NikonGear'23

The NikonGear Office => Announcements => Topic started by: Bjørn Rørslett on December 05, 2015, 21:36:53

Title: We celebrate the first 6 months!
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on December 05, 2015, 21:36:53
Nikongear on the 'net, NG for short for humans, Nikongear.net to browsers and search engines, now is about to celebrate its first 6 months of existence.

The story all started in early June, 2015, when a small group of us gathered on a photo trip to Slovenia, and one night talked about recent sad events on a site no longer accessible to us. All of us wanted to create a small area of the Cyberspace in which stories could be shared, photos shown and openly debated, and relationships could be build. In particular, we wanted to encourage events that allowed people to meet for real. Also, we wanted a collective leadership, thus no single owner, and determined the site should not allow commercial advertising. Nor should it have high running costs and requiring massive fees from members. The ideal KISS principle in fact.

All of the above came into fruition that June night when we on the spur of the moment decided no longer to wait for something that might never materialise (wisely so, as written promises subsequently were broken), and establish a web site of our own making. A few hours later, an available suitable domain was registered, forum software downloaded and installed, and the first sparks of what was to become NG ignited.

Looking back, the growth of NG has been beyond any expectations we had at its instigation. Nearly 350 members have contributed well over 25 000 posts, enormous numbers of quality photographs have been uploaded, discussions flourish, and lots of personal network interconnectivity have been created or refreshed. The first official NG Gathering in Freiburg, Germany September, 2015, was highly successful and an even bigger event is scheduled for Scotland May 2016. Plans for an autumn event next year are being discussed.

Not being dependent on donations or advertising means NG will never aspire to be a big site. Nor do we aim to score high for search engines. NG is deliberately outside that malicious loop. We just want to have an active and vibrant meeting place for those who have found us by word of mouth or by other means.

Initially we had planned NG to be exclusively for paying members. However, as our running costs are modest by design, we survive easily as long as some of our members decide to be NG Supporters and pay the small annual fee. Should the site traffic explode in the future, this policy might need to be revised, but for now, no worries.

On behalf of the NG Team


Title: Re: We celebrate the first 6 months!
Post by: Jakov Minić on December 06, 2015, 00:51:31
I am proud!
I love my crew!
I love NG!
Bjørn is so romantic!