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The DJE-L -- Behind The Screens
Behind the screen of the Admiral's computer lies a dark and unknown world to most on the mailing list and beyond. But here on this page, the truth is revealed, and you'll see for yourself just what is behind the screens of this very club.
It all began one spring morning...
Well, I won't go too in detail.
I, Admiral Skippie (inspired by my favourite peanut butter), really named Lyndsey, discovered the Internet about three years back. My first web site I ever found was the Official Home Page to a Canadian Comedy-Drama that I'm still, to this day, obsessed with -- Due South. Now that it's off-air, my attentions are divided between J.A.G. and The X-Files, which I am engrossed in both now as well. ("They're here!!" "Trust no one, Dad!" "Aye, aye, Mom!") Needless to say, my TV shows are basically my life. Okay, so I do have a life outside the circle of entertainment, but who wants to hear about that? :)
Currently, I run The DJE-L, which as you'd know if you read the "About The DJE-L" page, was born on April 17th, 1998, after being inspired by a friend of mine, who runs four mailing lists to date, Jazz (Joanne). After inquiring how she came about to creating a mailing list, she told me about the (free) Cool List system, and I stepped off to create The DJE-L. Think of the list as a rainy-day project, a result of boredom, a "fun little thing that I did", that I thought would go absolutely nowhere. But, like 99.9% of the time...
I was wrong.
I created a mailing list about David James Elliott since there weren't too many I knew of. And besides, the title, "The DJE-L" stuck in my thoughts. As children at Christmas get visions of sugarplums in their heads, I had the vision of an interactive community of fans, a successful mailing list, and the label, "List Mum of The DJE-L". Hey, it was a long shot, but who knows? It could have happened.
The DJE-L, at first, only had three subscribers. But heck, I was overjoyed as I got a notice from each person that they wanted to be on my list. In fact, hearing the words, "You've got mail!" couldn't have been prettier music to my ears. The list was quiet, so in attempt to lighten things up, I'd send reviews of the J.A.G. episodes that were currently running, but no one responded much. I assumed it was me, and began to worry -- and feel down. The DJE-L wasn't taking off, like Jazz's mailing lists had. "She has fourty subscribers on just one!" I'd say to myself. "It must be me, afterall."
Meanwhile, the List Mum of one of the 12 mailing lists I'm on was going to call it quits for her mailing list that I had been a member of ever since first coming online. She wrote an e-mail to the members, saying that, "If I don't get enough support, I'll either have to shut down the list or switch it over on to the free server ONElist." Of course I supported the motion to keep the list, which is still running thanks to the dedicated members and the hard-working List Mum. But after reading her e-mail, I visited the web address for ONElist myself, thinking of my lacking list, The DJE-L.
Cool List was said, I heard later, to have had a glich in the system, causing all the mailing lists to be affected in the same ways I was -- not receiving the e-mails sent to the list, not being able to be contacted at all through the list. When I visited ONElist, I saw that the system was much more high-tech than Cool List, and that they had a bigger and better foundation for me to build The DJE-L on. Overjoyed, I contacted my three members, told them of the location change, and one stayed through the switch, whom is still with The DJE-L today.
The change from Cool List to ONElist occured on June 4th, and the following day I had a subscriber. The next, another. Then another, and another, and more and more. Each day, a person was subscribing, and I couldn't have been happier. The list was active, I met, and still continue to meet, fabulous people, who interact, participate, and everything in between. Fan fiction was sent, reviews posted, and conversations built. Things were looking up. Way up for The DJE-L.
And soon, I had well over thirty subscribers. More, I heard from someone later on, than a normal list would have, being so new and all. But I got more, and hit the fourty mark -- right up there with Jazz.
The DJE-L Web Site was introduced to the DJE-L members and the world on September 22nd, 1998. An interactive web site that was (and still is I'm hoping!) visited daily. Contests, such as Angry Viewers, and Question Of The Week, were born to keep people involved, and the hit counter climbed to one hundred in a total of nine days. Thrilled, I held The DJE-L's first ever T-Shirt Draw in celebration, which turned out to be a big hit.
And here we are in the present day. The list is still going strong, even more members than before, a newly designed web site, and one happy Admiral. Sure, this whole thing could end tomorrow, but I don't think it'd matter if it did. I got what I wanted -- and thanks to every member and friend with me, a whole lot more.