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Originally Posted by Rickertsen2
So i have been wondering. How and why has CD grown to such popularity? I mean plenty of teams have forums, most of which nobody ever visits at all, but CD is huge.
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Brandon and the Chief Delphi Web team are definitely a big reason this website has gone so successful. Without their hard work there would never have been a website with a forum in it. I remember back then it was Brandon and an adult on Chief Delphi (an engineer I think) who wrote the forum in pearl.
Another reason the Chief Delphi Forum is so successful is because of their goal to create a better FIRST community. Chief Delphi decided to serve the community better by creating a forum so everyone can talk about FIRST issues before and after the competition. They have the goal and they set out to do it. They spread out the words to other engineers and mentors, and other students. They got the really cool people in FIRST to come in here and chat about different issues that's important to them.
I remember I used to go into the WhoamI gallery, see all the pictures of all the users in the forum, remember their face with their name, so I can meet them in person and thank them for how much I've learned from their messages. There were about 30 or 40 people posting back then, and each of them seems to enjoy the discussion so much because it was all great people to talk to.
I remember names like Joe Johnson, Raul, Bill Beatty, Andy Baker, Chris Hibner, Jason Morrella, David Kelso, Andy Grady, Kate Leach, and others inspired me to be a more dedicated, thoughtful person in FIRST. I remember my high school team captain Daniel Lehrbaum from team 192 having so much fun by being so involved with the FIRST community instead of staying in our little corner in California. We already have a great community, the website just serve as a conduit to serve that community better.
The cool factor had a lot to do with it back then. It was great to see what the cool people have to say about certain things I never thought others would think about. It was great to see the cool people argue about certain issues and learn so much from them without embrassing yourself. It was great to be that little ignorant kid back then who are afraid to speak out in front of the cool people because I was so afraid nothing meaningful would come out of my mouth. It was great having a lot of role models to look up to and learn from.
Then I suspect every one of those cool people enjoyed it show much they decide it is beneficial for their own team members to join, and that's how we get this crowd we have right now.
Another big reason why CD forum is so successful is because they are willing to listen to the suggestions and comments from the rest of the community. They listen and listen, and try to make this forum better and better with new features and improvements. They never said "hey, this is my place, I do what I want." They always say "what can I do for you?" Now that doesn't happen often.
Again, hats off to Chief Delphi for building this place, and hats off to the rest of you who make this community great!