Happy Ten Years Today, SWG!

[dawn_felagund]

Today, the SWG officially turned ten years old! It was ten years ago today that ford_of_bruinen and I started encouraging our friends to join our nascent Silmarillion group. Ever since then, we have grown in ways that I would not have imagined possible on this day ten years ago, when I recall reaching ten members on our Yahoo! group and feeling such a giddy sense of accomplishment.

I recorded a video in honor of our birthday. It's pretty short, and you can see my dusty study and hear my Baltimore accent! What's not to love! :)

This last decade has been simply incredible to me. I never imagined the group taking off like it has. So many people have made the SWG what it is. You are to credit with what the group has become. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for all that you have given to this community over the past ten years. Here's to many more!

(Also, a gentle reminder that the birthday cards will be closing soon. On August 1, I will take down the form and begin sending out the albums to recipients. If you want to send birthday cards and have not, our birthday card page can be found here.)

Comments

[independence1776]

Happy Birthday, SWG!

I, too, hope that the next ten years keeps the SWG's culture alive: the welcoming atmosphere, the focus on loving rather than hating, and the support and enthusiasm the members have for the site and each other. It's my fandom home for all of those reasons.

And like you, I want to thank all the mods, the volunteers, and every single person who has written, reviewed, or simply just read. It's the community that makes SWG what it is.

Here's to the next ten years!

[dawn_felagund]

It really is a special place. And I'm biased but also convinced that's not just bias talking! :D

I'm of the opinion that when people feel comfortable and safe someplace, they're going to take more creative and intellectual risks. It's interesting because, at the start of Internet Tolkienfic, a lot of archives that wanted to have a standard of quality tried to enforce it, not always with great results. I think we're proof that one can achieve that without being exclusionary.

I hope the next ten years continue to show that! This is kind of a great experiment for me! :D

And thank you, of course, for all of your support and help over the years. You're one of the people who is always there, and much of what we have accomplished would be lessened without you.

[independence1776]

'm of the opinion that when people feel comfortable and safe someplace, they're going to take more creative and intellectual risks.

This. One of the reasons I'm taking a long hiatus from Tumblr is that it caused me to question everything about my writing. I feel far more safe on SWG.

Yeah, I remember those days-- gatekeeping archives, gatekeeping comments on ff.net (which is where I hung out in my early years in the fandom), gatekeeping behavior up the wazoo. I'm truly grateful large areas of fandom seem to have moved past that and yes, I think SWG's open posting (and policy of no flames) has helped it happen.

You are very welcome! I can't just sit by and not try to help, not when SWG means so much to me.