All hail! Raise a glass to A— for his great achievement!
We could say it’s about running a great site, for free, at his own expense, taking it from scratch when the best will in the world (Nik, who fore UKP) was pulling his hair out, and then building it up to become what it is now, the biggest site of its kind in the U.K. We have to recognise what a remarkable achievement that has been, both technically — given the serious opposition in cyberspace — and human, which meant skilful management to get it running efficiently given the seemingly unmanageable amount of moderation it seemed to need at times. It’s given punters a real voice for the first time here and in doing that it’s done something more than just being a forum for punters: A—— has achieved something that has never been done before. May he find success with the next great step forward in whatever field he chooses!
Few here will recall the starting pains and A——‘s smooth nonchalance in overcoming them. When Nik first put the site together it only had a few members but was a much needed and comprised a very grateful tiny community. The attacks began almost immediately, mostly at first from the owner of the old prossie-run ‘punting’ site that we were so eager to leave behind. In those days, any and every non-gratuitous comment by a punter was censored, punters were treated like recalcitrant children if they uttered a word of criticism towards an SP or SPs in general and banned until they ‘learnt their lesson’. UKP was hit not just by prossies trying to wreck it but by sophisticated denial-of-service attacks from the the prossie-run ‘punting’ forum owner (who made his money from favourable reviews of prossies).
UKP was destroyed I think it was three times. Each time Nik asked for our patience to sign up again as he recreated it. It survived, but the toll on him was starting to show. I think he was at the point of almost giving up completely and broke as well when A—— offered to buy it from Nik for an undisclosed sum while guaranteeing it would continue as a free and independent site.
A’s—— technical experience was not only vast but he had, he tells me, experience of running dating sites which would help. If you’ve ever been a mod on a forum you probably know about the many hours spent sorting out the silliest of arguments between warring contributors (both I and JRC were mods for a while, as was a very clever chap called Jacob, much missed). There were one or two others as well but the demands on time were very considerable. Amazingly, A—— has streamlined the site so it runs without mods, and the work of ‘helpers’ is fairly uncontroversial.
One of the perhaps less noticed things that A—— has consistently brought to the site is an unerring sense of fairness: fairness to punters, between punters, and also recognising and taking action when evidence showed that some ‘punter’ was a dangerous criminal. Prossies rights have also been respected, especially concerning their privacy. But their imaginary ‘rights’ to be treated like royalty or their ‘rights’ to slag off punters has meant they’re put in their place. Whenever they had a seriously justifiable complaint, politely expressed, it would be recognised, and some — often risking abuse from other prossies — have contributed constructively to UKP on technical matters from the SP side of things or on specialist subjects like pharmacology. But it has never been forgotten that this is a site for punters, where punters can speak freely. Legal issues have also been handled impeccably by A—— as far as I can see. I think all this needs to be mentioned since it is done so well it is almost invisible.
If I could thank him personally, I would, or share a beer with A—— who has given so much and achieved so much, realising the common aims of so many punters. From the early days — we were all on first name terms — to a mega-site with thousands and thousands of people and everything running smoothly, it has been a great ride – no pun intended! Go on to your new challenges A–– with my thanks and the thanks of thousands cheering you on! You have our enduring love and respect, and gratitude for all that you have done.
In Scotland we say, “Haste ye back” — so may you always find us welcoming if you pop back, whether ‘tos anonymous or no. Cheers!!!
