AHLC Forum How-To

**This article taken from The Link Magazine, Issue 27**

The AHLC Members Forum: a How-To Guide.

ahlc.org/forum

By: Terrell Thornhill, AHLC Creative Director and AHLC.org Administrator

It’s a Problem.

We all have perplexing issues and challenges that crop up every day in the world of hair restoration. These may be product-related, staff-related or due to a once-minor, but now-glaring omission in policy and procedure. Let’s just call it what it is.

They’re “Problems.”

And the truth is, we all have them and there’s nothing we can do to prevent them from popping up like a bad game of whack-a-mole. And just like the game, when problems are popping up, our natural instinct is to keep swinging, faster and faster, until it’s nearly impossible to keep up.

**WACK-A-MOLE: Maybe a fun game for some, but NOT a great strategy for problem solving.**

But, there is a better way. No. We can’t prevent problems from popping-up. We just need more people… and more hammers.

We always say that our members are the best benefit of membership, and it’s true. Our members love to learn from each other. And we believe there’s no greater resource than AHLC Members when it comes to the business of hair restoration. We see this played-out each year at our annual conference. Members bouncing ideas off each other, asking one another for advice, working-out solutions together with true concern and a heart to help. What we all needed was a way to continue these conversations and spirit of support throughout the year. The AHLC Member’s Forum provides exactly that.

When a Forum is More Than a Forum:

The Members Only Discussion Forum at AHLC.org was launched in January, 2018. Think of it as a bulletin board that every AHLC member can see and post to. Each time a member posts a topic to the forum, an email is automatically sent to every AHLC member, including our vendor-members. Note: Users do have the option to adjust how much forum email they receive, what topics they are interested in, or to opt-out of receiving forum email completely (see

the section on page 15 entitled “What’s with all the email?”). When you receive a forum email notification, you can contribute to the conversation. Just click the link to the topic in the email, log-in if necessary, and add your comment to the topic. In short order, with your participation, a full-fledged conversation has taken place about that specific issue. So, not only is the person with the question benefiting from the expertise of other members, consider this. Since this is our private discussion space, each topic will be available (and searchable) 24/7, for future members who may have the same question or concern.

And this is our bigger goal.

To document the problems and solutions we all face, to preserve this support and advice for the future and ultimately help each other help those suffering from hair loss.

This is important. This is our calling. This is why we built the forum.

Yes, we all have something to say. In order that everyone be heard and are able to contribute, we’ve published this guide to help you take advantage of each feature.

If you need help, please contact me at 615.721.8085. I want everyone who has an interest to be able to participate and have their voice heard.

This how-to is all you need to get in and get going in the Forum.

1. Log-In.

The AHLC Member’s Only Discussion Forum is private, and accessible only to current AHLC Members. To log-in, go to AHLC.org and select LOG IN from the navigation menu.

2. Go to the Forum.

After you sign-in, you’ll be directed to a landing page called The Member’s Resource Center. There, you’ll see all the features and benefits available to AHLC Members. Select the Go to The Forum Button.

3. Select a topic.

Once in the Forum, you’ll see all the topics (or posts) other members are already discussing. Each Forum Post consists of an initial question and any comments about that topic underneath. This is also called a “Discussion Thread.”

Here you can:

• Browse and read what others have contributed. Just click each topic.

• Join the discussion and post your own comments to existing topics.

• Start your own thread by posting a new discussion Topic.

You also can:

• Adjust your Forum Account Settings, add a Forum profile pic and set your email preferences.

• Search all topics by keyword

• Live Chat with other members.

So, What’s with all the email?

The software that runs the forum assumes that you want to be automatically notified (by email) each and every time anyone post anything to the Forum. This may or may not be true. I mean, if it were you posting a question to the group, wouldn’t you want as many people as possible, notified as quickly as possible so they could try and help? Yes. We all would.

So, that said, and as promised, there’s a few options in case you are receiving more forum-generated email than you’d like. You may consider doing both options.

OPTION 1

Set-up a rule in your email program.

If you get your email via a dedicated program like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail. You are able to set a rule that basically says, “if I receive any email from forum@ahlc.org, file it automatically in this special folder in my mail program.” The benefit of this approach is that you receive all forum notifications as

they happen, and you’re still notified if there’s any messages you haven’t read yet, they are automatically filedaway in a special place where you can address them at your convenience. Search Google for “How to set up a rule in (insert your email program here)” and you’ll get much better directions than I can give you here. :)

OPTION 2

Set your email preferences in the Forum

The Forum allows you to change the frequency you receive automatically-generated email as well as select which type of notifications you do receive. To adjust these settings, log into the forum (as directed on page 13), click on your user account icon, select “Settings” and adjust to your liking. Note: If you not visited the forum for a week, an email containing a list of the top 20 topics for that week will automatically be emailed.