Welcome to The Salon.
According to Wikipedia, traditionally a salon is a gathering of intellectual, social, political, and cultural elites under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, whose conversation aims “either to please or to educate” (Roman poet Horace); elite here meaning ‘a reasoned thinker, who can offer some unique perspectives’.
We’re endeavouring to recreate the salon online, inviting those that we think share elite characteristics to participate in our discussions and increase our collective knowledge through conversation.
While we expect to tackle some interesting and complex topics, we’re not aiming to be a think tank – just interested parties discussing topics to learn more. Should possible solutions or courses of action result from our discussion, other entities will be found or created that are prepared to take carriage of these. We’re not trying to suck you into a pressure group, we’d just like to hear your perspective, thus we ask for a little of your time and company.
This isn’t Facebook; this isn’t a place for daily catch-ups and personal messages between members. This is a forum, and there are some rules for participating in forums. We don’t gossip or discuss trivia, but can discuss social phenomenon. We don’t criticise others for their views or tell them they are wrong. We can say we disagree, and outline our reasons why; we can say that we will need some time to think about something someone has said. We don’t swear, or attack, or rant or rave, or try to shock for the sake of it. We aim to conduct ourselves with great civility. This does NOT mean that all conversation must be multi-syllabic or high brow. We want it to be enjoyable, but honest. We want this to be a space where people can be safe and fearless.
Only people that have been invited by the host / hostess can participate. Please treat coming here as if you were coming into our home, or physical salon. We will endeavour to be good hosts and include interesting conversational partners. We will moderate / manage the conversations. If people abuse our hospitality, they will not be invited back.
We hope you choose to participate, in the spirit intended. Simply view the Recent Posts (top right of page), or Discussions (via tab at page top left). If you find something that you would like to comment on, simply type your thoughts in the Reply window at the bottom of the post.
Please note: you have to be logged in (using the details we sent you when you accepted our invitation) to make an entry.
When you submit your response, it is held until the moderator reviews it to ensure compliance with the forum rules and intended discussion spirit. If the moderator has any concerns that it may not comply he or she will discuss these with you, then the post will either be released for publication or deleted.