We use a D.I.Y. approach to submitting stories, so here goes. Don’t email us your information. Post it yourself. Thanks.

1. Register as a user by pulling down the tab on the right top of the page that says, “Hello Guest.” Need help? How to register video.
2. Login to see your “dashboard.”
3. Choose “posts” and “new post”.  Copy/paste or write your story in the post box
4. You can upload images, too. If you want to post videos, upload them to blip.tv, youtube.com, vimeo.com, etc. and then use just paste in the URL of the video. If it doesn’t load, the editor will fix the link, provided you have include a URL
5. When you click to publish your story, it will go into our pending queue, where an editor will either publish it or contact you for more information.

We generally support participatory culture as discussed by Henry Jenkins, Creative Commons, the Participatory Culture Foundation.

User Submissions.
The Service provides you with the ability to upload, submit, disclose, distribute or otherwise post (hereafter, “posting”) content (including, without limitation, information, data, and images) to the Service (“User Submissions”). By posting User Submissions on or at the Site or otherwise through the Service, you:

• acknowledge and agree that you grant to Chicagotalks.org, its affiliates and their assignees a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license (located at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/legalcodehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/legalcode) to such User Submissions, including without limitation, any concepts, ideas or know-how embodied therein;
• represent and warrant that you own, control, or otherwise possess sufficient legal rights to such User Submissions and that disclosure and use of such User Submissions by Chicagotalks.org (including without limitation, publishing content on or at the Site) will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party;
• acknowledge that such User Submissions may not be treated confidentially.

You shall not provide Chicagotalks.org with any confidential or proprietary information that you desire or are required to keep secret. You are solely responsible for the User Submissions you post on or through the Service. Chicagotalks.org does not endorse and has no control over any User Submission.

Chicagotalks.org has no obligation to monitor the Site, Service, Content, or User Submissions. Chicagotalks.org may remove any User Submission at any time for any reason (including, but not limited to, upon receipt of claims or allegations from third parties or authorities relating to such User Submission), or for no reason at all.

Termination.

Chicagotalks.org may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate your account, you may simply discontinue using the Service. All provisions of the Terms of Use which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

No Warranties.

THE SERVICE (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE CONTENT AND USER SUBMISSIONS) IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLEî AND IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY WARRANTIES IMPLIED BY ANY COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE, ALL OF WHICH ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. CreatingCommunityConnections.org, AND ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, PARTNERS AND CONTENT PROVIDERS DO NOT WARRANT THAT: (A) THE CONTENT OR USER SUBMISSIONS ARE TIMELY, ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE OR CORRECT; (B) THE SERVICE WILL BE SECURE OR AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION; (C) ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; (D) THE CONTENT OR USER SUBMISSIONS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; OR (E) THE RESULTS OF USING THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Limitation of Liability.

IN NO EVENT SHALL CreatingCommunityConnections.org, NOR ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS, SUPPLIERS OR CONTENT PROVIDERS, BE LIABLE UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, NEGLIGENCE OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY CONTENT OR USER SUBMISSIONS (I) FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES (HOWEVER ARISING), (II) FOR ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE (REGARDLESS OF THE SOURCE OF ORIGINATION), (III) FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR USER SUBMISSIONS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF ANY CONTENT OR USER SUBMISSIONS POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICE, OR (IV) FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF (IN THE AGGREGATE) $10 (U.S.). SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnification.

You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Chicagotalks.org, its affiliates and each of its, and its affiliates employees, contractors, directors, suppliers and representatives from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, that arise from your (i) use or misuse of the Service; (ii) your access to the Site, use of the Services, violation of the Terms of Use by you; or, (iii) the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. Chicagotalks.orgreserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will assist and cooperate with Chicagotalks.org in asserting any available defenses.

By way of example, and not as a limitation, you shall not to (or permit others to) either (a) take any action or (b) upload, download, post, submit or otherwise distribute or facilitate distribution of any content using any communications service or other service available on or through the Service, that:

infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity or other right of any other person or entity;

• is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, tortious, obscene, offensive, or profane;
• constitutes unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk or bulk e-mail (“spamming”);
• contains software viruses or any other computer codes, files, or programs that are designed or intended to disrupt, damage, limit or interfere with the proper function of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any system, data or other information of Chicagotalks.org or any third party; or
• impersonates any person or entity, including any employee or representative of CreatingCommunityConnections.org.

Additionally, you shall not: (i) take any action that imposes or may impose (as determined by Chicagotalks.org in its sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on Chicagotalks.org’s (or its third party providers’) infrastructure; (ii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service or any activities conducted on the Service; or (iii) bypass any measures Chicagotalks.org may use to prevent or restrict access to the Service (or other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Service).

1) Community Conduct. By using and/or registering for the community boards, user pages, blogs or other tools or applications for communicating, posting, or creating User Content (collectively the “User Tools”), you agree to use the User Tools only to post User Content that is proper and related to the particular forum. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using the User Tools, you will not:

1. Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
2. Post any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful topic, name, material or information.
3. Post files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy of publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have expressly received all necessary consents.
4. Post files or content that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer.
5. Advertise or offer to sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose.
6. Post surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or chain letters.
7. Download any file posted by another User of a forum that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner.
9. Falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is uploaded, or impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.

If you choose to use language, such as a user name or other text that, in Chicagotalks.org sole discretion, is obscene, indecent, offensive, or abusive or that might otherwise be objectionable or inappropriate, we reserve the right without prior notice to you to delete or change the offending language including your user name or other text.