Fone Forum

Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I have greatly admired the dignified way in which Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement.  The common sense reasons that he gave for his decision also resonated with me strongly.

I have been here since May 22, 2008, having first prepared the forum for it's launch, and then serving here in the role of Administrator ever since, for getting on for 5 years now.  One of my greatest difficulties has been our software, principally getting it updated, and the partial incompatibility between our data base and our surrounding forum software remedied.  I have fought a losing battle for the last 3 years to get this done, but nothing I have said to Mikael has persuaded him to act.

I am twice the age of Mikael, and I now feel it is time to stand down, and to make way for some younger man to take on such a responsibility.  I cannot say whom Mikael will chose for such a role, but IMO it needs to be someone with the energy, and strength of purpose and will, to insist that things which need to be done are actioned, and more poignantly, with the astuteness to ensure that no changes are made behind his back, with no prior discussion or agreement, and without his even being notified of such changes after they have been clandestinely carried out.  I hope such a person will emerge from the discussions I envisage now beginning.

I would suggest the following interim arrangements before my successor has been appointed.
I would ask all members to deal with queries regarding forum matters via a PM to a board Moderator.
You may chose the Moderator on the service board concerned, or any of your choice, if the relevant board has none appointed as yet.
Any query concerning an account on one of Mikael's own services should be sent to him, via PM, as before.
I shall no longer be involved with handling such matters myself.

I should like to make my last act here to express my thanks to those growing band of Moderators who have helped me over these  past years, sharing some of the load, and to express my hope that they will give continued service, so that the forum will continue to grow and prosper in the future.

I wish the forum, and my successor, every success.

Firstly I would like to thank Mobaholic for all of his efforts over the past five years. Without him, this forum would not be what it is today.

I respect his decision, but his presence as a senior here will be missed. I hope he will still regularly post here though.

I have been extremely grateful for all of his efforts here and fully appreciate him giving us notice of his desire to retire from his role on this forum. I hope someone will step forward to take on the role he has done admirably well since this forum began!

I am sure that many Members of this forum will, like me, be saddened to learn of this announcement.

I, and no doubt many others, would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to Mobaholic for his invaluable service since this forum's inception. There can be no doubt that without his commitment and dedication to the cause, this flourishing forum would not be what it is today. THANK YOU.

Mh, First of all I'm a bit surprised as this announcement has come out of nowhere. I'm sure no one was expecting this.

Your presence on the forum will be deeply missed. As Mikael said, I hope you would still come on the forum to share your experience with us or just to say hello  :). I, amongst other members appreciate all your effort and hard work in bringing the foneforum to this stage.

Have a good one and enjoy your retirement  :)

This a very sad news for the forum. It is his decision to stand down so we should respect that.I do still hope that mobaholic will still continue to post on this forum. A big thank you for the hard work for last five years.

gudman

Mobaholic,

Thank you for providing all the great services & support on the forum.
I wish you all the best for the future & I hope all your dreams come true. :)

Wish you all the best Mobaholic, it's been a pleasure having you on here. Hope to still see you on here as often as you can.

Good luck for the future. :)

In much the same way as his resignation came as a shock to us, so has your resignation MH come as a shock. All on here must be grateful to MH for all his work. Thank you.

Very sorry to hear that MH.  :(

Wishing you all the best for the future. :)

I'm very shocked at this news just as fellow members are.

The forum will definitely miss you a great deal mh.  Again, hoping you'll post regularly.

A big thankyou from me for all your efforts.

You're a gentleman and a scholar! 

Mobaholic, As rightly said by Graham, many here will be saddened to learn of this announcement.
I remember the journey - the earlier forum (!), the split from there, your google group and then this forum. Thank you very much for your hard work, commitment, knowledge sharing and taking this forum to where it is today.

I hope though you are retiring from your administrator role, you will still stay around and keep posting as usual.

Sad news indeed. It's a shame really. I'm a bit disappointed but also I do respect your decision. I appreciate what you've done to our community. Thanks very much for all your efforts over the last 5 years. All the best to you ! ! !

Kind Regards,
dlR

ps. Which one of these would apply to you ??  ;D

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_z-qb_tZOWfQ/TULjmGQ1loI/AAAAAAAAAU8/3RpoxuCDAcw/s1600/retirement.jpg)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X-sj3fXpw3g/UCO0FEb6GOI/AAAAAAAABWg/UbQrK8KSA3I/s1600/funny-celebrity-pictures-retirement.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3108/2398420649_28f0b123b1_z.jpg)

Hi MH,
I saw your post on retirement from my mobile earlier. Couldn't reply then. didn't wanted to do a one liner..  :)

I couldn't believe the post first and even now I can't believe you are twice the age of Mikael, though I can't ask how old is Mikael ;)

I really appreciated the way you gave your time to make this forum what it is today. I agree with getcopy, the journey from the split from telecomforum and then google groups and then this new forum was not all that easy. You were really dedicated, contacted each member of the old forum you knew personally and built this from scratch. I have also seen couple of times you struggling when there was not much needed support from Mikael, but you never lost your patience. When I talk about patience, I rate you way up high. Times have changed now and most of the discussions are on revenue share and other stuff, but when members used to discuss only about the services provided by Mikael you were as patient as job in explaining things to new members when other moderators (inclduing me!) used to run out of steam!!

Always listened to fellow moderators and senior members when they came up with ideas of restructuring the forum the way it was. I have also seen you taking cautious decisions when banning any members.
 
We all respect your decision and wish you a good retirement, hope to see you around and wish you and Mikael good luck in finding a successor of your dedication!!

-NS

Dear Mobaholic,

Wish you all the best. It's been a pleasure having you on the forum. We will definitely miss your presence.

Regards
Vijay

I have always appreciated MH's hard work here (and at niftylist before that !). I doubt if any one would be able to fill the gap as efficiently....

you will be missed MH !!

Its difficult to imagine this forum without MH. He is the soul of this forum and how can it possible without him. For many years I have seen that MH has done a wonderful job for this forum. I don't know what job you really do MH but you always surprised me managing both jobs at same time. You will be deeply missed. I wish you all the best in your future and thanks for all the work and help you have done all these years.
djyhkr
 

It seems like Mobaholic is still Administrator :)

Have you changed your mind ? :)