Hey crew. I got the idea to do something like this last night. Kind of like our GOF history thread (also in the announcements section) I think most people will read this stuff if they want to learn more about the GOF, how its grown, the decisions of the staff, and overall board operation to keep this an active and friendly community. Today will be the first part and trial of this. If I think people are reading and want to hear more, I'll continue to write on things. Without further adieu, part one.
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The GOF Owner's Blog: On Being the Boss (May 5, 2009)
Being the boss ought to be the easiest thing to do, right? Sit back, order people around, knowing you're the top dog on the throne, looking out over all that you are in command of. Time to wake out of that Disney dream of an idealistic world. Being the boss isn't all about having fun and ordering others around.
Flashback to some earlier times, before the GOF. The only one here who will remember any of my rambles for the next few moments will be Malte (he never forgets). But anyway, I've run other boards before...dinosaur themed, Dinotopia themed, randomized things....and they weren't too bad for just starting out. It certainly was no picnic in the early days. It was hard to keep people interested in things, keep them on the board so it didn't die, keeping people from each other's throats constantly. Oh yeah. I remember those days. I messed up badly in the early times. Perhaps it was because of early mistakes that the GOF has not run into these problems that my earlier boards did. I've got a trusting staff, clever ways to keep people on the GOF, and have a solid rules system that lays out all board policies. We're all thankful the GOF has these.
On the early days of the GOF (lets say the first three years) it was my way or the highway. I was that king that made sure the GOF went the way I wanted it to. I was hesitant on admin staff (most were mods). There were few "staff discussions" or anything like this to see how things could be, when I simply knew what I wanted them to be, to hell with anything else. Over time, things made it clear you can't run a place as a one-man band so to speak, and hope for it to grow and attract many. You'll just run out of time in the end. That really came to be when I couldn't stop spam attacks on my own, and had college pressures which gave me a hard time for a while, and had to rely on my appointed others to remain in charge. I'd definitely say 2006 was when I realized the GOF isn't going to be my vision forever, but will become a blend of many visions and ideas to make it a wonderful place for LBT fans.
Our last two years here, this has become more true than ever. A lot of what you see, were not my ideas (LBT projects section, games, character discussions). Most will agree the board has grown stronger and more active due to these ideas, and our role play section is especially popular thanks to those who do run it, day by day. As it stands, I have the lower post count / activity ratios among active members here. The GOF clearly is a community run by a community, not one person at the top of the chain with some puppet strings. Its a pleasure to see this bounty which more than likely would've never happened had I not chosen to back down a bit and let the community grow on its own. With so many voices, its trying when trying to figure how the community reacts to changes (ie board color themes) but that's just part of being the boss and having to do what you can to please many.
We have definitely evolved. Its because of thet, the GOF survived. Aren't you glad I learned from mistakes?
--Adam
