and welcome, {member_name}, to this first edition of the brand new Ostomyland newsletter which is sent out to all of our communities registered member accounts which have been active in the last 6 months. In this edition:      News: Ostomyland articles in various magazines      News: Radio Ostomistics      Main Site: New manufacturers page online now!      Main Site: Colostomy Lifestyle Guide Updated      Main Site: Doug's Irrigation Video      Community: New merchandise in the Oland Goodie Bag Store      Community: Jimbob the Candidate      Community: Donate to Ostomyland      Community: Ostomyland @ Breakaway, May 2010      Forums: Ostomyland Games Arcade      Chat Room: We're on the move soon!      Facebook: Become a fan of Ostomyland      Opinion: Let us know what you think of this Newsletter So, without further ado, here is the news... Oland style! :-) News: Ostomyland Articles in Various Magazines Ostomyland has been given a feature in the Coloplast magazine, Charter (UK) issue #35 (Spring 2010). The magazine should be hitting UK doorsteps about now! But if you missed it, or are not in the UK, you can read the article on our website.    Also, Ostomyland will be having a 2 page feature celebrating its 12th anniversary this year in the Summer 2010 edition of the Colostomy Association (UK) member magazine, Tidings. Read More: http://bit.ly/charter35 News: Radio Ostomistics The Peterborough (UK) Ostomy Support Group recently had a one hour slot on Peterborough FM to promote the group and to help raise awareness of ostomy issues in every ones local communities. The one hour show is available in its entirety on Ostomyland.com. You might also be interested to know that the radio show posting is the #1 most "liked" (Facebook) and shared item on Ostomyland today, and deservedly so as Heather over at Ostomistics did a sterling job promoting and hosting the show. Read More: http://bit.ly/Ostomistics New Content On Main Site Ostomyland is pleased to announce that two new manufacturers have asked to be included on the main site. Check the main site menu for the links to the new Comfizz and C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers pages! Read More: http://bit.ly/comfizz | http://bit.ly/cspouchcovers Main Site: Colostomy Lifestyle Guide Updated The Ostomyland Colostomy Lifestyle Guide has been a part of the website since day one. Over the years many sections have been added to it contents, and this month has seen the latest update of the entire guide go live. Featuring up to date travelling with a stoma advice and many other changes, this latest update has helped bring Ostomyland's flagship website content kicking and screaming out of the "noughties" and into the "teenies". :) Read More: http://bit.ly/lifestyleguide Main Site: Doug's Irrigation Video By popular demand, the irrigation video made by “Doug” has been made available here on the main Ostomyland site and is available to watch immediately.    This informative 10 minute video offers the viewer an insight into Doug’s complete irrigation setup at home in his Bathroom, and shows him performing one of his colostomy irrigations. The video’s narration (by the man himself) is informative and offers may tips on making your irrigation session as quick and effective as possible.    Doug is an Australian Colostomate, and a valued member of the Oland community team. He’s recently been very poorly, and we’re delighted that he’s on the mend and we wish him the speediest of full recoveries!! Read More: http://bit.ly/dougirrivid Community: New merchandise in the Oland Goodie Bag Store Show your love for the best ostomy support community on the web today by wearing one of our fabulous new t-shirts and polo shirts. Now featuring everyone's favorite ostomy website mascot, Fuzzbutt (who appears in the newsletter header above), the 2010 Ostomyland Merchandise collection is now available at it's Cafe Press store. Other items available include mouse mats, mugs, bags and more! And don't forget, all profits get put straight back into the site to help pay for hosting and other fees the website generates Visit the Store: cafepress.com/ostomylanduk Community: Jimbob the Candidate Ostomyland team member Jimbob is standing for election in the Managing Board of Directors of the UOAA (United Ostomy Assoc. of America). We at Ostomyland want to wish Jimbob all the very best in the election, and look forward to working closely with him to help promote ostomy support on the internet when he has won! Read More: http://bit.ly/Jimbob * Community: Donate to Ostomyland The board's hosting account is up for renewal in July, and as we go to press we've had almost 70% of the fees paid by donations. A huge thank you to those who've already donated.    If you'd like to contribute you'll find all the details on the forum once logged in to your account. Look for the sidebar donation box! Community: Ostomyland @ Breakaway, May 2010 Breakaway offers the chance for families and young people to meet, talk about and share their experiences in a relaxed and friendly environment. The main aim of Breakaway though, is to have fun!    Our very own Kathy_from_England was there for the weekend to doss about… um, sorry, represent Ostomyland, and attended the exhibition to spread the word about the Oland site and community. Read More: http://bit.ly/breakaway2010 Forums: Ostomyland Games Arcade Just as a bit of fun we have launched a Games Arcade feature on our message board. Now featuring over 30 games such as jewel matching, card games, Suduko and action games the arcade is open to all validated board members. Simply click on the ARCADE tab on the board menu once logged in to your account. And believe it or not, in the three weeks or so since the arcade launched over 2166 game sessions have been played, which accounts for a total wasted time of 6d 23h 9m. Ostomyland would sincerely like to apologise for the addictiveness of the arcade games and for the lost hours of their lives that members are experiencing... but darn it they are just too much FUN to not play them! :D Play Now: http://bit.ly/gamesarcade * Chat Room: We're on the move soon! Chat room regulars should already be aware of this by now, but in the very near future (hopefully end of June/early July) the Ostomyland chat room will be leaving the FEFnet server to set up sticks in its very own brand spanking new server - irc.ostomylandchat.com:6667. We will announce the move fully before it happens, and of course all Java Chat clients will be updated accordingly and a new version of the pre-configured-for-oland version of mIRC will be available. We held a stress test event a few weeks ago to test the server's capacity and capability to host the chat room and it passed with flying colours, achieving and estimated up-time of 99%. Keep an eye out on the forums and in the chat room for an announcement about when the move will be! Facebook: Become a fan of Ostomyland To compliment the Ostomyland Facebook Group we've now launched the Ostomyland "Brand" Fan Page on Facebook too. Where as the Oland FB Group is for ostomy support matters on the service, this Fan Page is to help us promote the Ostomyland brand and our network of websites. It features all the latest news about Ostomyland itself, and will also feature little behind the scenes tidbits as and when we've posted them. We've already got 130 fans, lets see if we can double that by the end of the year! Visit the Fan Page: http://bit.ly/olandfbfanpage Opinion: Let us know what you think of this Newsletter We are seeking the opinion of our esteemed and wonderful community. Yes, again. Sorry about that. :P This time we are looking for your thoughts and comments about this newsletter. This is the first time that Ostomyland has sent out a structured newsletter like this. What do you think we got right, what do you think we got wrong? What would you like to see in it in future editions?    We intended to send the newsletter out every couple of months, and it's currently being sent to all board members who have been actively visited the site in the last six months. We're doing it this way to a) try to reduce the number of emails sent - if we sent it to all board members it would crash the mail system as it can only cope with 400 out going mails per hour, and b) we don't want to intrude into peoples inbox. Although the newsletter is only being sent to those accounts who have agreed to receive admin emails, if it has been over a year since someone joined, then they may no longer have any interest in Ostomyland or her community and services.    So, if you could let us know your comments at the special message board thread we'd be grateful! Newsletter Discussion Thread: http://bit.ly/newsfeedback * And so we come to the close on this, our June 2010 newsletter. I hope you've enjoyed reading up about all the latest Ostomyland network and community news, and I look forward to seeing you around the Oland community in the near future! Take care, and have a great summer!        The Ostomyland Team * = Message board login required to view Board Address: http://www.ostomyland.org/ostomyboardipb/ Log In: {board_url}?app=core&module=global§ion=login Lost Password Recovery: {board_url}?app=core&module=global§ion=lostpass Why have I got this newsletter? You've received this newsletter because this email address was used (and verified) to create the member account {member_name} on the the Ostomyland message board on {member_joined}. During registration the option to receive emails from the admins was checked. We only send newsletters to members who have visited the site in the last 180 days. How to unsubscribe: Visit your notification preferences and ensure that the box for 'Send me any updates sent by the board administrator' is unchecked, then click the 'save changes' button. NB You will need to log in to the account in order to edit the settings. If you've lost your password, use the Password Recovery feature to gain access to the account.