Frequently Asked Questions
Click On The Question to reveal the Answer
   How do I get on the mailing list
   What areas do you have local events in?
- Sacramento Area
- Bay Area / San Francisco
- Los Angeles Area / West Hollywood
- Palm Springs / Desert Cities
- San Diego Area
   How can I change my email address for receiving event notifications?
Follow the instructions to access My Profile and then make the change through any one of several ways:
- the eMail Options tab
- the Personal Profile tab
- the Account Settings tab
- registering for any event under the Event Registration tab, or
- offering a Workshop Proposal
Any time you make a change to your profile, you change it everywhere! Remember to SAVE when you are done. You must sign into
My Profile with the email [or User Name] in the system.
   I’ve moved, how can I receive event notifications for my new location?
Follow the instructions to enter My Profile .
There you can both add and remove any of the Local Areas.
If you are signed up for any of the Local Areas, you will also receive Statewide announcements automatically.
A very few Local Events are also included in Statewide announcements. These include events like the CMG Short Film Festival (LA),
Statewide announcements also include the Monthly [information sent in by CMG Members for distribution to all], Weekend at Camp Gatherings, and announcements from the Board of Directors.
   I’m still getting notified of events in areas I’m not interested in. What’s up with that?
It can take a bit of time for the system to clear messages that are in the queue to be sent. If your settings are as you’d like them at My Profile, then they WILL stop.
Two notes on this:
- If you are signed up for any of the Local Areas, you will also receive Statewide announcements automatically.A very few Local Events are also included in Statewide announcements. These include events like the CMG Short Film Festival (LA),
Statewide announcements also include the Monthly href=”mailto:binkyslist@thecmg.org”Binky’s List [information sent in by CMG Members for distribution to all], Weekend at Camp Gatherings, and announcements from the Board of Directors. - Don’t use the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email CMG sends out to modify your settings.
This will cause your emails from CMG to CEASE IMMEDIATELY. This puts a block on our system sending you ANY emails.
And you cannot tell you are BLOCKED from your My Profile email settings.If you just want ALL your CMG emails to STOP, by all means, use the Unsubscribe at the bottom.
You may be asked about this by the CMG Db Mgr [DataDiva] but it will be DONE!
   I haven’t been getting event notifications that I signed up for. Who can help me with that?
This can be for a wide variety of reasons. First, go to My Profile and check to see if you are signed up for the event notifications you want to get.
Next, check your SPAM folder. CMG works not to be considered spam, but every system is different.
If you are using a work email address, your company might be blocking your receipt of these emails.
If you have a personal server, that can also happen with the default settings.
There are two ways to CONVINCE your system that you WANT CMG emails:
- Find a CMG post in your SPAM folder and move it to the INBOX. Yes, it can be that simple.
- Whitelist or Enable or Add to Contacts the CMG identities you wish to receive email from. Those are [you only have to do the Local Areas you are signed up for]:
You might have also reported a CMG email as SPAM by accident. Many browsers have the TRASH and the SPAM buttons right next to one another.
Or, if you forward CMG emails to friends, if THEY [or someone they forward it on to] clicks on the Unsubscribe at the bottom, it will be YOU that is Unsubscribed.
Try and remember to delete that part off the bottom of posts you forward. This Unsubscribe won’t appear on your My Profile eMail Options page. It will still look like you are signed up.
   I don’t know my password to sign into My Profile. How can I find that out? Can someone at CMG tell me what it is?
Nope, it can be reset by either you, but it cannot be “viewed” by anyone. This is an added level of security.
It separates your personal information stored in your profile from access to the system.
You can ALWAYS gain access to My Profile if you know your “CMG email address”.
There is a choice at the My Profile sign in page to Request New Password. You enter your email address and submit it.
The system sends you an email which contains a link. The link is good ONLY ONCE and it will get you in.
Note: if you click on the link and it doesn’t load, you’ll have to start over. Try it a 2nd time just in case.
But if that doesn’t work you should use Request New Password again because the link has expired.
In fact, you NEVER even need to know your password and don’t have to set one! You can always use Request New Password to gain access.
Once you are in, just navigate away from the page where you’d set a password and do what you came to do.
Also, if you don’t sign out, many times My Profile will just reload when you come back. The system never signs you out for inactivity.
Only if the system reboots [say for an upgrade] does it forget you were signed in.
   I have gotten an error message on My Profile that says “You are not authorized to access this page”
and it provides no other help. Why does that happen?
My Profile is intended to be as secure as possible. It has thousands of CMG guy’s personal information stored [NOT credit card info, that is at PayPal so even CMG doesn’t know it]. So, there are compartments and almost ALL of the webpages on that site are “Authorized Users ONLY” rather than “PUBLIC”. And the system doesn’t assume that just because you are on a computer you’ve used before to access My Profile that it is YOU doing so NOW.
Thus, if you are NOT signed in and try to access a non-public page you will get an error. It would be “nice” if that also redirected you to the sign in page, but alas, no. You can just shorten the URL to www.thecmg.info to get to the sign in page. When you are signed in, click on the link that sent you into error hell again and see if that works. If it doesn’t, perhaps you are NOT authorized to view that page.
   Does CMG share any information I give it with anyone?
Nope, absolutely NOT! We don’t sell our mailing list or even allow other groups, clubs, businesses to “advertise” to our guys.
We DO allow CMG guys to submit ads, notices, events on the monthly Binky’s List which comes out on the FIRST of each month
[submission deadline is the 24th of the previous month], but no one outside of CMG Leadership has access to our mailing list/the information in My Profile.
Your online payments to CMG are processed using PayPal so CMG doesn’t even know your credit/debit card or checking/saving account numbers.
This information is NOT stored in My Profile at all. This is the very SAFEST way we can operate on your behalf. PayPal is the largest processor of online payments WORLDWIDE.
They have a whole division devoted to security. They might get hacked but so might your own bank. This is just the world we live in.
   How can I attend a CMG Board meeting?
Please contact the CMG Secretary for Board meeting information, the time, date, and location of the next meeting, and for documents related to the meeting. You may review the minutes of past meetings on our Minutes and Publications. CMG Board meetings are open to CMG members, CMG Gathering and local events attendees, and the general public.
In general, Board meetings are held in the hours prior to most men’s Friday afternoon arrival at the CMG’s three statewide Gatherings in Spring (Memorial Day Weekend),
Summer (Labor Day Weekend), and Fall(mid-November). Anyone from long-standing Gathering attendees to newcomers are welcome to attend Board meetings – even if you are not staying for the Gathering. Additionally there are 2-3 meetings throughout the year that are conference calls and a meeting on the first day of the Annual Members’ Meeting. These are open, as well.
   Are Board meeting minutes and Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) minutes available to the public for viewing?
Absolutely. The most recent minutes may or may not be posted to the site since it can take time for them to be approved by the Board, but meeting minutes and
other Board information are always available for viewing on our Minutes and Publications page.
   What is the Annual Members’ Meeting and how can I attend?
CMG’s Annual Members’ Meeting is our biggest planning meeting and is generally held over a Saturday and Sunday in January or February.
Typically it’s been held in January around the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
It’s an important time to hear the Annual Report to Members from all CMG leaders; to elect Board officers for the year; to consider changes to the CMG bylaws;
and participate in the “visioning” proposals — and share your opinions — that will guide us as an organization for years to come.
So if you’ve never attended, this is a great opportunity. The welcome dinner, the meetings on Saturday and Sunday and the Board meeting on Saturday afternoon are
open to all interested men in the CMG community. We welcome your participation and we hope you will make every attempt to join us! (Men who have volunteered
at least 25 hours to CMG in a recognized capacity during the past year — and pay $1 — are also entitled to vote on all proposals, according to our bylaws.)
Specifics on when and where this upcoming meeting will be held are emailed to everyone signed up to receive event notifications by early December.
   How can I request a posting href=”mailto:binkyslist@thecmg.org”Binky’s List, the monthly statewide community news publication?
We have a few simple guidelines for you to follow — so it’s easy to get started Send an email to the publication coordinator.
   I’ve signed up for CMG mailings and added my profile information. How can I see the profiles of other members?
CMG isn’t an online network (like Facebook or LinkedIn) where members can see each other’s profiles.
In fact, we pride ourselves in the fact that we make a strong effort to keep your information private.
The data you enter is primarily used to help you and CMG itself communicate.
- The organization knowing how to reach you (especially by email)
- Specifying which area of the state you’d like to receive event information about
- The “Gathering Contact Information” roster. If you come to a Gathering (like the ones listed at Events ), your registration allows
you to specify which of your personal data (if any…or all) you would like shared in a handout to other attendees. That way, you don’t have to
hand out a ton of business cards to keep in touch. Most men even allow the inclusion of the face shot they uploaded in their profile.
But you have to specifically tell us during registration that you’re okay with sharing your face or data; otherwise, your info would be kept private.
So if seeing other men’s profiles isn’t allowed, how can you connect with them?
By showing up for your local events and introducing yourself.
Building community comes best through personal networking and participation.