Administrative Update

[Brad]

As many know, I had to miss a lot of time on the board due to some family issues that required my attention.  I have been getting more involved in the last week or two and that includes a lot of things

1)  I had several memberships to approve, putting us over the incredible number of 5000 members.  Granted not all are active, but good conversation and ideas will help keep all members active.  All memberships are individually verified to ensure they are legitimate and not generated by bots, spammers, etc. 

2)  I made some minor modifications to our links and the countdown, more will come as season approaches (schedule, etc.)

3)  I have started compiling the Basketball Prediction Contest stats and will soon be able to announce a winner.  Also, for football, anyone that did not get their prize, feel free to email me.  I was in the midst of settling that with Bulls Heaven when I took the leave of absence.  By the way, all delays with the prizes is on ME, not Bulls Heaven.  They continue to be fantastic partners and are waiting for me to finish the contest

4)  Monthly site costs and donors - the site continues to grow and is approaching the end of its first year on the new server.  Costs are still $199/month for the server and I extremely appreciate those that donate monthly to help with the costs as well as the lump sum donors.  I will update the Donor list linked above as well as the information in the Donor's profile to reflect their support on the board.  We still do not collect the full $199/month but what we do collect certainly helps keep the board functioning as a place for all Bulls to congregate free of charge and have a say - and a pretty large audience.

5)  I will confer with the Admin team to decide when and how we get the site updated to the latest version with newest features.  Many over the years have complimented our design and functionality, applauding the ease of use.  We wish to keep it that way, but improve where we can.

6) Importantly we will be launching another initiative to locate and bring in more Bulls fans to TheBullsPen.com.  The more we find and engage, the more that stay in touch year round, learning, discussing, speculating and supporting the Bulls.  With kickoff less than a couple of months out, we'll spend money on advertising and attracting new Bulls fans.

As we approach the season, I am open to all suggestions on how we might improve the site for you, our members.  We last did a survey in 2006.  I often receive ideas from members, and have implemented many, and encourage more.  Please let me know what it is we can do to make this site a better place for Bulls fans.  Email Bulliever

I also want to thank the admins and mods that kept the site up in my absence and continue to do so.  They do their work for free and try to do the best things for the Bulls community.  Along with our members, I thank them for their time and contributions. 

Brad, aka Bulliever

[FutureUSFstudent]

Thank you for doing what ya do Bulliever! I love the Pen!

[IncrediBULL]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This is my most often used site on the internet.  Though my wife may wish I didn't spend so much time here, I enjoy it.

We are luck to have TBP and I hope it stays for a long, long, time.

I also encourage any of you who can, to donate to the site.  Where else can you have so much enjoyment for such a low price (ie whatever you can afford to donate).  It is easy (see the link above called donors).

[NCBull]

Thanks for the update, and for running the site.  I have felt the spirit and been moved to donate.  Felt good.

[Rizman]

Thanks Bulliver

[Matt]

Thanks Brad. 

You know I'm a fan

[tampabull]

Maybe I'm an idiot but where is the link to donate?  I banter enough on here where I should help out a little.

[Guest]

At the top under Community -> Donors:

http://www.thebullspen.com/htmlfiles/donors/index.php