Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Troubled Teen Industry.com - Program Website Division => Topic started by: psy on November 27, 2008, 12:48:01 AM
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For each program website webpage, there will be a page explaining who made the website and why (About Us). I'd like to be able to explain what a.p.all is as a project clearly and concisely. The statement should say basically two things: The purpose of the organization (educate the public about therapy cults masquerading as treatment centers for kids) and the one code of ethics we can all agree on: no referrals (and why). While I could write it myself (and probably will write a draft), I believe in the principles of competition, and that there are many around here who are more capable and influential writers than I. What better way to create this important piece of content than to offer it up to the community to write and then vote on and/or edit collectively.
I look forward to reading your submissions in this thread.
:notworthy:
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So do i, cause i'm a horrible writer... :on phone: lol love your guy's emoticons
:jerry:
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:sue:
You like our Sue Scheff one?
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Okay, I shot you a laundry list of things we are against...but I'm gonna need some input here as to what everyone wants included, collectively, before I can formulate anything comprehensive. Need something to quantify. Can you repost what I sent you, I really abhor the idea of digging through my hard drive yet again to dig that shit out...and it appears to have vanished from my frigging sent pm's....fucking computer...
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Okay, I shot you a laundry list of things we are against...but I'm gonna need some input here as to what everyone wants included, collectively, before I can formulate anything comprehensive. Need something to quantify. Can you repost what I sent you, I really abhor the idea of digging through my hard drive yet again to dig that shit out...and it appears to have vanished from my frigging sent pm's....fucking computer...
Sure thing.
We object to the violation of the civil liberties of children. We object to physical abuse of children. We object to the emotional abuse of children.We object to abuse of children in any form in the name of religion or therapy. We object to the profiteering of abusers in the name of religion or therapy. We object to the lack of accountability of known abusers of children. We vehemently protest. We will stand in the cold, the rain, the heat...whatever it takes to peacefully and legally protest against those who would harm children in the name of religion or therapy. We are survivors and we have found our voices, we speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, we speak for those whose voices have been silenced by fear of their abusers .
We Are Against...
Physical restraints
Electric-shock or body bag therapy
Behavior modification drugs administered by non-medical staff
Hypnosis,
Sensory deprivation
Brainwashing
Enforced prolonged silence,
Peer supervision
Any form of corporal punishment administered by schools or residential facilities
Behavior modification through ridicule and humiliation
Mental, Spiritual, Physical, and Sexual abuse
Teens being punished by other teens in a facility
Separation of the teen from their family and support system through monitored or restricted communication
Isolation or solitary confinement
Withholding food or water as form of punishment
Torture or stress positions
Withholding of medication and medical care
Forced adoption
Killing of animals as part of chores
Boxing rings used as punishment
Hard laborPhysical labor such as hiking without breaks or adequate hydration
Long hours in hot or cold weather or water
Restricted from calling the police or family
Tampering with US Mail
Forced religious practice's
Limited or unaccredited education
Threats that if the child leaves their family will die or they will
Making them so emotionally dependent on the group that they are terrified to return to the outside world.
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"you down with O.P.P., yeah you know me" -Naughty by Nature... lol
sounds good to me, i object to everything on that list, your honor.. :twofinger:
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forced or otherwise coerced abortion
EXIT plans
Forced relocation for treatment in foreign countries
Referrals
Transport companies
Secret placement by estranged parents
I just wanted to pipe in.. thank you for the invite Psy.
RG
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Thanks Rusty.
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Oh, Psy, we could probably tweak the "about us" I used for my website if I can dredge that up...may be a little harder than the finding the stuff from the other one....said something like we are mothers, sisters, co-workers, daughters, yadda yadda and we are watching the programs. :) Hmmmm....that might be in my Yahoo msg cache....heheheee.
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Here is another variation of our Mission Statement and Goals taken from member feedback...
Our goal…. to raise public and political awareness of the MUTI-BILLION dollar "troubled teen" industry in order to expose the truth about the abuse, fraud, and torture that takes place. Desperate parents are seeking out these facilities in order to help their struggling teens; only to find out later that their child endured unimaginable cruelty at the hands of people that were supposed to help our teens.
Our Mission…to end the physical, psychological and emotional abuse of minors and parents within the Troubled Teen / Behavior Modification / Emotional Growth Industry.
keep tweaking it until we love it!
~pam
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Hurrikayne & Rusty
Amazing work…this is exactly what I was hoping for…finding our common ground…what we oppose and where we stand on just about everything…fabulous!!!
:twofinger:
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For each program website webpage, there will be a page explaining who made the website and why (About Us). I'd like to be able to explain what a.p.all is as a project clearly and concisely. The essay should say basically two things: The purpose of the organization (educate the public about therapy cults masquerading as treatment centers for kids) and the one code of ethics we can all agree on: no referrals (and why). While I could write it myself (and probably will write a draft), I believe in the principles of competition, and that there are many around here who are more capable and influential writers than I. What better way to create this important piece of content than to offer it up to the community to write and then vote on and/or edit collectively.
I look forward to reading your submissions in this thread.
:notworthy:
Ummm... I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes with this query, but do we really need an ESSAY for this? I'm all for stating purpose clearly and succinctly, but the minute you start getting into a whole treatise about one's righteous purpose and all that, is the minute you're gonna lose 70% of the readership. They're there just for the information. "Just the facts, Ma'am, nothin' but the facts!"
A self-righteous treatise filled with honorable intentions and lists of no-no's will earn us kudos from like-minded college students who are into justice causes and demonstrating for the rights of the unwashed and down-trodden. These are probably not the people who will be sending their kids into programs anyway.
I think there'll be far more punch to the websites if they stick to their primary mission, namely, to educate. It may seem less glorious initially, but it'll pull more credibility in the long run, IMO...
Here's what we're up against in terms of what kind of punch the program websites can pull:
- Your kid has a problem.
- Your kid's problem is worse than you think it is. We know, because we are professionals.
- Your kid will, in fact, end up deadinsaneorinjail if you don't do something about it.
- We have the answer to your problem. We're professionals at this, we've done it thousands of times before.
- Studies show that our results are time-proven.
- You will get back a new boy/girl/dog when our training is complete.
Disproving that, especially in the heart of an already panicked parent, will entail a lot more focus on the information at hand, and a lot less on tooting one's own horn. In fact, I think we want to really try to avoid even the impression of that.
Plus, the minute we put up an explicit LIST of what we are against... well, keep in mind that we're also potentially listing reasons that some parent is not going to read the rest of the site. There is plenty of time to get that specific later. For the purposes of educating about a program, however... hmmm. No. Can't say that sits well with me. Sorry, but I AM a grumpy bear...
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For each program website webpage, there will be a page explaining who made the website and why (About Us). I'd like to be able to explain what a.p.all is as a project clearly and concisely. The statement should say basically two things: The purpose of the organization (educate the public about therapy cults masquerading as treatment centers for kids) and the one code of ethics we can all agree on: no referrals (and why). While I could write it myself (and probably will write a draft), I believe in the principles of competition, and that there are many around here who are more capable and influential writers than I. What better way to create this important piece of content than to offer it up to the community to write and then vote on and/or edit collectively.
I look forward to reading your submissions in this thread.
:notworthy:
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Ummm... I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes with this query, but do we really need an ESSAY for this?
Lol, no. Statement is a better term and the OP has been edited to reflect that.
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Sorry, but I AM a grumpy bear...
doesn't matter to me, cause you're also extremely insightful.. ;)
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Found it - Who We Are: We are survivors, we are daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, we are cousins, neices, nephews, we are grandchildren and we are grandparents. We are fellow humans who were abused and who will not stand by silently while the abusers continue to profit from helpless children.
Input?
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That last sentence strikes me as a bit strident, IMO... (since you asked)
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How about... a loose collective of individuals and organizations like-minded enough to focus on getting the truth out about this industry as an educational service for the community...
That can be chopped and mixed by someone else. I think the phrase "getting the truth out" is an important one. And I think performing an "educational service" is also important and fairly neutral (and noble).
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:) It's nicer than it was originally. I'm just teeeeny bit opinionated.
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:) It's nicer than it was originally. I'm just teeeeny bit opinionated.
Yeah, I know, and I'm a grumpy and opinionated old bear. Personally, I get rather put off by excessively florid language when it comes to the overcoat or backbone of a website. Mind you, I have no problems whatsoever with florid language and make full use of it myself from time to time. It's just that I think it belongs in individual content, e.g., posts, blog entries, etc.
The backbone should be dispassionate and universal, to convey the commitment to truth at all costs, and to be the least common denominator where all sorts can have their place. If language is too loaded in the backbone, I think you run the risk of getting labeled or seen as having emotional agendas that are more important than the truth. And that's where you are going to lose people who tag you as just having an axe to grind.
The truth, and nothing but the truth, on the other hand, is far less assailable. You have to trust that other people will see the truth for what it is when it is presented to them, without informing them how they are supposed to interpret it.
Just my take on it all. I, grumpy old bear. ::evil::
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here's my doodad for the day... If'n you can use any of it, go right ahead... personally, I think the "about us" should be short and firm but sweet... we can have a separate page for "expert opinions" or something... oh, and a "youtube" page would be completely awesome. That venue has already demonstrated itself to be a great program bashing/hurting tactic. RG
here goes:
Welcome to the AP Alliance website.
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, boarding schools, and other “teen help” programs. They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an easy to find location on the internet. The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a birds-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
Throughout this site you will find out why this industry should be shut down and the people, agencies and businesses that contribute to, operate, and profit from it should be held fully accountable. This includes politicians, law enforcement, educational consultants, and doctors. The AP Alliance knows no boundaries with respect to states or countries.
Please take some time to research our site. Thank you for visiting.
The AP Alliance
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Picture me as thus (I'm playing the devil's advocate here):
I've just been informed by the wifey that Junior has been messin' with the wrong friends, and that pricey little therapist that he has been seeing (that has kept his assured dismissal reasonably at bay) has recommended that Junior attend a "different institution" in preparation for his future endeavors. This recommendation has been precipitated by a crisis: Junior got caught doing blah blah blah, or did blah blah blah, or ended up blah-blah-blahing...
[Mind you, not all program parents are of this demographic, but the ones that are driving the market are more often than not of this ilk, in this day and age.][/list]
Wifey gives me the list of three recommended programs. I do an internet check; I want to know where my money might be headed...
Believe me, I am not going to wade through more than two paragraphs on the "About Us" page. And if those paragraphs are too long...no way. And if it smells anything like a "personal mission," fahgedaboudit... Maybe the wife will look at it, but I sure as hell won't. I don't have time, I rely on professionals, and professional opinions only. That's my place in life, my stature in the pecking order of humanity. And I am the one paying the bills. [Anybody else thinking of TheWho in all this?]
—•?|•?•0•?•|?•—
I think we really want to take the emphasis OFF of the "About Us." They want to know more? They have to enter the meat of the site. The last thing we want to do is give them reasons to discount us. Those may not be legitimate reasons, but they are reasons effective enough for the first (and possibly last) time visitor.
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Ummm... I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes with this query, but do we really need an ESSAY for this? I'm all for stating purpose clearly and succinctly, but the minute you start getting into a whole treatise about one's righteous purpose and all that, is the minute you're gonna lose 70% of the [readership. They're there just for the information. "Just the facts, Ma'am, nothin' but the facts!"
^this...
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here's my doodad for the day... If'n you can use any of it, go right ahead... personally, I think the "about us" should be short and firm but sweet... we can have a separate page for "expert opinions" or something... oh, and a "youtube" page would be completely awesome. That venue has already demonstrated itself to be a great program bashing/hurting tactic. RG
here goes:
Welcome to the AP Alliance website.
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, boarding schools, and other “teen help” programs. They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an easy to find location on the internet. The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a birds-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
Throughout this site you will find out why this industry should be shut down and the people, agencies and businesses that contribute to, operate, and profit from it should be held fully accountable. This includes politicians, law enforcement, educational consultants, and doctors. The AP Alliance knows no boundaries with respect to states or countries.
Please take some time to research our site. Thank you for visiting.
The AP Alliance
I think i'm leaning towards this as my favorite as a mission statement.
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I think we really want to take the emphasis OFF of the "About Us." They want to know more? They have to enter the meat of the site. The last thing we want to do is give them reasons to discount us. Those may not be legitimate reasons, but they are reasons effective enough for the first (and possibly last) time visitor.
Well. The "about us" will certainly not be the first thing presented. I do, however feel that it is necessary for credibility purposes to explain a bit about who we are.
Isac has some pretty compelling examples demonstrating how this is important (view this through a parent's eyes):
http://isaccorp.org/aboutus.asp (http://isaccorp.org/aboutus.asp)
http://isaccorp.org/faq.asp (http://isaccorp.org/faq.asp)
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Keep it simple and to the point. Rusty Goat hits it out well enough. Though it is a shame the word advocate has to be used, but that is merely my general dislike for the word and stubborn refusal to title myself as such.
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The goat gets my vote as well.
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I think the list will be useful for other purposes, but I think we need to make our Mission Statement...simple and concise. I don't want to loose a parent from reading the rest of the content because of the laundry list of things WE ALL oppose.
Let's keep it as simple as possible....we want to "hook them" right away so they will dive into the site for more info...just my 2 cents
~pam
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here's my doodad for the day... If'n you can use any of it, go right ahead... personally, I think the "about us" should be short and firm but sweet... we can have a separate page for "expert opinions" or something... oh, and a "youtube" page would be completely awesome. That venue has already demonstrated itself to be a great program bashing/hurting tactic. RG
here goes:
Welcome to the AP Alliance website.
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, boarding schools, and other “teen help” programs. They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an easy to find location on the internet. The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a birds-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
Throughout this site you will find out why this industry should be shut down and the people, agencies and businesses that contribute to, operate, and profit from it should be held fully accountable. This includes politicians, law enforcement, educational consultants, and doctors. The AP Alliance knows no boundaries with respect to states or countries.
Please take some time to research our site. Thank you for visiting.
The AP Alliance
I think i'm leaning towards this as my favorite as a mission statement.
This is my favorite at this point as well.. Good work Rusty (i know who u are! lol)
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I would omit the "welcome" starter and requesting that they take some time and "thank you for visiting" closer. Not necessary, and it implies we're desperate to have them visit. Next thing ya know, we'll be apologizing for offensive content.
I also think we should avoid broadening the net of who is in our gun sights, i.e.: "This includes politicians, law enforcement, educational consultants, and doctors." Hopefully some of those people will be reading our site, and may in fact be able to do some good for the cause. One wouldn't want them thinking that their chosen profession has singled them out for suspicion on Apall, and that they are not welcome.
Other than the above, the meat of this is quite good. My utmost respect to you, Rusty, for putting this together! :notworthy:
I also think psy's example of ISAC's AboutUs is a very good one. Clean, simple, powerful.
Here is my suggestion of an edit, apologies to Rusty if'n I removed a favored portion! My changes (other than new-paragraph insertions) in red:
—•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•—
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, and members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, "emotional growth" boarding schools, and other "teen help" programs.
They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an interconnected and centralized location on the internet.
The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a birds-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
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BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!
Move to adopt BEAR's revision of Rg's original statement.
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BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!
Move to adopt BEAR's revision of Rg's original statement.
I'd have to agree.
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If I could request a tiny add? "and religion based teen help programs"...
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That "easy to find location" bugged me, LOL. I assume the replacement word "an" is ok, although I might use the word "this", depending on the usage rules. I have to admit, It's tough to write stuff like this without it sounding emotionally charged and vindictive-like. I like the revision and it's fine to keep tweaking... That's the spirit of the Alliance...
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That "easy to find location" bugged me, LOL. I assume the replacement word "an" is ok, although I might use the word "this", depending on the usage rules. I have to admit, It's tough to write stuff like this without it sounding emotionally charged and vindictive-like. I like the revision and it's fine to keep tweaking... That's the spirit of the Alliance...
Rusty, sorry if I'm a bit dense at this, but are you saying that you did or did not like the "easy to find location" phrase? I took it out because I wasn't sure that we could make that assumption (or that anyone could about any site on the internet), but if people feel strongly about having it in...
Additional (re. religious) changes also in red... Not sure how I feel about 'other "corrective" enterprises'...input?
—•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•—
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, and members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, "emotional growth" boarding schools, religiously-oriented teen help programs, and other "corrective" enterprises.
They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an interconnected and centralized location on the internet.
The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a bird's-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
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When I wrote that, it took me a while to settle on the easy to find location bs cuz I just couldn't come up with anything else even though I knew there had to be a better way to describe that situation. You though, came up with it... so, to answer your question I say I did not like what I wrote and am glad that you edited it as such. thank you.
RG
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Kewl.. let's get busy researching and making websites. To much time spent today wasting time on trivial crap involving bruised egos and so forth.
:soapbox:
Let's get busy!
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here's my doodad for the day... If'n you can use any of it, go right ahead... personally, I think the "about us" should be short and firm but sweet... we can have a separate page for "expert opinions" or something... oh, and a "youtube" page would be completely awesome. That venue has already demonstrated itself to be a great program bashing/hurting tactic. RG
here goes:
Welcome to the AP Alliance website.
The AP Alliance consists of volunteers, parents, members of several national, international, professional advocacy groups and organizations. This group includes a large number of survivors of behavior modification facilities, boarding schools, and other “teen help” programs. They have combined efforts to share their expertise, experience and vast information resources in an easy to find location on the internet. The AP Alliance strives to offer visitors to this site a birds-eye view of the troubled teen industry including specific details, information and overwhelming evidence of a proven abusive and deadly track record in programs throughout the United States and abroad.
Throughout this site you will find out why this industry should be shut down and the people, agencies and businesses that contribute to, operate, and profit from it should be held fully accountable. This includes politicians, law enforcement, educational consultants, and doctors. The AP Alliance knows no boundaries with respect to states or countries.
Please take some time to research our site. Thank you for visiting.
The AP Alliance
I think i'm leaning towards this as my favorite as a mission statement.
I will echo what Psy said...this is my fav so far
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How about... a loose collective of individuals and organizations like-minded enough to focus on getting the truth out about this industry as an educational service for the community...
Catching up here.... but I like the emotionalism of the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. Remember, we're dealing with emotionally charged people here who's first thought is often that we're a bunch of spoiled teenage brats who didn't get our snackey-pooh at boarding school. The first thing I like to tell parents is the ages of my own kids.
That can be chopped and mixed by someone else. I think the phrase "getting the truth out" is an important one. And I think performing an "educational service" is also important and fairly neutral (and noble).
I agree with you here. The rents are also already somewhat emotionally attached to the Program, even if they're still just in the shopping phase in the same way a lotto player is in love with his new Lamborghini. Opening with an overt threat to the beloved Utopian dream seems like a bad idea. And they already think that what they're doing by shopping the brochures is educating themselves. So we first establish that we're just like them then tell them that we're helping them do what they intended to do anyway. And it has the added benefit of being true.
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Damn, I guess that could have gone without saying. Cool beans.
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ok, so stop at the word "internet." then take out the abusive deadly stuff and replace with something like:
"The AP Alliance understands that making choices to place children outside the home can be emotionally and financially draining. It is our mission to provide you with state of the art and up to date information that you may find very useful."
If the AP in AP stands for Anti Program, then will we re-name this Alliance, you know, if we don't want to scare off the potential/current customers of the industry on page 1? The site also serves as a warning to owners/operators/agencies etc. that their dirty little secrets are not secret and that someone is watching them like a hawk. How many clicks till the parents see how Anti Program we are and how Anti Program will that be projected?
RG
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The AP doe stand for anti-program. As for whether or not it's a good idea, to a certain extent I share some of your misgivings. On the other hand, I feel it might be a little bit dishonest to imply we are anything but.
Here is what I suggest. On the about pages of the individual websites we state "AP Alliance" which links to apall.org which explains the purpose in a little more detail, specifically what constitutes a "program" (in what is admittedly our "lingo") and why we oppose "programs".
... or we can abandon the name. It's not too late to register another domain.
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Well, I like it when people pipe in on things. Ginger/Ursus made a great point and it's possible to keep the name too, it's just a matter of "first impression" and don't want to lose them right off. My doodad was just that... a doodad... open for chop chop switch switch whatever, lol. Don't tell the "Greaseman" though, ok? The name could be AP Alliance... not Anti=Program written out, and just use the letters. We know what it is, so that's good enough. If people ask, tell them. I'm so used to attacking the straight inc/pfc folks and their brutal mentalities that I lost sight of the fragile aspects of parents seeking information about programs. It is comforting to see people with more even keels... even this many years later. :nods:
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We know what it is, so that's good enough. If people ask, tell them.
Aha. I think you found the solution to our problems. We simply neglect to define it.
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BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!
Move to adopt BEAR's revision of Rg's original statement.
I'd have to agree.
I send the motion....thank you Rusty & Ursus!!! I love it!!
~pam :notworthy:
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BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!
Move to adopt BEAR's revision of Rg's original statement.
I'd have to agree.
I second the motion...thank you Rusty and Ursus. I love the results of your collaboration!!
~pam
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Seriously, folks... IT IS ALL RUSTY. :notworthy:
(All I did was substitute for a descriptive he was stuck on, and chop chop with the kindnesses at begin and end.)
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Seriously, folks... IT IS ALL RUSTY. :notworthy:
(All I did was substitute for a descriptive he was stuck on, and chop chop with the kindnesses at begin and end.)
Ok. I think we mostly all agree on Ursus's modification of RG's statement. Unless there are any objections, I suggest we consider it officially adopted.
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No objects.. Adopt the god damn thing so we can make moar webbie sites NOW!
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Do it.
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No objects.. Adopt the god damn thing so we can make moar webbie sites NOW!
Looks like we have our mission...let's go out an slay dragons!!!