Happy 7th Anniversay, LTHforum!

LTHForum actually went live in February of 2004 as a demonstration of low bandwidth software for a discussion site.

The very first known thread still existing is Seth Zurer's Red burgundy under $20?.

The demo became a working website in May, 2004. Those who joined in on this group project to create a website to our expectations had not finished hanging the curtains or arranging the furniture when the big party began.

The first day that it really became known to the world was May 27, 2004, when it was announced to the old LTH list-serve, which had been created to facilitate social gatherings of folks posting on Chowhound's Chicago board.

After one year we had 970 registered members; today it's 9845. After one year we had a little over 33,000 posts; today it's almost 358,147 and 26,163 topics.

What makes LTH tick is the generosity of its participants who provide interesting restaurant reviews, show us how to cook better, where to find ingredients, provide social commentary and compile a worthy list of Great Neighborhood Restaurants/Resources with their enthusiasm.

Happy anniversary, countless members and generous sharers of so much good information. Your time and efforts are appreciated from this community as well as a world of lurkers!

Regards,

I much enjoyed going to the burgundy thread and seeing the exchange (first two moderators respond and admit they know nothing, MikeG moderating, GWiv giving dicksond a hard time, etc.).

Thanks for the anniversary reminder, C2. It's been a good ride.

No anniversary cake?

I can truthfully say that LTH has become an extremely significant addition to my quality of life. A thousand thanks to you folks (you know who you are! : ) who got this baby off the ground!

Geo

I'll ditto that.

I love this forum. I don't get a chance to meet very often with the members socially, but I feel like I know some of you. You have expanded my horizons in more ways that just food. I've had the opportunity to peek into different cultures, religions, careers, and diversity galore. I use to think of Chicago as just big and faceless. Now there are many faces I can link to this city...fun, witty, clever, good natured, kidding, generous, hard working, and enthusiastic to name a few.

Now what I want to know is who was the originator of LTH? I've seen it claimed in several CVs. I'm thinking it was a group effort?

Cathy2 wrote:What makes LTH tick is the generosity of its participants who provide interesting restaurant reviews, show us how to cook better, where to find ingredients, provide social commentary and compile a worthy list of Great Neighborhood Restaurants/Resources with their enthusiasm.

Happy anniversary, countless members and generous sharers of so much good information. Your time and efforts are appreciated from this community as well as a world of lurkers!

Regards,

Speaking of cooking better I need to know whether you would process preserved lemons so they don't need to be refrigerated prior to opening?

I have to say LTH Forum has been a terrific boon to my quality of food life, in the three or so years I've been here I have learned a hell of a lot and enjoyed a lot of really good meals I'd otherwise never have knowed (nod to Dylan).

razbry wrote:Now what I want to know is who was the originator of LTH? I've seen it claimed in several CVs. I'm thinking it was a group effort?

How’d it start?

I love this article. The last paragraph had me laughing. I'm still a little confused however. Sounded like Gary W was the brainchild and a band of seven then joined to make it happen? For posterity, I'd like to know who the other seven were. We are talking history here.

razbry wrote:I love this article. The last paragraph had me laughing. I'm still a little confused however. Sounded like Gary W was the brainchild and a band of seven then joined to make it happen? For posterity, I'd like to know who the other seven were. We are talking history here.

I'd start listing them, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get it right. It was, or at least seems, like a long time ago.

razbry wrote:I love this article.

I started/ran the listserv and turned the key on the url LTHForum.com, but the resulting discussion board was group effort. Speaking of group effort, its not moderators who make the board tick, its the posting members, which include moderators, keeping LTHForum interesting.

awwwww Gary, you are such a diplomat I still think, however, that the history of the start of LTH and the people involved should be recorded for posterity.

In the beginning, there were twelve moderators/apostles, here presented alphabetically: Bruce Cook (Bruce), Peter Daane (ddanne), Aaron Deacon, David Dickson (Dicksond), Rob Gardner (Vital Information), Michael Gebert (Mike G), Melissa Graham (MAG), David Hammond, Eric Hill (Erik M), Cathy Lambrecht (Cathy2), Gary Wiviott (G Wiv), and Seth Zurer. Erik decided he did not want any administrative role almost immediately, and so left to become a legend.

Michael Morowitz (eatchicago) began helping with the technical side within two years, when Seth got a new job and was unable to do so. He became a moderator, a position he relinquished to start Local Beet. Joe Germuska is now the man with the tech expertise.

The most excellent Ron Kaplan (ronnie_suburban) came on as a mod in what seems like recently but was certainly years ago; eGullet’s loss, our immeasurable gain.

Gary Wiviott is the human face of LTH, kind of like Queen Elizabeth is to England. For years he’s been the front man, the go-to guru, the uber eater, the man VI called the Ultimate Chowhound, who speaks with authority for the board, named after one of his emblematically unsung favorite restaurants.

What Gwiv said above about this being a site created by the community chorus is without doubt true.

Another fun fact: The only person to have read all LTH posts, ever written by any one, the dining den mother of us all: C2

I anticipate corrections – I mean, no one was taking notes (exactly).

Now that is history...properly recorded. Thanks!

David Hammond wrote:I
Gary Wiviott is the human face of LTH, kind of like Queen Elizabeth is to England.

I'm just imagining some future Google search for either one of the two subjects in that sentence that returns the other.

I've just been informed about a fact I may have forgotten (if, indeed, I ever knew it): Steve Zaransky (stevez) was also among the "founders" of LTH, and the only reason he wasn't among the 12 people listed was that he was out of town on business the day that everyone got together and formalized everything (which was also the night we endured GWiv's overt flirtation with a wheel-chair bound and drunken man of the streets: an unforgettable and even unto this day, profoundly disturbing exchange).

Sooo... which apostle betrays Gary? And what's the deal with those Peeps, anyway?

Independent George wrote:Sooo... which apostle betrays Gary? And what's the deal with those Peeps, anyway?

GWiv is one of the 12...but maybe that was a bad analogy to start in the first place (I kind of consider us all -- all 9.5K of us -- apostles of deliciousness).

HI,

If you want to discuss the pending sale of LTHforum, please direct it to Site Chat.

Regards,
Cathy2