Word's From our CiC

Article by Daecrist

This past week I had the great pleasure of attending Iain and Mezoti's wedding. This was the second time that I met people from the Outpost "in real life," the first being a meeting with Iain and Brandi a year prior when they were passing through, but this time it really drove home what the Outpost is really all about: friendship.

We may squabble on the forums sometimes. We may get a little too wrapped up in promotions (or the lack thereof) at times. But all of that falls aside as you watch two of your good friends climb up onto a stage and make a lifetime commitment to one another in front of their friends and family. All because they came together in our little corner of the web and found a small slice of happiness thanks to the friendly environment we've created.

Twelve years ago Andrew Maxwell and Terrence thought that it would be a nifty idea to create a Star Trek chat room where people gained ranks and worked in departments loosely based on departments you'd find on the Enterprise. Since then the site grew out into three genres and nearly 20,000 registered members. Things have slowed down a bit for the Outpost in recent years as newer and shinier Web 2.0 gadgets supplant old-style HTML chat rooms that were all the rage a decade ago, but despite all that the community that has always been the core of the Outpost remains.

The Outpost has been through some tough times in recent years. When I took over in early 2008 we faced an aging an inadequate server and a site that was operating so severely in the red even after donations that we were in real danger of being shut down. We've managed to solve those big problems and keep the Outpost solvent through at least 2010, and with the help and dedication of the community I have no doubt that we will continue to keep this site that we love so much online and going strong for many years to come. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done to return OTF to its former glory as a major fan hub, but I'm confident that the OTF community will rise to that challenge as they have to all others in the past twelve years.

So here's to the Outpost, and to a second decade of success for the world's oldest sci-fi and fantasy chat community.

Editor’s Note: This interview was provided with the assistance of the Outpost 10f Yearbook Staff. Please Click here to see the 2009 OTF Yearbook.