The Chat Diva Webring has reached it's first anniversary. No big reason to alert the media, true....but it is cause for celebration.
The majority of webrings are started for two reasons...to generate page hits and bring people of like interests together. Not this ring. This ring was started by a small group of online friends who wanted to add something unique to their friendship. Ummm, I think we accomplished that. As our circle of friends grew, the webring grew...and we found out people WERE interested as we were all getting major page hits through the ring.
The makeup of this ring has been varied from day one, and will always be that way. The ONLY things that we ALL have in common is that we are all female, we have websites and we chat in SOME form.
If you look closely...you'll see LilKim, BeautyBlonde and Firewoman...all active, intelligent high school students, ready to take on the world...(look out, world!). There's DramaQueen, Vicious, SunsetDolphins and MissAfroRican...college and grad students...studying in the fields of the future, or fields where they will have an impact on someone's life. Gumballz and Smoochie are stay-at-home-moms who tackle the never ending job of taking care of home and family. Laurie, Laylen, Catrina and Starchild are some of the moms who work outside the home, dealing with the stresses of the workplace while still being "mom". Sami2mandy, BabyDoll_4_u, Hanna and EbonyLatina are single, widowed and/or divorced moms who do it ALL...and with a smile(well,...MOST of the time). Bratwoman and Chassie work AT home...do they get paid twice? As you can see...many of us have much in common..but no two are like.
When people see some of us together in chat we usually get asked if we all know each other. Well...quite a few of us do..NOW, but that wasn't always the case. The ring has been the cause of many friendships, and you'll also find some "best friends" who didn't meet through the ring, but did meet online...me and brnzSuge, NJGirl and QTPie, Goddess and Brandy, and Chastity and CajunCutie, to name a few. Some have traveled thousands of miles to spend time together...and some are lucky enough to be able to 'do lunch' on a regular basis...*winking @ Suge*
The ChatDiva Webring has also become a pretty impressive support group for it's members. We've helped each other through some pretty rough times, and we're still here smiling.
Just about everything the webring does is a group effort...including this site. Our latest webring logo was created by Catrina. The logo background was put together by BeyondBlonde. The blue DIVA graphic is by Jai and the animated Diva button comes from WhisperDragon. Gumballz, Bonnie and NJGirl supplied the award trophies and plaques and Chastity Belt created the statuettes. The tables on the info base were set up by Bonnie and Testarosa designed the Awards page. I'd also like to thank LilKim for establishing our IRC chatroom, #chat_divas, Goddess for her dedication and hard work..and for all the support in her newsletter, and Ceej and Tayla who are always just an ICQ message away...ready to help in any way.
A Big THANK YOU goes to Micky and Vice of Chatalot for the DivaDen...you guys are great!
A special 'thank you' to Holly Goodhead..PR Director and the ring's number one cheerleader. If there's someone who hasn't heard of the ChatDivas, it's only because Holly hasn't gotten to them yet!
More than 100 women make up the ChatDivas, and I couldn't list all their names here, but they prescence and dedication are always appreciated. VLD to you, Ladies!
My last 'thank you' goes to my favorite Diva (I'll catch MUCH hell for THAT statement)...Diva #2 - Francie. Without Francie, there would be no ChatDivas....we started this together...and her opinion is still the most important to me. (gonna get it for that one, too!) You're one in a million, Francie..thank you...and *BIGHUGZ*.
On the following pages you'll find thoughts, poetry and dedications by some of the Divas. Bookmark and check back often...more will be added. Enjoy!
EbonyFire - #1
November 20th, 1998
