My Magnificent Madame
By Cool Black
who is she?
Who is this glorious enigma who has graced this planet with the greatest General Hospital site ever to come into existence? Why am using exaggerated superlatives to describe a mild mannered wife and mother? Because as she told me, “Keep kissing up, you'll go far”.
I found General Hospital Happenings two years ago, and was instantly impressed. It wasn't long after that that she recruited me to be a columnist, thus becoming my editor, and if you know me that is a daunting task. I tell it the way I see it, and often come too close to overriding the rules of her “family friendly” site. She works hard to ensure the cordial content of GHH.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2002,
I “sat down” with "GHH" Shirley to interview her. I wanted some insight on the manager who created the phenomena we all love: GHH. I found out quickly that Madame Editor, or M.E. as I have come to call her, is NOT the demure, (not to call her wild) wholesome, (not to call her sleazy), or stern, (not to call her weak), person you may think she is.
I learned that her Jax fixation goes beyond the “eye candy” of Ingo Rademacher. Someone very near and dear to her reminds her of the GH Aussie. She joked one time when asked if Shirley was her real name, “I picked Shirley because it is a nice kindly name, everyone has an Aunt Shirley right?” A nice, kindly, aunt was NOT the woman I sat down with in the chat room!
Before we got to my questions, Shirley supplied me with a Q and A she had from several years ago, based on questions by various members of GHH at the time, with slight updates. The first, has to be one of Shirley’s most asked questions.
Where did you come up with the idea for GHH?
Thelma and I used to be Forum Managers together for MSN, way back when MSN still had Newsgroup style Forums. It was just a message board and a Chat Room, nothing else. We received some small compensation in the form of free MSN ISP accounts and occasional "gifts". Prior to that, we were just members of the forum and when the positions opened up, MSN sought us out specifically to take on the jobs. We monitored the boards together, I provided spoilers and summaries, and Thelma ran the Chat.
Then MSN decided to shut down all the Forums and offered the ability to create websites to their users instead. Although we received notice that our Forum would be closing, the time line was brief. We had a small but close knit group of participants and I didn't want us to get lost in cyberspace when the Forum closed.
I had already spent quite a bit of time surfing the Net for other GH sites and I knew the nastiness that was out there, and no way did I want that to be our only option. My motivation for creating GHH at the time was purely selfish, I still wanted a place where I could go and not be jumped all over for my opinions. So I decided to dive right in and create GHH, and naturally asked Thelma to be my partner. Since GHH has grown, we have added more assistant managers and others to the staff. (See the Who's Who at GHH page for a full list)
How long has this site been up?
GHH went online July 31st, 1999. We now have 9913 members and are still growing, (as of this publishing, 9/16/02- Check home page for a current figure) with an average of 7000 posts to our board each week.
When you started it did you realize how big it would get?
Not in my wildest dreams.
Do your friends and family know of your accomplishment of having such a wonderful and successful web site?
You are giving me a fat head. No, I really don't think they do. My hubby is somewhat aware.
How many hours a week do you and your staff end up devoting to this site?
I have no idea. A lot. My computer is online 24 hours a day (cable modem now) and whenever I have a spare moment I jump into my chair to catch up on email (you would be amazed how much email the site generates), check the boards, and touch base with my contacts, and of course, update the pages. Often I just sit down for 5 minutes at a time, then I am off to do something else.
Has General Hospital writers or staff ever contacted you about the site? Have they ever complained about the spoilers?
I do receive email from people who work at GH, the network and from people close to the folks who work at GH....usually, this has been in the form of tips or leads. I have never received a complaint from TPTB about spoilers. I also receive email from people who work in the News industry, who report on soaps, yes, even Canadian News people! We have shared information.
Were you a computer person before this site ? How did you learn how to create a web site? Classes?
LOL, not at all...I was pretty ignorant about computers. MSN makes it pretty easy to set up these websites and since that time I have learned some HTML, and that has taught me a great deal.
Does your husband encourage you or discourage you about all the work you put in here? is this your job ??? or a fun thing on the side ?
No I don't get paid...don't even get compensation from MSN they way we used to...this is strictly a labor of love and a way to fend off mind melt! It keeps me challenged. Hubby is tolerant of my "hobby" but he wishes I could find a way to make money at it! Luckily, I earn money from my freelance job.
I want to know how you got your contacts for all the latest up-to-date news, spoilers and rumors.
Most of my sources are listed on the bottom of those pages. Quite a bit used to come from the soap magazines. Since this site became large, I am fortunate enough to have sources contacting me with info. Also, Fan Club Presidents keep me up to date on what the various actors are doing in terms of events and outside jobs.
pssst...now we get to the fun part!
(continued)
