Happy Birthday Epinions-Through the Years! Sep 09 '09    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Books Irene Hunt - The Lottery Rose: A Novel From $6 John Steinbeck - East Of Eden From $7 The Bottom Line Happy Birthday Epinions! What the Heck is Epinions? Upon joining this site, it started rather casually, and I didn't think it would amount to much. Sure the web has plenty of places to visit, but to hang around on? Yet, that's what happened, and I've learned a lot from our community over the years. Initially it was so frustrating, as I only got a lot of "Somewhat Helpful" ratings. I got so angry, as I thought my well written work was much better than, and it was a real slap to my ego. There were several times I got red faced over it, but after taking the advice of so many, I started to learn what was expected. There's a real steep learning curve here, there's no doubt about that. You really have to "get your sh*t together" to get anywhere near a Helpful or Very Helpful rating. In order to get a Most Helpful rating, you almost have to sell your soul. Yet with all of this blood, sweat, tears, and even anger, I've found a great community that helped me to become a better writer. Since learning is a life long process, the same could be said about writing. There are plenty of places my writing/works need improvement, and one day my goal is to be published. I'm not sure what the topics going to be, but a major platform for this has been Epinions. Epinions is a community, albeit an online one. A person might scoff at this, but we really do have a decent group of people here. All of us have fought, commended, laughed, and cried together. That's what a community is, and for those out there who haven't been here long, the time you spend is well worth it. I've learned so much from a lot of people, in a variety of subjects. Sure the focus is consumer products, but there have been fantastic writer's pieces, that have provided a carthartic release of emotions several times. Some of the funniest people in the world have to be here, because there have been so many articles that have almost caused my ribs to break. A Tribute to Barbara Epinions wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for the foundation. There are a lot of writers here who've been on since day one, and they should be commended for their fine work. I got here a bit late to the party, about five years ago, and these founding fathers and mothers allowed the site to get up and running. One of the greatest members ever, who I still hope will earn a LEGACY HAT is Barbara. She was one of the first to reach out to me when starting, and was able to provide encouragement in her own way, that lowered my frustation. I almost quit several times, because my reviews were so low rated, and didn't earn but a few pennies over the first six months. Barbara always pointed out that it would get better, and that one day I would be able to earn a decent extra few bucks, along with finding this place to be enjoyable. How right she was, and those who helped me at the beginning, thank you! I hope she can receive a legacy hat, because she's left a flame that will never stop burning here. Ever. While sadly she lost her battle on Earth, her spirit lives on, and even when we are angry at each other, I hope we can remember her kindness during those tough times. Epinions Now: Happy Birthday to Epinions.com. Christal has been an excellent resource, and I'm glad she's the captain of this ship. She's always been very good at answering emails, and assuaging concerns that could cause issues. She's the best community manager we've had, and I hope she stays until retirement. If she does, I will literally send a real octopus to Brisbane as a thank you :). Others such as Damon, who put up with a lot of fire and brimstone last month, should be credited as well. The delays really sucked, and like I said before, Epinions has never cheated me out of anything. The IS arrived, and then to Damon and Eps credit, they immediately gave us our next month's IS early. Good job, and way to boost morale! It will be interesting to see where Epinions is ten years from now. I have a feeling it will be successful, as we've recently had some excellent new writers, who are really "getting it" quite early. This is a plus, as are the advertisements, because they help everyone's bottom line. Thank you to everyone out there that's kept close, and let's keep this baby going for a long, long time. Happy Birthday Epinions, and to those in Brisbane who keep the ship on an even keel, as well as the great writers we have here. There are truly too many to name, but you know who you are!

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