1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background outside of running GWForums?
Certainly. I’m a 38-year-old British trans woman currently living in the US. I’m a full-time caregiver to my mother, who has dementia, and before that I worked as a programmer creating loan origination software for banks. Outside of work and forums, I’m a pretty prototypical nerd — I love music, movies, video games, anime, and just chatting with friends across different platforms. I don’t really use mainstream social media like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

2. How did your journey with online forums begin, and what led you to become a forum owner?
I stumbled across my first forum back in 1995 when I was a kid and was hooked immediately. I started running my own forums around 2000–2001 and never looked back. Over the years I’ve used just about every forum platform out there, including joining the iKonBoard support team in the early 2000s. I still have old hard drives filled with long-defunct forum software like OpenBB, MercuryBoard, and the original Funkboard. Forums have always been a passion of mine, and that passion never really went away.

3. What inspired you to create GWForums, and what gap did you want it to fill?
Losing the original GameWinners.com community in 2017 was painful. Many of us had grown up together over 17 years, and when it disappeared, it left a void we didn’t fully realize until GWForums started. I created GWF mainly to see if there was any interest from former members and others looking for that kind of community. Somehow, lightning struck. It took off unexpectedly, especially during Covid, when people were craving connection. It felt like a huge family reunion at exactly the right time.

4. How has your forum career evolved from your early days to where you are now?
Experience changes everything. Early on, you stress about every little detail. Over time, you learn that growth takes patience — you don’t need dozens of forums with tiny member counts or massive staff teams for small communities. Forums used to have extremely strict rulesets, but now I focus more on basic netiquette and civil discourse. Let things flow naturally, but step in before problems get out of hand.

5. What was the biggest challenge you faced when launching GWForums?
Honestly, there really wasn’t one. GWF was surprisingly easy to launch and gained traction almost immediately thanks to nostalgia from former members. I was very, very lucky.

6. What has been your proudest moment as the owner of the forum so far?
Watching it grow from a simple idea into a fully functioning, self-sustaining community. Like any forum, it’s had its problems, but it’s standing on its own two feet and moving forward.

7. How would you describe the culture and community spirit of GWForums?
It has very strong old-school internet vibes. The community was originally founded in the early 2000s, and that spirit definitely still shines through.

8. What sets GWForums apart from other gaming or discussion forums?
The community itself. That old-school internet community feeling is becoming rare these days, and GWF still has it.

9. How involved are you in the day-to-day running of the forum?
Not as much anymore. I still share my thoughts and have input, but the admin team I work with is incredibly talented, so I don’t have to worry nearly as much as I used to.

10. What do you enjoy most about interacting with the community?
Spending time every day with people I’ve known for over 20 years.

11. Have there been any difficult decisions you’ve had to make as a forum owner?
Absolutely. From banning trusted members or friends to shutting down passion projects that just didn’t work out. Hard decisions are part of running a community.

12. How do you approach moderation and keeping the community welcoming?
Don’t overdo it. Moderation is about balance — let things happen naturally, but step in when it’s truly necessary.

13. What lessons have you learned from managing an online community?
Don’t overthink things. Communities don’t grow overnight. They take time, patience, and care. Even GWForums was an outlier — a lightning-in-a-bottle situation. If you love what you’re building, others will eventually love it too.

14. How do you balance forum responsibilities with real-life commitments?
Most of my forum time happens overnight. I handle real-life responsibilities during the day and focus on forums in the evenings and at night. Everyone has to find what works best for them.

15. What goals do you have for GWForums in the short and long term?
I’d love to see GWF reach 500,000 posts and eventually hit the one-million-post milestone — all without mergers or outside boosts.

16. How do you encourage member engagement and long-term participation?
By engaging myself. People get involved when they see the owner involved.

17. What advice would you give to someone starting their first forum?
Be patient and don’t rush it. Forums are work, but they’re rewarding if you put the effort in.

18. How has the internet and social media changed the way forums operate?
Social media has definitely pulled engagement away from forums. Many newcomers bring a social-media mindset that clashes with forum culture. We’ve lost netiquette and long-form discussion in favor of quick point-scoring. I’d love to see forums reclaim that space.

19. What personal interests or hobbies do you have outside of forums and gaming?
Movies, music, books, anime, gaming — typical nerd stuff 😉

20. Is there anything about yourself or your forum journey that members might be surprised to learn?
Probably not. I’m a pretty open book, so most people already know a lot about me 😀