Did you know.. Opt Out of Group Messages

We get at least one email a week from a user complaining about messages sent to all friends. Did you know that you can opt out of those messages?

Just click on the homepage, then "Account Settings" on the left. Click on the "Communication" link also on the left. The 3rd or 4th option down is "Group Messages". Set that to NOT include you in "all friend" messages.

Alternately, you can remove that person as a friend or tell them to stop emailing you.

And maybe this is a good time to remind everyone that sending mass mailings to all of your friends might not make them happy.

Official Connexion / Lady Gaga Pre-Party

Hey Denverites- are you going to the Lady Gaga Concert? Meet up with some fellow Connexion members for a drink before the show! All of the details for the Official Connexion Pre-Party are online!

http://www.connexion.org/viewparty.cfm?partyid=7500

Connexion Big Gay Raft Trip

The Connexion Big Gay Raft Trip was a huge success! 61 rafters floated down the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon. Growing from 38 rafters last year, this event is becoming the must-attend event of the summer! Check out the photos from the weekend in the Photo Album.

Gay and Lesbian Adults Are More Likely and More Frequent Blog Readers

According to a recent national survey conducted online by Harris Interactive^®, a majority of gay and lesbian adults are reading blogs. More than half (54%) of gay men and lesbian respondents report reading some type of blog, compared to only 40% of heterosexuals. This represents an incremental increase from March 2008 when 51% of gay and lesbian respondents reported reading some type of blog. A similar question was asked in November 2006 and at that time, only 32% of gay and lesbian adults reported reading blogs.

Not surprising, over one third (35%) of all lesbian and gay male adults report they read blogs specifically tailored for gay and lesbian news and interests. More than half (53%) of these readers also say they visit gay and lesbian blogs weekly, and one in five (19%) do so daily. Michael Rogers, veteran gay blogger and media activist reported that these findings mirror his experience: “My own work tells me gay men and lesbians have tremendous need and appetite for authentic gay news and information, and they want it fast. As director of the National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, I work with scores of bloggers to enhance skills, improve delivery and content and grow connections with a very receptive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender audience across the U.S.”

Since Connexion aggregates blogs from over 70 sources, what are your favorite and least favorite blogs?

Connexion Big Gay Raft Trip 2010

Building on the success of our event last year, Connexion will again be holding the Big Gay Raft Trip in Glenwood Springs, CO this July.

Join us July 16th - 18th for a long weekend in Glenwood Springs. On Saturday, Connexion member Solomon and his friends will be our guides rafting down the Colorado River!

We'll head to Glenwood Springs Friday evening, spend the night Friday and then have a full day of rafting Saturday. (You can arrive anytime you want Friday night, or if you are an early riser drive up Saturday morning)

You'll have the choice of returning to Denver Saturday night or spending Saturday night with us in Glenwood Springs and returning Sunday.

Full day of rafting is $70 and includes lunch. All equipment will be provided by the rafting company. No experience necessary.

Reservation Process:

• RSVP Below that you are attending.


• Payment for the rafting must be made in advance:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This payment is fully refundable until July 14 if you need to cancel.
  
  
  If you don't pre-pay for the rafting, you won't be in our rafts, you'll be stuck with other tourists and will have to pay the full rate.
  
  


• Hotel Information:
  
  Caravan Inn:
  
  $64 King Room or $79 2 Queens
  
  (970) 945-7451 - www.caravaninn.com
  
  Mention Group "Connexion Rafting"
  
  
  Hotel Denver
  
  (800) 826-8820 - www.thehoteldenver.com
  
  

Schedule:

• Friday: Arrive Glenwood anytime. Glenwood Hot Springs in the evening followed by dinner on your own. Friday night welcome cocktails. Location to be announced.
  
  
• Saturday: Rafting. Meet at the rafting company first thing in the morning. Directions and other details will be sent after completing your reservation and payment.
  
  
• Saturday night: Dinner on your own, recommended restaurants will be provided. After dinner drinks at Loyal Brother Martini Bar.
  
  
• Sunday: Reserved cabana at the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool or visit the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
  

RSVP to this Event:
http://www.connexion.org/viewparty.cfm?partyid=7340

Connexion: New This Week

RSS Feeds
We've added 2 new RSS feeds for women to the site. You can now subscribe to Lesbian News and Lesbian Video feeds for those sections of the site. The feed will contain news or videos relating to, or posted by other lesbians on the site.

Bug Fix
When on a mobile phone bad locations were shown in the who's online if you were on a trip. Certified members can add trips to their profiles from the Edit Location page.

Connexion: New This Week

A recap of the new features we rolled out this week:

"Report" Links
We've added "report" links to Q&Q questions and to individual comments within the Q&Q section that are offensive, contain hate speech, or profanity. You can also report articles posted in the News and Blogs sections as well.



RSS Feeds
Do you use an RSS News Reader like iGoogle? You can now add an RSS feed to your News Reader for our most popular sections of the site. There are separate feeds for Q&Q, Videos, and each of the news tabs. Just visit the page you want and click the RSS feed icon at the top of your browser.

Don't forget that you can also get a feed of your status updates by clicking on the Friends tab, then click the "My Feeds" link on the left.

Connexion in the News

A review of news/blog mentions about Connexion over the last week:

• Gay Day at Elitch Gardens
• Real Jock: Other gay social networking sites?
  "It's mainly social and less sexual"
  
• Why do people say gay people are unattractive? - Yahoo! Answers
  "i must repeat have you seen the guys on connexion.org?!?!?! oh my god! that's like the epitome of gay guys being the hottest males on earth."
  
• battle-of-the-bulge
  "Connexion is teaming up with Baskit to search for the next Baskit Underwear models! Voting is now open"
• Connexion/Baskit Underwear Model Search
  Cast your vote at www.connexion.org/baskit. Voting is open to anyone, but a free Connexion account is required to ensure everyone only votes once.

Connexion/Baskit Model Search Contest Launches

The Connexion/Baskit 2010 Model Search Contest launched today and is now open for voting!

We had 120 people sign up for 40 spots in the contest. The contestants were chosen by Baskit's talent agency and have been paired off for the first round of the contest. Voting in the first round will end at midnight on June 1st to coincide with Baskit's $12 Tuesdays promotion. 20 winners will move on to round 2 for a week of voting, then 10 move on to round 3. The five winners of round 3 will be grouped together and the top three vote recipients will be used in a future Baskit marketing campaign.

Voting is open to anyone, however a free Connexion account is required. Each individual can only vote once in each round. After voting, check out Baskit's underwear and swimwear: http://www.baskitwear.com and look for amazing discounts on your favorite pairs of baskit underwear every Tuesday. Baskit will feature one pair for the low price of just $12!

Visit http://www.connexion.org/baskit to cast your vote!

Connexion Big Gay Raft Trip 2010

Building on the success of our event last year, Connexion will again be holding the Big Gay Raft Trip in Glenwood Springs, CO this July.

Join us July 16th - 18th for a long weekend in Glenwood Springs. On Saturday, Connexion member Solomon and his friends will be our guides rafting down the Colorado River!

We'll head to Glenwood Springs Friday evening, spend the night Friday and then have a full day of rafting Saturday. (You can arrive anytime you want Friday night, or if you are an early riser drive up Saturday morning)

You'll have the choice of returning to Denver Saturday night or spending Saturday night with us in Glenwood Springs and returning Sunday.

Further details will be provided closer to the event.

RSVP to this Event:
http://www.connexion.org/viewparty.cfm?partyid=7340

Photo Guidelines Clarified

Connexion is clarifying its photo guidelines in an effort to avoid confusion about what are and what are not acceptable photos for profiles and photo albums. The changes largely pertain to underwear and headless torso photos. The new guidelines read:

If you choose to upload photos, at least one of the photos must show your face. Photos should be of yourself or you with friends. Photos should be yours, or you must have permission to upload them.

Photos may not be excessively revealing, sexualized or obscene. Specifically:

• No pubic hair, butt cheeks or “scrunching” of underwear.
• No crotch-grabbing or holding of genitals (hard or soft), even if clothed.
• No cock outline, be it soft or hard.
• Speedos, square-cuts, and underwear is allowed, but your face must be visible.
• Such articles of clothing must be appropriately sized for your body and extremities.
• Thongs, posing briefs, jockstraps or other such apparel that cover less than a speedo would are NOT allowed.

If you have to think about whether or not a picture you’re about to post is inappropriate, you probably shouldn’t upload it.

Course of Action
Photos that violate the guidelines will be deleted from your account and photo upload privileges may be suspended for an amount of time that increases with each infraction.
If it’s believed that you are posting photos that aren’t of you, they will be removed and you might be required to submit a certification photo before posting others.
If you believe your photo has been unfairly removed, you may contact us and request that we review the photo in question.

Approval and Removal Process
All NEW photos posted to the site are placed into a queue, which is reviewed periodically throughout the day. We give users the benefit of the doubt that they’ll post acceptable photos, but in the event that they are not, offensive photos will be removed as soon as they are spotted.
We do not single out users. We do, however, penalize users that are repeated offenders by locking their upload capability for a certain number of days proportionate to the number of offenses. Also, it’s likely that if you fall into this category, we will be less sympathetic to any arguments you provide.

2010 Baskit Underwear Model Search

Popular LGBT social networking site, Connexion.org, announced that they have teamed up with fashion-forward underwear and swimwear brand, Baskit, to find some of the best looking men across the US and make them Baskit underwear models. Men who think they have got what it takes need only to strip down to their favorite pair of underwear, snap a picture and submit it online via www.connexion.org/baskit.

All submissions must be received by midnight Sunday, May 23, 2010. All submissions from eligible participants will be reviewed by Baskit’s talent agency, which will select 40 finalists. Those 40 finalists will then be paired off in the first stage of the model search, which starts May 26 on the connexion.org site. Connexion members will be asked to vote for their favorite models. Each of the four stages will last for one week, with the winners of each stage moving on to the next round. Five finalists will compete in the final round, and the top three will be selected as Baskit Models and included in a future marketing campaign.

Facebook Chat Offline

While Facebook chat is down for "maintenance", why not pop over to Connexion and make a new friend!

And if you'd like to read about why Facebook chat is offline:
http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/05/05/video-major-facebook-security-hole-lets-you-view-your-friends-live-chats/

Boyfriend Backorder and Babe Backorder

Increase Your Profile Views With PhotoShop

Using PhotoShop to enhance your photos
might seem like cheating, but
everyone does it. Turn an ordinary picture into an extraordinary
picture!

1. Gausian Blur: It worked in old movies, it
   works on profile photos too.
2. Color Balance: "Is it bright in here or
   am I badly lit?"
3. Red-Eye Reduction: Digital Visine. It
   gets the "I smoked too much pot" look out of your pic
4. Healing Brush Tool: It's like a visit to
   the Mac Counter before a night on the town.
5. Enhance Abs: Use the brush tool with 0%
   hardness to draw out the shadows around your 6-pack abs!
   
   

Two-Thirds of Connexion Employees Still Single

Site administration is a lonely task. Just ask Ladd Bosworth, Connexion's head of marketing. "Just because you work for a gay 'social networking site' doesn't mean that you get all the hot guys," he says. "I mean, sure, I hook up all the time like everybody
else, but boyfriends? No so much."

You'd think that being on Connexion 8 hours a day 5 days a week would present opportunities for administrators undreamed of by all but the most sophisticated stalkers, but not so says Brandon, long term Connexion employee and top notch ColdFusion programmer. "I mean, I do get to chat all the time. And I don't even have to hide the window when Tim [Connexion president] comes over. But it doesn't get me anywhere!" According to Brandon most of his "chats" are with people trying to install Flash on their PlayStation or whining about
their penis pics being removed.

Indeed, a full two thirds of Connexion employees are currently single - not what you'd expect from a gay dating site. But it didn't start out that way (see chart). Perhaps it's the market downturn but spring is coming and love is in the air. So if you know someone that's looking for love, we know one place to start.

Connexion Employees
Ladd Brandon Tim

Certified Members Now Have Drama-Blocking Settings

87.6% of people mention their dislike of "drama" in their profiles. We've taken that as a call to action and added new drama-blocking settings for all certified people. Now you can hang out on Connexion all day and never be bothered with "drama". Everyone seems to have a different idea of what "drama" is, so enabling drama blocker will prevent anyone from seeing your profile or messaging you.

Connexion.org Buys godhatesfags.com

Connexion announced today that it was buying godhatesfags.com. Judith Martin-Smith, director of acquisitions, negotiated the purchase. "This really expands our audience. The existing Connexion site really didn't appeal to the fag hating, bigoted, anti-semite demographic," she said. In fact, the purchase increases Connexion's reach by over 50% (see sidebar). Analysts agree that this was a bold move for Connexion. In a phone call earlier this week Peggy Parker of Goldman Sachs said it "was the smartest thing they've done since Q & Q given the stagnation in the gay dating market. Now that gays can get married in Canada and four US states the dating market has really dried up." "I didn't want to sell," said Fred Phelps. "It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. [Job 28:15]," he added. "But the sodomites gave use a really sweet price. Now they can burn in hell and we don't have to soil our hands on the blasphemous internet." When asked why Connexion would take such a radical turn after years of supporting the LGBT community, Tim Gill, founder of Connexion and the Gill Foundation, said "Hey, it's all about the money. We have plenty of crap - I mean fine quality products - we can sell on godhatesfags.com. The income from Ann Coulter books alone could triple our profit." The price for the acquisition was not disclosed but knowledgeable sources indicated that it was purchased for a flock of goats and three breeding cattle.

Increased Reach for Connexion Connexion's acquisition of godhatesfags.com has the potential to increase it's reach by over 50%. Web traffic data courtesy of Alexa.com.

Connexion Spring Member Recruitment Drive

Can you be the one to invite the most new members to join Connexion?

Your name and mug shot appear on the home page if you're one of the top 5 recruiters. And the top 10 recruiters will get a Connexion t-shirt! The leaders will be updated as the contest progresses.

How it works: When someone you've invited to join Connexion via Invite Friends signs up by following the link in the invitation email or someone uses your referral, you get a point. If several people invite the same person, only the person whose link the new member follows gets a point, however.

Who can recruit the most new members? After all, that's what we homosexuals are supposed to be good at!

But, Don't create fake profiles to up your count. That might cause baaaad things to happen.

BE COUNTED - George Takei & Brad Altman

Connexion won "OUTstanding Online Dating Site" in the OutFront Colorado "Best of" issue!

OutFront Colorado set their readers to the task of choosing the most OUTstanding people, places and things in Colorado - and they came through. In naming Connexion the most “OUTstanding Online Dating Site” OutFront Colorado’s editors added: “Where OFC readers meet Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now and Mr. Umm, Be Right Back.”

Tim Gill founded Connexion.org in 2003 to provide members of the LGBT community with a clean, socially focused outlet to meet people and create lasting relationships. As a member of Connexion.org, you can chat with fellow members, organize events, post videos and blog entries, and stay informed about issues affecting the gay and lesbian community – all at no cost. 

The Denver, Colorado, based company reached its first 100,000 members after a series of Halloween parties in their home city, and buzz continues to grow as active membership exceeds 140,000. Unlike other networking sites, Connexion.org is focused on encouraging interaction between members and creating lifelong friendships and romances.

Connexion.org user Chris in Ohio writes that “just when I thought guys weren’t in my future here comes Scott on IM, pops up on my screen and we meet and things really kick off for us. Your site made that possible for me. Thank you so much!”

Connexion.org allows gay and lesbian people to go beyond staying in touch with high school friends or arranging hookups, instead delving into political debates and sharing ideas. One of the most popular features of the site is the “Queer and Questioning” section, in which members can post discussion questions that are open to the entire community. Topics range from dinner recipe suggestions to long conversations over current events.

Connexion.org is not simply an online portal to the dating world. They also organize cocktail parties, movie nights, and outdoor adventure trips, which all members are encouraged to attend with their friends. With Connexion.org, gays and lesbians can be assured of a free, safe, and fun place to meet people and create bonds that can last a lifetime. 

Attach Pictures to Connexion Messages

We just launched picture messaging! Certified members can attach a picture to any message they send on Connexion!!