I get letters, and some of them just have to be passed along to my fellow chocolate 
   passionistas. 


  Hi Casey, 

   I am a huge fan of your blog and I wanted to reach out to you to tell you about this
 really     cool new chocolate community. This community works within a leading
 chocolate company,     currently developing some really innovative new concepts around
 chocolate. The aim is to     open a dialogue with chocolate enthusiasts, and then let
 those enthusiasts (like YOU!) help     shape and influence new product development,
 provide feedback and interact with other     chocolate lovers.    I think you would be an
 awesome contributor to The ChocoSphere-- I love your chocolate     reviews! Your ideas
 and voice would help influence new product development for a top     chocolate brand.
 You can share your thoughts and feedback, and have an impact on this     brand's
 future!
     I'd love to send you a personalized link to join the community-please email me
 confirming     your interest and I'll send one over. Or, if you have any questions, please
 let me know.
     Sincerely, 
   Ashley 

   The ChocoSphere
  
   www.thechocosphere.com 

    /~A private community for chocolate passionistas~///
   

 


  So I received this email from one of my super fans, who shall remain last
 nameless, i  t seems. Out of curiosity I wanted to inquire as to what business it
 was that would ask of   my chocolate consultancy free of charge, and just
 generally whose chocolate I would imbibe.   After all, my mom always taught me
 never to accept candy from strangers. Ashley was so friendly, and she sure
 knows how to flatter a person, flattered the pants right off.

 So my pants on the ground, and my curiosity thus piqued, and knowing that
 Ashley did say she would be happy to answer any questions I might have, I sent
 her just one simple question before I was ready to sign my life away.

 But her reply was   also a rebuff, and quickly revealed that poor Ashley was
 suffering from amnesia all about our   new BFF status, and about who, in fact,
 I even was. 




  Hi Casey,  

  Unfortunately I can't tell you the name of the company, but it is a leading
  chocolate brand and we'd love to invite you into the community!  Please confirm your
  occupation and I can send you over a link to join the community. 

  Sincerely,  Ashley 
  The ChocoSphere
    www.thechocosphere.com  
   ~A private community for chocolate passionistas~ 
 

  Now we do know something about Ashley, even though we may not know
 her last name, or   the name of her company. But other than that she is a great
 flatterer and very passionate, we may only know this: She will vary the amount
 of tildes and slashes   bordering the chocolate passionista slogan, depending on
 her mood and/or degree of amnesia.
 
  Now the only other place I've really seen the phrase "chocolate passionistas"
 about the web was    here , in this "community for chocolate passionistas,"
 brought to you by Dove Chocolate. Won't some kind soul direct Ashley there, so
 that she can recover some of her memory?
  

updated by @casey: 04/12/15 03:49:04

You must be invited and be given a username and password to log on to the site. You can't just sign up, like you can here at TheChocolateLife.Apart from everything else - does anyone see a problem with usurping the name of chocosphere.com (which BTW is a registered trademark)?TheChocosphere.com is operated as a "private on-line community" by a third-party - a company called Think Passenger. Interestingly, Mars is not listed as one of Think Passenger's customers. If you want to be totally disgusted, read the "Rules of Participation" and Privacy Policy (they own all the content contributed, among other things, and you have to provide a valid mailing address and agree to receive mailings ... "We only collect your Personal Information for the purposes of managing and monitoring your account and passing such Personal Information to the relevant Passenger Client on whose behalf we have collected it. ")When will they learn that it's just chocolate?:: Clay


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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/

I wish I was cool enough to be invited. sniffle, sniffle.

And you could get rich too! I found this on the User agreement

Participants will receive one (1) five dollar ($5.00) Amazon.com E-mail gift card for every two hundred (200) points earned.

• Points are earned by completing tasks in the community. The point value for completing each community event will be clearly stated in the event description.
• A participant may not receive more than $595.00 worth of rewards, or any other items of value from Think Passenger, Inc. during any calendar year.

Wow! If you earned a mere 23,800 points you could make $595!! (Now how do you earn points?)

Casey,

As always, thanks for the laugh with your inimitable style! I didn't even catch the humor or your title until I clicked on the link. Unfortunately, I don't think that poor Ashley knew what might happen if you become inimical to her though.

Gotta love Dove. I liked this:

GREAT INCOME OPPORTUNITY:... Sponsor and mentor a team and the possibilities are endless.

Plus there are "Success stories". Nice MLM!

Lowe:

It's simple ... you have to become a "Dove At Home" chocolatier, buy their equipment and chocolate and start a small chocolate business (a bit like Pampered Chef) so you can join THEchocosphere.com, contribute to the community and get points for contributing.

I wonder if that would work on TheChocolateLife. 1 point for uploading a photo, 1 point for a comment, 2 points for starting a discussion or blog ...

I don't think it would make TheChocolateLife any better (and it might diminish the value as people would post to rack up points, not because they had anything useful to contribute).

:: Clay

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/