In this age of global communications, I started receiving 'happy birthday' messages since about noon yesterday, and I suppose they'll keep coming in until noon tomorrow. It rather expands the concept of 'birthday'! 
At any rate, yes, I'm a year older once more, and I am happily celebrating my special day with friends and family, here and far.
I'm also looking back happily on another year of TMP, with the usual mix of triumphs and challenges.
For a while, it looked like Facebook might steamroll over little websites like ours, but that threat is fading as advertisers realize that a lot of gamers that are on TMP aren't on Facebook, that Facebook is a very imperfect tool for reaching your followers, and that the new generation sees Facebook as something their grandparents use.
I've had a number of congratulations from TMP members for 'softening' TMP's moderation style over the past year. I find this a bit amusing, as what has actually happened is that we're seeing the fruit of a policy of recognizing that some people will never behave on the forums and need to be asked to leave. With a few 'bad actors' out of the picture, it is wonderful how smoothly the forums operate, and how few complaints that we receive (the complaint level is down by about 80%!).
The other change we've made, which I think is contributing to the improved atmosphere on the forums, is that we've supplemented the Dawghouse with 'Talk to Gwen'. For some people, getting tossed into time-out for a few days wasn't getting their attention or changing their behavior. On the other hand, having one of our staff members actually talk to them about their forum behavior typically has one of two results – when we're lucky, they understand what they're doing wrong and change their behavior; or they demonstrate they're unwilling to change, and we then ask them to leave the community.
Let me also take this moment to thank our advertisers and Supporting Members. I have heard horror stories about what other publishers have to go through to collect payment, and I am relieved to say that TMP has never had that problem – the vast majority of our advertisers pay us promptly when invoiced.
I am also appreciative of all of you who reward our efforts by paying for a Supporting Membership. All of here are mindful of your financial contributions, and we thank you.
Of course, the continuing problem with TMP is the crisis of our aging technology. TMP is essentially a custom content-management system (CMS) built using a programming language that's forked into a different direction and a database system that's very dated and limited.
Those who don't know much about website development might think that I could just take an off-the-shelf CMS system and port the data over. What that overlooks is that TMP is highly custom, and our various systems are highly interlinked. Over the years, I've looked into many of the popular or trending alternatives. It's has been more educational than useful! One system was customizeable, but would overwrite the customizations whenever they put out an update! Another system was great until you needed any kind of support. One CMS system I tried put out an 'update' that broke everything, no explanation given. The good news is that I am yet again investigating another possible solution for upgrading TMP. So far, I am optimistic that this might be the one!
While I'm in a reflective mode, I'm also proud of how this business has been able to employ a number of Third World staff members over the past few years. For most of them, this was a life-changing job that significantly improved their lives. Most of our former staffers keep in touch with me, and most would love to come back to work here someday. (One is married now and living in the U.S.)
The experience has also taught me a great deal about the challenges of having remote workers in the Third World. It's hard to work when the power frequently cuts out, when any passing storm slows your internet bandwidth to a crawl, and when your computer or laptop is subject to heat, humidity and other environmental situations it was never designed for (little tiny ants!). Even playing games is difficult when there's no room in cramped living conditions.
I have a dream of building a modest 'campus' facility where a handful of staffers could both live and work. This would greatly improve productivity. Some plans have been drawn up. I have looked into affordable methods of Third World construction. Unfortunately, at this point, my dream exceeds what I can afford!
So, on the occasion of another birthday, I am happy with my life, I am happy to be at TMP, I enjoy my work, and I am optimistic that this business will continue to grow. I am looking forward enthusiastically for what can be accomplished before my next birthday!
