Miscellaneous Ramblings

• Sorting out confusion
• Featured member portfolio

As the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks approaches, we decided to flip through the old photo collection for a cheerful topic. The above rainbow came from Bob Diamond. The ones on the home page this month are from Su Laswick, Angie Holt and Marvin Hardy.

Sorting out confusion

The down side of having a resource as large as BalloonHQ.com is that the web site can almost use a reference manual of its own. We keep adding new features and more information and it's getting harder for some of our long time users to find some of the information that we have around. Rest assured, we're well aware of this problem and we've been working for many months to solve it. The photo database work that we've talked about in this space the past couple of months is just the first phase of our reorganization. Over the coming months, you'll see many more changes.

Since we can't fix everything over night, we'll make an attempt to explain some of the issues that are currently leading to confusion. Each of the following services of BHQ, are independent of one another. Please note that being signed up for one does not indicate that you are signed up for any other BHQ services.

• Mailing lists/discussion forums - This is the oldest part of BHQ. The balloon list pre-dates what we now call the World Wide Web. At the time of it's creation, it was only possible to take part in discussions via email. It is now possible to follow discussions by subscribing to the email list or using the web interface for the twister forum or the web interface for the decorator forum.
• Find-a-pro directory - Everyone in the industry with an email address is welcome to be listed in this directory. There is no fee to simply be listed, although members get higher priority in searches and also get links to their online portfolios directly from this listing. You must keep this entry updated or it will be deleted. Any entry that has not been reviewed by the owner will be purged after 6 months of inactivity. You will always be notified by email prior to your entry being removed so you can take appropriate action, however we encourage you to check back frequently to make sure your listing is accurate. Search for yourself in the Find-a-pro directory now.
• BHQ membership - This is how we can afford to stay online and offer all of our services. We offer extended services to members including online portfolios, photo sharing, photo searches, full access to the web interface for the forums and vanity email addresses (yourname@balloonhq.com). This is a flat rate of $40/year. Membership allows us to focus on what you want to see. It allows us to keep things open for everyone's opinions and ideas rather than offer only advertising materials from our sponsors. Become a member now. If you are already a member, you can change account preferences, build your portfolio, and find out how much time is left on your membership by viewing your member preferences.
• Online portfolios - Allow BHQ to manage your photo collection and provide a simple way for people to view your work. All you have to do is answer a few questions and click a button and your pictures appear online in a flexible fashion. Anyone will be able to view your portfolio by visiting http://yourname.balloonhq.com. This is only available to BHQ members.

Don Caldwell's rendition of Captain Hook and Tinker Bell

This month's featured artist portfolio

Don Caldwell, an entertainer out of Southern California, has a unique eye for twisted sculptures and a peculiar sense of humor that keeps him working for a large variety of audiences. He's taken his art well beyond the parties he performs at. These days he shares his new creations on educational videos such as Livin' La Vida Latex and The Tie-Blow Workout. Keep an eye out for him. If we're lucky, we'll all see him teaching at upcoming balloon events.

Visit Don Caldwell's portfolio.