I gotta' agree with Joe on this one. How about a simple welcome and some simple directions to the FAQ and an invite that they explore around the site.

I'm a born and bred midwesterner too, but I'm from the huggy/touchy/feely part, but even so, I too think that we can be a bit overwhelming at times. I explored this place and never posted a thing for a couple of months. Everyone is different, but I think we can come up with a message on a page that follows their membership if possible, that simply says a few welcoming words with some simple directions. The e-mail stuff gets really old with anybody who surfs and I think some folks would skip it as simply another spam-loke thing from yet another site.

Max and Pene......Can we add a page that comes up automatically after their membership is confirmed that does this?

And Joe.....Watch out, I may even kiss your balding little head when we meet..............

Spaw