Hats off to the mods, for sure. I was a mod on ADVrider.com for a while, a huge board with over 300k users and almost 30 million posts. We had maybe 20 mods of various flavors. It's calmed down a bit after I left with some rule changes, but it was, and still is, raucous place with many hardened and rough participants. It wasn't cat herding, it was tiger herding.
The thing about modding is that you don't really establish or control the culture. Mods react when people overstep forum rules or behave in a way that is counter and potentially destructive to the currently established cultural state. It's the members that propagate and morph the cultural norms. Mods mostly answer the "clean-up on isle 7" call.
I'm a n00b here and came to this forum because I'm about to switch from motorcycle adventuring to four wheel adventuring. I needed a place where I could learn the things I needed to to build Putt---my step van. (see link in sig). There are all sorts of forums where I could have gotten good advice---Pirate 4x4, iRV, Expedition Portal, etc. I looked at them all, they all fit my technical needs. But I also knew that forum participation is just as much, more really, about the community of people you are joining and making friends as it is about which solar panels to buy.
That's why I joined here. I feel the vibe. I like the vibe. I like the tribe.
(Don't get me started about tribe, unless you want to see walls of text.)
Anyhow, this thread got me thinking about how the cultural vibe actually gets established relative to the work of the mods. And I've come to the conclusion that it's all about Bob, and that light yellow band of editorial content at the top of the page he creates and curates.
A culture arises from it's philosophical principles, which pattern and integrate our core being. All our intentions and how we interpret our experiences go through the filter of our belief system, which is highly effected by our personal and cultural principles. I believe I like this place because Bob has laid out a strong foundation of cultural principles and thought forms that harmonize with mine....and which, I believe, will aid me in becoming a richer, more complex and integrated, beautiful being.
So decodancer, if you're wondering why this place is so different and to your liking, I think you have Bob to thank.
The mods just keep it on its rails.
Just!? Ha! It's a thankless task; a gift from loving hearts that do it because they know how beautiful a culture this is and want to keep it healthy and alive for others. God bless 'em! My hats off to you too. Thanks you for spending 1000s of hours answering the same old questions and moving posts around to create a cogent and wise repository meaning and relationships. Elders of the tribe they are.
Thank you Bob and mods for a beautiful virtual home!
It helped with getting my degree in Communication. (BS~PR/Comm) Until my first stroke I was heading for a Masters in Mediation. 
