trek-info@dweeb.fx.com (Jim Griffith - Moderator) (02/05/91)
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the first article ever posted to rec.arts.startrek.info. As such, it seems appropriate for me to give a brief "state of the newsgroup" speech. R.a.s.i. is coming off of what would have been a record-breaking month without the Guide posting. The latest USENET readership report (Jan '91) estimates r.a.s.i. readership at 49,000 individuals world-wide, placing r.a.s.i. as the 104th most popular group (out of 706). For those of you who have no knowledge of USENET stats, the current most popular newsgroup is alt.sex, with readership estimated at 170,000. rec.humor.funny is second, with roughly the same number of readers. Rec.arts.startrek is currently rated 32nd, with 76,000 readers. I am *very* happy with r.a.s.i.'s numbers - they're about 40% higher than I had hoped to achieve by the end of r.a.s.i's first year. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have made r.a.s.i into what it is. I have to start by thanking Mike "Vidiot" Brown, Tim Lynch, Roger Noe, Chris Wayne, Otto "HACK-MAN" Heuer, David Mears, and anyone else I've forgotten who have regularly submitted articles. People like you who care enough to spend their time to get information to the masses are what make r.a.s.i. the valuable information source that I wanted it to become. I'd also like to thank the occasional or one-time submitters who run across an article in their local paper and spend the time to transcribe it and send it to me. What makes USENET the resource that it is is its ability to collect information from the four corners of the world and distribute it to the masses. But this collection only happens when the people who read the information spend the time and effort to make it available to the general public. In the past year, I've received submissions from all parts of the US and from several European countries. It's been interesting to read your mail, and I've had several interesting discussions outside of USENET. I hope I have the opportunity to actually meet some of you in person this year (Tim, are we still on for LA Creation Con in June?). Finally, one last comment. Although I generally refer to r.a.s.i. as "my" newsgroup, it exists solely on the whim of popular opinion. As such, I must have feedback when readers are dissatisfied with the way the newsgroup is progressing. I know that up until I became a moderator, I had this illusion of USENET moderators as being these Enlightened Beings with inordinate amounts of education, wisdom, and respectability, and this illusion kept me from contacting some moderators when it shouldn't have. I certainly hope that none of you have had a similar illusion of me prevent you from approaching me with valid (or even invalid) concerns over r.a.s.i. I'm just an ordinary dude with no life and entirely too much free time on his hands. Just ask Mark Holtz or Chris Ambler - they've actually met me. Certainly, moderators like Brad Templeton are different - he's got 170,000 people clamoring for his attention and a queue of outgoing articles that will last for a couple of months. I don't have that problem. Don't worry about submitting an article that you think is unacceptable - I'm supposed to be the judge of that. Don't worry about asking me a stupid question - I won't tell anyone else. r.a.s.i. is for your entertainment, not mine. Jim -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Jim "The Big Dweeb" Griffith - the official scapegoat for r.a.s.i. Email submissions to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com, and questions to trek-info-request@dweeb.fx.com