wedding planners/photographers/vendors

[Andrea J.]

per the rules:
Do not post advertising, promotional materials, or any other forms of solicitation on "Aruba.com Community Forum". If you can answer a specific question by mentioning your business or website, or posting a URL that’s fine, but just posting your URL or any URL’s not acceptable. Again this is not the area to post a link, encourage visitors to your website, or advertise your products.

[Andrea J.]

well that is your opinion tropical1.
i did not make the rules.

i was asked to post it every so often.

and, if you feel the answers are stupid on this forum you can give your answer.

no one insults others here, that is another rule.

"If you can answer a specific question by mentioning your business or website, or posting a URL that’s fine, but just posting your URL or any URL’s not acceptable".

That looks almost the same. You just give a stupid answer and can still promote your business.

[Andrea J.]

The Rules, Regulations, and Other Legal Information
This bulletin board service ("Aruba.com Community Forum") is provided by Aruba.com to you ("you" or "user"), subject to the rules below. If you violate the rules you may permanently be banned from using the "Aruba.com Community Forum" and we will contact your Internet Service Provider regarding improper use of the Internet. Accessing the "Aruba.com Community Forum" will constitute acceptance of the rules below. If you do not agree to abide by these rules, PLEASE DO NOT ENTER OR USE "Aruba.com Community Forum".

Bulletin Board Rules:
Listed below are some, though not all, violations which may result in Aruba.com banning/terminating or suspending you from using "Aruba.com Community Forum". You agree not to do any of the following actions while using "Aruba.com Community Forum". Moderators may, at will and without notice, remove postings or ban participants that are deemed objectionable or that violate this code of conduct. Moderators have the right to delete or add a statement or disclaimer in any posting.
Please treat all other online participants with respect and do not use the "Aruba.com Community Forum" to threaten, harass, stalk, or abuse other users. Aruba.com reserves the right to remove user-created services and content that advocate or encourage expressions of violence, drug use, bigotry, racism, hatred, obscenity, or profanity.
Respect the privacy of other members and individuals. Do not post personal information about them (i.e. Name, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, pictures, family names etc.) without their consent.
Do not make any statement, accusation, comment, or opinion that may be considered (a) harmful to, libellous or slanderous to, any person, country or company.
Do not malign, ridicule and/or insult anyone or make threatening or racial remarks to users of Aruba.com regardless of their status in life, political belief, ethnicity, race, religion and/or gender.
Ignore trolls and troublemakers. Posting only encourages them. The threads may be entertaining to those individuals who are uninvolved in the personal attacks, but they only cause problems in the long term.
Do not attempt to post topics with "hidden agenda" items while "hiding behind" the rules of this board so as to bait other members of this forum into a "flame" fight.
Have respect for other opinions. If you disagree with someone, do not attack them personally. Try to make thoughtful comments about their opinion, perspective, assumptions, etc., but do not attack them personally. Everyone has an opinion based on a number of different factors, like their own personal experiences, values, etc. If someone disagrees with you, it is probably because they value one thing more than another. Attacking them does nothing but create anger and resentment. Discussing the values and perspective that underlies their opinions may increase your understanding and it may encourage them to see your perspective as well. Personal attacks are the tools of someone who probably doesn’t have a very good point to make, or of someone who holds a belief that has no foundation in reasoned thought.
Do not post any information, data, text, files, links, software, or other materials ("Content") that Aruba.com considers to be unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, inflammatory, derogatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; (G-Rated Material is the rule on our site - Please do not simulate curse words using ####, $, or *** etc. as replacement for letters).
Do not use "Aruba.com Community Forum" to impersonate another person or misrepresent authorization to act on behalf of others including but not limited to, "Aruba.com Community Forum" officials, board leaders, or representatives.
Use smiley faces, emoticons or other indicators of intent liberally. One of the major flaws of Internet communication is the lack of vocal inflections and visual indications of emotion, intent, sarcasm, etc. Be clear what you mean. Many problems occur because someone does not pick up on the sarcasm or otherwise get the joke.
Do not embedd big images into your post. Please use thumbanils and link them to the your big images if you want to provide a full size version.
Do not post advertising, promotional materials, or any other forms of solicitation on "Aruba.com Community Forum". If you can answer a specific question by mentioning your business or website, or posting a URL that’s fine, but just posting your URL or any URL’s not acceptable. Again this is not the area to post a link, encourage visitors to your website, or advertise your products.
Do not attempt to contact the people who post messages on this "Aruba.com Community Forum" with advertisements or otherwise commercially motivated, unsolicited emails (SPAM emails) nor use the Private Message feature to do so.
Don’t say something to someone you wouldn’t say to them in person. This won’t stop a few people from saying inappropriate things, and those people should probably learn a few lessons about tact, respect, decorum, etc.
Do not intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including but not limited to any regulations having the force of law while using or accessing "Aruba.com Community Forum" or in connection with your use of "Aruba.com Community Forum" in any manner.
Content:
You must evaluate, and bear the risk associated with, the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any item you post to "Aruba.com Community Forum". Aruba.com does not pre-screen content as a matter of policy, but Aruba.com shall have the right, but not the responsibility, to remove content, which is deemed in Aruba.com’s sole discretion harmful, offensive, or otherwise in violation of any rules Aruba.com has in place at the time. This also includes posting with hidden agendas.

"Aruba.com" may elect at its sole discretion to monitor some, all, or no areas of "Aruba.com Community Forum" for adherence to this agreement or Aruba.com’s rules. You acknowledge that by providing you with the ability to distribute your postings, Aruba.com is acting as a passive conduit for such distribution. We reserve the right to modify or remove any content that violate any of the "Aruba.com Community Forum Rules".

Abide by Copyright Law
Quote only what is necessary to support your point.
Provide the relevant source information - website name, website address, article title, author, date, book title, publication, page number.
When quoting from an on-line source, provide the URL (beginning with http://) of the specific page you are quoting. Unless the on-line document is not freely accessible to all, do not post it in its entirety.
Please note that virtually anything you can find in print, on the web or off, is copyrighted. If you can’t find a copyright notice it is best to assume the work you’re quoting is copyrighted and proceed accordingly.

We reserve the right to remove, after one request to the poster for the required information to be posted within 24 hours, any postings that is in violation of this rule.

Trolls and Trolling
Trolls are not welcome and will be banned. An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. They try to start arguments and upset people. Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don’t "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their "achievement" (as they see it). The anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish. They are easily identified by the fact that they are constantly at odds with other members of the forum, and often "poke fun" at individuals they have disagreed with in the past, trying to provoke a reaction. Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash. When you try to reason with a troll, he wins. When you insult a troll, he wins. When you scream at a troll, he wins. The only thing that trolls can’t handle is being ignored. Again we will ban anyone who practices "Trolling".

Thread Hijacking
Keep threads on topic. If you wish to start a discussion on a new topic start a new thread please. We all know that conversations take on a life of their own, but we do not want to have thread subjects that have nothing to do with the thread’s title. Stay on topic.

Signature:
The goal of our signature rules is to avoid distractions while reading threads, stop solicitations and unwanted spam. These rules apply to all "Aruba.com Community Forum" users including moderators and administrators.

You may use a signature (also commonly used in email messages) on your posts on the Community Forum. You may set your signature in your member profile. Once you have a signature stored, you can choose to include it with any post you make by checking the "include signature" box when you create your post.
Your "signature" may not exceed two lines, and may contain one image no larger than 10Kb in size, 300 pixels wide and 50 pixels high. A typical signature contains the poster’s name, e-mail address, web site, and a favourite quote or saying.

While you are allowed to promote your personal web site(s) in your signature, you are not permitted to post excessive links to sites, any kind of affiliate programs with referrer IDs, or links that otherwise violate "Aruba.com Community Forum" Rules.

We reserve the right to remove any signatures that we deem inappropriate, without notice.

We don’t advise putting your email, home address, or phone number in a signature line because of possible email harvesting and your privacy. For your protection we do not allow addresses and/or phone numbers in signature lines or the body of posts. We reserve the right to modify or remove any signature. Moderators will edit out signatures that violate any of these rules. We will send you one PRIVATE MESSAGE about an incorrect signature line. If you do not correct it, moderators/administrators have the right to access your profile and edit your signature line. If the problem persists you will be suspended from posting on the "Aruba.com Community Board".

User Names and Public Display Names:
We request that you are responsible when choosing your user name. Please do not create user names that are blatantly racial, prejudiced, relate to "adult" activities, illegal acts or are inflammatory.

User Termination/Ban/Suspension:
Aruba.com retains the absolute right to terminate any user id, to revoke an individual’s posting privileges, to ban an individual from creating any new user ids, and to terminate any person’s membership.

Liability:
To the full extent permissible under the applicable law, Aruba.com shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability to use "Aruba.com Community Forum" or for cost of procurement of substitute goods and services or resulting from any goods or services purchased or obtained or messages received or transactions entered into through "Aruba.com Community Forum" or resulting from unauthorized access to or alteration of profits, use, data, or other intangible properties, even if Aruba.com has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

What to Do:
If you witness a posting on a "Aruba.com Community Forum" which violates the rules then in effect, please send a spam report by clicking on the button.

"If you can answer a specific question by mentioning your business or website, or posting a URL that’s fine, but just posting your URL or any URL’s not acceptable".

That looks almost the same. You just give a stupid answer and can still promote your business.

[Angela Munzenhofer]

Andrea I am sorry you have to deal with people like tropical. Unfortunately it looks like tropical is an Aruban vendor trying to pull off as he or she is a forum member or tourist. Those who love to help people are on this board to direct to answer the questions that are asked. Not to offer solutions that end up putting money in there pocket and having followers who believe in them.
You go girl as we know that you, Lisa and many others on this forum speak from the heart...

[Andrea J.]

this whole Wedding site is problematic and Lisa and I spend hours doing the best we can do with the limited resources we have.

it is unfortunate that some post with alleged motives that are self serving.

there are those that are wonderful and helpful that truly want to help brides and grooms and then there are the deceitful others that are solely interested in either:

a) being disrespectful
b) self serving
c) being helpful with subtle self serving motives
d) all of the above.

this is not a new problem.
it has been ongoing for years.

lisa and i, even when we are busy and away from our computers are always concerned about this whole category. to say it takes up a lot of our time is an understatement.

we do the best we can do and appreciate your kind words.

[gaby]

I actually got a PM from that person who saw that thread I started about high rise versus low rise. they sent me a website for a wedding planner. I am assuming it is their site.

[Angela Munzenhofer]

Thanks Gabby for sharing that with the board. Unfortunatly some know how to manipulate the forum and use it for there own behalf instead of answering and being helpful to those looking for a response that will serve them. I try my best at answering the members with what I know and with direct contact from what I have had as feed back from other bridal couples and my own experience. I was once there as all these bridal couples, I was new to Aruba and wedding destinations were not heard of. I planned my wedding on my own and it was stressful because I was new to the island and living here. So now I like to pinpoint the answers to help others to get their wedding perfect, no stress and to enjoy a blissful wedding in paradise no matter where it may be.. I am not the guardian angel for nothing, LOL

[gaby]

My stepdaughter still is thinking Aruba. And when I go in December, I will go around to a few places and check them out. But before I do, I'll make sure she's still thinking it. But I told her she needs to go herself and see for herself, though she trusts me to narrow it down. Once she decides where and if, then we'll take it from there. The only thing I may suggest on our own is the photographer because I've seen some beautiful photos here. but the wedding planner would probably be where she decides to do it. But since we're still in the "don't know what's going on" phase, lol, we'll take one step at a time since she doesn't know when except sometime in 2012.

[leighfrompoole]

Hi Andrea,

I was sorry to read that the wedding site is a problem area, but I can certainly see why it is and also the time it must take up. You have your work cut out there, as we say. However, you and the team are certainly appreciated. I have learnt so much about Aruba since I joined this forum and I'm very thankful for that. I take some posts on the forum the way I take Tripadvisor.... In the same week, ten people will love their holiday and rate it five stars and one person will give it one star and say that they will never go there again????? the negatives on the wedding site are very few out of many good ones and some are self-serving with ulterior motives, some will have had a geuinely bad service. Unfortunately, such is life....perhaps we need to go back to the saying: 'If you've got nothing good to say about someone, then don't say anything at all' (or say it constructively) : ) Keep up the good work

Re: about vendors Self promoting/unfair soliciting/ulterior motives...this can be seen a mile off, so therefore ignored by me .... However, if a post is congratulating the vendor for the service they've had then there's the promotion in itself right there and the replies from that vendor are warranted...... ; )

[Andrea J.]

thanks!!

Hi Andrea,

I was sorry to read that the wedding site is a problem area, but I can certainly see why it is and also the time it must take up. You have your work cut out there, as we say. However, you and the team are certainly appreciated. I have learnt so much about Aruba since I joined this forum and I'm very thankful for that. I take some posts on the forum the way I take Tripadvisor.... In the same week, ten people will love their holiday and rate it five stars and one person will give it one star and say that they will never go there again????? the negatives on the wedding site are very few out of many good ones and some are self-serving with ulterior motives, some will have had a geuinely bad service. Unfortunately, such is life....perhaps we need to go back to the saying: 'If you've got nothing good to say about someone, then don't say anything at all' (or say it constructively) : ) Keep up the good work

Re: about vendors Self promoting/unfair soliciting/ulterior motives...this can be seen a mile off, so therefore ignored by me .... However, if a post is congratulating the vendor for the service they've had then there's the promotion in itself right there and the replies from that vendor are warranted...... ; )