I'm a charter member of the Blue Knights LEO M/C here in Tampa. Got a mug for that one
It's on my shelf
Get 'em a mug and move on......
Seriously though, I see Kens side and Rays. The recognition would be nice for those that pioneered the site, but you have to wonder about the other 61?
Like FlaDad said though, you don't know why they left?
As an addendum to one of the previous suggestions:
You could send out that bulk e-mail to the 61 and give it say a month for a response (if you're not even lurling or looking at the site in a month, you're not interested).
No one responds?
Fine, move to the next 61.
Say 10 respond. You're at 49. Now take the NEXT 51 members to join. Look at thier stats. Are they currently active or like the others, not back since Moses?
If thats the case, send them an e-mail as well and give them however long to respond?
Say 5 respond, now your at 54.
Take the next 36, and so on.
You'll end up with the first 100 people still around (might even consider trimming the deadwood to leave you with the truly last surviving "first 100), and maybe prompt those that are not posting to come back as as an added bonus
An exception to this procedure IMO, would be one of the 1st 100 who has passed away or someone who has had some major event occur in thier life that has prevented them from posting for a while (but occasionally pops in
) Some things in life just take precendence.
The down side to the above? A lot of extra work for you
The charter memberships for paid supporting members is cool, but like Ken said, you don't want to alienate anyone either. there may be some that for whatever reason, at the moment can't do the supporting member thing. They want to support financially, but when thier ability to do so is met, they miss the 1st 100
Besides, you I think were planning special "badges" for those members who decide to support (financially) the site anyway right?
So lets use Greg as an example. Since I believe he was in the 1st 100, if you were to make him a mod in a section, he could theoreticlly look like this:
Supporting member
Supporting vendor
Charter member
Moderator....
He's start looking like Castro with more crap under his name than Fidel has on his chest!! Maybe some scrambled eggs to go with it?
Seriously though, there's nothing
"wrong" with that. On the "other" forum, we had people with moderator, St. Jude Supporter, Supporting Member, and how many cruise inns they've attended among other stuff under thier name. But most were in the form of "tag lines" and not ICONS.
So, another solution? Just put a tag line (just like the moderator or vendor-but in another color) under the name of the 1st-100 regardless of thier current posting status and fawgettabowtit!
They'll get the recognition if they're still around (or when they visit) and if not, they won't miss it and no body should be upset Fact is, they were the 1st 100 and why they're no longer around is immaterial
That said, it's a tough decision, and I'll support whatever you decide to do
Everyone has good ideas and all have merit.
It's good of you to be thinking about those that helped get the ball rolling