Five Years With The Community

Never would have guessed it would lead me here

from JoeUser Forums

The other day I happened to pop on over to my WinCustomize profile page to see if there was any action on my guest book, and I glanced past my "Member Since" date.  You know what I saw?  That I was coming up on my 5 year anniversary as a member of the Stardock community.

November 30, 2002.

Five years ago I came across a game called Galactic Civilizations.  There was a beta test going for anyone who bought the game so I signed up for an account, sent over some cash and was soon plugging away with the game.

Gal Civ released a few months later to rave reviews and a reasonable amount of commercial success.  I continued to play the game, post on forums, skim articles etc.  And from there I started to see what else there was to be had.  I picked up Object Desktop and ObjectDock and played with that for a while.  Then in late 2003, JoeUser launched.  Immediately it looked to me like a much better blogging site than what was available at the time so in September, 2003 I signed up.

For the next 2 years I blogged at JU frequently.  I posted about everything from my post-college job hunt, to life in CT working for an insurance company and every misc topic that popped into my head.  Along the way I played more and more with Object Desktop and started cruising WinCustomize more and more for skins and icons to download.

Then I started frequenting the Stardock IRC channel, even going with Danny Bassette (former JU user) to create a semi-official JoeUser chat channel.  From that point on I started chatting more and more with people both in Stardock and in the community as a whole.

Often people can't really say what they get specifically from being a part of an online community.  Heck, a lot of people laugh at the idea of a "community" made up of people you've never met in person.  Me, I can point my finger directly at very tangible things I've gained through being a part of the overall Stardock community.

What I've gained:

  • Friends
    Folks like Island Dog, ZubaZ and others in the wider community, as well as many many people from Stardock itself.  I've gained a lot of very real, very good friends here.
  • Opportunities
    I've "met" and worked with some really great people from around the tech world.  These are contacts and relationships that will be invaluable to me for the rest of my career.
  • A fantastic job
    Being a part of the community helped me land possibly the coolest job ever.  I've gushed at length about my job in the past, so I'll leave that off this list  ;)
  • A broader view of the world
    One of the greatest things you can gain from an online community is a broader perspective.  We have people from all over the world visiting us every day, sharing their thoughts in blogs on JoeUser, or discussing technology on WinCustomize.  I've learned a lot from the people I interact with within this community.

It's hard to believe that today marks five years.  Five years ago I was still in college (a Junior), working a handful of part time jobs, wondering what the hell I'd be doing in a few years time.  I never ever guessed I'd end up where I am.  Being a part of this community has played an incredibly important role in my life, no question.

But what have you gained from being here?  What does the community mean to you?  Has your real life been made better or worse for the experience?

23,079 views 33 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Happy fifth birthday, Mike...;)

 

 

13 more years and you'll be old enough to vote...;)

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Congrats!
Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Saw the title and thought it was another "delete my account thread" ;)
Can't speak for anyone else but I'm glad you're here. We need a voice of reason (who can spell) and someone who looks out for the community. Happy Anniversary/Birthday!
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congratz, and the place is indeed better since you've been here.



13 more years and you'll be old enough to vote...


Jafo's been able to vote since Grant was elected US President....  :LOL: 
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Here's to 5 more Mike  :CONGRAT: 
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Congrats Mikey! I'm glad you're here too, heck, I'm glad I found JU!


"But what have you gained from being here? What does the community mean to you? Has your real life been made better or worse for the experience?"


I learn something everyday and it is interesting to 'look' into other people's lives and see that other people go through stuff too!


It means a lot, I have friends who I didn't know I would have three years ago!

Better I would say, in that being on JU made me realise how much I enjoy writing! It's the first place I come when I need an ear cause someone is always here! There's no better feeling than that! Of course that just means I need a life!! I have other friends but JU pals are special!
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can't say it better than you have Zoomba and thnak you.
My closest friends are here. I know that if I had a need they'd find some way to help out.

I've grown up a lot here on WC. Thanks to folks like Jafo I've become a more balanced person. I've become more open to new people and better able to interact with people issues in the real world.

Many more birthdays my friend. See you around the forums.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yes indeed congrats, now only 25 more and you get a gold watch! :LOL:  :CONGRAT: 
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
May sound corny to some,but when you have wandered about homeless as much as I have since 2003,wincustomize was 1 constant that was always available to me. :) 
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats on being here for the last five years Zoomba,you do an amazing job. :CONGRAT: 

But what have you gained from being here? What does the community mean to you? Has your real life been made better or worse for the experience?


.......Well,the last year was pretty terrible on a personal level for me but it's always nice to drop by here and have a read of the forums and to check out new stuff created by members of this great community.Heck I even plucked up the courage (after about 4 1/2 years lol) to upload my dock icons and have received plenty of help and encouragement as far as they are concerned.(I had never done anything like this before so this really helped).It was great to have this distraction while my life was in turmoil and I'm sure it went some way to keeping me sane.
I'm in a bit of a dark place at the moment and my creative juices seem to have dried up temporarily but as soon as they are replenished I will be busy creating stuff again,hopefully an IP package or three.
Anyway,that's what this place has meant to me so thanks Zoomba for your work here and may the good times keep rolling sir. :) 



Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
Some of my best friends over the last ten years of my life are people I found online back when I first started game development. And, for the most part, I still talk to these people on daily occasions now that we all have jobs as game programmers in the industry. It's utterly surreal when I stop to think about how far all of us have come.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

Congratulations on 5 years!  And I have been meaning to post this, and this one seems a good place for it.

Did you know you are an aerobic dance?  They started posting notices of Zumba classes last month! So on top of all the rest, you get to dance with hot sweaty babes!

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
There's no place quite like this that I've found. I've always felt as much at home here as in my physical home. Feels like family. And look what's going on here! Where in the heck did all this stuff on this site come from, anyway? How did I manage to fill my PC with all this? What would I do if it were all removed from any PC I use? Thanks, Brad, and the greats from the past who got this all started. Pixtudio the site? Dangeruss? Mercury? Hoverdesk? It's been a long, strange trip, indeed. Just check out the skins and themes from the git-go, to see what was innovative then, in 2001.
Zoomba! High Five!!  :CONGRAT:  :HOT: 
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/me waves at Tony.  Where you been man?
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/waves back
Been here, but not as much. Maybe every other day instead of 14 hrs. daily...  :d 
Kids, winter, #!@*^!#@ cold! Waa  :SNIFF!: 
Life is good.
Simple.
Toes froze. Gotta go soak 'em...  :LOL: 
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Been a lurker here for a while. Job and family takes up most of my time. I like what I see here. Lot of talent and nice people. My skills are in a different domain but I enjoy being here when I can.

Congrats on 5 years :CONGRAT:
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Happy anniversary Zoomba!!!!
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for all the kind words everyone  :)
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jul 13, 2002 is the day I joined WC... Until then I had been just a name on a few sites and never really took much part in any one community...(except for a short stint When I beta tested LiteStep v0.24.0.back in 1998) after that I floated from site to site using and playing with various customizing applications, Until I settled here during an upheaval at Razor art. 5 years later, Im still here and going strong :)

Happy WC Bday Zoomba ol friend, hopefully we will together bring in another 5 years :)


Best wishes HG :)
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Gawd, 5 years, eh? Seems like only yesterday that I saw your name pop up for the first time. I've been coming to WC for nearly 5 years now... how time flies when you're having fun. :)

Oh, and congrats on the anniversary and scoring such a fantastic job. :)
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
wow, that scares me... i've been here sooooo long... i think i remember playing stellar frontier back in 2000... then i moved to galciv. But my account here says 2002.

you've defintitaly made more of your time here than i have, congrats!
Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
"The other day I happened to pop on over to my WinCustomize profile page to see if there was any action on my guest book, and I glanced past my "Member Since" date. You know what I saw? That I was coming up on my 5 year anniversary as a member of the Stardock community.

November 30, 2002."

Whoa....made me think. How long have I been here:? Hang on.....

Create Date: 9/15/2001

Crappers.....what in the world have I been diong all this time?!

Oh yeah, reading the blogs.......oh well, back to work....
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats Zoomba :CONGRAT:

Couple more months and I have my 5th too :)
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Happy Aniversary

I myself have been a member since Oct. 2001 Wow, it has been a long road.

When I first came here I was just looking for simple wallpapers to make my desktop look better than my friends. I did that. Then I looked at windowblinds and knew I had to have that.

I have learned alot but have alot more to learn. Problem is I have less time now than I did back then.

Wincustomize is something I would not like to be without. I just love what I can do with my computer and this site. If I have a problem, I can get plenty of advise (not always the advise I want) X-( . Jafo really puts the screws to me....as well as a few others who have tried to make me understand how to do things.

Being a blond, now with some greys popping up, I just try to have fun and work with what is here. I have learned I am not as talented as most who are here and it really doesn't bother me. I found I can be part of a community that gives so much to others and asks so little in return.

The price is right. The help is there when you really need it and everyone is so nice most of the time. Did it really change my life? I would say it has allowed me to have fun with my computer and at the same time learn.

Thanks to all.