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Walk-thru of Charter Membership
By Walter Hardeman
Webmaster
January 2006
Well, I at last have an opportunity to grace the pages of the DSX Newsletter with an article of my own. Undoubtedly, a number of you out there are mulling over the implications of the new changes to the site. Perhaps you're not sure how these changes will affect you personally, and while you are considering a Premium Membership in the future, it may be that you're not ready take that next step. As Dennis explains in "The Rant," this does not present a problem: we are excited that while some will certainly choose to take advantage of everything a Premium Membership has to offer, many of you will continue to enjoy and enlarge the content freely available to all registered members. "Free" will always be part of the DSXchange. We know our roots, and we won't forget how we got this far.
At the same time, we also recognize that many in this little family have seen the bigger vision from Day 1: a self-supporting site that enables all elements of the community to coexist in a mutually beneficial way--a rising tide to lift all ships, in a manner of speaking. It is because of this group of forward-thinking individuals that we created the DSXchange Charter Membership. This special membership represents our metaphorical "initial public offering"--the chance to make an investment in the future success of the DSXchange and obtain the rights and privileges that come with that investment.
In addition to the benefits that come with Premium membership, Charter Members will get their first year's Premium Membership at the special $49/year rate only available during the Charter period (this also locks in the second year's renewal at the same $49/year rate). They will also be the first to receive updates about valuable products and services, and they'll occasionally get the chance to take advantage of special pricing for Charter Members. And, of course, Charter Members will be able to wear their Charter status as a badge of honor and visibly stand out as valued members of the DSXchange community. This is our way of saying "Thanks" to all those who jump aboard first.
If you're still reading, there's a good chance you're wondering, "Okay, sounds pretty good. What do I have to do?" The answer is simple: click the link below to be taken to the DCS-Strategies Store website. There you'll be able to purchase your Charter Membership--all you need is your username and a credit card. Once you've added the "Charter Premium Membership to DSXchange.com" to your shopping cart and go to the checkout screen, you'll just need to enter your payment and billing information as well as your DSXchange username. This is necessary to ensure your Charter Membership is applied to the correct user account. (At present, Premium memberships must be purchased one at a time, e.g., you cannot purchase three Charter Memberships for three users at once. Each account will require a separate transaction.)
As of February 1st (which at present writing is tomorrow), the Premium Trial phase will begin. The Trial phase will implement the mechanics of the Premium/Standard content division while still allowing everyone access* to all of the content at DSXchange.com. This will enable everyone to understand the changes that are taking place before any content becomes restricted to Premium Members. The Trial phase will end on March 1st, 2006 in conjunction with the real beginning of Premium Memberships and the actual division of content into Premium and Standard (free) access.
From the writing of this newsletter forward, any registered member of the DSXchange can become a Charter Member simply by following the process outlined above, although we can only guarantee this privilege to the first 500 users who pay their first year's fee. The Charter Memberships along with all other Premium Memberships will enter the first annual billing cycle on March 1st, 2006 and will last through February 2007, at which time Charter Members can choose to renew at the discounted rate or allow their subscriptions to lapse. All new Premium Memberships (and renewals of lapsed subscriptions) after the Charter period will be charged the regular $99/year rate.
* For an explanation of this as well as the basic benefits of Premium Memberships, go here.
I hope I'm looking forward to this new year and the new site. It's going to be a fun ride.
Walter Hardeman, Webmaster