Thanks for dropping by! If you'll pull up a chair for a second, I'll tell ya a little bit about the place, and give you some helpful hints, and let you know where this beast is heading.

First off, you'll probably notice that SFO is running on the free version of the BoonEx Dolphin social networking script. The reason for this is rather simple, we wanted to get the site up as fast as we could, with as many features as we could, so writing it from scratch at the beginning was right out the airlock. This also allows us to get a better idea of how people use the site - what features they love, what features they hate, what bugs are getting in the way - things along that line - and then, later down the road a little, we'll write our own, transfer the data, and keep on going. This is called 'user-centric development', and we believe in it wholeheartedly.

As a secondary result of that, we desparately WANT your input. We want to know what you love, hate, could do without, would use if this or that feature was added - those types of things. That helps us plan, but also a majority of the problems can be fixed right now. If you see that we don't have a forum for "Monster movies of the 50's", and that's something you REALLY like... let us know - we'll add a forum for you. (It may be the more generic "Monster Movies", but you get the idea!)

We are WIDE OPEN for ideas and criticisms - how else can we make it a better site for everyone? Having said that, not every thing will be done quickly, and indeed, not everything suggested will be done at all. It's all a cost/benefit tradeoff - the cost being measured in development effort, the benefit being measured in how many people it will benefit.

But enough about that, SFO is a place where like-minded people - people who enjoy and work in the business of sci-fi - can get together in a safe environment. If you go to the large social networking sites like Myspace, LiveJournal, Friendster, or Facebook, you may sometimes (okay, often) feel left out in the cold when it comes to your love for sci-fi. Here, that's NOT a problem. We will be actively trying to get people influential in sci-fi to join up here. We know that sci-fi fans and sci-fi creators get along well - very well. Our calendar doesn't have the latest Paris Hilton gossip, but it will have sci-fi conventions and more informal get-togethers (and even one reference to the end of the world - See Sep 10, 2008!). We will search the net for reviews of sci-fi books and movies and bring them to you here. Maybe we will have our members' own stories published here, or previews of coming books (there's already one publisher here who is interested in that!), or - if you are lucky - it may be that one contact you need to become the next Heinlein yourself. You just never know.

Expect the unexpected. Anticipate the moment. You may end up in a chat room with your favorite actor. Or find long lost fan friends. Or figure out who the final cylon is! This is a place for you, the fan. We are here simply to help make it work right.

Again, let us know how we can spruce the place up. The BEST way to do that is in the forums, under the "SFO Support and Guidance" folder - Select "Suggestions for improvement" and write your ideas down! We will review them often and get back to you with a "Yea", "No", or "Hmmmm... interesting" as soon as we evaluate your ideas.

Thanks again for coming to SFO, and I hope you will find whatever it is you are looking for here!