I'm sitting here reflecting on the events that have taken our humble community to this point, and I am in fact truly amazed at our progress thus far. This community was born out of a severe lack of an online presence for the VCE community. Living in a tiny alcove on a predominantly HSC website was no way for the VCE populace to express itself, especially given the utter failings (slow server, terrible service etc.) of what was already on offer.
What started out as a procrastination exercise during my exam period (whilst I was frustratedly waiting for the BoS servers to load) as a simple forum under the ever-tacky name "
www.freestudynotes.com" has grown into a fully fledged online VCE community of which I am most proud. In one year, this site has gained 3232 members (roughly 9 new members per day), with a total of 5 million pageviews and 75,000+ posts. Our notes system contains more than 125 individual notes files, and the community is still expanding. Membership is skyrocketing, and during November/December should see us hit the 5,000 member mark.
I want to thank all of you for making this community what it is. From our brilliant moderators who keep things running smoothly to all the members who make the conversations lively. To those wonderful people who have contributed notes, many students are in your debt, and I wish to thank you for bringing to fruition my vision of breaking down the resources barrier so that all students may have equal opportunity to succeed.
I want to say, once more, that I am incredibly proud of the way this community has turned out. I envisioned a place where students could go to get extra resources, help and advice, and mix with other students whilst they battle their way through their final two years of schooling. It is a battle, and thanks to the complete ineptitude of the state and federal government, it is one that leaves a great deal many students thoroughly disadvantaged. Slowly but surely, I see my vision realising itself, and I am glad that I have been able to provide this service and hope that it continues to help students for many years to come.
You will all be pleased to know that during its first year of business, VCENotes.com has broken even (but not by much!) and for 2009, the website will be seeking a more solid base for advertising among education companies and other businesses that are targeted towards such a focussed group. At this juncture, I wish to reaffirm my commitment to keeping this website a 100% free service for all VCE participants. Thank you all for making this community what it is. Utterly brilliant.
Happy birthday,
www.VCENotes.com (né
www.freestudynotes.com)!
And yes, there will be cake. Delicious, moist cake. And it is not a lie.
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