The State of RWD

[Admin]

THE STATE OF RWD
We are rapidly approaching two major milestones, and this prompted me to think that it might be a good idea to take stock of where we are now at RWD, where we've been before, and where we are going to in the future.

THE MILESTONES
Some of you may have noticed that we have almost collected 100,000 posted messages. We should cross that milestone sometime before the end of this month. This represents a major milestone on the history of our site, and speaks to the vitality and enthusiasm of our members. We already crossed the 5,000 topic threshold earlier this month, which means we average a bit less than 20 posts per topic.

Another fast-approaching major milestone is an RWD membership of 2,500.

SOME HISTORY
RWD was initially registered in December 2003, and the site opened in January 2004. Unfortunately, that site was based on some anachronistic software and it never really took off. The site languished for a long while, until I finally found the time and motivation to re-launch it with more modern software in mid-January 2005.

Over the first month, RWD added 157 members to our ranks - the largest single month member growth in our history. RWD was an active and growing board in the following year, even though limited in terms of the features that the site SW made available. We grew to just shy of 700 members in that first year after the re-launch. The next year after that, RWD added more than 1,000 members.

RWD made one more significant change when we migrated from our previous board SW to the current configuration in late April 2006. Since then, we have added more than 1,400 members. Growth in membership is just one measure of the value of our site. After all, if we were not offering something of value, visitors would not register and the site would stagnate, as other similar sites did or are doing. RWD, as you can see, is very far from stagnant, and is now the most feature-filled, active, and vibrant site of its sort on the Internet, its atmosphere being set by our membership, a welcome mix from many countries of new and experienced travellers, of young and old seekers.

One of the most significant changes that 2007 has brought is the number of both FSU and American ladies who now frequent our board regularly. We have always enjoyed the perspectives of our ladies, and now we have more of them contributing their experiences and challenging our stereotypes.

THE ADMISSION
I have a surprise for you. RWD is not perfect!

Of course it isn't. We all recognize that no person is perfect - and no organization is perfect. I am far from perfect, and RWD naturally reflects some of my inadequacies. One of the ways in which I seek to compensate is to ask others to participate actively in the management and moderation of RWD. On occasion, I also broaden the range of people whom I ask to participate in 'issues' which surface, and a great many people have been invited to contribute their ideas and opinions to help in creation of solutions and expertise for RWD.

Obviously there are a number of things I wish I had done differently - or better. There are a few instances in which I look back and wish I had acted more quickly to intervene when some member's behavior had got out-of-hand. The delicate balancing act to promote self-moderation and expect members to behave responsibly works well nearly all the time - except when a member decides to take too much advantage of the freedoms he has available. Fortunately, we have had only a few who have acted in that way - but they were all memorable.

THE COMMITMENT
Recently we published the RWD Vision: it documents our core values, and represents the basis upon which we founded the site - and what we hold dear as we move into the future.

Adherence to these values has resulted in RWD being the most stable board for several years, and in the vast majority of members feeling quite comfortable in making their contributions here. It will result in our members continuing to be the very best at guiding and influencing new people who seek information about international dating and marriage with ladies from the Former Soviet Union.

The members can count on us at RWD to continue to live up to the values set forth in the RWD Vision. We continue to promote maximum inclusivity, and the recognition that diverse - and divergent - opinions and perspectives are necessary to achieve deeper understanding. We continue to expect our members to exercise self-moderation and to rein in other members who step out of line.

We also care. For myself and the Mods and the management team - we care. We care about the members of RWD. We care about the people involved in this endeavor - men and women, no matter where in the world they live. We care that the truth about the problems and pitfalls, successes and joys is dispensed honestly. We care about you.

You can count on us to continue to listen to YOU, the RWD members. You are the true life-blood of this site, and we recognize the value that each and every one of you has contributed to the success of our site.