Thanks everyone for the well wishes but this was certainly a group effort. I am nothing but the CEO who surrounded herself with some great people.
Daisy, who took a board that was completely plain (I have no computer skills) and she decorated it with all the icons and put in all the smilies. The smilies are a daunting job to add in, I can assure you. Then she built the website that goes along with the board and with her own funds made us a domain and gave us .com status. She is the one responsible for the brilliant idea of the c-box and is the one who fixes all our technical bugs on the board. I don't know what I would do without her.
Canadia, who is a fact finding whiz. Canadia is completely responsible for our number increasing and our board literally exploding in popularity. She single handedly turned this board from fun fluff to the place to get all the new news, pictures and facts about Mr. Gerard Butler. We are still fun but now we are fun and intelligent. She has also come up with some awesome ideas like turning our c-box into news central and then making the tread for C-box facts so the news is never lost. Very few days go by that I don't thank her for all her commitment.
I do nothing without getting Canadia and Daisy's imput. I tend to run on emotion and they are my cool heads.
Leppard, is my rock and a very good friend. I originally met her on an Alan Rickman board that I used to run for another gal who didn't have time for it. I begged her to join this board which I started from scratch and was the only member for a day or two after I left the Rickman board. She encouraged me when this board struggled in the early days and has always been behind me 100%. She is also a whiz at getting the screen caps that gives us unique pictures that no other site has. I know capturing the screen caps must be very, very, time consuming. Leppard is a gem.
Tori. Who doesn't love Tori, with her fun personality and wit. Tori is my very first member who joined that didn't know me previously. In the early days I spammed like crazy at the IMBd boards and if you aren't familiar with the black hole which is IMBd Gerard Butler message board you are not missing much. It is the Mecca for negativity and abuse which they dish out freely and woe to the newbe (and Gerry unsuspecting Gerry fan) because there is a hazing there that you must go through before you are accepted. I failed the hazing test. Tori used to go in there with guns blazing
and defend me and this board. I will never forget her for that. She is a great gal.
Dawne our global moderator. Dawn is our cheerleader. I've never seen Dawne ever give anyone a bad word. She is always positive and her cute posts and style of writing never ceases to put a smile on my face. She told me she wouldn't be around much because of personal reasons but will lurk and she tried to resign from the job but I refused to let her. While she is lining her ducks in a row in the real life and professional career we shall send positive thoughts to her and I know she will not be able to resist visiting us in maybe a limited but steady basis.
The WOGBF members.
What would this place be without you. Like a ghost town with tumble weeds blowing around. I originally had in mind to make a very positive place filled with lots of positive energy. A place where a fan could go and safely write down exactly what they were feeling without the fear of someone criticizing them. I wanted a safe place for fans to post where no question or subject about our man Gerry was off limits. I also wanted a safe place for Gerry to come to if he was in the mood to lurk and if he needed a little pick me up. Who wants to go to a place which is filled with nothing but insulting comments about your personal and professional life. A place where he could go to and maybe get a laugh.
and go away with a smile on his face. I also wanted a place that reflected his personality and I think we achieved that through all the great people who post here. We are also a place where everyone is important and no one is snubbed. If you care enough to post we care enought to answer you. No post by any member is unimportant.
You all have made it that place without any direction from me and you all need to give yourselves a huge pat on the back.
Also a place with lax or no rules where you can post an interesting post and not worry that you may have posted it in the wrong place....In the long run who gives a shit as long as the news is out there...It's all good.
In conclusion, I promise that it will be my mission to keep this site the same as it always has been. We have been criticized for posting Paparazzi photos. We will continue to do that, criticism or not.
Gerard Butler is a public figure. There is an up and down side of being famous and having a successful career. Some of the pap pictures are there because Gerry's people have tipped them off about where he is going to be. What would Gerry do if people weren't interested in every move he makes/ The attention he gets is a good thing. Even a little of the negative. A celebrity that gets talked about is always better than one who gets ignored.
No news about a celebrity, (bad or good), is a very bad thing for a celebrity. Gerry is smart enough to know this and I am sure it is daunting at times, but damn it the press loves him and he can schmooze the best of them... the charming devil!
We have also been criticized for posting some of the more negative news or maybe fueling some of the rumors. Hey, this is a fan site. And we have fans who want to know what's going on in the Gerard Butler fandom. I don't believe in keeping our heads buried in the sand and pretending these things don't exist. Gerry fans are smart enough to know bullshit when they read it. I'd rather address any of the bad stuff that is written and debunk it for the crap that it is. Anyone who has criticized us for supposedly reporting the negative has never spent the time and read any of the follow up posts.
I guess that's it, and thanks again for the well wishes and here is to another great year!