Dear Sompeople Members!
  
 Hello!! 
  
 This is probably the most important message that we have sent to you, and I hope that you 
 take the time to read it, because we do not want to lose contact with you.
  
 For the past two and a half years, I have been aware that MSN was in the process of 
 closing their Groups service, which is where our website is currently hosted.  Since the loss 
 of our first couple of sites, we have maintained minimally constructed web presenses where 
 we could regroup in the event that our main site suddenly disappeared, making us well 
 prepared for what is happening now. 
  
 A month ago the closing was made official.  MSN Groups will cease exist in February, 
 2009.  You should have received an e-mail directly from MSN regarding this.  We are 
 grateful to MSN for giving us the luxury of such a generous amount of time to make new 
 arrangements for our support group.
  
 During the past month I have rebuilt our site, after much experimentation, at one of our other online presenses, Yuku. 
  
 We discussed this move in this thread, which you may or may not find interesting: 
  
   
 It is a forum format and is a bit different from what we have here, but the members who 
 agreed to help us test its capabilities and kick the tires seem to agree that whilst it is 
 different from what we find familiar, it is fairly easy to navigate and use.  All of our pages 
 are there, but without the left-hand menu column. All of our past threads and messages are 
 being archived and will also be availble by next February.
  
 One excellent feature there is that the basic site is viewable to anyone who wanders by, but 
 all member sharing, all personal information and most of our formal links are available only 
 to registered members.
  
 So, this is your official invitation to join us there.  Even though most of our members have 
 not participated in our group for along time, I know that many of you still visit because I 
 can see that on our activity meter.
  
 As of this date, I will be directing new applicants there, as well.
  
 To join there, please go to this link:
  
   
 Go to any board thread and click on Reply.  You will then be taken to Yuku's registration forms.  
 If you are already a member of EZBoards (the previous incarnation of Yuku) you can use 
 that membership to apply to our new site.  I want to assure you that our new site will be 
 just as safe as our current one and that Jeanie and I will continue to screen new applicants 
 to keep our support group as secure and friendly as it has always been.
  
 When you create your Yuku membership, you may choose any new nickname that you like, 
 but when you make application to our actual site, please reference your nickname from our MSN 
 site in your message to us, a bit of information about yourself that I will know and, most importantly, 
 your current e-mail address.  
  
 Many of our members (including me!) have used throw-away e-mail accounts to join and no 
 longer use those.  Additionally, several of us have moved to different ISP (internet service 
 providers) and no longer have those associated accounts.  
  
 Please join us at our new home.  It is more colourful than what we now have; there are 
 some truly cool options for members, which includes your own page and blog, a real-time 
 chat function and lots more.
  
 Just so that you don't get lost, here again is the link to our new site:
  
   
 I may follow-up with personal e-mails to those from whom we do not hear back.  If you 
 are no longer interested in being a member of our group, you may post so on our MSN site 
 or you may contact me at our Yahoo! account.  If you have lost track of that address, it 
 can be found on our MSN site in our Documents.
  
 Wishing you well on your SOM journey,
Juds