It's almost surreal looking back over the past nine years of Airlock Alpha and realizing that yes, we're still here. I mean, the number nine may be something we're looking at in terms of years, but for anyone who has been with SyFy for a long time, you know that the "nine" might better represent the number of lives we have.

Just like that cozy, purring cat, Airlock Alpha has survived some of the best ups and lowest downs. When I was running the site by myself prior to 2001, months would go by and I would not update the site as it would take me hours to just get a day's worth of stories up, and I simply didn't have hours to give. Each year, we would tell readers that the SyFy Genre Awards would start at a certain time, and they never would start on time. Hell, just a couple years ago, SyFy went offline for a couple weeks over the Christmas holiday as a way to build anticipation for our new design, and instead, we ended up being offline until mid-Spring, and when we did come back, we were trying to clean up the mess which took us until just a few weeks ago to get done.

But through it all, you -- our reader, and the reason why we do all this -- have stuck around. I would applaud you, but to be honest, I simply think you're crazy. I know if I were a reader, and a site went through the rollercoaster ride Airlock Alpha has, I would've moved on long ago.

So what makes SyFy a place to return to? A place to come back despite the problems, despite the bumps in the roads? I'd like to say that it's my picture in my byline, but a reader once told me I look like I'm sucking raw lemons. Maybe it's the amazing staff we have? Yeah, I definitely think that has something to do with it.

I mean, it couldn't be the stories, could it? Sure, why not.

I think what really keeps you and thousands of other readers just like you coming back, however, is that we haven't lost touch of what Airlock Alpha is. Sure, there might be more advertising, there might be more hype, there might be more professionalism, and there might be more readers. But SyFy has been, from the very start, a site for fans. We are not here for money. We are not here for glory. We are not here to get a cameo in "Heroes" (but Tim Kring, if you're reading, it might be fun!). We are here to provide an informative, yet entertaining place for true passionate fans to visit each and every day.

I'm not sure how many people really know this, but even after nine years, I still do my best to answer every single piece of e-mail I receive from readers. Do you know how many pieces of e-mail that is, by the way? The rest of the staff does that as well. Thought Alan Stanley Blair was off the mark on a review? Write him, and he'll answer back with a smile. Want to pat Wayne Hall on the back for getting that scoop? The e-mail doesn't hit a catch-all folder and get forgotten, Wayne will read it and he will respond. Have a question about how the site is rendering in your browser you've been using since 1989? Nick Chase himself will hit the reply button and answer your concern personally.

That is what it's all about. That's why you will see me on our message boards and message boards everywhere else when I can find the time. Why I will engage in serious debate, or light-hearted fun. Why I will respond even to the smallest blog that mentions us if I'm made aware of it.

All of us here at Airlock Alpha are fans at heart. We take what we do here on the site very seriously, but we also take our own fandom, our own fanaticism if you will, very seriously. And as we start the next decade of Airlock Alpha, we need you -- yes you -- to make sure we keep that commitment to be fans first, businessmen and businesswomen second.

I asked everyone on our staff to share a little bit about why they are here. I mean, practically no one gets paid, and if they do, it's a gift card around Christmas time. The work is not easy, and it certainly takes dedication. So why do it?

"I started what became the Vanguard Science Fiction Report long before Airlock Alpha came online -- before the Web, even, when distribution was via e-mail and Usenet," said Nick Chase, Airlock Alpha's lead programmer. "But once [SyFy] arrived, it was always my best source of news. It was obvious Mike had more time, more drive or more contacts than I did. Probably all three. He certainly had more ability to add content regularly, so when the opportunity to come on over here rather than beating my head against my own walls arose, I jumped at it, and I haven't regretted it for a minute."

And Nick has been amazing for us. Everything you see now on Airlock Alpha is because of his expertise, and his dedication. I don't think we've ever had programming as clean as this, and I'm very proud to be a partner with Nick -- along with Bryant Griffin and Sherri Lonon -- on our new horror site, Rabid Doll, which we hope to launch any day now.

And speaking of Bryant, our lead graphic designer, who has been with us for a number of years now ...

"The decision to join Airlock Alpha came with little pause," Bryant said. "I grew up with Star Trek reruns in the 70s and was soon a devoted fan of science-fiction. The idea of expressing my interest in the genre through a fantastic Web site like Airlock Alpha was too good to be true. As the years pass, it's a true thrill watching this Web site continue to grow and evolve as one of the Internet's most respected and valued entertainment news outlets."

Not everyone on the staff had a chance to share their thoughts, but those that did expressed similar sentiments.

"Being a science-fiction fan can be a pretty lonely existence at times," said our news editor, Wayne Hall. "Where I work, when everyone else is talking about how the Washington Redskins or Washington Nationals lost (usually), I'm more interested in talking about the latest episode of 'Battlestar Galactica.'"

Wayne found a local club of sci-fi fans just like him, which led to work on the Web writing reviews for shows such as "Stargate: Atlantis.'"

"Keeping current has always been very important to me, so when a friend took his column to Airlock Alpha, I was intrigued by the opportunity to write news for other fans who might be as hungry for information as I am," Wayne said. "To me, Airlock Alpha is an extended group of friends to keep in touch with, to keep current and to help enjoy their sci-fi just a little bit more by sharing facts and opinions."

Charles Q. Choi is one of the newer additions to our writing staff, and like Wayne and everyone else who calls Airlock Alpha home, we are very fortunate to have him here.

"At the end of the 200th episode of ['Stargate SG-1'], Isaac Hayes quoted Isaac Asmiov -- "Individual science-fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science-fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all," Charles wrote. "Of course, this might be overshadowed that, as a Scientologist, Hayes views science-fiction a bit differently than most people. Still, the sentiment is what attracted me to Airlock Alpha many years ago, to keep in touch with the latest goings-on in sci-fi and whi I was tickled pink when I heard there were openings, and why I feel lucky to have joined."

Finally, our special assignments reporter Carma Spence-Pothitt, decided to try a different tact in expressing why she likes being at Airlock Alpha, and probably the perfect way to end this column.

Top 10 Reasons Why I Joined Airlock Alpha

10. I love to write.
9. I've loved science-fiction since I was 5 years old.
8. I wanted to have writing samples in the sci-fi field.
7. I wanted to give the site a feminine touch. :)
6. Airlock Alpha strokes my writerly ego.
5. Blue's my favorite color.
4. I'm a glutton for punishment and needed to add more things to my to-do list.
3. Airlock Alpha is a quality site, and yet they'd still have me. ;-)
2. I thought it would give me a backstage pass to the sci-fi world.
1. Airlock Alpha has a lot of potential and I wanted to get in on the second floor....

Some of those reasons are real, others are not. Have fun guessing and ... Happy 10th birthday Airlock Alpha!

Michael Hinman is the site coordinator and founder of Airlock Alpha, launching the site under its original name of SyFy World on Aug, 13, 1998 at GeoCities. SyFy moved to the TrekNation network in late 1999, but merged with Star Trek Portal a year later to become Airlock Alpha. It is owned by The SyUniverse Group Inc., which incorporated in early 2007 in Florida.

To reach Michael Hinman, e-mail him at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.

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