My First Message Board

Do you remember your first message board? I do...it was the Planet Cartoonist Message Board and it was the first online forum of it's type to make a 'newbie' as I once was...feel accepted and part of a larger community of artists. I remember the awe I felt when, after realizing who these people were and what they do. I also felt a little insignificant, but I wasn't treated that way.. but more like a intergral part of a bigger whole, whose sole purpose was to 'meet', share, advise, learn, and expand on my intake of everything and anything related to cartooning.

In recent years, this board has suffered greatly, what with the departure of many a great cartoonist... hostilities and egos rearing their ugly heads and little by lots..hoards of great cartoonists became discouraged and left. Newbies were none too anxious to visit, let alone post anything, and in the interim..other forums either became available to those who sought more of a pleasant forum or maybe the ones that were out there already just seemed to make their presence known. Whatever the reason...we lost a slew of great artists whos' posts were something I looked forward to and that decline was a disappointment to a lot of people who posted there for much the same reason. Then...the 'Spammers' blew in, bringing with them in all of thier anal glory...nothing but crap. Endless upon endless posts of anything and everything from porn sites to fur coats. The few of us who remained diligent to our board pleaded with these morons to take their trash elsewhere, but those pleas fell on deaf ears.

All but the most stubborn of us stuck it out and ...not to jump the gun or anything, but it now seems that someone ACTUALLY IS monitoring this board and has begun using filters and what not to ward off those bad little spam-miesters. BRAVO !!... I, for one welcome it, because it says to me that maybe , sometime in the near future and with a little luck...some of our old verteran posters will return. If not, we will at least try to build back up what once was and hopefully....P.C.M.B. can once again be a place where ..no matter how you 'toon......you can do it there with the best of them.