This is a very important message to EVERYBODY who is a member of this forum and wants to see it continue in to the future.
Recently Peter (the forum owner) posted to all the moderators the message below in our "secret" discussion board:
"You've probably noticed that I've been slacker than normal for the last few months. That's because I've wound back my writing activity. As a consequence, this forum would probably be better served if it were to be administered by someone else.
As a minimum, there's negligible work required. I do have a daily and weekly routine to check for spammers, welcome newcomers, promote regulars, back-up the forum database, etc. As required, there are also software updates to be done. The administrator doesn't have to have the expertise to do everything personally; there will always be a good proportion of forum members with particular skills (eg, IT) who could take on more specialised roles.
In addition, I've been personally funding the forum to some extent. Donations have been covering about half the costs. Greater external funding could almost certainly be achieved by someone more entrepreneurial than I (which means almost anyone).
If any of you are interested in stepping up, please speak. Ask questions to clarify what's involved.
It is quite feasible (and perhaps preferable) for there to be multiple administrators.
I'm not proposing to simply walk away and close down the forum; there's no deadline or threats here. If no moderators are interested, I'll cast the net wider and see if any regulars are interested."
Over the past week or so we have been discussing this in our "secret" discussion board with Peter and the other moderators. The end result is:
- One moderator has chosen to step down due to work and life pressures, they will continue as a "member". This is totally understandable.
- The rest are happy to continue in this role but can not take any more responsibility on at this time.
This leaves me... I am happy to take over from Peter as the "leader" of the forum but I can't do this by myself
Peter has done a great job over the years to get the forum to this stage and it would be sad to see it go. Peter has provided us with a list of what he does in the background to keep the forum going. I won't post this here as it is not relevant at the moment but it would not be hard to keep it going with support from the members.
The two issues we have are:
1- The actual day to day running / support of the forum itself. I am happy to take on the "leadership" of this but would like to appoint a member or two with some technical skills to assist with this and to act as a backup to me.
2- The financial side. We have yearly running costs which need to be met. Until now Peter has been covering these himself with assistance from donations. I am not in a position to take on these myself totally but I am happy to assist with this if another member can take on the responsibility for making these payments.
Please each consider what you can do to help with either of the above needs. Any questions, comments or concerns, please post them.
