A Place of Safety
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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > General Talk > For those wondering about the site itself
For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66397] Mon, 12 December 2011 00:20 Go to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



iomfats.org is well funded from a stream of advertising revenue from several other sites that are wholly unlinked to this one. The server where we run is well run by the hosting company, and the monthly payment goes to them automatically on the first of each month.

I am retiring from the main site, too, in terms of the day to day running. Megaman is taking that on and will post the stories when they restart in the new year. The pause is to allow him to plan how he will do it. He will decide when to restart and what the posting schedule is to be. He has always been the guiding hand on technical matters and he has expressed himself willing to add the technical side of story posting to his role.

I will still read all submissions and make my eccentric choices of what makes the cut and what does not. I will simply email him with the ones I believe have a home here. The character will not change except that authors and stories evolve, thus the site evolves.

The site started in January 1997. I've run it for almost 15 years. Wow. http://iomfats.org/oddsandends/history/ tells you about it. That's a long time. Some of it was stressful. Most of it was fun. Some of it has been like a job. That part I didn't enjoy, the job part.

I believe we have much to be proud of. We have probably the largest collection of gay poetry anywhere. We took a look at Nifty and then ASSGM, and decided that gay people need to read about romance as well as sex, to learn and realise that we are allowed romantic love, not just a quick fuck. We were one of the first sites to do that.

[Updated on: Mon, 12 December 2011 00:23]




Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66398 is a reply to message #66397] Mon, 12 December 2011 19:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
kiwi is currently offline  kiwi

Likes it here
Location: New Zealand
Registered: August 2009
Messages: 317



This would be an appropiate place for paeans of praise now, but you're not looking for that. So, one, totally inadequate, word - THANKS!

Fifteen years - wow! That's a lifetime. Best of luck in everything you do, timmy.

cheers



Commas matter - 'Party on Dudes' is not the same as 'Party on, Dudes'
Re: For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66399 is a reply to message #66398] Mon, 12 December 2011 19:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



I won't be far away. But I will be an average joe now, not active as I have been. And I thank you for the one word. You're right. I'm not looking for praise. The moments when someone has said to me "[this thing] helped me" are all the praise I need.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66400 is a reply to message #66398] Mon, 12 December 2011 22:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
CodyM is currently offline  CodyM

Getting started
Location: USA
Registered: June 2011
Messages: 4



I would also like to say thanks for providing a place to feel safe and read a whole lot of really good stories.
Re: For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66401 is a reply to message #66399] Tue, 13 December 2011 10:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
kupuna is currently offline  kupuna

Really getting into it
Location: Norway
Registered: February 2005
Messages: 510



Thanks, Timmy, for the help you and this site gave me when I needed it the most.
You have a lot to be proud of, the stories and poems, and for providing a place where people have been reaching out to those of us who needed the hand of a friend.
Re: For those wondering about the site itself  [message #66402 is a reply to message #66399] Tue, 13 December 2011 13:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chrisjames147 is currently offline  chrisjames147

Really getting into it
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630



It isn't hard to wonder why people want to heap praise on you, Timmy.

15 years is a long time to maintain a website like this and sometimes vacations just aren't enough when you must come back and face the workload here. But that was 15 years of developing something worthwhile and no matter how far away from the fire you sit I think you will continue to feel the warmth this place generates.

As one of your authors I know this Place of Safety has generated a much larger and diverse audience for my work. Germany, Russia, South Africa, and the Down Under countries, these are all places where people view the site and read the stories and the commentary. Iomfats has a global reach and you deserve the credit for that.

Don't think of it as praise, think of it as spreading the word about compassion, understanding and the well being of our fellow man. This forum has included rants and raves, things political and messages of hope. That is education, my friend, you are an educator.

You may sit back and enjoy the fire but I doubt if you will be able to resist tossing a log on the flames when the mood strikes you. I can feel the warmth already....Wink



Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Welcome, although a tad belated it is ...  [message #66403 is a reply to message #66400] Wed, 14 December 2011 04:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Gay Deceiver is currently offline  The Gay Deceiver

Really getting into it
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869




... nice to have you speak out.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada



"... comme recherché qu'un délice callipygian"
Re: Welcome, although a tad belated it is ...  [message #66405 is a reply to message #66403] Wed, 14 December 2011 22:10 Go to previous message
CodyM is currently offline  CodyM

Getting started
Location: USA
Registered: June 2011
Messages: 4



I'm in my late 50's, 5'10", over weight (but I've lost 40 pounds since February) and left handed. I write software for a large international company. Not my favorite thing to do but it puts money in the bank. Married with children, most of them grown and on their own. I don't watch much TV but do read an awful lot. I'm extremely shy and don't interact with others very well so I'm pretty much a loner. Oh and I'm gay and buried in the closet under the Halloween decorations.
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