, such as names, addresses, email addresses, and the

like, when voluntarily submitted by a visitor. We will use the information we collect from our members during

the registration process only to make Talk City better and more responsive to users--to help us customize

the service, and target advertising, sponsorships, and email offers based on our members' demographics,

likes, dislikes, and affiliations. At our discretion we will make the information about Talk City's users available

in aggregate form to help describe and identify our users to our partners, the industry and public at large, and

our advertisers. We will not share any detailed individual member information with other companies

unless the member explicitly agrees to our doing so.

Policies for Individuals 16 and Under

No information should be submitted to or posted at Talk City's Web sites by

children 16 years of age or under without their parent's or guardian's consent.

Unless otherwise disclosed during its collection, Talk City does not provide any

personally identifying information, regardless of its source, to any third party for

any purpose whatsoever. Talk City will not post anyone's email address unless

they specifically give their permission, as in the "Make Friends" section of

nickname and Home Page registration. Talk City encourages parents and

guardians to spend time on-line with their children and to participate in the

interactive activities offered on the sites. For suggestions on this, read Child

Safety Information.

Information for Parents

We make a special effort to advise kids to get parental permission before providing information or submitting

stuff to put on-line, and we urge parents to supervise their kids' on-line use. Personally identifiable information

may be collected in response to registrations, Talk City Home Pages, contest entry forms, subscribing to an

email newsletter, etc. This information will be used by Talk City for internal purposes, and shared in

aggregate form with our partners, advertiser and third parties. We offer an "unsubscribe" option if at any time

they wish to cease receiving emails from Talk City. Any changes in these privacy policies by Talk City will be

promptly communicated on this page.

In the Talk City nickname and Home Page registration process, we have two clearly marked areas.

Information entered on the first page will be kept private. Information on the second page (called Make

Friends) will be shown on the person's web page and chat profile, so caution should be taken on what

information is entered here. Read Child Safety Information for additional suggestions on this topic.

Links to Other Sites

We do our best to make sure that every link we have on this site works and sends you to a clean and well lit

place on the World Wide Web. But because Web sites can change so quickly, we can't guarantee the

content of every link from the places we link to (get it?). Young people: it's always a good idea to check with

your parents or teacher before heading off to any new sites.