Firstly I want to say thank you to Oldiesmann for doing a good job over the last 2 years.
I joined the team in 2007, I was a hot headed youth, living in Finland, I was naive, young and wanted to be lead customizer. I remember my apprenticeship to SMF, I had and I know a lot of team members say this, but I had the best mentor I could ever imagine, it would have been better if it was [Unknown] but he had left, I had another legend, the master of themes the founder of Tiny Portal, that's right my mentor was Bloc! I wont go into how my apprenticeship was extended as I was sailing Europe or any of that. I did the cliché thing year before, and this stopped me getting onto team earlier, I contacted a team member asking if I could be part of the team. But I got accepted, I remember laying in my bed watching Canal+, some movie in Finnish, and being kicked from a team meeting as I got promoted, this was the official notice in a meeting, was all new cool new stuff, theme approval, moderation access, new boards and working with some of the legends of SMF, Compuart, Bloc, Kindred to name a few
Why do I say this, because its what it feels like now, all these new boards, new access, things I can do now I couldn't do before, I know SMF I have used it since the first public beta, but I feel I am in a room full of domino's and one wrong move and it will all crash down, and then everyone yells at me for toppling the domino's, and of course CoreISP up the front hitting me with a metal bar.
Ok over the next few years on the team, I did a lot of crazy stuff, caused a lot of enemies on the team, I do hope these people, I wont say names, do realize I am not the same guy as I was back then, and hope they will forgive me. My role in the “rebellion” of the January incident is known, and so is my bluntness. I am not perfect, but a lot of this is no longer me, I know this is a good thing, it will take time, but I am hoping to mend issues with everyone I have hurt in the past, so here is an apology to these people.
I have taken over the reins of SMF at an interesting time, SMF has no longer got the presence it once did, mistakes have been made on the way, and there are a lot of bridges needing repaired and even rebuilt, and I have my hammer in my hand, bag of nails and lots of materials to start the process. With some effort from the team, the community and of course our friends, we can make SMF the powerhouse we once were. My main promise during the process of Elections was to promote activity, look at ways to encourage and implement when possible ways to get the community to how it once was, even in this tough economical times. One way we can get through is working together, helping each other, and creating bonds that can help.
I look forward to working with everyone over the next year, and hope everyone will help in taking that step forward.
