|
|
Post by roger on Apr 30, 2007 7:49:23 GMT
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, running a forum such as this isn't always easy. It can be stressful and frustrating at times, but it is always a privilege and a pleasure because it is for Hayley and for everyone who appreciates her as we do.
Thanks again,
Roger
|
|
|
|
Post by Richard on Apr 30, 2007 8:41:23 GMT
Hello Eric!  Many thanks from me too. We're very lucky here at HWI because we've got so many active members keeping the forum busy. The forum does take quite a bit of looking after, so I'm very proud to be part of the Management Team.  Best Wishes from London, Richard  |
|
Martin
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team
Posts: 3,339
|
Post by Martin on Apr 30, 2007 8:44:24 GMT
Hi Eric No need to apologise! You have described exactly how we all feel about HWI. Also, I fully endorse your comments on our Administrator and band of Moderators who provide the environment for this "community" to flourish. Without causing Roger to blush too much I never cease to be amazed how much work is put into the management of the site which is nigh on 24x7! Don't you ever sleep Roger? Martin |
|
|
|
Post by roger on Apr 30, 2007 9:43:44 GMT
Sleep? Sorry, that word is not familiar to me. Could you explain, please?  Oh yes, I remember now. Don't worry, I got some in 1996! Roger |
|
|
|
Post by grant on Apr 30, 2007 14:40:16 GMT
Hi Eric
I think most of us feel that this is a very special place to be and its fantastic that our newer members are picking that up so quickly. Guess we're doing something right.
Thanks for sharing your feelings.
Best wishes
Grant
|
|
|
|
Post by xcv462 on Aug 21, 2007 16:09:53 GMT
Since I live in the USA,
Without this forum I would only have a few Cd's of a beautiful voice.and 2 DVDs
Being here lets me enjoy ever concert with all of you,and learn more about Hayley ever day.Closest thing to being there.
Thank You Every One
|
|
|
|
Post by grant on Aug 21, 2007 18:53:08 GMT
Since I live in the USA, Without this forum I would only have a few Cd's of a beautiful voice.and 2 DVDs Being here lets me enjoy ever concert with all of you,and learn more about Hayley ever day.Closest thing to being there. Thank You Every One It's all about sharing xcv461, and our love for Hayley. Best wishes Grant |
|
|
|
Post by starbuck on Aug 21, 2007 20:30:15 GMT
|
|
Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
|
Post by Joe on Aug 22, 2007 0:34:15 GMT
Since I live in the USA, Without this forum I would only have a few Cd's of a beautiful voice.and 2 DVDs Being here lets me enjoy ever concert with all of you,and learn more about Hayley ever day.Closest thing to being there. Thank You Every One It's all about sharing xcv461, and our love for Hayley. Best wishes Grant Well said...A cheer for HWI: I cherish every picture, I cherish every post, Hayley Westenra's the girl we love the most!  |
|
|
|
Post by postscript on Jan 17, 2009 14:28:38 GMT
Hi Annie and All. Prompted by Richard I wondered where to take my deviation (i.e 'off topic' post) and nearly started a new thread. Then I found this thread which I thought would do and suggest Annie you might like to read the preceding posts in this thread. The immediate precursor of my diversion in the Sophie thread is here.Picking up from my inadvertent deviation on Sohie Westenra thread, I went on to say: Okay, I really must remember to start reading the latest 50 posts backwards, so I get the sequence. Catching up with your riposte, Annie, quoted above, note my bold emphasis of your own words. If you feel that you and your group of friends have a different viewpoint, it is in Hayley's interest (which is why we are all here!) that it should be heard. One of the things we have always been concerned about is the breadth of viewpoint. You raise in another way a criticism that has already been levelled at some of us. Some of us (me included) have the resource of life-style circumstance and geography to be able to meet with Hayley often. As was pointed out a little while back by some of those who do not have this opportunity, to them we can come across as rather lauding it and rubbing salt into the wound. You raise this in a slightly different way, so perhaps we need (myself included) to have a wider awareness of the diverse backgrounds of the people likely to read our posts. Those of us privileged to feel we understand Hayley a little from regular contact over several years--the crucial formative years--may inadvertently come over as 'authoritative', maybe even 'pompous'. In many ways this is a vast site with all that it has to offer and it takes some time for someone new to find their way around and glean the history that has been acquired by diverse people, all with different but sometimes quite deep, backgrounds in music and the arts generally. This inherent self-knowledge can be quite extensive and they do tend to write as peer to peer. Perhaps we need to remember more that there are people, just as excited and just as interested, who don't have that background. Countering that comment is a desire held I believe by all, to share and expand all our horizons. One reality factor that concerns those of us who fit the description, is that a site like this needs technical experience to run it as well as a wide awareness of acceptability of monitoring, as well as concern of matching Hayley's standards of professionalism. This site came initially from the 'oldie' segment of the population They sought to gain trust and acceptance from Hayley's parents as at that time she was under-age, needed chaperoning and was clearly vulnerable. We are very concerned that the average age here, by default of how it started, is closer to the ages of Hayley's parents than to Hayley herself but that probably reflects the average age of her concert audience! If you check out the management of this site you will find it is approved of by Hayley herself and her parents and we do know, that either directly or through the Hayley's professional management structure, they are aware of what happens here. You are absolutely right that we do need and desire to widen her audience and PARTICULARLY bring in the 'younger' element like your own group of friends. So lets meet that on the chin. We want people like you, we need them. If you have the time to be involved, what do we need to do to make it worth while to you and your friends to BE INVOLVED? Peter S. |
|
|
|
Post by martindn on Jan 17, 2009 22:51:06 GMT
Well said Peter, I couldn't agree more.
Annie,
We know that in Hayley, we have a very special young lady. She has a talent the like of which perhaps only comes along once in a lifetime. And for me, the more I see of her, and the more I learn about her, the more impressed I become. I see how her career has progressed, and how every time I see her perform I see progression since the last time, and wonder where it will end.
We are here because we love her music, believe in what she is doing and want to support her in any way we can. If you want to be part of that, this is the right place to be.
Hayley sings a huge variety of different styles of music. Perhaps she is the ultimate crossover artist. Classical, Opera, Folk, Hymns, Gospel, Country, Musical Theatre, Pop, even Japanese pop, And she does all of them brilliantly. How many singers do you know who can do that? She has even had a go at jazz, although I would say that that is a genre that she doesn't really aspire to.
So I hope you will join us, make your point and argue, do not be put off because some here are older, or know Hayley better than you do. We value everyone's opinions here, even if some of us argue against them. Hayley s an artist that appeals to all ages. The youngest fan I have met is six years old, the oldest probably approaching 90. That voice really is something special.
Martin
|
|
|
|
Post by larryhauck on Jan 18, 2009 3:25:40 GMT
Hi Martin,
Very well put. I want to meet that 90 year old so I can feel young again. I'm a mere 70.
Larry
|
|
|
|
Post by annie on Jan 18, 2009 12:41:57 GMT
Hello Peter....Thank you for your reply to me..you seem to be very interested in why we are interested in Hayley. So for now I will tell you about my friends and I a bit. My parents are really strict about what I write on the net so I can't say some stuff. But anyway, we are in high school, and all of us are singers. We take music vocal, music instumental and we are in 3 school choirs and 2 performance choirs. We travel around and sing alot and have done exchanges to alot of cities and once the big choir went to London England but I wasn't in it then.
We like all kinds of music but mostly we sing Hayley type music....light crossover. I saw Hayley sing when she was in celtic Woman. She was lovely in that. And we loved her dresses!! For me it is about the whole package....and it is exciting to see what performers are wearing!!! And their hair and how they walk and how comfortable they are talking in between songs. We go to alot of concerts whenever we can and have seen alot of different people live. like Josh Groban, the backStreet Boys, Jordan Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, and lots of others.And we belong to alot of forums and I have been visiting this forum way longer than I have been an actual member so I am pretty familiar with what all of you write and think. This forum is alot smaller member wise than alot of the other forums. There isn't as much "discussion" on here. Mostly you all post and say what concerts you are going to and what Hayley sang at the last concert you went to. On other forums we discuss stuff more and say what we like and don't like. So that is a bit obout me and my friends. And Martin, we don't need to become Hayleys friends , we just like her music. And we would like to see her be known to way more people than now. My friends who aren't in music at school don't even know who she is at all.
Annie
|
|
|
|
Post by roger on Jan 18, 2009 14:08:22 GMT
Hi Annie, You raise a couple of interesting points which give me the opportunity to comment. ...This forum is alot smaller member wise than alot of the other forums. There are several reasons for this. One is that we are not an official forum run by a record company. If we were, our address would be publiches on albums and concert programmes which would inevitably lead to a far greater number of members. Another reason is that we control members accounts. That is, any which have not received any posts and the member has not logged in for a very long time are eventually closed. Most forums don't bother but there is no advantage in saying "Oh look, we have 1,000 members" if 800 of them haven't logged in for years which, from what I have seen, is very often the case. That may be particularly true at the moment because Hayley is taking time out. When she is touring, there is a higher level of discussion... When this forum was launched, it was never intended or expected that it would be used to such a degree for members to make plans to meet one another on the day of the event but, now we have many members who attend a large number of events, it is necessary for them to make such arrangements and there is no other practical way of doing it. I admit I am slightly concerned when a concert is announced three months before the event that, by the time it happens, the thread has twently pages of discussion which is of very little interest to anyone other than those going. Nevertheless, the forum is seen by many guests, some of whom make themselves known to us at concerts (because they have seen all the pre-amble) and a small number may even join. Therefore, such "discussion" can be advantageous to HWI and therefore (hopefully) to Hayley. I accept though that it might not be appreciated by overseas members who cannot posssibly come over. Ideally, the forum should be used primarily to give information (of concerts, recordings, media coverage, etc), in the hope that that generates discussion. Inevitably, it has evolved into something akin to a giant on-going chat-room. Whether that makes it popular or unpopular is, in itself, debatable! Your reason for being here is exactly as it should be - because you like Hayley's music. I am sure everyone will agree with that but how that transfers to the content of the forum is up to all members. We are merely providing a platform for discussion; it is up to you to use it (subject to Proboards ToS) in any way you wish. I hope you continue to enjoy your time here.  Roger |
|
|
|
Post by postscript on Jan 18, 2009 17:35:10 GMT
Hi Annie.
Thank you for your lovely response. Roger has answered several points you raise. I will just emphasise one of his points that those who are here have a high level of input and both through this medium and actual visits, we do get to know one another quite well, especially when we go to the same concerts. There is quite a camerarderie. I agree that I continue to be surprised at the number of people who do not know of Hayley and when you consider how much she does on the wider 'world' stage it is amazing how little she appears to be known, something of which we all try to extend--careful not to overload people, of course.
Great to gain the impression you will still be looking in on us and participating.
It was also good to hear how involved you and your friends are in creating live music and therefore presumably learning something of the technicalities that lie behind a performance. Great stuff. Good luck in your curriculum. Never hesitate to post a thought or query when you are in the mood.
Peter S.
|
|
