On August 11, 2015, Ammon Johns and Bill Slawski hosted a reunion on their Google Plus Bill and Ammon’s Bogus Hangout for anyone who was part of the early days of Cre8asiteforums.
Although launched in 1998, Cre8asiteforums stepped into the official limelight as a recognized forums when it was moved to a new server and more supportive software on August 30, 2002. The move was encouraged by Administrators Ammon, Bill and Jill Whalen. More staff was needed and during the next decade, most of the now well-known people in the search engine marketing industry passed through Cre8asiteforums in the role of Moderator, Technical Administrator, Administrator or active participant. Archives remain available with participation from Pierre Far, John Mu, Miriam Ellis, Rand Fishkin, Ron Carnell and many more honorable mentions.
While Cre8asiteforums was and continues as one of the smaller online forums, it was the first to introduce holistic practices for website design and online marketing. Usability and accessibility were shunned by the SEO industry as a non-essential part of website ownership, but Cre8asiteforums held fast to the notion that users will remain on an ugly website no matter how many SEO tricks are thrown at it.
Online communities in the 1990’s were how people learned what they needed to know. They preceded books and online courses, blogs and articles. The better mentors were those who tested theories, software and practices to be sure they truly worked before being promoted. The willingness to fight back against the charlatans and stand up to potentially harmful tools was Ammon Johns’ legacy as the “Black Knight”. Active in many communities, he joined Cre8asiteforums to help create its foundation as a reputable community.
Bill Slawski, aka “braggadocio”, had established himself as the patient, long-winded wisdom teacher who when asked a question, proceeded to create a virtual lecture hall where his way of describing difficult concepts were a cherished favorite among the community. The success of the forums led to Jill Whalen’s desire to launch her own HighRankings forum. It attracted Diane Vigil, from Jim’s World, who after he passed away, arrived to Cre8asiteforums to bring her experience and knowledge of forums management. At one point in the early years, Technical Administrator Stock Truslow aka “Grumpus” built a directory website at Cre8asite.net intended to create, hold and maintain the abundance of accurate information culled from the forums as opposed to the growing volume of incorrect and misleading stories and articles.
Yesterday’s reunion attracted past Technical Administrators Adrian Lee and Joe Dolson, as well as past Moderators and community members who remembered the old days of Cre8asiteforums. The discussion continued 1.5 hours beyond the live show.
You can watch the entire show here
Discussion – Ammon And Bill Invite Cre8Asiteforums To Hangout Show
Cre8asiteforums was acquired by Jim Boykin on October 1, 2012 and continues to be owned and maintained by Internet Marketing Ninjas.