The Bear Club is an online community dedicated to teddy bears.
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The Bear Club was launched in July 2007 by two teachers and a writer from Derbyshire in the UK[1]. The site has been featured in a number of British and international press, including BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2[2], The Guardian Media Monkey[3], The Telegraph Online[4], and has been the main sponsor for the past two years of the Taiwanese Teddy Bear Association (TWTBA) Teddy Bear Show & Creative Awards.[2]
Taking its inspiration from the growing popularity of mainstream social networking sites, The Bear Club brings teddy bear ownership and collecting in to the modern age and is a niche community which draws members from all age groups and from around the world.
An integral part of joining The Bear Club is choosing to belong to one of the clans. There are eight Clan Leaders and each one is based on the eight species of wild bear - Giant Panda (Bai Bo), Sun Bear (Bruang), Brown Bear (Kodi), Asiatic Black Bear (Basindo), Polar Bear (Nanook), Sloth Bear (Aswail), Spectacled Bear (Buka) and Black Bear (Kinamon). Each Clan Leader has its own distinct character and all feature in The Bear Club's ongoing story, 'Tales From a Forgotten Room'.
Membership to The Bear Club is free, and like many of the mainstream social networking sites it generates an income through advertising and sponsorship revenue.
Teddy bear blogs on the site typically include photographs of teddy bears on holiday, at home or in unusual places and are often accompanied by a blog entry as if written by the bear itself.
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