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A little about me...

Hi Gaians! My name is Craig, and I'm here to help Gaia become bigger, better and more fun. I introduced myself on the forums a while back, but I thought I'd share a little about myself here, for those of you who didn't see my post.

I grew up in Connecticut. My dad brought me to Japan for a week when I was thirteen years old, and I fell in love with the place. I found a high school that had an exchange program with a Japanese high school (this is the 1980s, and that was a pretty rare thing), moved to New Hampshire to go, and then spent my junior year living and going to school in Tokyo. Hands down, the best year of my whole life. I got to live with 3 different homestay families. I still remember reading manga in the back of my math class back in 1984! (No one in the US had even heard of manga or anime back then!)

Anyway, for the next 5 years I found every way possible to get back to Japan for free. I went back 5 times before college ended!

Then I tried to figure out what to do with my life. I almost became a journalist. I was an assistant teacher in a 2nd grade classroom- and almost became a teacher. Finally, the entrepreneurial spirit bit me and I jumped into a pretty small company that was growing fast. And I had awesome bosses and friends and the work was fun. And I found out that I was really passionate about business- if the company is making a cool product or service that offers real value to people.

Recently, I spent a year looking at over 200 start-ups trying to find something truly great. There are so many companies out there that are pretty good and will probably make good money. But they have no soul! They don't matter in people's lives.

And then I met Lanzer, Locke and the rest of the team and realized I'd found what I was looking for. Gaia's founders built their dream hangout. Their hearts are all about making something great for Gaians. Gaia's got that special magic that separates good from great.

In short: I want to help build a great company that I can tell my kids about. It sounds corny, but it's how I feel. I think I've found that at Gaia.

We have an amazing team- the most passionate, fun people to work with on the planet! But we've still got a lot of work ahead of us. I'm excited about all the great stuff we'll be doing in the years to come, and I'd like to thank all of Gaia's members for making this the greatest community on the web.

My Aquarium

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Qyp 11/25/2009 6:27 am: Yah know, not matter what, you are actually the best thing that has happened to Gaia. Some things, I personally don't agree with, but hey, that's what happens right? Sometimes, people just don't agree. But that doesn't matter. You, with the help of the rest of the Gaia staff of course, made Gaia like... nothing Lanzer, CP, L0cke and Ling imagined. (and any other 2003 admins I missed...)

Thanks Craig for bringing your fantastic mind to Gaia!
Angel Seraphiel 11/25/2009 4:37 am: *Kicks noobs from your profile* stare

I might stay here till the whole s**t calms down -___-
we believe you, but maybe you should post once or twice a week in a forum, so that Gaia will know who you actually are xp

@ Lord Roux well said =D
The Sly Cat 11/24/2009 7:09 pm: shut up no1 lykes you.

I hate you confused
Lord Roux 11/24/2009 6:21 pm: So, not sure if you read these comments. But I felt I might as well comment. I do not know who really was responsible for the ban. But I know enough about business to know that no decision ever comes down to one person. I know businesses are monarchies so whoever did the ban did not act alone. I am glad an apology had been made and hope this all comes as a learning experience.

I do hope that the immature negativity does not put off you or anyone on the staff. Many baseless assumptions are being made but I would like to say: I know it is hard to be in a position that you hold and while sometimes I do not agree with the business directions gaia goes I am grateful for you and the rest of the staff. So I do hope that the rude comments, do not offend.
Angel Seraphiel 11/24/2009 5:38 pm: thank you for the support and for removing the ban of the cigs! =)

and I hope you don't get too upset about all the misinformed users who seem to enjoy blaming you gonk
[ Stupidity Defined ] 11/24/2009 5:02 pm: Not even a journal entry? neutral
Yay for Lanzer then.
Mosmoto 11/24/2009 4:58 pm: Really? You made Lanzer take the fall?
Since you can't see me stare incredulously at you through the internet, this smiley is doing it for me:
confused
Angel Seraphiel 11/24/2009 1:42 pm: sorry for all the typos Dx
gah I am typing too fast again ><

(an edit panel for your own comments would be nice v.v )
Angel Seraphiel 11/24/2009 1:41 pm: Lnazer also runs the site <..<
and he said he "didn't knew"

only because fin is not saying anything and there are pics of lanzer smoking a bunch of cigs at once, it doesn't mean that they are guilty xp

maybe there is a secret sponsor called scientology behind it x_____X

or someone just smoked something else instead of tobacco and release the annoucement while everyone wasd gone ninja

fin~

Will the tobacco items get a new description? =O
Nights-Rune 11/24/2009 11:13 am: If you really do care about gaia PLEASE look at site feadback more oftern. Also a P.R. team may be a healthy investment!