Laguna Beach Parents

Frequently Asked Questions

LBPC Benefits

What are the benefits of joining LBPC? We have so many! You will get to attend our many family socials including our annual Easter Egg Hunt, summer picnic, Halloween Costume Parade, field trips and craft days. You can join a playgroup with your child where you will meet new people while spending time with your child. Our online members-only website provides a plethora of resources including participating in our general discussion forum, postings in our classifieds and business referrals in our reviews database. Moms and dads get to let off a little steam at our annual Spring Fling cocktail party. Our moms meet for Book Club and Moms Night Out on a regular basis. Dads join up for the occasional poker night and our monthly newsletter keeps you up to date. But the most important benefit is we have over 250 families who have vowed to support one another as parents.
How can I become a member or renew my membership? You can join or renew via our online web community, BigTent. Visit our membership page for details.

Membership

What are the criteria for membership? Laguna Beach Parents Club members must live or work in Laguna Beach, or have a child that attends school in Laguna Beach (public or private). They must have at least one child, or be expecting a child (guardians and adoptive and foster parents are also welcome). All types of parents – including single parents, working parents, same gender parents are welcome to join. The requirements are in place to ensure that members share similar life characteristics (e.g., children) and they have some physical tie to the city of Laguna Beach (through school, work, residence, etc.). By requiring members to have a tie to the city, they will periodically see one another around town (while shopping, picking up kids at school, attending city events, etc.). This physical contact, in turn, strengthens the closeness of our members and provides a strong sense of community within the club.
What does membership cost and how is the money spent? ? Club annual dues are $40 and the membership terms is one year from the day you join. Club dues pay for administrative and operating expenses such as postage, printing, legal filings, liability insurance, advertising, online service provider fees, public website maintenance and event expenses.
Can I pay by check or credit card? We accept credit card or PayPal payments through BigTent, our online service provider. We collect all payments electronically because we want our members to have immediate access to all of the on-line resources our Club offers.
What do I do if I want to end my membership? Contact our Membership Coordinator so they can convince you to stay! If, however, you do wish to end your membership, our Membership Coordinator and will promptly remove you from BigTent. You will no longer receive our monthly newsletter, your name will be removed from the roster and all group benefits will be terminated. We do not refund any membership fees. You will be missed.
I joined, but I'm moving out of the Laguna Beach area. Can I remain in the LBPC? Absolutely. Even if you can no longer regularly attend our Laguna Beach based events, we do have members who continue their membership to take advantage of our online resources and newsletter.
Can I use my membership for professional purposes? The LBPC takes our members' privacy very seriously. When you register with the Club, you must agree to accept a legally binding agreement that states you will not use any Club roster information for commercial purposes, including anything that benefits your business, a family business, a friend's business, or ANY business you have a direct or indirect interest in. Further, ALL member information, both personal and anything posted on our forum, is confidential, legally owned by the LBPC, and for the personal use of members only. You may not solicit other LBPC members. LBPC reserves the right to suspend or terminate your membership for any violation of these policies. For more information, view our Privacy and Terms of Use policies.
The membership registration process says I need to read and agree to the Club’s "Terms of Use" and "Privacy Policies". Where can I find these documents? You can access our policies at the bottom of any of our public website pages. Or click here on Terms of Use or Privacy.

Playgroups

My baby is too little to play. Why should I join a playgroup? Playgroups are designed with the parent in mind, so that they have their own small support system and resource within our large club. They are organized according to the child's birthday so the parents are experiencing the same thing at about the same time. Our playgroups are a wonderful way to establish yourself with a small group of parents whose primary goal is to support one another through the challenges of parenthood. We currently organize playgroups for newborns up to children around 3 or 4 years.
I only want to join a playgroup. Do I have to be a member? Yes. Organizing playgroups for our members is one of the many benefits of our organization and you must become a member to receive any and all benefits.
How do I join a playgroup? Members register for playgroups in BigTent, our online, members-only web tool. To do this, log in to BigTent, go to our group’s main page, select the “subgroups” tab and join the group you are interested in. Once registered with that subgroup, you will receive playgroup emails and have access to your playgroups calendar.
What are the age ranges of your playgroups? New playgroups are created at the beginning of the calendar year and include babies born that year. For instance, if your child’s birthday was August 17, 2008, you join the 2008 Kids Playgroup. Please note that the age range is a guideline for our members. We are very flexible with our playgroup structure and members can attend the playgroup that best suits their schedule and the development level of their child.
Can I join if I can only make a playgroup once a month or so? Absolutely. We encourage you to come whenever you have the opportunity to do so.

Local Business Advertising Opportunities

How do I become a Club sponsor: We are always excited to get new Club sponsors. Please contact us and someone will be in touch with you as soon as possible. You may visit our Sponsorship program page to obtain current sponsorship rates.

Members-only Website

HELP! I can't log in! If you forgot your password, click the "Forgot your password" link on the member login page. If you still have problems logging into BigTent, go to www.bigtent.com/help or email support@bigtent.com.
How do I post messages for other members to see? There are two ways to post messages. 1) Sign in to BigTent using your email address and password. Open the "Quicklinks" menu on the right-hand side of the page and select "Start a topic". Check the “General Discussion” forum for your post, type in your topic and message, and click “Post Topic”. Your message will be posted online and emailed to members. 2) You can also post by emailing lbpc_general@lists.bigtent.com.
I am not receiving some emails. Why? It is possible that your email provider may consider emails from BigTent as SPAM. Try modifying your mail SPAM filter to accept any email with LBPC in the sender name.
How do I stop receiving Club emails or change the frequency of emails I receive? Each member can select the volume of messages they want to receive for forums and for classifieds. To change your preferences, log in to BigTent, go to your profile and select "settings". From there, select "email options" to change the way you receive information.
What can I post to the Club’s online forum? In BigTent, we have one general discussion forum which we use for parenting questions, caregiver-related topics and announcements. We have a separate section for classifieds, so please post items for sale or items wanted to this area rather than our forum. Short-term babysitter or nanny needs are found in our classifieds. When you need a local business referral (e.g., doctor, plumber, etc.), visit our reviews section. If you do not find what you are looking for in the reviews database, then feel free to post the question in our general discussion forum. Our online forums are an excellent way to communicate with other members, but we do have guidelines governing them. When you joined LBPC, you agreed to adhere to our Terms of Use policies. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your participation in the online forum, or your membership with LBPC, due to violations of these policies.
How can I add something to the Club calendar? We include local non-profit events on our calendar. Please contact us and send us a one paragraph description of your event.
How do I post something to the Club's classified section? There are two ways to post classifieds. 1) Sign in to BigTent using your email address and password. Open the "Quicklinks" menu on the right-hand side of the page and select "Add classified listing". Complete the form and click "Add Listing". Your message will be posted online and e-mailed to members. 2) You can also post by emailing lbpc_classifieds@lists.bigtent.com. For more information view BigTent's help system.
What if I’m looking for a business referral (such as a plumber or a dentist)? Log into BigTent and click on the Reviews tab. Searching in “Find a Review” using “name or keyword”, does not always produce the best results. Your best bet is to go to “Browse by Category” and click “Show only categories with reviews by this group”. Then, select the Service Category you are interested in. This will produce some results which you can then filter down. For example, if you are searching for a pediatrician, select “Health and Medical” as your main service category. Then, under “Filter by Category”, select “Pediatrician”. This will produce all referrals entered by Club members.
I want to contribute to our Club’s business referrals database, how do I do this? Sign in to BigTent using your email address and password. Open the "Quicklinks" menu on the right-hand side of the page and select "Contribute a review". First, search to see if the business/service provider is already in our database by searching for name or keyword and clicking "Go". If no listing appears, click “Add a Listing”, complete the form and click “Submit Review”.
As a member, can I contribute my own business to the Club’s referrals database? Yes, this is one of the perks of your membership. BigTent even has an indicator to note what businesses are member-owned.
How do I make my information invisible to other members? The LBPC encourages all members to share their first & last name, address, home phone, cell phone, email address, partner’s name and children’s names with other members. However, it is not mandatory for you to do so. You control your own member profile in BigTent and can zero out any fields that you choose to not show (with the exception of your email address and name). For more information, please view our Privacy Policies.