just to ask ! who is the longest serving member of fodors? winner gets a round of applause

And out of curiosity , how did it start - did Fodors make an announcement on it's normal website that there would be a discussion forum from date XX/XX/XXXX?

Did it start out as just one general board, then branch out to US, Europe, Pacific etc ? have the question types changed over the years? I have no need to know any of this, I am just interested.

I started in April-May 1993, the forum didn't look nowhere near what it looks today; 3 responses to a post were the average, no filtering or search functions at all. The posts were all long lines all jumbled together. I was planning to accompany my husband on his first business trip to France and stumbled upon this forum. That's why I remembered the time & year so well. I posted first under my hubby's email/name, then under my real name, and now I am just Viajero2. Back then sally fowler, Al Clem from Arizona, Wes Fowler, BOB the Navigator were already here, so any of those guys, who may still be around, deserved your applause. Some people will claim most longevity, but I definitely can tell you who TRULY was here back when. It certainly got more interesting when Kavey, Monica, Rex, Bob Brown, Elaine, Patrick joined in, let's not forget Stellarosa, the Scottish man who married Emily, another wonderful contributor (I believed they met thanks to this forum!!). I have met some of the Fodor's staff, other Fodorites, and it has been a wonderful ride!!

LONG LIFE TO FODOR'S!!!

Thank you - of the names you mentioned, I only recognise Bob the navigator, but then I have not been here long.

i reckon we all should get together in 1 place and have a laf? fodors aught to put a venue together at discount prices for us members wat do think folks? be great if it happened late night talking about experiences. !!!!! lol

I did a search on my old name and was able to go back to April 1997.

An intersting idea...I searched for my name and came up with a mara (not me) in '98 but my first post that I remember for sure was in early '01. Wow, does time fly!!

As someone who just comes here occasionally (researching some trips) I wonder what makes people come and go, or come and stay for years.

Dr. Betty, is that you???

And speaking of Patrick who has been banned. Fodor's will not even respond to his 20 emails to them. How sad!

Oh, no, here we go AGAIN ...

I've wondered about this too. Who posted first as opposed to who has the most postings (although this would be interesting to know too).

I have been a "reader" for quite awhile and don't post a lot. I think I started reading in '97.

Is there a way to go to the very first post ever? Where is Rex when we need him

I know my first post was in March 1997.
<i>Autres temps, Autre moeurs</i>.

The flyertalk board has a great function as part of the board itself -- it shows the date the poster joined, and the number of posts to date. I like it

Oh, sorry, I thought you were looking for the toilets ...

Some time ago Rex did some sort of research and learned that Ira had posted more than anyone else.

I don't remember the year but I remember it was at the tail end of some dispute about a Doctor Abate , his name, something like that

Would this be a Dr Abate who has apartments in Rome ? Just curious, as I am sure I saw a major debate on a person of this name on the Slow travel site quite recently.

Holly Uncasdevar, you called? I am here! AGAIN Or better yet, Mrs Again.