My 5000th Post

by Crazy Ivan

We started Jred.net (the Myachi Forum) back in 2006.  For years before that we'd operated a free forum but that one was getting thick with advertisements and spam so in 06 we decided it was time to upgrade and pay for an ad free forum.  We talked Butter into putting it together for us and ever since it opened, it has been the backbone of Myachi's online community.

Pictured above: A cyber-spine.

I was the 25th person to sign up way back on July 5th of 2006.  Coincidentally, that was almost exactly 2 years after I started working for Myachi so every year I celebrate my Myachi anniversary and my forum anniversary on about the same day.  Actually, I don't generally celebrate either, but if I did, I could probably get it done with a single cake.

Anyway, a bit later today I'll be making my 5000th post.  Now, as any seasoned forum member knows, post count doesn't mean much on Jred.  If somebody wanted 5000 posts they could just go to the forum games section and rack them up in a few weeks.  That would be meaningless, of course.  It would be like stealing an Olympic Medal and saying you won.  But when you earn it the hard way, getting to arbitrary milestones like 5000 feels like a really big deal.

Pictured Above: Not really winning.

As I was reflecting on this last night, I did a little math that I thought I'd share.  I've been on for 1809 days, which means that on the average I'm making a little under 3 posts a day (2.79).  I'll be the 4th person to break the 5000 post mark (assuming Champ doesn't post 800 times before I post twice).  Paving the way before me were Myachi Forum Stalwart MMFL, Missouri's favorite Maniac Downtown and the Under 18 World MYACH Champion (assumed), Mantis.  MMFL leads the pack with over 7000 posts, DT is just over 6200 and Mantis is slightly edging me out with a tad bit over 5000 posts.

The Myachi Master with the next highest post count is Pinky with over 1400, followed by Animal with just over 1000 (despite having been the 2nd person to sign up with the forum and having a 4 day head start on me).

In the time that the forum has been around we've had 932 members that have signed up and left at least one post.  There have been a total of 174,926 posts (though that will change before I can publish this) which means that on the average, each member posts about 187 times so far.  As a percentage, very few stick around long enough to crack the 1000 post mark.

Of all the members we've seen, only 48 have more than 1000 posts.  That's about 5% of all members.  Far fewer stick around long enough to pick up that second thousand post mark.  Of the 48 that have cracked 1000, only 16 have gone on to post more than 2000 times.  That's closer to 1.7%.  And of course, only 3 (and about to be 4) have gone on to 5000 posts, which is about 0.43%.

As you can see from the chart, blue is getting
it's hat handed to it by yellow.

The forum has been a really big part of my life for the last half decade and, as we saw this week, not all the forum memories are happy ones.  There have been plenty of darker periods, plenty of in-fighting, plenty of hurt feelings, plenty of knock-down-drag-out arguments, but through it all, the forum has remained strong.  There have been times when I felt like I was going to rip my hair out over the spammers.  There have been times when I felt like Sisyphus as I tried to smooth over bruised egos and flame wars.  There have been times when I wondered if the time I put in to it was even worth it.

But far more often were the times when the forum came to my rescue.  Whenever the job started to get me down (which admittedly doesn't happen often) the forum members are always happy to pick me back up.  Whenever I need help with a new idea or Myachi concept, the forum is always where I turn for ideas.  Whenever I need a friendly voice, that's as far as I have to go.

This week the forum has been something of a pain.  We've had what Mantis aptly dubbed the "LolCatastrophe" and I can't pretend like there wasn't a headache or two associated with it.  But for all the bad times there are a thousand good times.  As I sat there yesterday scrolling through the expansive member's list and counting up the 1000+ and 2000+ posters, it was like looking through an old photo album and seeing friends I'd all but forgotten.

Nobody can say what the future holds for our forum.  All I can say is that I hope that someday I'm writing something like this about my 10,000th post as well.

In closing, I thought I'd share one of my first posts.  This was actually the 5th post I made, but it was the "Introduction" I left on my first day on the forum.  Surprisingly little has changed since then.  I still have the same favorite Myachi, favorite Trick, favorite Myachi Moment and the same real name...

My real name is Aaron Davies, got the handle Crazy Ivan from the Myachi Man because he really dug my Toe to Toe transfer.

Favorite Sack: A well worked Calvin

Favorite Trick: Currently the Jedi

Been Jammin' a little over four years now and most of that time I've been doing it professionally.  I have represented Myachi in 11 states so far and have 39 to go. 

Other Hobbies include Juggling, Devil Sticks, Diabolo, Poi, Footbag, Martial Arts, Contact Juggling, Piano, Guitar, Writing, Yoga and frequenting the Myachi Forum.

Greatest Myachi Moment: Got to play Myachi for the legendary and incomparable George Lucas at Universal Studios, Orlando (He said it was cool.  He was right, of course)

The only changes I'd have to make to put up that post today (other than the # of years I've been jamming) is the number of States I've Myachied in (now 32), I'd have to add a dozen or so new hobbies and I'd probably have to add another dozen contenders for my favorite Myachi Moment.