Staff Member Interview #1 - Jadster
The Editorial Team has decided to start doing staff interviews, to allow you, the community, to get to know some of our staff a little bit better. Our first interviewee was Jadster!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself (age,name, location etc): Well, my real name is James otherwise known as Jadster. I am 17 years old and was born on March 8th. I currently reside in Omaha, Nebraska of the United States. I was born in Nebraska but moved around a lot as a child. So due to this, I lived in South Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. I currently have 3 step brothers, 2 younger and 1 older. I also have 1 half sister. I am a senior in high school and I am currently employed as a cashier / checker at HyVee on weekends only to help save up for my college & such. I am also a gamer, coder, and forum owner.
2. When did you first start visiting forums?:
I started visiting forums back when I was about 8 years old. I was interested in the computer and one day decided to make a website of my own. However being an 8 year old trying to learn how to make a website wasn't the easiest, so that plan fell through quickly. Over the years though, I began to grow an interest into game design and how they were made. So I found out about coding and what it can be used for. I immediately found an interest and spent years of my life learning it. I have also taken classes in my high school to continue learning and to this day, I haven't looked back.
3. Biggest life success/achievement:
My biggest achievement in life so far? Well that is surely a tough one to answer. I would have to say my biggest achievement or success in my life was making it to where I am today. Surrounded by people I enjoy and people who care for me. Got a great job both offline and online and just a great life in general. Sure, I had my hard times like any normal human being but just being able to see my past and see where I am today and know that I have come so far, it is surely the best feeling to me. Knowing that I am making my family proud and that I always have them to support me is by far something I see as a success in my own life.
4. What would you change about FP?:
This is a question I feel the staff and even members at times get asked quite frequently. Looking at ForumPromotion now compared to when I first joined in September of 2012, I feel that many things have changed. Some for the better and some for the worse but needless to say, this site has still gained its popularity and still continued to grow over the years. But if I had to change something, I would have to say the reputation system. My reason for this, is when members reach a certain amount of posts, their rep they give, is 2 instead of 1. I feel that a like system could be implemented to like posts instead of giving reputation. Because in my eyes, reputation is earned over a course of time, but having such a high number of reputation just cause members can give 2 instead of 1, I feel that is abused because then people think they have a "reputation" here even if they really don't. But then again, maybe that is just me being paranoid about things.
5. One thing in life you regret:
Oh boy, there are a lot of things I regret to be honest. I would have to say my biggest thing I regret was not spending enough time with my family and grandparents when I was younger, and even today. I always was so fascinated by my own things such as websites, video games, toys, friends that I never really payed much attention to my family or I would seclude myself away from all of them. Which didn't punish me, it punished them. I feel that I spent way too much time doing things that I enjoyed that I never spent much time around my own family and I regret that. I don't want to end up being 30 or 40 years old and looking back on my life and feeling bad about all the things I never got to do with my family. Thus why I am doing what I can to change and be around them more. I regret not spending more time with them when I was younger, so I am now trying to make up for that today.
6. Funniest life experience/moment:
This answer cannot be just 1 moment or experience. It is just too hard to pick out of all of them. I would just have to say any time I am with my 2 best friend Preston & Jared. The 3 of us will crack jokes, make puns, do stupid stuff and just make so many references to stuff we have heard or seen together that we all just have a great time. We all will laugh until we are in too much pain or until somebody is in the hospital (not literally). But just having those 2 as my friends and more importantly, my best friends is something I never want to give up. Every day is a fun day with those guys. We all go to school together and even if I am in the worst of moods ever, those guys know how to make me smile and laugh without even having to try. So I would just have to say any moment or experience I have with the 2 of them is a funny moment in my life.
7. What are you planning to do in later life?:
After I graduate high school, I hope to go on to Metropolitan Community College, get my degree in welding and then move to ITT Technical Institute to get my degree in anything computer related. I love doing computer based stuff but I also enjoy getting my hands dirty and if I had to choose any hands on career, welding would be my choice hands down. I have taken every welding class my high school has to offer except for 1 of them and I am taking that one in January. So by the time I graduate, I will have taken all the welding classes I can and almost all the computer based classes that I can. So seeing as how I have a passion for both of those fields, I plan to go and get my certification and degree in both to open up my options after college.
8. Do you want to get married/have kids as you get older?:
Do I want to get married? Yes. Do I want to have kids? Yes. When I am older, graduate college and have a career that pays good to be able to help me support myself and a family, I would love to have a wife and kids. I absolutely love the idea of having kids but I have to make sure that I can support myself and do good for myself before I bring in another person and maybe even a few younger ones into my life. But I also don't plan on getting married until after I graduate college and can maintain a relationship for a good amount of time.
9. Have you ever owned a forum? If you have what advice would you give to new forum owners?:
Yes, as it stands I currently own a forum and I am still building it up as I type this but to answer the question, yes, I have owned a forum. Several to be honest. Some advice I could give would have to be pick a good niche. Picking a niche is key when wanting to make a forum because your niche will with you for the entirety of your forum. So you want to pick one that you can do well and that you can build a community off of. Another piece of key advice would have to be, never give up. Giving up will only lead to failure and you will have to try again. Now I am known to do that so it isn't the best advice but I am always working on practicing what I preach but even though I may not follow it 100%, that doesn't mean it isn't true.
10. Of all the teams you have worked on at FP which one has been the best and why?:
Well, as it stands, I have only worked on 2 of the teams here at Forum Promotion. I worked as a Package Team Member for a while and I worked as a Review Team Member as well. But now, I am working here at Forum Promotion as the Review Team Leader, so I currently run the entire review team and the service itself. But if I had to choose which one is the best, I would have to say both. They are equally important. Now, the package service is more popular but both teams serve a very important role in providing quality services here at Forum Promotion. So I really cannot choose between the both that I have worked on because I feel they are both just as important and both just as good. Now, others may feel different but again, that is their opinion and this is mine.
11. Any other comments?:
I just would like to thank you for allowing me to be interviewed for the Forum Promotion blog and I am glad I got to take the time to do the interview and I hope you all enjoyed reading it and getting to know more about me.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself (age,name, location etc): Well, my real name is James otherwise known as Jadster. I am 17 years old and was born on March 8th. I currently reside in Omaha, Nebraska of the United States. I was born in Nebraska but moved around a lot as a child. So due to this, I lived in South Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. I currently have 3 step brothers, 2 younger and 1 older. I also have 1 half sister. I am a senior in high school and I am currently employed as a cashier / checker at HyVee on weekends only to help save up for my college & such. I am also a gamer, coder, and forum owner.
2. When did you first start visiting forums?:
I started visiting forums back when I was about 8 years old. I was interested in the computer and one day decided to make a website of my own. However being an 8 year old trying to learn how to make a website wasn't the easiest, so that plan fell through quickly. Over the years though, I began to grow an interest into game design and how they were made. So I found out about coding and what it can be used for. I immediately found an interest and spent years of my life learning it. I have also taken classes in my high school to continue learning and to this day, I haven't looked back.
3. Biggest life success/achievement:
My biggest achievement in life so far? Well that is surely a tough one to answer. I would have to say my biggest achievement or success in my life was making it to where I am today. Surrounded by people I enjoy and people who care for me. Got a great job both offline and online and just a great life in general. Sure, I had my hard times like any normal human being but just being able to see my past and see where I am today and know that I have come so far, it is surely the best feeling to me. Knowing that I am making my family proud and that I always have them to support me is by far something I see as a success in my own life.
4. What would you change about FP?:
This is a question I feel the staff and even members at times get asked quite frequently. Looking at ForumPromotion now compared to when I first joined in September of 2012, I feel that many things have changed. Some for the better and some for the worse but needless to say, this site has still gained its popularity and still continued to grow over the years. But if I had to change something, I would have to say the reputation system. My reason for this, is when members reach a certain amount of posts, their rep they give, is 2 instead of 1. I feel that a like system could be implemented to like posts instead of giving reputation. Because in my eyes, reputation is earned over a course of time, but having such a high number of reputation just cause members can give 2 instead of 1, I feel that is abused because then people think they have a "reputation" here even if they really don't. But then again, maybe that is just me being paranoid about things.
5. One thing in life you regret:
Oh boy, there are a lot of things I regret to be honest. I would have to say my biggest thing I regret was not spending enough time with my family and grandparents when I was younger, and even today. I always was so fascinated by my own things such as websites, video games, toys, friends that I never really payed much attention to my family or I would seclude myself away from all of them. Which didn't punish me, it punished them. I feel that I spent way too much time doing things that I enjoyed that I never spent much time around my own family and I regret that. I don't want to end up being 30 or 40 years old and looking back on my life and feeling bad about all the things I never got to do with my family. Thus why I am doing what I can to change and be around them more. I regret not spending more time with them when I was younger, so I am now trying to make up for that today.
6. Funniest life experience/moment:
This answer cannot be just 1 moment or experience. It is just too hard to pick out of all of them. I would just have to say any time I am with my 2 best friend Preston & Jared. The 3 of us will crack jokes, make puns, do stupid stuff and just make so many references to stuff we have heard or seen together that we all just have a great time. We all will laugh until we are in too much pain or until somebody is in the hospital (not literally). But just having those 2 as my friends and more importantly, my best friends is something I never want to give up. Every day is a fun day with those guys. We all go to school together and even if I am in the worst of moods ever, those guys know how to make me smile and laugh without even having to try. So I would just have to say any moment or experience I have with the 2 of them is a funny moment in my life.
7. What are you planning to do in later life?:
After I graduate high school, I hope to go on to Metropolitan Community College, get my degree in welding and then move to ITT Technical Institute to get my degree in anything computer related. I love doing computer based stuff but I also enjoy getting my hands dirty and if I had to choose any hands on career, welding would be my choice hands down. I have taken every welding class my high school has to offer except for 1 of them and I am taking that one in January. So by the time I graduate, I will have taken all the welding classes I can and almost all the computer based classes that I can. So seeing as how I have a passion for both of those fields, I plan to go and get my certification and degree in both to open up my options after college.
8. Do you want to get married/have kids as you get older?:
Do I want to get married? Yes. Do I want to have kids? Yes. When I am older, graduate college and have a career that pays good to be able to help me support myself and a family, I would love to have a wife and kids. I absolutely love the idea of having kids but I have to make sure that I can support myself and do good for myself before I bring in another person and maybe even a few younger ones into my life. But I also don't plan on getting married until after I graduate college and can maintain a relationship for a good amount of time.
9. Have you ever owned a forum? If you have what advice would you give to new forum owners?:
Yes, as it stands I currently own a forum and I am still building it up as I type this but to answer the question, yes, I have owned a forum. Several to be honest. Some advice I could give would have to be pick a good niche. Picking a niche is key when wanting to make a forum because your niche will with you for the entirety of your forum. So you want to pick one that you can do well and that you can build a community off of. Another piece of key advice would have to be, never give up. Giving up will only lead to failure and you will have to try again. Now I am known to do that so it isn't the best advice but I am always working on practicing what I preach but even though I may not follow it 100%, that doesn't mean it isn't true.
10. Of all the teams you have worked on at FP which one has been the best and why?:
Well, as it stands, I have only worked on 2 of the teams here at Forum Promotion. I worked as a Package Team Member for a while and I worked as a Review Team Member as well. But now, I am working here at Forum Promotion as the Review Team Leader, so I currently run the entire review team and the service itself. But if I had to choose which one is the best, I would have to say both. They are equally important. Now, the package service is more popular but both teams serve a very important role in providing quality services here at Forum Promotion. So I really cannot choose between the both that I have worked on because I feel they are both just as important and both just as good. Now, others may feel different but again, that is their opinion and this is mine.
11. Any other comments?:
I just would like to thank you for allowing me to be interviewed for the Forum Promotion blog and I am glad I got to take the time to do the interview and I hope you all enjoyed reading it and getting to know more about me.
