Happy New Year =)

Hello all,

Firstly I'd like to hope everyone is looking forward to this year as much as I am. I have so much change coming my way, and I'm definitely excited to move on. I'll be going to University later in the year, and maybe moving out from my parents house. In just a couple of months I'll also finally be an adult... On second thoughts, I'm not sure that's the greatest thing to look forward to!
I want to take this opportunity to apologise for not being able to spend as much time on DebatingOnline as I'd like. Unfortunately real life takes a lot of my time, and while I'd love to be able to sit and type for hours on end, my timetable makes that quite difficult! During this year I'm hoping to at least get some decent changes on board here at DebatingOnline. Recently it seems that a lot of our members have left, and while I am not one to blame them, I do feel that maybe they will come back with a facelift on the forums.
As I have mentioned before, I do have an intention to revamp the forum. This has turned from a possible weekend project into a long term goal. The good news is that I have done a couple of Photoshop mock-ups and I feel that it looks well, given the very traditional and conservative 'front' we have at the moment. The changes will be subtle and slight, but I'm not a fan of any of this 'web 2.0' garbage.
I doubt that any of our guests will read this, but I do look at our statistics, and I do know there are a hell of a lot of lurkers on the forum. I see time and time again there are a number of people who keep coming back but are evidently not members. You might think you have nothing constructive to add to the forum, but I believe you do! You don't have to be a master of English, or even a master at debating (look at me for goodness sake).
Anyway, I'll leave you with the thanks and appreciation for making 2007 a successful year for DebatingOnline, and I hope you will continue to be supportive through 2008.

Sincerely,
Ryan