It gives me great pleasure to be here today, one year after Ten Forward 
officially opened.  As you may or may not know Ten Forward has been 
open to the public since the end of June last year, however due to beta testing
wasn't officially opened until the 22nd.  Here we are, one year later.  It 
seems I was just placing the finishing touches on the site and now one year has gone by
I look around me, at the various 
html pages, images, programs and resources and realize just how much 
effort, time and talent has gone into creating what I believe is the best
site of its kind on the Internet.  The amazing thing about the success of this 
site and all its networks is the fact that it 
wasn't created by a single person.  Of course the main chat files and scripts 
were created by myself, however, the big picture encorporates much more than
the chat itself.  Ten Forward as a whole has been created by people living 
all over the world, who communicate through the use of email and a program 
called ICQ which we've come to love (sarcastically).  Most of us have never 
met face to face, and probably will not for some time.  This reason alone 
makes the success of the site even more remarkable.  The fact that in one 
year's time we have accomplished so much is simply amazing.  Actually, most 
of the progress on this site has been made over the past 5 months.  Our departments 
weren't as organized nor did we place as much emphasis on teamwork until that time. 
As of now we have eight different departments, each of which are becoming their own 
entity led by the efforts of several officers we call executives.   I'd like to thank 
these people - Micha Bravo, Ivonna Thoni, Tail Kinker, Joshua Hal, Tommy, Robby
Kassandra...the list goes on - for playing such a vital role in the success of their
respective department and the success of this site.  Without the talent, leadership 
and efforts you have put forth we would not be where we are now.  

I've been asked several times by friends and family to explain the significance of Ten Forward, 
what it is, what its importance is and why I spend a relatively large chunk 
of time working on it.  The truth is I cannot tell them exactly what Ten Forward is. 
It cannot be described simply as a website; it certainly isn't just a chat, chatline or chat forum, it's much, much more than that.
The only explanation I can give is "you must find out for yourself what Ten Forward is".  For some it's a place 
to come and chat with others, share their thoughts and feelings regarding 
various issues, some of which they find difficult to discuss with someone
in real life, for others it's a place to use their creative abilities for 
a greater purpose - to achieve a common goal, and for some it's a place to simply "hang out" until
they have something better to do.  Whatever the reason, Ten Forward has been 
a home to many people over the past year.

The Internet has only 
been popular for the past 4 years or so - look back four years and most likely 
you had never really been online before.  We are using a rapidly evolving 
technology to create something which to my knowledge exists no where else.
It's a worldwide team project which could lead us anywhere.  In five months the progress 
made has exceeded my expections and probably the expectations of most here.  
Have you ever thought what our second anniversary will be like? How much progress 
will we have made in another year's time? It certainly is going to be an 
exciting year with all kinds of suprises I'm sure - including a possible
real life meeting in Las Vegas which I'm sure many of you would like to attend. 
Once again I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's participated this past 
year.  It really has been lots of fun.