[dn lodge]

Site Name: DN Lodge Webmaster Forums

URL: http://www.dnlodge.com

Description: A community of webmasters who are all interconnected through domains, which is what DN stands for in our title. DN Lodge was launched August 8th, 2005, and has been live ever since: for 20 months. The owner, Brandon (me), is currently 15 and was 13 when he launched the forum. The forum currently has almost 5,000 members, and 32.6 thousand posts. Between school work, practicing the piano :P, and other online projects, I made time for DN Lodge and it has always been one of my main projects.

Currently we are holding a contest, with $6,100 in sponsored prizes, and $250 in cash. We have had a few contests months back, but none this big. I spent a lot of time finding sponsors and setting up the contest threads, etc.

I think DN Lodge is different from other forums because everyone knows each other, and many long time friendships have been formed through this forum. We are also different because we understand that everyone makes mistakes, and we don't ban people for small things such as double posting, etc. And even those who make major mistakes, we give them one chance before their banned. Our moderating style tends to be more laid back, although obvious spam is not tolerated and is instantly deleted. I know a lot of forums who have uptight admins and mods, and I don't think it's healthy for the overall community development.

We currently have 4 moderators, and 2 admins. Between the 6 of us, we keep all signs of spam out. The relationships within our staff is excellent as well, which I feel is a crucial to having a successful forum. Simply put, if there are conflicts within forum staff, things just won't work out. We

DN Lodge's skin is custom, which we got done at Sitepoint a while back. When DN Lodge first launched, we were on the phpbb platform. My first investment other than the domain and hosting for the forum I knew had to be vBulletin. As soon as I had the money, I purchased vB as a leased license (DN Lodge is now on an owned license). The next major investment we made was in vBseo, which we think was also a good investment as well.

We currently have plans that we are working on, involving expanding the forum, and what content we offer.

Reason for Nomination: Well, I figured why not . I've spent hours on end working on this forum for the benefit of its' members, and so far all has went well and paid off. I would be thrilled to be named vBulletin Board of the Month. For months vbulletin.com has been my main source (more like only source) for vBulletin mods, although I may not post much here, I do visit often. I think you have a great site, and BOTM is a really cool thing that you guys do.

I hope you consider my entry.

Thanks,
Brandon
DN Lodge Admin