Yesterday, Selena Maranjian listed her Top 10 moments in Fool history. Today, she highlights her Top 10 discussion board events over The Motley Fool's first 10 years.
The corner of Fooldom that in my opinion is the jewel in our crown (if we were to wear crowns, that is -- in reality, we prefer velveteen jester caps) is our discussion board community. Permit me to rattle off a list of 10 events or happenings there that have made an impression on me. They're not necessarily the top 10, as that would be too hard to compile, since no human could read all our boards. They are:
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Bookgrrl's holiday Elf missions. For the past few years, around the holidays, Bookgrrl has spearheaded some wonderful initiatives as Fools help others. Read about her adventures in 2001 and 2002.
- This is a sad one. Over the past few months, a beloved member of the Fool Community, DingBatAnnie, valiantly fought cancer. Many Fools rallied to help support her and her family emotionally and financially, inspiring each other and folks like me in the process.
- On a much lighter note, in 2000, folks from the British Invasion board began invading some less-populated boards, claiming them for the Queen. Check out these amusing examples: a failed attempt to take South Dakota and a success in Nevada. Interestingly, they didn't want our Dumpster Divers board.
- One of our busiest boards is Living Below Your Means, where they've compiled some terrific lists of ways to save money.
- When the awful events of 9/11 began unfolding, we opened a brand-new board called Current Events to host discussions of the terrorist attacks, their aftermath, and any other topical subjects. It's become a very busy board. Read posts from that morning here and more recent posts here.
- As each February draws to a close, many people begin focusing on college basketball. But on the 742 Evergreen Terrace board, Foolish fans of The Simpsons participate in an annual "Marge Madness" tournament. These were the brackets for this year's contest, ultimately won by. well, go scan the board and see for yourself!
- One wonderful thing about our boards is how folks support each other through trials and troubles. You'll find many examples on many boards where people are trying to quit smoking, lose weight, quit drinking, quit gambling, face infertility, fight depression, fight cancer, live with disabilities, deal with the death of a loved one, deal with divorce, get organized, live under bankruptcy, pay off credit card debt, raise children, and much more.
- Another great thing about our boards is how they can permit one Fool to reach so many others with valuable guidance. As an example, here's a post where a fellow offered a useful caution about investing on margin, explaining how he "wiped out three years of Foolish saving and investing in TWO WEEKS with reckless, careless margin debt." More than 2,000 people recommended this post, and surely many more people read and learned from it.
- And finally, one of the things that's so nifty about our boards is that if you look for them, you'll find a lot of discussions between Fool staffers and community members, featuring suggestions, criticisms, praise, feedback, questions and responses. Not many companies offer the ability to interact with staffers and even occasionally the founders and company leaders. To find some of these conversations, visit our Improve the Fool board.
OK, wait a minute. That's only nine reasons to love the boards. But I think I'd rather stop here and invite you to share any boards or board events that you would include on this list. Please do so on our free 10th anniversary discussion board.
And for anyone looking for some boards of interest, here are two long, long lists I compiled, first of investing-oriented boards and then of more social, non-investing boards. Check out the lists and you're likely to discover at least a dozen intriguing boards! (Remember to take advantage of our painless free trial.)
At Selena Maranjian 's potluck parties, guests have had to have pizza delivered. For more about Selena, view her bio and her profile. You might also be interested in these books she has written or co-written: The Motley Fool Money Guide and The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens . The Motley Fool is Fools writing for Fools.
