Great post pg 😃 ... Not read a latest post which came close to this 1... i think it's all about patience and persistence... ok ... so most of the initial memebrs were from sify grps , yahoo... hmmmm now that many of them r in b schools n moved on as most of them are not to b seen , i get ur point regarding future of pg.com ... i.e current members role in the future... motivation behind staying on ... valid pts ... something to discuss in the future ... as for now , we know how it all began 😃 ... lets see what other initial members have to contibute ... 
Nice to note the background finally.. the links to the older versions and posts were especially cool. Keep up the Gud work PG.. (i always called u that way)..jus joined a month back already feel at home.
Stages of publicity
1) Sify forum
2) Word of Mouth
3) Cat-2003
4) IMS flash mob 
5) PG made Googlable
6) What Next ??? 😃
5) PG made Googlable
C'mon .. our intentions were to keep quality and the issue running on the back of my mind was server resource usage
We're pushing 1GB of data a DAY now. Last February, during CAT results, we were pushed 1.8GB or so in the entire MONTH But yes, luckily we've been able to maintain quality and its always nice to see that the maximum number of searches are for "pagalguy"
- Almost 8% of the searches ! So i guess its still word of mouth
Wow
3) Cat-2003
Another major boost for us. For those who came in late ..
, Anil ran that group and included the forum URL in all the messages! But there even came a time when he removed the link because even he felt the forum quality was taking a hit !
.. So you guys .. its not a perfect science running this place - but most often its the concern of the people which ensures its constant growth and quality 😉
pagalguy Says3) Cat-2003
Another major boost for us. For those who came in late .., Anil ran that group and included the forum URL in all the messages!
Hey man.. I still run (?) that group!
anil Says3) Cat-2003
Another major boost for us. For those who came in late ..
Hey man.. I still run (?) that group!
anil... you still what??
Hey PG... great great post yaar. Even though i know most of it, It was awe inspiring to hear (read) it from horse's mouth(keybaord). And yeah, we can continue the discussion about the 'Future of forum and its how its alumni can contribute to it'. But lemme become one first.
Goodday
,Chandoo
Hiii PG 😁 ,
Nice Post Mate
.In fact i was a witness to whatever you have described above.I was moderating the yahoogroup cat2k2 , which was popular among junta last year .Thought I an add my two cents to this .One fine day , just two weeks after CAT in 2002 ,I was browsing lazily in a Satyam i-Way in Chennai and the message I had always dreaded came to my inbox :D.It was from Shubh001 , one of the popular members in cat2k2 .
From: "Pach"
Date: Wed Dec 4, 2002 4:05 pm
Subject: http://www.pagalguy.com/cat
Hi,
This is yet another site about CAT. It might be helpful for your GD/PI and other CAT related queries. check it out
http://www.pagalguy.com/cat
______________________________________________________
[email protected]
.Though cat2k2 was popular and quite useful , i knew if somone devised a new format for more fruitful/useful discussions we will have a member drain .Cat2k2 had 800+ members but had some inherent disadvantages like simultaneous replies by many users for the same question, spamming ,flaming ,wild arguments about many topics that were not related to the topic and so on.When I saw that message , I rejected it thinking that it was irrelevant and couldnt connect it much to CAT.Anyway I visited the link, and the moment it loaded I knew we may have to shut the shop(cat2k2) and this forum is going to score over cat2k2.It had quite a decent format with a separate thread for each discussion , a search functionality where the results were more relevant , an option to see replies to your thread .In a yahoogroup whether you are interested or not all the mails come to your mailbox ,just clog in and you have to go through them rather unnecessarily and many of those mails may not be useful to you.
Well, when I logged in a PGite archie was online, I havent seen her much after that.She told me the forum was created by a guy who called himself Pagalguy(Our PG) and it was very useful and interactive forum for CAT aspirants .(She was the first PG Addict I talked to).I browsed through all the messages and couldnt help but admire the forum.Mailed this guy (PG) and congratulated him on this new forum.After three days I got a reply from him telling that the number of registered members has increased thanks to the mail by Shubh.PG had around 120+ members then and I feel around 200+ members from cat2k2 joined here like arun,adiieu,philiptj,girish,manduks,kunalrana,lyndon,prasanna etc...(CAT VETERANS).U can see them in the introduction messages in the link How You came to know about PG Forums?
http://www.pagalguy.com/cat/viewtopic.php?t=783&highlight;=pgforum
It is the momentum and quality of the members that carries any forum forward and I had been a PG addict from that day though in different avatars .I became a PGAddict along with many of my group members ;-).Whenever someone asks about MBA preparation the first suggestion is always pagalguy.com/cat :!:
. I have seen many forums and yahoogroups for CAT .But man, this is SIMPLY THE BEST .Welldone PG and Moderators ..
cheerz 😁
Indyan
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gosh.. that really means a lot mate. Hats off to you for managing the cat2k2 group in a really noteworthy manner. Almost every member who used to talk about yahoogroups and CAT in the same breath mentioned the group cat2k2. I do remember that after Shub posted, we got loads of new members - and boy..you've listed all the top guns in your reply
I had lost track of all the logins you had used here .. until you came back on the XL thread
Its great to hear from you mate. For the work you've done with cat2k2, no one can forget you. :)
As for now - Happy Posting and Glad to have you on board 😁
Indyan Says[It is the momentum and quality of the members that carries any forum forward and I had been a PG addict from that day though in different avatars .I became a PGAddict along with many of my group members ;-).Indyan
Gr8 post mate....tht spirit of urs shud take u places in life ..3 cheers for u...
Also PG can well be a major case study ......:) ..For starters, Quality as the biggest brand ambassador !!
Suhas
man.... wasn't that amazing... cant believe that PG... i almost got emotional reading all that stuff...bout u and ur ideas..from what i hear of u (in the meet posts. sum1 said that u talk like ur 53!! and the above thread...) u seem to have a fertile mind full to the brim with ideas...
i came to know of the site thru lyndon when he was giving me serious funda one evening...told me that it was a huge site and it wud take me 3-4 days to get a hang of it...
those days i had a dialup and though i wanted cudn't really spend much time on PG...now since i have a 24/7 conn. have bcome much more reg...in fact i spend almost an hour or more on PG evryday...
really owe u man...u have beeen an inspiration to me on initiative, creativity, on good reading...(i read that thread regd. ur fav books...and i was like what is this guy!!!).. etc.etc...
NE ways .. i too spread PG.com thru word of mouth...pity i didn't get the bright idea of using the referrals link!!)
Gr8 going PG...
Gordon
arre PG....as usual QUALITY post frm u!!
keeep it up
really owe u man...u have beeen an inspiration to me on initiative, creativity, on good reading...(i read that thread regd. ur fav books...and i was like what is this guy!!!).. etc.etc...
I'm honoured 😃 .. But yes, as anyone can vouch - intiative is a must.. Plus too much logic can be a pain in the plans
Just do what you love to and don't always listen to everybody
So here we are!! First of all that was a brilliant post Allwin And it took me abt half an hour telling him everything.."almost" repeated PG's post!
The community feeling the forum fosters is indeed commendable and also the junta rocks big time! That is simply self evident by the number of PG MEETS we are having! I think we have really gone "public" now going by the sheer number of ppl thronging the forum! Infact not long back there were not more than 10 regular posters....but now!!!
But the moot question is...WHAT NEXT? It would be gross underuse of the potential and great injustice to the forum and to the vision behind the forum if it turns out to be merely a virtual socializing place and a dump for all our mock cAT scores....the intellectual capital present in the forum is simply tremendous and steps must be taken to tap it and make the best of it....and this is the time where the B-schoolers have to really rise up to the occasion...should admit in spite of being a regular in this forum for more than a year and having "interacted" with the b-schoolers via their posts I am still back to square one when given a choice between choosing between any of the IIM's or XLRI!
The number of ppl from this forum who are eventually gonna make it to a B-school is certainly gonna be huge! Those who do must really strive to contribute to the forum in a more objective way...it's time we "do it" than merely "say it"...after all proof of the pudding is in only tasting it! Let us make use of the greatest thing to come out of the ppl...the ppl and their intellectual cpaital..something tells me THAT will be the defining moment for this forum where ppl will flock not only for a more objective and realistic analysis for cut-offs but also for joining a B-school! It might seem like a mere pie in the sky for now....but then abt 17 months back someone with a crazy URL
Girish...!
The community feeling the forum fosters is indeed commendable and also the junta rocks big time! That is simply self evident by the number of PG MEETS we are having! I think we have really gone "public" now going by the sheer number of ppl thronging the forum! Infact not long back there were not more than 10 regular posters....but now!!!
This was another area where I felt we could make a difference
.. Traditionally folks are afraid of meeting anyone through the net - bad experiences and all - luckily with the forum we've broken that mold. People pick up a place, a time and voila , you get to meet the faces behind those usernames. As for cutoffs - I say we beat any of the institutes out there - completely hollow
It might seem like a mere pie in the sky for now....but then abt 17 months back someone with a crazy URLand a couple of members had a dream...and look where we are now!
Well said. I hope people understand that it doesn't require a huge band of people to make a difference. I was lucky to push through this forum and look where we are. I hope the current batch and everyone involved make their own decisions on how this forum should grow to meet their future needs. Any one here ready to the initiative ?
Let us make use of the greatest thing to come out of the ppl...the ppl and their intellectual cpaital..something tells me THAT will be the defining moment for this forum where ppl will flock not only for a more objective and realistic analysis for cut-offs but also for joining a B-school!
Ya Girish.. Agree with a lot of things u have said.. But I was thinking...Arent we kinda limiting the whole thing to a mere B School.. Yes, I know we all are here to get into an MBA program... but do u think the resource wise, we can only come up with a sectional cut off...or decent articles about 'How to..' .. Hmmm...Why not go beyond all these academics & reach out...
pagalguy SaysI hope people understand that it doesn't require a huge band of people to make a difference. I was lucky to push through this forum and look where we are. I hope the current batch and everyone involved make their own decisions on how this forum should grow to meet their future needs.
Well.. This also came up in the meet but went off somewhere tangentially!! PGz .. Do u think ppl would meet (let us say in Mumbai!!) every alternate Sunday to come up with something worthwhile for some lesser privileged!!! That is something that we can really work about considering the no. of ppl who would be ready to offer something (if not in terms of money then in terms of time/ energy) But yes, i do agree that its time PG (as in one person) stops pushing this forum into some direction... but we all can do it together!!
Frankly.. nowhere else in this world... can i have sucha huge audience!!! Can we point it all to some place where it will light up something!!! Ya.. Even i am a lil flaky here... Would like to see if anybody else would try to make sense of what I am saying... Is it possible....
been thinking abt posting here since long .... better late than never ...
Simba said :
Frankly.. nowhere else in this world... can i have sucha huge audience!!! Can we point it all to some place where it will light up something!!! Ya.. Even i am a lil flaky here... Would like to see if anybody else would try to make sense of what I am saying... Is it possible....
many ppl share your thoughts Simba .. but what I feel now is,
rather than forcing the board to take a particular direction / aim, its better to let it take its own course. If majority feels CAT related discussions are the defacto themes, then so be it . Idea is to let the community continue. & Hell, we are not gonna let Allwin take this down
PG said :
Well said. I hope people understand that it doesn't require a huge band of people to make a difference. I was lucky to push through this forum and look where we are. I hope the current batch and everyone involved make their own decisions on how this forum should grow to meet their future needs. Any one here ready to the initiative ?
right said .. time for new set of people to come & take the community forward.