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Frequently Asked Questions
NOTE: A slightly modified version of this FAQ tailored for IBBA members is available What is the IBBA?
What does "IBBA" stand for? International Butterfly Breeders Association, Incorporated. Then what is the IBBA? The IBBA is an international, non-profit, membership-based trade association promoting high standards of ethics, competence and professionalism in the breeding of quality Lepidoptera for all purposes. We accomplish this through research, grower education, market development, and habitat conservation and restoration. Find out more by clicking HERE. The IBBA is a non-stock trade association and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the General Corporation Law of Delaware. Code of Ethics All IBBA Members are pledged to abide by an ethical code. Find out more by clicking HERE. By-laws The by-laws of the IBBA as adopted on March 20, 2000 are available HERE. Goals The goals of the IBBA are intended to grow and enhance the IBBA as a professional trade association. Read them HERE. The official contact address for the IBBA can be found at the bottom of the Home Page, HERE. Where do I find out about joining the IBBA? Information can be found HERE along with a membership form. In addition, please read the Letter to Members, HERE. What are the benefits of joining the IBBA? A document entitled The Return on Your Investment is available HERE. What does it cost The current dues policy is explained HERE. You can pay by check or money order, or by credit card using the secure PayPal link. How do I join? Please complete the membership form HERE, print it out and mail it to the address shown. How can I get more involved once I have joined? The IBBA depends on the enthusiasm and good will of its members. There are a number of Working Committees (see list HERE) that are always in need of extra hands. If you would like to volunteer to help out, please send in the form HERE. Using this form will ensure that your offer is acted upon swiftly. Thank you. Why do I need a password? While much of the information on the IBBA web site is open to all visitors, there are some areas that are restricted to members only. In some cases this is because the contents have been provided by members for other members only, or because information is otherwise confidential or sensitive. How do I get my password? When a new member joins the IBBA, their details are passed by the Treasurer to the Webmaster (Paul Chesterfield) who then creates an entry for them in the IBBA Membership Database. As part of this process he also creates a password which is e-mailed to the member along with instructions on how to access and update their membership information. What do I do if I forget my password? e-mail Paul Chesterfield with a request for a password reminder. Please note: for security reasons, password reminders will only be sent to the e-mail address in the database. If the address held in the database is no longer current, you must e-mail the Treasurer with sufficient details to confirm your identity. The Treasurer will then authorise the Webmaster to forward the information to a different address. How do I change my password or my other membership details? Click HERE to access your membership details via a password-entry page. Once at your membership details page you can change any of the fields in the form. The IBBA Mailing List and Butterflies 101 List are owned and managed by the IBBA. The IBBA Mailing List is a private list for IBBA members only, the Butterflies 101 List is open to anyone. All list subscribers must abide by the policies governing list use. Failure to abide by these policies may result in removal from the list. Words of caution from the president The IBBA has legal counsel and we have been advised repeatedly to not speak negatively about anyone or any business in our public forums. To do so makes us vulnerable to lawsuits. When I say 'us', I am referring to the organization and Individual members. One of the benefits of our trade association is that we have such an open forum. Openness is important and valuable but with it comes responsibility. I suggest that you use restraint. It is generally a bad idea to write an email when you are angry or vengeful. It can be a mistake to jump on a bandwagon that is on a negative course. Sharing is important and warnings are useful and needed, but we need to find ways to do so without naming names. I say these words as someone who was just involved in a lawsuit. Even though the results of my case were favorable to me, the legal cost and time lost was considerable. When you write something negative and use proper names you could be putting yourself in a position to be sued. If you must write something negative and use names, please do it in private and not on the IBBA's open forums. The IBBA is blessed to have many passionate and opinionated members. I am not suggesting that you become less passionate or opinionated, only that you take steps to protect yourself and everyone else in our organization. Please be careful before you push the "send" key and make sure that the message you send is appropriate. If you have any doubts, I would delete it and start over. Zane Greathouse Mailing lists are to be used solely for posts that pertain to lepidoptera breeding, education and other topics related to the purpose of the IBBA as specified in its Bylaws. Off-topic posts are permitted within reason, but they should be clearly marked as "Off Topic" in the Subject line. List Subscribers AGREE NOT TO:
List Subscribers AGREE that:
Lists' users understand that these lists, as property of the IBBA, Inc., will be administered under the guidelines as heretofore stated. Deletion of questionable posts and expulsion of any user and/or participant for violation of these guidelines will be at the discretion of the IBBA, Inc. Board of Directors IBBA Mailing Lists Policy Review The IBBA Board of Directors is currently reviewing the IBBA Mailing Lists Policy. This review is still in progress, but the following change has already been agreed and must be adhered to. Further changes to the published policy will be announced in due course. The IBBA listserve is a forum where our members can discuss the business of butterflies (IBBA and Wings of Hope related) and where we sell livestock to one another. It is not a place for us to promote other commercial interests, whether directly or indirectly. Therefore list users MUST NOT include in their messages or signatures any hot links to commercial websites or to pages or files (including photos) that are a part of a commercial website. This change does not effect the sale of butterfly livestock (eggs, larvae, pupae, or adults). You may continue to offer these livestock as before. Please include your email address or phone number so that members can contact you directly. IBBA Policy Regarding Use of Mailing Lists by Competing Organizations Click HERE to read the IBBA Policy Regarding Use of Mailing Lists by Competing Organizations What Mailing Lists are there? The IBBA sponsor two mailing lists, one public and open to all, and one private for IBBA members only. These lists are maintained on ListServe.com. The Butterflies 101 List is open to butterfly enthusiasts of all ages and experience. A Daily Digest option is available. To find out more, click HERE. The IBBA Mailing List is for IBBA members only. It is the main route for passing information of interest to and between all members. Members share information and advice, discuss relevant (and sometimes not so relevant) issues, and agree how best to achieve and promote the goals of the IBBA. More details are in the Members Section FAQ. More details about the IBBA Mailing List can be found in the Members Section FAQ. When you join the Butterflies 101 List you will receive a set of instructions from the list server. To subscribe, please visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/butterflies101 and follow the instructions. How do the Mailing Lists work? Taking the Butterflies 101 List as an example: messages are sent to the list server'and automatically forwarded to all subscribers in its database. Replies to the list message are likewise sent to all subscribers so that a "discussion" takes place by e-mail. Note that the list server will ONLY accept messages from, and send messages to, the subscriber e-mail address in its database. Our lists are sometimes moderated (i.e., messages are intercepted and pre-approved before transmission) for breaches of the list rules. Can I send attachments to the mailing lists? The Mailing Lists have a message size limit of 64 KB. This is enough for quite a lot of text. or perhaps a couple of small pictures. If you send a message that is too big, you will receive a warning that it has been rejected. If your mail program does not show the message size, you can find out the approximate size of your message by right-clicking on it in the message list in your mail program and selecting Properties. Please note that some websites may contain hidden scripts that can compromise your computer. Treat with caution all web addresses embedded within list messages unless you are sure that they are safe. I am an IBBA member. How do I subscribe to the IBBA Mailing List? When your membership database entry is created, you will also be subscribed to the IBBA Mailing List. You do not have to do anything. However, it is strongly recommended that you visit your subscription page as soon as possible and enter a password of your choice. What do I need to know about entering my e-mail address? When you are entering your e-mail address, please follow these rules: 1. Make sure your e-mail address is complete. It must consist of your user name, the '@' sign, and a domain name, with no spaces. For example, 'joesmith@aol.com' is a valid address, but 'joesmith' is not. 2. Make sure it is your true e-mail address. When you send an e-mail to someone, the 'from' field in the e-mail is your true e-mail address. When you send an e-mail to the mailing list, this 'from' field is checked against the e-mail address that you supplied when you subscribed (or were subscribed) to the list. You can write to the list only if your e-mail address on the list matches the 'from' address in your message. NOTE: A problem can arise if your e-mail is being forwarded from a forwarding address (for example, info@joesmith.com might be forwarded to joesmith@aol.com; if 'info@joesmith.com' is entered as the mailing list address, Joe Smith will receive mail from the list, but will not be able to write to the list). How do I change my stored e-mail address or list user name? Each subscriber has a personal list options page where you can change your subscribed details and set various list options. Links to this and other list pages are given at the end of every list message. NB: Every list message contains Please remove this when replying, as another set will be added to your message. See also the "Do's and Don'ts" below. How do I leave a Mailing List? To unsubscribe please visit your personal subscription page or follow the link at the bottom of every list message. Other Do's and Don'ts with mailing lists Read your message over carefully before sending, and ask yourself if anything could be misinterpreted. Similarly if you receive a message that appears inflammatory, consider that the sender probably didn't mean it that way. "Flame wars" serve nobody! There is an accepted "netiquette" when using any mailing lists. Probably the key thing to remember is that e-mails do not convey emotion, and something that you post intended as light-hearted or joking may not be read as such by all the recipients. If you wish you can use "smileys" (otherwise known as or "emoticons") to convey feeling - for example a smiling face :-) a sad face :-( or a suggestive wink ;-) ! The current Board of Directors are listed HERE. The current Advisory Board are listed HERE. What committees are there? Depending on requirement, the Board of Directors may appoint any nnumber of Working Committees or similar groups. These are listed HERE together with their remits and membership. Why do we need them? The IBBA is a very active organisation, working hard on behalf of its membership on a number of fronts. This important work could not be achieved without the working committees and their willing helpers. How can I volunteer to help on a committee? Volunteers are always needed and are very welcome. If you would like to volunteer to help out, please send in the form HERE. Using this form will ensure that your offer is acted upon swiftly. Thank you. Why is the IBBA involved in "politics"? Unfortunately butterfly releases have become very controversial recently, especially in the United States where some very vocal minorities are lobbying hard to get them stopped. The weight of scientific evidence supports our cause, but it is up to us to get this message to the right people. Where can I find out more? There is plenty of information on the IBBA web site. Refer in particular to the contents of the main section entitled "Butterfly Releases- why it's OK".
How do I contact the Board of Directors? Click HERE How do I find out who can help me with a specific requirement? Click HERE How do I contact a specific member? Click HERE
What are they and where can I find them? IBBA members share a wealth of knowledge and information. Often tips and other information will be passed on within the IBBA Mailing List or elsewhere. Some tips are added to the Tips of the Month page, HERE, which is open to all visitors. Many more tips, articles and other special information are available on the Ask a Mentor pages - see HERE. How do I know what is new on the IBBA web site? Important announcements are added as Latest News items below the "ripple" picture at the top of the Home Page. If you look further down the Home Page you will see a "What's new" section. This contains links to additions for approximately the past month. Older additions can be found on the linked What's New Archives pages. In addition, all but minor changes are announced on the IBBA Mailing List. You can return to the Home Page from anywhere on the site by clicking on the link at the top of the main menu. What do I do if I have a suggestion or spot an error? Members can make use of the "Suggestion Box" form HERE to mail comments and suggestions directly to the Board of Directors.
Members Use the suggestion box form HERE. Non-members e-mail your questions to any member of the Board of Directors HERE. Problems with the IBBA web site? e-mail the Webmaster HERE.
Was this FAQ useful? Are there questions that we have missed? Please let us know.
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discuss business conflicts of any kind;
