Founder and Head Admin:

Lead Moderators/Administrators:

Birthdays:

Mission Statement

Circle of Friends is a group that will readily offer any type of support, and friendship to people on DA that are having problems and might need to talk to someone. It is not your typical club, but we feel it is of great importance to show support to our fellow deviants when they need it.

Background Information

We came to be when a terrible tragedy hit a special member here on DA. Amy, `dualdesigns had been toying around with the idea of making a group such as this - but when the tragedy hit, she knew she had to act and had to act fast so she asked `Bloodredsangre if she would back her up in this type of venture and thus COF was born. Originally it was the friends of the two who joined to show support and gradually the pay it forward way of cof spread across DA. This community is `dualdesigns's pride and Joy, the membership has swelled to epic proportions and is still growing.

Joining

Everyone is welcome to join. Our members are the heart and soul of this group. The only requirement for membership: enough love in your heart to be able to go pay page visits to fellow deviants who need some love and support in hard times. Every single name you see on our memberlist has made this commitment. Daily notes are sent out with links to fellow deviants who are in need of a cof visit. Let's try to embrace our fellow deviants and maybe make a difference.

You do not need to be a member to ask for help. That's why we are here; just send a note. Also, if you are browsing through DA and see a member in trouble, or in need of help, please send in a note with that members name, or a link to their journal, the rest is taken care of by us. All senders are kept anonymous. If the person in need has their problem posted in their journal, then we can go there in our vast numbers and offer whatever assistance is needed. Problems confided in others do not constitute a page visit, Privacy is a must. Other things that we are not here to do is increase page views, not having enough page views is not considered a COF issue - This is not a popularity club, everyone here pulls their own weight.

We are not professional doctors or psychiatrists and medical or psychiatric advice is not something that can be given here, but we offer our friendship and advice. We do have a member who is a certified drug and alcohol abuse counselor so if that service is needed, it can be proivided.

If you are interested in joining us officially, please send a note and you will be added to our member list.

You do not have to be a member to show your fellow deviants love. But as a member, you will get notes once a week, with the names of people who could use some love and support.

When someone who we've helped sends in a note or comment, wanting to thank all the members of COF for their help, we will put what they've said here, so that you can all see it.

15/05/08

Hey guys!

Heidi has written a journal about her moms recovery - she just wanted to thank you all for the support you have shown her so go have a look at her journal here,

[link]


Alex

Contact Information

We feel it is important to go over with all of you the chain of command. Moderators are put in place to be your GOTO person, for whatever reason. Members, know who your moderator is, if you have any questions or concerns please note them first. If you do not get a timely response from them, then you will note =heidiwg or ~Xdra, who are the head moderators, or you may contact us by using the complaint email (see below for more information). There are so many notes coming into COF about things that should be taken care of with your mods. Get to know them, they are some pretty incredible people. They have graciously volunteered their time to not only help others in need, but to also help you, the COF members.

If you wish to file a complaint - if you have a problem with your moderator that you can't resolve by talking with them; if you were visited by the community and found some of the comments that were left inappropriate or were bombarded with emotes; or if you have any other complaints - you may email us at cof.complaints@gmail.com . Please be sure to include your deviantart username, the name of your moderator (if applicable) and explain exactly what the problem is. Your emails will be read, and the issues taken care of as needed. We aim to resolve all problems within 3 days MAXIMUM.

Notes System

When you join Circle of Friends, you are placed within a group that is overseen by a moderator. You will receive a note upon joining, informing you of who your moderator is. Shortly after, you should also get a note from your mod, introducing themselves to you, and letting you know what day you will be getting the notes.

Each group is assigned a day, or in some cases, the weekends, on which they will receive the notes for that day. These notes will have the names of the people who are in need of a visit. We realize that this is a volunteer organization, and we have complete respect for your time. Therefore, we understand that the members may not be able to make all of the visits each week, but we do ask that you try to make the visits when you can, and comment to the people in need, either on their journals, or if you don't know what to say, then on a piece of their artwork that you like. If you can't make every visit, or don't know what to say to most, and there is more than one visit for that day, then just try to comment to at least one for that day. We do ask that you put some thought into your comments, and try to be helpful. Please do not comment with just emoticons and/or empty or impersonal statements. Just to make sure that it's clear, members will receive the notes once a week, on a designated day, with the exception of the weekend groups, and those who choose to be in the daily group. There are times, with more immediate situations, where you may receive a note with a name for a visit on a day that is not your usual day, but this does not happen often.

Those of you who would like to receive the notes daily, please send a note into the COF page with your request. You will then be put into one of the daily notes groups. You will, per request, receive notes daily.

If you should find yourself with some extra time and would like the notes for a day that is not your normal day for visits, then you may contact `dualdesigns by noting the *Circleoffriends page, and you will be provided with the names for that day.

Members - find your name on the member list. Note who your moderator is, and the day of the week that you are assigned to. If you do not receive notes on that day, the first person you need to contact is your moderator. If you do not hear back from your moderator, and if you haven't received the notes in some time, you may then contact =heidiwg or ~Xdra about the matter.

Member List

The Member List can be found here. The member list is organized by what day the mods and members get the notes, and then alphabetically. If you can not find yourself on the list, and you have been a member for more than a few days, please note =heidiwg or ~Xdra to see if you were overlooked, as all member's names should be on the list. Be sure to include your mod's name in the note as well.

Birthdays

Our members are important to us, therefore, we want to help you celebrate your birthday! Please make sure that =termagen has your birthday on our list, so that we can visit your page on your special day.

Data Protection

The scope of personal data held by COF is limited in nature, consisting of a member's username and moderator, and in most cases also their name and birthday. We also record the timezones our moderators live in. Limited data is also stored about former members, consisting of their username, their former moderator and the date on which they left the group.

The only data made publically accessible is the list of members and members' birthdays. All other data is held and maintained by the Head Moderators on a secure server.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act, you may at any time request to see the data that is stored about you. Please contact `dualdesigns for information.

If the above is unclear, or you would like some more clarification, please note the COF page.

Hey guys!
is having a contest: Solidarity

You can see the infos in the journal : [link]
And here's the link to the news article : [link]

And as you can see this contest is NOT a simple one.
It's to collect funds for a NGO (Association) : Concern.

This contest end on october 17, 2008.

Ya can use one of these stamps :



You can also be a donator : a Solidarity Donator by giving to the association (we collect funds) and/or a prize donator!


All infos can be found in =karemelancholia's journal or the news article from above.


Thanx a lot for your help in advance, this cause deserve it!

Help spread the solidarity!!!

Lend a hand, give a smile.
From April 17th to October 17th 2008.


Here's my Big 2008 Project : Collect funds for an association.
So this contest is really special.
Read and participate if you are interested. You can participate in different ways.

Humanity needs us.
We all live together but there are differencies.
We were not born in the same place, we were not born with the same abilities, we were not born in the same society, in the same family, We did not all get the same opportunities.
We are not equal. We all need each other, we all need a hand, in different manners, different ways.
A child die of hunger each 5 seconds...


October 17, World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty.
On October17, 1987 Joseph Wresinski made a speech in Paris - France. (read this speach at the end of this article).
In 1992 the United Nations recognized this day as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.


This contest is made to fight against poverty.
We can all show our support, we can all lend a hand.
This contest will be really special.
The prizes for the winners will be : FUNDS for a NGO (Non-Governementale Association) : CONCERN (You know this association from the White Band).

For this purpose we have created a Paypal Account, all the funds will be given to the Concern association.

You can be either a "solidarity donator" and/or a "prize(s) donator")!
Under you'll have all the infos.
And of course PARTICIPATE!

This is a dA Sponsored contest!

More info on =karemelancholia's journal!



Hope you participate!

Heidi

Every message here is left for all members to see - please read them

You only need to read the top post for each update you receive!

Hello everyone

Is there anyone who could refer COF to a CSS scripter or are you a CSS Scripter? We're looking to update the COF image.

Preferably we would like this to be done voluntarily for us but perhaps we would consider people donating towards a good script for COF and commissioning someone to do one for us.

Are there images you like that you think would work well with COF, colour schemes or anything else you would like to see with the new COF? Let me know any of your thoughts! this is your Club in the end!

Thank you!
Alex

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Another mod has left us after being here for quite some time. ~AtraAstrum please thank her for all her work for this group. Due to time restraints in her life she cant work for the club anymore.

Things have been very very quiet. We barely receive notes anymore. Please be on the lookout for those in need guys. Also due to the lack of response from other requests for mods we've decided to bunch ~AtraAstrum's group into the remaining two groups.

I personally thank you to those who have responded and said they are unable to help but we really need the help guys.. even people in the groups wont help.

thank you for reading this
Alex



-----

Hey guys

Happy april fools day!

However this is no joke - *taintedbliss unfortunately has to leave COF since shes going to be very busy in this year doing missionary work. We yet again need another mod to fill in for her - Daily notes.

Please let me know if you're interested
Alex

-----

Hey guys! thanks for voting in the poll and giving your thoughts on what you'd like to do for the revamp COF competition.

First of all, you do not need to be a whizz to participate in the competition. If you could even just design a flat avatar that would be cool (it doesnt need to be animated). Also don't be afraid to look at tutorials if you're stuck on anything and really are keen on participating. Theres plenty around DA.

Is there any kind souls willing to donate anything towards the competition? These could be Subs, prints of your works or other people's works, and journal features!

It's early days yet so we're not sure if there will be as many areas of the competition as we've mentioned (it all depends on the interest and willing participants in each field). Spread the word!

Thanks for your time
Alex

-------

IMPORTANT
`dualdesigns here feeling like it's time for an honest chat. I just came from a weekend visit that was sent out and 3 people showed up and two of them were mods and one was me. COF IS GOING TO COLLAPSE on itself if we dont start getting some help from you guys. Everyone of you signed up as members because you wanted to be members - so be members then and make the visits. It is consistently the SAME people putting out all the effort and it's not going to last. WE NEED YOUR HELP. If It's too much to ask then send your mod a note saying you no longer want to be a memberr so we can drop off as much dead weight (no offense) as possible.
WE NEED A MODERATOR FOR WEDNESDAY It involves little to no work and would be greatly appreciated if someone from this HUGE group could step up tp the plate and help us out.
~Xdra, *heidiwg and our two daily mods *taintedbliss who was member of the month and =MonTemplar cannot carry this entire group alone. I'm not mad im sad at what has been going on here and hope to see a change. Any complaints feel free to send them to me at `dualdesigns



ast Call for nominations! not many people have voted this month but theres a leader! so let us know before you're too late!


Alex

----------

hey guys!

Nominations are quite slow at the moment! we have two people nominated for Member of the month, If you think someone deserves the title please message the group and let us know!

Alex


Heya!


Please welcome Crystal as the oficial new Wedneday Mod! She decided to take the challenge!

Stop by and welcome her to the Mod-squad!
And thanks a lot for offering girl, we ya!




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hey guys, this is the third request for someone to please take a wednesday group permanently. For the moment Heidi has kindly taken up the group, however she is a Admin as well as a moderator for a monday group not to mention she has university work to do.

I know this was updated the same day as the dance marathon announcement so many of you may not have realised the other request at the top.

Please support the group and help out. Heidi cant do everything!


A wednesday Mod is needed desperately! anyone please contact the group directly if you are able to be a Wednesday Mod!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey all,

is planning to take part in a special Dance Marathon. This is national non-profit organization, It's goal is to provide funding to assist families of children that have been diagnosed with pediatric cancer and are in the hospital.

Dance Marathon is a 24 hour event where dancers (fundraising participants) stay standing for the entire duration. Children being helped by DM have also been known to frequent the dance floor.

~nebula02 asks if anyone could help her out with the $400 (usd) participation fee (here is how you can donate online and help her out [link]). In last year they managed to rack up a total of $800,000, adding to an organization lifetime total of $5.4 million raised for the fight against pediatric cancer. Here is the official website [link] where you can donate directly to the event!

Thank you for your time guys!
Alex


Happy new year to everyone of you, our beloved members of Cof!
We wish you a joyfull 2008 full with success and muc love!

Along with this year, we are having a fresh start making some changes to improve what we all do here on Cof.

First of all, Milena left Cof, so she'll no longer be an admin. Please visit Milena's site at and thank her for all the efford and work she put into *Circleoffriends over the past years.



Now, it's our pleasure to introduce you to 2 amazing girls that are going to take care of *Circleoffriends with us from now on:

welcome Alex as a co-admin with me!
and Steph who will be in charge of the birthdays!


Please welcome them on their new Cof status and congrat them like they both deserve! We know they'll do their best!
And thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the ones who offered to help!


We need a permanent mod for wednesdays urgently, so if you're intereseted, please send us a note!

We still need each mod to check their group members to update the Cof 2008 member's list and don't forget that each Cof member should surf on dA every now and then to find someone who might need our help; we're a community and we need everyone to take part of this amazing thing we do, ok? Just send us a note with the link and we'll do the rest!

Amy is much better and is suposedly already home, taking some rest! You can send her some love at

That is all for now, we hope this changes will improve the lovely work we do here on dA but remember, each and everyone is a very important part of this group, don't forget it!

Love,






___________________________________________________________
I need some help here... so if anyone would like to become an admin with me, please send a note to my account *heidiwg


I just received a note from one of Amy's friend saying she's in the hospital don't know what happened, I'll let you know as soon as I know something!

Please consider helping me out with this amazing cause!

Love and have a rocking 2008!!
Heidi

This journal will be for emergent visits after the notes have been sent out. Please please make an effort to get to these people

Our Website: [link]

Dear Shir is not looking good at all.

Please lend her support in anyway you can and please take your words in to consideration. Also if you don't feel you know her that well or that you can't offer anything useful don't feel pressured to say anything. The reason why I put this here is that I know a lot of people know Shir and how rough her life has been and I know they will want to know whats been happening with her.

Alex

[link]