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The Birth Of The Dr1 Forum
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DR1 is the internet successor to the former English-language weekly newspaper, the Santo Domingo News. It was started by Dolores and Rob. Can't remember the year -- 97? 98?
I could be wrong Keith but I think it was 97? Remember the old format with everyone on one thread? What a mess, but yet some of us (like me) were afraid of changing it. And the days where IP addresses was no big deal because we could see them all. 
Was there such a thing as closing a thread back then?
Robert and Dolores did all the work.
Now let me think of the moderators by order.
The very first mods in the debate forum were Hillbilly and Pib
General Stuff...Criss Colon and we said ..what the H?
Mars/venus... me, they thought I knew something about sex or something.
Airline forum. Carlos better known by comidian1 or something like that. Glad you changed it to Carlos.
Then believe it or not people were taking their arguments to the clown bin so CC got that one as well.
Mr & Mrs Timex got the living forum
Sankie 101 forum was created for those that are tired of hearing the same old, same old. Me again
Environment forum went to KeithR
Spanish 101 came to me when I was taking some Spanish. We're kind of slow in summer but wait till fall we'll all be proficient in Spanish.
Weather and Beyond..Chris (Christa)
Did I miss anyone? I hope not
Was there such a thing as closing a thread back then?
Robert and Dolores did all the work.
Now let me think of the moderators by order.
The very first mods in the debate forum were Hillbilly and Pib
General Stuff...Criss Colon and we said ..what the H?
Mars/venus... me, they thought I knew something about sex or something.
Airline forum. Carlos better known by comidian1 or something like that. Glad you changed it to Carlos.
Then believe it or not people were taking their arguments to the clown bin so CC got that one as well.
Mr & Mrs Timex got the living forum
Sankie 101 forum was created for those that are tired of hearing the same old, same old. Me again
Environment forum went to KeithR
Spanish 101 came to me when I was taking some Spanish. We're kind of slow in summer but wait till fall we'll all be proficient in Spanish.
Weather and Beyond..Chris (Christa)
Did I miss anyone? I hope not
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You guys are doing an excellent job, you saved a lot of people time & money by giving them an avenue for which they can learn and research about the DR. Who knows you guys probably saved a couple of lives in the process.Anna Coniglio said:I could be wrong Keith but I think it was 97? Remember the old format with everyone on one thread? What a mess, but yet some of us (like me) were afraid of changing it. And the days where IP addresses was no big deal because we could see them all.
Was there such a thing as closing a thread back then?
Robert and Dolores did all the work.
Now let me think of the moderators by order.
The very first mods in the debate forum were Hillbilly and Pib
General Stuff...Criss Colon and we said ..what the H?
Mars/venus... me, they thought I knew something about sex or something.
Airline forum. Carlos better known by comidian1 or something like that. Glad you changed it to Carlos.
Then believe it or not people were taking their arguments to the clown bin so CC got that one as well.
Mr & Mrs Timex got the living forum
Sankie 101 forum was created for those that are tired of hearing the same old, same old. Me again
Environment forum went to KeithR
Spanish 101 came to me when I was taking some Spanish. We're kind of slow in summer but wait till fall we'll all be proficient in Spanish.
Did I miss anyone? I hope not
Keep up the good work!!
Ricardo
May I also add that we have so many wonderful people on this board that do so much work behind the scene. People helping people get apartments, jobs, invertors, real estate, exchange rates, the weather reporters and so much more.
So many helpful members that I'd like to name but won't in case I miss one.
So many helpful members that I'd like to name but won't in case I miss one.
Keith R said:
Actually DR1 was first registered as an Internet site in January 1996. I recall it took about two or three months to start its regular updates. It was based on the weekly news digest we produced for The Santo Domingo News, that had been in print for over 25 years started by my father. We became the first Dominican newspaper to go online, but from the start we focused on the service as a totally different information product, thus we called ourselves dr1 and not sdnews. The first webmaster was Joe Spadaro, who was webmaster for the New York Metropolitan Library.
Robert found dr1 online and asked me for my vision. I guess we both shared the same vision, as we do today. It has been a case of synergy. I believe he was in London at the time and looking to return to the Americas. He joined the news organization in 1997, in charge of developing dr1.com
He added the forum in 1997 to handle all the questions we were getting. I started answering questions back then, but soon we were a community. In September 1997 we decided to close the newspaper and dedicate our efforts to dr1.com adding the daily news briefs, instead of weekly updates.
When the newspaper closed in 1997, I asked Robert if he was interested in continuing and developing the potential of dr1. The rest you know.
Chris_NJ said:
My father was a Dominican Navy Captain. This gave him a privileged vision of the world at a time very few people, except the very rich, traveled. When he was younger, he was a member of the national basketball team, at 6'6 and also traveled with the team. I recall they won a medal in a championship in Colombia. He also taught himself English and read extensively. He left a large library. He was brought up in the newspaper business, since his father was the social chronicler for the Listin Diario (the leading newspaper) for 50 years. His father would send him to pick up photos of people and do errands.
On one of his trips he met my mother, who was a Spanish flamenco dancer in New York (she even performed in Carnegie Hall) and studied literature at Hunter College. She was the daughter of Greek immigrants and fell for the tall dark and handsome Navy captain. My father left the Navy and worked for the Dominican Merchant Marine when he married my mom and she traveled back and forth on the ship with him. When my elder sister was born, she told him he had to leave the ship and he became a successful insurance salesman in New York selling to the Dominican community.
When Trujillo was killed in 1961, he decided it was time to return. My mother was already in love with the DR. At that time it was my sister, 6 years old, myself 4 years old, and my baby sister, 1 year old. We didn't know Spanish, but quickly picked it up.
In Santo Domingo he got a job selling tires on commission. He did so well that he scared the owner of the business, who put him on a fixed salary. My father quit that job and then started a general interest-society magazine. After the magazine, he switched to the English language newspaper.
I certainly is! I would LOVE to see some photos from that time...they tell a story themselves.
I have been logging on to this board before I had the Hollywod North monniker - I lost the ID I used to use 0 but have been contrinuting and benefitting from this great board since about 1998/9.
Thanks very much for the work that goes into this. DR1 is a constant source of entertainment, amazement and sometimes disbelief and I love it.
dd
I have been logging on to this board before I had the Hollywod North monniker - I lost the ID I used to use 0 but have been contrinuting and benefitting from this great board since about 1998/9.
Thanks very much for the work that goes into this. DR1 is a constant source of entertainment, amazement and sometimes disbelief and I love it.
dd
Let me add...
my 2 pesos worth... Thanks to all of you wonderful people who put so much time and effort into DR1! A truly amazing group of characters! Your comments and insights have been a wealth of information as well as a source of entertainment for me. I can't wait to get my daily "DR1 fix"!
my 2 pesos worth... Thanks to all of you wonderful people who put so much time and effort into DR1! A truly amazing group of characters! Your comments and insights have been a wealth of information as well as a source of entertainment for me. I can't wait to get my daily "DR1 fix"!
Anna Coniglio said:I could be wrong Keith but I think it was 97? Remember the old format with everyone on one thread? What a mess, but yet some of us (like me) were afraid of changing it. And the days where IP addresses was no big deal because we could see them all.
Was there such a thing as closing a thread back then?
Robert and Dolores did all the work.
Now let me think of the moderators by order.
The very first mods in the debate forum were Hillbilly and Pib
General Stuff...Criss Colon and we said ..what the H?
Mars/venus... me, they thought I knew something about sex or something.
Airline forum. Carlos better known by comidian1 or something like that. Glad you changed it to Carlos.
Then believe it or not people were taking their arguments to the clown bin so CC got that one as well.
Mr & Mrs Timex got the living forum
Sankie 101 forum was created for those that are tired of hearing the same old, same old. Me again
Environment forum went to KeithR
Spanish 101 came to me when I was taking some Spanish. We're kind of slow in summer but wait till fall we'll all be proficient in Spanish.
Weather and Beyond..Chris (Christa)
Did I miss anyone? I hope not
Anna,
KUDOS to the originators, Rob and Dorlores! and keep up the good work to all the moderators!!!
Yvette
That would be cool...yvette said:
A BIIIG DR1 get together...all on the same day..one location in the DR....one (or 2 ) in Canada...a few in the US...one in the UK..wherever there are DR1 members who want to organize it!!!
Then we must start preparing now!
Robert and I are always burdened under so much work there is not much energy left for celebrations, but definitely this is one we cannot let pass.
Maybe we can organize simultaneous dr1 parties all throughout the world.
Actually DR1 got its start on Duarte Day, 26 January so it will fall on a holiday at least in the DR.
Robert and I are always burdened under so much work there is not much energy left for celebrations, but definitely this is one we cannot let pass.
Maybe we can organize simultaneous dr1 parties all throughout the world.
Actually DR1 got its start on Duarte Day, 26 January so it will fall on a holiday at least in the DR.
As long as thats not my friends wedding day..i will be there. And I will most likely still be in the DR at that time.
And if at all possible i will do what I can to help with any organization.
Where are the most DR1 members located in the DR? Are the majority on the North Coast?
And if at all possible i will do what I can to help with any organization.
Where are the most DR1 members located in the DR? Are the majority on the North Coast?
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