One of the greatest benefits of being a Red Hat Society Supporting Member is access to the RHS’s online bulletin board, The Queen Mother Board. Some members think that only queens may use the QMB because of its name, but the word “queen” in QMB refers to Sue Ellen Cooper, and the name is a pun relating to the motherboard of a computer.

Why is this such a great benefit? Because the QMB opens the world to Red Hatters.

The QMB gives you access to so much information. You’ll learn about the traditions that have developed in the Red Hat Society and watch new ones form right before your eyes. You’ll get ideas for chapter events and fun games. You’ll see photos of other members and events and activities they’ve attended. Also, pictures of their families, their gardens, etc. You’ll learn new computer skills and polish those that you already have. You can learn from other hatters’ experiences and ask questions of your own. You’ll meet women from your local area and from all over the world. You will share happy times and sad ones with other members, encourage them when they’re down, and rejoice with them when something good happens in their lives. You’ll also be in on discussions of upcoming events and share the excitement as these events unfold.

Over time, you will become friends with the other posters, and they will get to know you. The best part of attending regional and national events is actually meeting the women you’ve been talking with online for so long. You will have friends in all fifty states and many other countries. Many regular posters come from England, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, etc.

The QMB sisterhood is tremendous. QMB Reunions have been held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Wichita Falls, Texas. The next one is planned for March 18-21, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. QMB reunions are the BEST because everyone there has already met, either live or online.

If you’ve never gone to the QMB before, here’s how to get started. Go to the Red Hat Society home page at www.redhatsociety.com and sign in with the user name and password you chose when you joined as a Supporting Member. Click on SIGN IN. Then go to My Account in the center of the page and click on "I'm ready!" A page will open that shows all the membership benefits. Click on QMB.

That will open the Board to you, and you will see a number of sections with different categories. At the very top, you’ll see “Change Category Group” with a down arrow on the right. If your screen doesn’t say “All Categories You Have Access To,” click on the down arrow and make that selection.

The first time you go to the QMB, you might want to page down and familiarize yourself with the various forums. Then click on a red forum title, and it will open up the various topics under that forum. Start with the ones under “Board Info & Guidelines – Read Me First!” That will give you an overview of how the board works and your responsibilities in using it. Then you can get into the fun stuff. The Board is very large and will be confusing to you at first, but read as much as you can for the maximum benefit. You’ll soon find that you’ve been infected with a malady called QMBitis. It’s an addiction to the QMB that you won’t want to cure.

Before you post for the first time, give a thought to your username. You might have chosen one without thinking about it much when you signed up, but you need to be aware that your username will show up on every post you make, and you will soon become known to other posters by that name. For example, my QMB name is “Tex.” Everyone on the Board, other than long-time friends, calls me Tex, both on the Board and when we meet in person. I have a lot of friends with what may seem very odd names, such as Sheba, Oma, Bug, Jet, Straw, Mema, Sha, etc. Those are their QMB names, and that’s how I think of them. So if you aren’t crazy about being called by the name you originally chose, go to your profile and change your username before you make your first post.

To do that, go to the top of the Membership page and click on Update Profile. You will be taken back to the page you filled out when you became an RHS Supporting Member. Toward the bottom of the form, you’ll see a block called User Name. Type in your new name, and then click on the Update Member Profile button at the bottom of the form. From then on, you will use the new username to log in to the website and to the QMB, and your QMB posts will reflect that name.

If you don’t want to plow through the whole Board at once, click on Active Topics in the upper, right-hand corner. That will bring up only the topics that have had a new response since the last time you visited the QMB. You might also want to click on Profile and fill in a little information about yourself so that other posters can learn about you. If you like using Active Topics, add that page to your Favorites list so you can go directly there in the future. If you don't log out of the QMB, you won't have to log in again when you come back.

Have fun. I’ll see you on the QMB!