2015 was The Year of Living Tardily.
A series of grenades tossed up by Real Life meant that I spent most of 2015 playing catch up. I'm still trying to catch up; I'm the March Hare, and it's only January. Real Life also hit many of our members in 2015, and to all I wish the strength and better days ahead.
Sadly, we farewelled Baron (Robert Staniford), a giant in the life of this forum and its community. If we were a town, there would be a statue of our Baron in its centre.
Despite the hardships we each faced, the community that is WritingForums.com (WF) continued in its mission to be the best forum for writers and creative artists on the net. And not just continued, but thrived. We've welcomed some fantastic new members, and welcomed back some equally fantastic veterans.
We did witness another WF wedding; congratulations to amsawtell and Kilroy214.
And if that wasn't enough cruel and unusual punishment - I'm still picking out rice grains from the carpet - the always noisy renovations and additions to the Dark Side meant that I had to give up the indoor pool and heated spa to make space for the growing Media Team. So, let's start there.
Our Chief Media Manager, TKent - that irresistible force who has temporarily run out of immovable objects - has managed to con ... vince three remarkable talents - the Triple A-Team, am_hammy, Allysan, and Aquilo - to take on the role of Media Manager and help develop many of the planned and running media projects. With valuable assistance from our Content Managers - ShadowEyes, KellInkston, and GuitarHiro97 - and much appreciated advice and work from popsprocket, our first Publisher Emeritus, much has happened with WiFs, regular podcasts, and planned publications of members' works, as well as keeping up with our social media platforms. Watch their space in 2016.
Administrator PiP took up her pointy stick and stepped into the Purple Wing to help the Mentors choose their curtains and wallpaper, while Chief Mentor Folcro was caught up in yet more Real Life. Firemajic, Blade and HarperCole stepped up to Senior roles, so they can take the blame if the walls clash with the carpeting. danielstj and musichal (another with Real Life stuff happening) Advanced, as did a couple of returnees to the Dark Side, Bishop and Patrick, who snuck in under the wire when we weren't looking. Six more gulli ... gallant members donned or continued to wear the Purple robes that said, "I'm here to help": jenthepen and Hairball, Crowley K. Jarvis and inkwellness, voltigeur and The Green Shield complete the lineup of mentor superheroes. Together, they welcome our new members, give advice or assistance where they see the need, help with our regular challenges, and participate wherever they can. I'd have to check, but I think this is a record number of active mentors. No wonder their parties are so loud.
So much was happening in the forum in 2015, that we found ourselves adding new Supervisors. We now have four - InstituteMan and mrmustard615 joined forces with bazz cargo and J Anfinson - tasked with making sure the mentor parties don't break out into the main halls, and collecting the negatives and flash files from the media team (for security, you understand). They also oversee our moderation team - more on them later - and most importantly, keep the Board Room bar stocked and ready for those all-important meetings of the mind.
I could never list all of the achievements or highlights of, or find enough superlatives for, those already mentioned, or of those still to mention, but I must give some quick nods to our Forum Moderators:
to Plasticweld, for taking the non-fiction challenge - now called Side Trips - and making it work and grow beyond expectations; to astroannie, for stepping up and taking on the unenviable task of Judge Coordinator - your cat herding course paid off; to LeeC, for your ongoing efforts with Galen's Beta Readers forum, helping authors find beta readers and building that next step between writing a story and getting in shape for publication; to amsawtell (despite that marriage distraction thing) and to TheWonderingNovice, for being anywhere and everywhere and doing anything and everything ever asked and more; to my ever-present nemesis in the Boofy-inspired alternate reality, AtleanWordsmith, for taking on the task with good humour and intelligence and courage - but my operatives will catch you eventually, mark my Worde!
And to our Global Moderators:
to the Dark One, Chester's Daughter, for continuing to outstare Real Life and keep things smooth in Poetry; to bookmasta, for climbing over Real Life's commitments and returning to help with our challenges; to Kilroy214, for stepping into Fin's massive shoes and filling them admirably to keep the cornerstone LM Challenge moving along; all above and beyond the usual stuff that our global moderators run into every day.
Watching over all of this - they have to, we changed the outer locks to the new 21-digit passcodes without telling them - are our four Administrators: Sam, the General and therefore leader of the marines; Gumby, the one and only Staff Mother, who keeps the rest of us on the right side of detente; and the irrepressible and unstoppable PiP. What? Four? Yes, a special one among so many special ones, our Patron Administrator rcallaci, who has given his advice and historical perspective and his time and energy, who has helped to take up the slack when Real Life did a number on us.
Thanks to our host server, WiredTree, and more to our Technical Consultant Kevin_L, we managed to get through 2015 with fewer gremlin outbreaks than just about any year I can recall.
To all of you who volunteered to enter the Dark Side, eat the cookies, wear the colours, and walk the walk, thanks are not enough but are given fully and gratefully.
And that brings me to the biggest part of our community, the reason we are still here, and why we are the best forum for writers and creative artists on the net. Our members. Our Friends of WF and donors who keep us afloat and free from pop-up or embedded advertising and allow us to do what we came here to do; our Veterans who, each in their own way, distinguish themselves and continue to help others to follow their chosen paths; to our New Members, who come seeking a place and find it here; and to our not-so-silent majority of Registered Members who made 2015 a happening place and who I believe will make 2016 even better.
On behalf of WF, and from me personally, I thank you all for keeping the Green Lady sailing smooth, and I wish you all good things for 2016 and beyond.
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Originally Posted by Hairball
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