Well there are plenty around who have been CA users for far longer than me. I would estimate that I started reading CA over 4, and maybe 5 years ago, when it was the "old style" site. This is my eighth LM. The 1st two years I went with people who had been a few times before. They stopped going so I started my own group, which has been varibable in size and make-up ever since.
So seeing as I no longer had no-one to guide me, I hunted round the web and found the old CA. There was nothing for me to contribute, but I learnt a helluva lot. And it made me realise just how little the guys from the first two years knew...
Once I started to contribute and "make friends" (I think Powermite might have the dubious distinction of being the first CAer I ever met) it has just snowballed, opening up a load of new friendships, information and opportunities for me.
AFAIK the old CA was not moderated. When we moved to the new format Dave Davies (who owns the site) asked for a moderator, I "applied" and "got the job". There would be threads from the early days comparing the new site unfavourably to the old, for ease of use etc, but now we've all got to grips with the functionality and features it feels more homely to us all.
I have only met Dave a couple of times to talk to, and only at LM, where he is usually busy. Someone will correct me if I am wrong here. He is a professional photographer with an interest in motorsport, and has been involved with the ACO in an official capacity (web site design?) for a couple of years, as well as having staff who get official press accreditation at the main event. Although the site is not funded by the ACO, Dave's relationship is one of the over-riding reasons why some moderation is required, and there are some rules about "unmentionables". (IMO many unmoderated forums soon decline into an inhospitable place anyway).
The new site was, I believe, planned and written by Chris Considine (US based), whose name you may also see occassionally (and who was at LM in ?03?), and whose father had a degree of fame in the motor racing world. I believe it is hosted by Lenaerts in Denmark, hence the "snow on the line" which stops us getting to it occassionally.
Whilst in Sebring we heard that Dave has developed problems with his sight. I really don't know any more details than this, but maybe this thread would be a good opportunity to wish Dave well, and thank him for providing us with this site and especially the forum.
