I can't really add anything more than Cris has said but I too have witnessed incidents that have made me cringe. One recently which involved a new member asking a perfectly reasonable question and getting berated by someone who really should've known better. To add insult to injury another, even more senior member of the board then asks people to go easy on him even though he was one who kicked off without provocation.

I've met some very interesting people on here, I remember traveling to Amersfoort in 2003 with my friend Steve seriously wondering whether I'd made the right decision to meet a load of people who I’d only ever conversed with on the ‘net. My work colleagues couldn’t understand it, my girlfriend certainly didn’t understand, that is, until she attended the following year and saw that it wasn’t a total out-and-out geek fest but really a chance for some like-minded individuals to get together and enjoy themselves.

I think the forum still has life in it. But nothing ever lasts forever and I’m sure there will come a time when this forum doesn’t exist, but life will go on.