Welcome all !
Just thought I'd start the ball rolling with an introduction and let you know why I started these forums and what I plan to do with them.
My name is Simon (or Sim' as I prefer to be called). I work in the information technology industry doing technical sales support and enablement work. I have had quite a bit of experience in running discussion forums over the last 18 months or so - I also manage the Somersoft Property Investment Forums for Jan and Ian Somers.
My wife and I enjoy visiting zoos around the world - it's one of the hobbies we share - something we can do together.
We like to try and keep up with events at the various zoos we have visited - for example, since we were at the Melbourne Zoo around the time the gorilla Yakini was born, my wife has made an effort to keep up with her development.
Given that we don't get to Melbourne as often as we would like, I figured an online discussion community to share news, experiences and information about things like this would be a great idea.
Although we are mostly focussed on zoos in Australia, we do try and visit zoos in other parts of the world when possible, so I am keen to extend the boundaries of this forum to zoos around the world.
Naturally I also would like to include Aquariums and Wildlife Parks, and indeed any publically accessible facility which provides care and research for animals, birds and marine life.
I've started with a simple structure for this forum, and I'll add discussion areas once we start to grow and we can see what topics would be best suited to having their own dedicated forum.
I intend to add a photo gallery in the near future, so people can easily upload and manage photos of their trips to the zoo and of their favourite animals.
So, welcome, join in the discussion, and have a great time !
Just thought I'd start the ball rolling with an introduction and let you know why I started these forums and what I plan to do with them.
My name is Simon (or Sim' as I prefer to be called). I work in the information technology industry doing technical sales support and enablement work. I have had quite a bit of experience in running discussion forums over the last 18 months or so - I also manage the Somersoft Property Investment Forums for Jan and Ian Somers.
My wife and I enjoy visiting zoos around the world - it's one of the hobbies we share - something we can do together.
We like to try and keep up with events at the various zoos we have visited - for example, since we were at the Melbourne Zoo around the time the gorilla Yakini was born, my wife has made an effort to keep up with her development.
Given that we don't get to Melbourne as often as we would like, I figured an online discussion community to share news, experiences and information about things like this would be a great idea.
Although we are mostly focussed on zoos in Australia, we do try and visit zoos in other parts of the world when possible, so I am keen to extend the boundaries of this forum to zoos around the world.
Naturally I also would like to include Aquariums and Wildlife Parks, and indeed any publically accessible facility which provides care and research for animals, birds and marine life.
I've started with a simple structure for this forum, and I'll add discussion areas once we start to grow and we can see what topics would be best suited to having their own dedicated forum.
I intend to add a photo gallery in the near future, so people can easily upload and manage photos of their trips to the zoo and of their favourite animals.
So, welcome, join in the discussion, and have a great time !
It's a great place!! 
