On the road back... & changes.

[Kevin]

Well I am back in order and in a place to start dealing with cleaning up some problems that have arose since my medical leave. For those of you that don't know I got pretty sick and was hospitalized a couple times for a couple days at a time, lost over 51 lbs in about 8 weeks. For the last 2-3 weeks been cleaning up and dealing with prioritizing whats important when life brings you lemons which unfortunately means medical bills, paperwork, more medical bills and more paperwork... not including taking care of an ill parent.

With that said I had many days to put some ideas to paper and will be restructuring the online store as well as the message board to a certain degree. The store will be reopened on a new software platform, and I'll be honest I made some mistakes expanding / building out too fast, other things were out of my control and hurt as well, but much like this economy contraction is needed as painful as it is. But as they say with that contraction opportunity is also abundant for those who can see the light. New stronger ideas which will make the bird board and the store re-opening stronger than before.

Shortly BirdBoard will be getting another update to it with added new features and other web 2.0 updates.

We will be cleaning up some things on birdboard in ALL AREAS.

That being said you will notice a leaner moderator team for the short term. I have moved Dan (PowerBBS) to our Technical Consultant Group so any misconceptions are avoided.

Catschair - Had requested to take a break some time ago but being I was layed up and well I am honoring her request might be a good time during the restructuring time frame.

Several others who have been inactive for quite some time are still members but no longer moderators.

Gayla & Valo Moriana decided to step down as moderators, given the upcoming reset of the moderator team, giving the new team a chance to build a fresh start.

Gayla will be around to keep the community informed on The Gabriel Foundation events, photos and all she chooses to post :-)

Lisa B has decided to step down as well due to time constraints with her new business The Platinum Parrot, and all the other time commitments life throws at us. She will still be available at http://www.AfricanGreyForum.com to answer your grey questions and on birdboard as her time allows.

Again I want to thank these people who have helped out when they could by donating time, effort and most of all patience and tolerance.. I think its a good time for some changes.

[rewki]

Hi there Kevin,
First of all, I want to wish you continued good health. If we do not have our health, we have nothing. The rest all comes in second, third, fourth, etc: in the list. I also want to bless you for being there for "an ill parent" Giving all the time and love to a parent is commendable, especially when they are either aging, ill or both.

As for the reshaping of the BirdBoard, updating is always good, and will take time to get used to, if major changes are made, Good Luck. Kevin will you be updating your photo as well? At least the background of it. LOL.....in case you never noticed...

Does this mean that we will be able to use a personal avatar instead of a ? next to our name? There are no IRN icons....BOOHOO....Will we have a chatbox? Will the message area allow more messages before being full? Just questions....;.

No matter what, after all is said and done, I am very happy with the group of people on the BirdBoard site. I enjoy reading your posts, and your input and hope that that goes vice versa.

Best of Luck from
Rebecca in Israel and my 14 Indian Ringnecked Parrots

[LovelySydney]

Kevin, Im looking forward to the changes coming on BB. I truly love it here and it has really become a big part of my life (just like birds have)!! I have no questions, only good well wishes and excitement for what's to come on BB. Cheers.

[catschair]

Good luck with your re-design efforts Kevin. Glad you are feeling better and ready to take on the challenges of dealing with this big, dynamic community. Best wishes for continued success.