I began editing with the ODP in June of 1999. I started off in the Adult branch and have more or less focused on that category ever since. I started out as a meek and quiet editor, and I made my fair share of mistakes. But, I quickly became something of a loud mouth, and then overran the place with penguins. But the subject here isn't penguins. (See the Why Penguins threads in the ODP Culture forum for more details). 

Early on, one of the things which I always liked about the ODP was that if I didn't know something and couldn't find mention of it anywhere, I could go to the forums and ask. And usually, I received a good reply very quickly. So I'd then go back to editing, fix some of the mistakes I'd made, and of course, then I'd go on to make new ones. 

I vaguely recall exploring the Adult forum for the first time, finding it interesting to observe how a problem was brought up, discussed until some form of solution acceptable was reached and then set in motion. That's when, I think, I realized that editors are not islands unto themselves, but rather a group, working together for a common goal - each individual contributing their own particular knowledge and strengths to help build something bigger than any single person could ever hope to do. 

When a particular discussion has no clear resolution and is for all intensive purposes going nowhere, the problem usually is reduced to its most basic issue and the debate settles into a yes or no question, at which time votes are submitted. As a result, there are rarely hard feelings, since everyone has had a chance to express an opinion equally. And it makes it very easy to determine what the most popular opinion is. I think this may be one of the reasons for which there has never been a major war in the Adult forum. 

Another reason for this  is implicit in the Adult category. The editors there are used to dealing with very unusual and controversial topics, and perhaps as a result of this, editors tend to be accepting of differing points of view and opinions. And it's also true, of course, that the two biggest causes of heated debates - politics and religion - are topics which are not pertinent to the category. 

Editors in Adult are also a very vocal group - at least some of us are. This is demonstrated by the fact that the forum is one of the busiest in the ODP, while the category itself is one of the smallest. And, it isn't all fun and games, though there are always penguins and other nonsense to be found. For this reason, the relative harmony is all the more surprising to me. 

On a personal level, I'd like to say how happy I am to be part of the team working at the top level of the Adult category. We are a very diverse group - in every sense. And yet somehow, we manage to work closely and well together - not withstanding our differences - but often, because of those differences. My thanks to all of them.