{"id":3295,"date":"2008-09-18T14:16:49","date_gmt":"2008-09-18T20:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/the-icfc\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T08:42:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:42:23","slug":"the-icfc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/2008\/09\/the-icfc\/","title":{"rendered":"The OCFC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fanclub\"<\/a> I joined the Cher fan club<\/a> and lived to tell you about it. It was $25. <\/p>\n

By the way, I was a member during the inaugural year of this club back in the late 90s and you got a folder in the mail back in those days — which I still have. I can\u2019t remember what they charged\u2026maybe $15? Total guess. Years later I also bought the late-70s Cher fan club packet on eBay. I have no idea who ran that club but I loved that it was this kit in the mail with a letter from Cher, a poster and these official-like documents. I love the secret nature of official fan clubs and start to want it to get all CIA with dossiers, passports, ID Cards (Barry Manilow\u2019s fan club actually had those), and local meetings to discuss affairs of the Cher state.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed reading the official newsletters in the mail so I\u2019m wondering how a web-style organization will feel. So far, I like the little touches on the site like the floating butterflies on the secret members-only submenu. On the downside, those frames get really screwy if you use your back button (usability issues \u2013 it\u2019s my bag.)<\/p>\n

And I actually read the user agreement before signing up \u2013 which as a normal person I normally wouldn\u2019t do. But this is a fan club so I was interested to see how much of a legal binding agreement I was getting myself into. The thing was 20 printed pages \u2013 longer than wedding reception contracts I\u2019ve seen \u2013 by like 18 pages!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way, baby, from that pink one-sheet sign-up in 1977.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

A lawyer had been all over this, defining the players at the top: The Site, The Club, The Artist, The Label. There were payment charges, outstanding invoices, collection agencies, they can boot you on a whim in so many words, membership requirements including a credit check!<\/p>\n

It all felt a little: \u201cYou must wear a bandana around your eyes and be driven to a secret location before entering this fan site.\u201d <\/p>\n

To be honest, the privacy policy freaked me out a little bit when I read \u201cinfo may be provided to Cher including her management, representatives and any new label she may join. As with other third parties, we are not responsible for how they handle the data once they receive it.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Fair enough but a little alarming. I resolved to bail if they asked anything too personal, worried I might either start receiving copious barrels of junk mail or find my identity stolen by a transient entourage member living at the Cher compound for a few months. <\/p>\n

But nothing alarming or personal was asked, I never had to hand over that kind of info a credit check would require and there was no waiting period. I get the feeling a crazy fan must have sued. <\/p>\n

They actually had an interesting translation policy \u2013 this too related to my job posting oodles of translations on Internet policy in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, German, Korean, Portuguese and Italian.  Note to self.<\/p>\n

Once I logged in I had a good time. The personalization in the news content was nice. I like being addressed directly \u2013 very tech-neat. I am looking forward to the new show fan pics soon to come (but I realize \u2018soon\u2019 in ICFC-land means more like geological glacier time), the tone of the content is friendly and the promos are good. <\/p>\n

Cher\u2019s fan club bio was exceptionally written. My favorite phrases and parts:<\/p>\n