I think adding a category to the Affiliate Links for "Buffista Owned Small Businesses" would be smashing. The list is available to all, without having to dive into a thread to find anything. I probably wouldn't use the new thread, so wouldn't see a link in there. Put it with all the links, I'm likely to go looking. Special offers and discounts, new services being added, etc. sounds like a Press post. All your talky-talk, then, can be reserved for the new thread.

Exactly: perm links only not announcement of deals or stuff like. It is I have/work for a business/np that offers the following goods or services.

That's probably better because it's a go-to then. Nobody's getting advertised to that doesn't want to be, but the information is available for whoever wants it, when they want it.

OK coming to this discussion a bit late, but it strikes me that Press is where one would announce one's new website, a sale on services, etc. Would make more sense to me to post it there anyway given that not everyone is a small business owner.

BTW, I think it's so cool that, as the site and its users have grown and our lives have changed, now there are lots of parents, business owners, writers, newly established careers, etc.

I think press is good for something time limited. An event, a special sale (don't know if the latter is appropriate in press - 10% off on photo editing is starting to get awfully spammy). But if one has or is part of a business or non-profit, that is there after the sale ends. Just like other buffista sites, I think the existence of business or non-profit one owns or is an important part of is appropriate for a permanent list.

Voting will start tomorrow night. We'll need someone to volunteer as the vote counter.

I don't have a strong preference one way or another so I could count the votes but I haven't done it before. Is it hard?

What I do when I am the counter is set up a filter in gmail for the subject line for Y and N and then gmail sort of counts for me (although I double check). Other than that, you just have to check your email in case someone messed up. The important part to remember is hat we have to have a quorum of 42 people voting for it to pass. (I think that is the right number)

It's easy, Laga. When someone votes, an email is automatically sent to you. The direction they vote is in the subject line so you don't even need to open the emails if you don't want to! Plus, like Sophia says, you could set up an email filter to count the votes for you.

Wait: are we voting on the proposal as-is, or are we voting for a business thread with an affiliate link, or other?