Frequently asked questions
Click on a question to see the answer. If you have a question not answered here, please email us on info@teddnet.org and we will email you back with the answer as soon as we can.
How do I join Teddnet?
I've looked at the list but can't see anyone I know who can recommend me?
I've paid my money but don't seem to be listed?
I've been recommended but don't seem to be listed?
What do I get for my 10 pounds subscription?
What do you do with the money?
The paragraph about me has disappeared!
How do I make changes to my listing?
What shall I do if I have suggestions about things you can do to make Teddnet better?
Will you add a new category for me?
Will I ever get a chance to meet other members?
Would it be OK for me to email all the other members about something?
How do I join Teddnet?
Joining is simple - If a member recommends you, or if you can see someone on the list that knows your work well, check first that they are happy to do it, then add your details and pay your 10 pound subscription. When you add your details, you will tell us who has recommended you and that member will get an email asking them to confirm your recommendation. Once you have paid and we have received an email from your recommending member to confirm you, you will appear on the list. join us now
back to top
I've looked at the list but can't see anyone I know who can recommend me?
Be patient! As our network grows, if you are working in this area and doing a good job, you will be sure to find someone who can recommend you personally. Our whole philosophy is that we are a network of workers who recommend each other, so it wouldn't be right to let you bypass the system.
back to top
I've paid my money but don't seem to be listed?
Most likely your member hasn't yet confirmed that they recommend you. You need to ask them to email us . It is always possible that you might have accidentally selected the wrong member. If you think this is the case, email us and we will sort it out for you.
back to top
I've been recommended but don't seem to be listed?
Most likely we haven't received your payment. If you are sure you've paid, please contact us and we will investigate for you
back to top
What do I get for my 10 pounds subscription?
We don't guarantee or offer you anything, but the founder members set this up because we thought there was a potential benefit in using the internet to build on the informal networks we all already have. After the first year, we're delighted to report that many members have received extra work directly as a result of being listed and many have made new useful business connections. We very much hope that you will feel your 10 pounds is money well spent!
back to top
What do you do with the money?
Teddnet is entirely non-profit-making and nearly all of the work (including the web design) is done voluntarily by the steering group, who give their time and expertise free of charge.
Subscriptions have been used so far for internet hosting, graphics and database development. During the first year we paid an administrator for some of the membership management, but we have now made the site more automatic and are no longer doing this. Last year we spent money on a poster campaign, and upgraded the database to allow members to upload profile photos and this year we have improved a lot of the system behind-scenes and added a latest news section. If you saw us at Teddington Lights Up you will have seen that we have spent some money on marketing materials and now have Teddnet sashes, a large banner with our logo and business cards. We also paid for an advert in the new magazine TW11.
Essentially,
when we have excess funds, we use them to develop the system and explore other ideas to benefit our members.
back to top
The paragraph about me has disappeared!
When you added your details, you may have noticed that we don't allow you to cut and paste. You have to type it in there and then rather than copying from another document. That's because the database can't cope with some strange codes that Word and other word processing programs put in behind the scenes. There's code in place to stop you pasting, but some machines can bypass the system, and if you did this, your paragraph wouldn't have been saved. We apologise about this .. but if you email us with what you'd like your paragraph to say, we'll add it in again for you.
back to top
How do I make changes to my listing?
Simply email us at update@teddnet.org and we will do it for you. There is no need for any payment, this is covered by your annual subscription.
back to top
What shall I do if I have suggestions about how you can make Teddnet better?
We'd be delighted to hear them. Simply contact us and we will discuss your idea at our next meeting. If it is something that requires no discussion, we may do it straight away. If we can't do it, we will let you know the reason.
back to top
Will you add a new category for me?
No, sorry .. we have tried to make the categories really broad so that we don't have to add new ones.
Now that you can search within the profile paragraph, the categories aren't so important anyway.
back to top
Will I ever get a chance to meet other members?
Yes .. the stand we had at Teddington Lights Up was a great success so we will do more things like that in future. If anyone has suggestions about events they would like to do, please let us know and we will discuss them at our next meeting.
back to top
Would it be OK for me to email the other members about something?
Ideally.. you wouldn't! (And we certainly wouldn't give you the email list!)
By being on Teddnet, the emails are already in the public domain, so anyone (member or otherwise) could email any Teddnet member about anything. The emails are in a database and protected (as far as possible), so although a "real person" can jot them down manually, it won't be done automatically by web-crawling robots. People generally don't like getting cold requests, so if you do do anything of this kind you must be very careful and aware of what you are doing. It would be a shame if people were to remove themselves from Teddnet as they were getting their in-boxes full of unwanted emails.
back to top