I really hope I'm not wrong suggesting this but is there a reason we don't have an off-topic section? I have seen posts in the past when saafe first started and there where quite a few off-topic general chit chat posts but now anything non escort related is deleted. It would be nice to be able to chat with other girls here about non escort related things sometimes (not just in pm) or am I in a minority saying this?

I'm just wondering why there is not an off topic section?

Kylie x

lol it would be nice but i think we would take over the site .... maybe.

But if it was all in one place then I don't think it would? Most forums usually have one.

Obviously there would still have to be rules around posting but I think it would be a good idea.

I think the biggest problem would be moderating any such thing, the mods do an awesome job here and I think it would be far too much to expect them to start moderating general chit chat forums as well.

Yes that's a good point..but it wouldn't just be for anyone to see. For example no one with less than 10 posts could see that section.

SAAFE is a peer support and advice resource which has a very specific focus, that being to try and help sex workers (newbies especially, but everyone be they retired, on and off or lifers like meself ) get on with their jobs in the safest and most responsible way they can, so that they hopefully build good businesses, decent reputations and thus earn a good living to support themselves and their families in an industry which is still horribly stigmatised and as such can be incredibly isolating, not to mention difficult to find out about (you wouldn't go to your careers office to ask about it) and often people don't want to tell their bank, their landlord, their family or even their partners about the New Job decision they've made.

The forum, which is only an offshoot of the main site is here so that people in sex work can ask questions, share experiences, have a rant or a whinge and generally compare notes in a way which only a few of us are fortunate enough to be able to do in the real world. We can help people connect, find buddies for security and friendship, provide a space for those needing places to work and even give the spammers somewhere to make pillocks of themselves. What we are not for is idle chit chat about nothing to do with the job or the industry - other forums with a larger team of mods have these sections and that's fine, but since we're not an open general discussion board, such a section would contribute nothing of value to what we're here to do.

Back in the days when the forum was less busy all sorts of random posts were let through, but as we grew and grew, the decision was made that reading through an endless stream of irrelevant dreck (and the mod/admin team have to read through everything that is posted) was not a worthwhile use of either our time or the forum itself - those who give up their time to keep SAAFE going have done so because they want to help out, not so that they can plough through endless posts about nail polish, things on TV or random cobblers about the weather and it isn't fair to expect them to. We have businesses of our own and personal lives too; of course I can't speak for anybody else, but whilst I am more than happy to devote as many hours as it takes each week on trying to make sure that the site and forum are relevant, valuable and welcoming places for us all to use, I am not prepared to waste a single second of my life checking through posts made up of pictures of cats, links to unfunny and uninteresting Youtube videos and general rubbish about who's shagging whom and whether or not they've put a bit of weight on, as nobly reported in Heat magazine. That is not why any of us are here.

If anybody can find it, there was a thread a short while ago where some of the ladies had organised an MSN group to chat, if anybody can find it. I'll have a look now, and if I can find it I'll post a link .

There are a million and one forums we can go to for general chit chat or anything else if that is what we are looking for.  I go on quite a number of forums some days and Ive got to be honest some of them would bore you senseless and many a time Im on for two seconds and off again.  I tend to PM people when I want to know that they are ok or like you mentioned add them to my MSN.

This is well worth remembering - for every single subject anybody might be interested in, I guarantee there's a forum about it. I'm on knitting ones, aquarist ones, film ones and there's plenty of general stuff like DigitalSpy too (where I sometimes read the Hollyoaks threads ). Or even M*msnet .

I like the way the site is run just now and I would like to take this chance in thanking you for having SAAFE here for us - and we can all learn from time to time.  Sometimes it takes a newbie to come along to remind of something very basic that we had forgotten.

And thank you. We don't always get it right, but neither does anybody else and as long as everybody does their best, that's the most important thing. It's worth pointing out that none of the other (non-industry) forums I mentioned have anything like the rate of people mostly getting along like we do. If I may post an irrelevant link:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=10701712&postcount=64

I found that on a poker forum via a random Google hit when I was looking for something else a while back, and it still makes me smile .

I remember reading a post from a relative newbie a while ago (I don't remember who or when, although it's come up a few times since) about making a timed music playlist so you knew when an hour or two hours had passed and being amazed that I'd never thought of it myself, even though I'd been doing incalls from home for a good two or three years by then. It just goes to show that everybody has something helpful to contribute.

Can we keep the naming/recommending of other industry/punting forums to PMs, please folks? Our usual forum rules still apply here, and I don't want this to turn into board-compared-with-board.

This subject came up elsewhere and I feel the same as Kylie. Sometimes I go off on a wander and forget what the topic is. Sometimes I feel the need to gas with other escorts about 'stuff' not necessarily anything to do with sex work. The need stems as often us 'newbies' do not have connections like the ladies who have been around a while. Whilst I do PM on the site there is a gap for me. Sometimes this job can be really isolating and I dunno, 'normal' friends do not fill that gap. Especially when stuck in on a Saturday night as everyone made plans and my booking fell through and i was hoping to pick up another.

I understand the mods can not moderate an off topic thread even if it is a singular one for people to gas on.

Did anyone have any info on the MSN group?

In the meantime if anyone is ever stuck in a hotel room or whatever and going stir crazy (as goodness knows this profession can take a toll on mental health) and feels the need to waffle, then I am hollysbeenabadgirl on Skype. Skype is handy as you can sort group chats permanently.

H x