johnboy
Bluelight Crew
On Australia Day, January 26th, the world lost a true original and Bluelight lost its patron.
Some of you may have known that Bluelight had a principal sponsor. Some of you may even have known, or guessed, who it was. It is safe to say that few knew how truly generous a man he was or how sincerely he loved this site of ours. There has always been a careful dance of privacy and respect when publically acknowledging who he was and what he has done for us, but now the time has come for full disclosure.
"xtcxtc" was his handle here but his real name was Alan Woods.
The official history of Bluelight, like most history, is a collection of names and dates that gives no real indication of the struggles and anxiety that the creation and growth of a community this size brings. Walter and Jase and all who came afterwards were always dealing with the problem of a site that was just getting too damn popular for its own good. A moment came when what began as a hobby was about to turn professional – in the sense that actual cash money was going to have to be spent on it – if if it was to continue at all.
None of us had ever attempted this before. Hell, it was almost ten years ago, back in the mists of the dawn of the Internet. No one knew you could actually make money off sites, at least not on a small, manageable size. These days every fool can "monetize" a "blog" but I doubt we had even heard either of those words at that time.
Not long after we began calling out for donations and ideas of how to go forward we received an email from a regular user who said, simply, "Whatever you need, just send me the bills". Literally, that was all that he said. If there was one thing that stayed consistent about Alan over the years it was his brevity.
Understandably it took a while for us to a) realise he was serious and b) realise that he could most certainly afford it. He had been around the site for as long as anyone could remember, adding his opinion to many a thread and posting up hilarious stories of high jinks that seemed, at the time, to be fictional. But we then discovered the next of Alan's consistent traits: he never lied. He was always good to his word, with the promises he made, as well as the stories he told.
It is hard to convey the relief we felt to know that we could put aside the worry of the financial elements and focus strictly on the site itself. Bluelight would not be the site it is today without that freedom. We have been able to use the talents and enthusiasm of our volunteers to improve the experience for everyone without ever having worry how the next server bill was going to be paid.
Those times are over but this is no cause for alarm. We will discuss where we go next in another thread, but this one is about Alan and it acknowledging that without his unflagging support we would not be the strong site we are today – a site that can cheerfully move forward to the next part of its life.
Below I have posted one of the many obituaries of Alan. It will give you an idea, if you weren't already aware, of how truly incredible his life story was. I will also later be adding some personal anecdotes of my (all too few) meetings with Alan and share some of the stories he told.
Bluelight is black today. A sign of respect for the passing of a friend, and for all the friends that are no longer with us. A time such as this is not about what we lost but what we share. And where we go next.
Some of you may have known that Bluelight had a principal sponsor. Some of you may even have known, or guessed, who it was. It is safe to say that few knew how truly generous a man he was or how sincerely he loved this site of ours. There has always been a careful dance of privacy and respect when publically acknowledging who he was and what he has done for us, but now the time has come for full disclosure.
"xtcxtc" was his handle here but his real name was Alan Woods.
The official history of Bluelight, like most history, is a collection of names and dates that gives no real indication of the struggles and anxiety that the creation and growth of a community this size brings. Walter and Jase and all who came afterwards were always dealing with the problem of a site that was just getting too damn popular for its own good. A moment came when what began as a hobby was about to turn professional – in the sense that actual cash money was going to have to be spent on it – if if it was to continue at all.
None of us had ever attempted this before. Hell, it was almost ten years ago, back in the mists of the dawn of the Internet. No one knew you could actually make money off sites, at least not on a small, manageable size. These days every fool can "monetize" a "blog" but I doubt we had even heard either of those words at that time.
Not long after we began calling out for donations and ideas of how to go forward we received an email from a regular user who said, simply, "Whatever you need, just send me the bills". Literally, that was all that he said. If there was one thing that stayed consistent about Alan over the years it was his brevity.
Understandably it took a while for us to a) realise he was serious and b) realise that he could most certainly afford it. He had been around the site for as long as anyone could remember, adding his opinion to many a thread and posting up hilarious stories of high jinks that seemed, at the time, to be fictional. But we then discovered the next of Alan's consistent traits: he never lied. He was always good to his word, with the promises he made, as well as the stories he told.
It is hard to convey the relief we felt to know that we could put aside the worry of the financial elements and focus strictly on the site itself. Bluelight would not be the site it is today without that freedom. We have been able to use the talents and enthusiasm of our volunteers to improve the experience for everyone without ever having worry how the next server bill was going to be paid.
Those times are over but this is no cause for alarm. We will discuss where we go next in another thread, but this one is about Alan and it acknowledging that without his unflagging support we would not be the strong site we are today – a site that can cheerfully move forward to the next part of its life.
Below I have posted one of the many obituaries of Alan. It will give you an idea, if you weren't already aware, of how truly incredible his life story was. I will also later be adding some personal anecdotes of my (all too few) meetings with Alan and share some of the stories he told.
Bluelight is black today. A sign of respect for the passing of a friend, and for all the friends that are no longer with us. A time such as this is not about what we lost but what we share. And where we go next.
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