One of the first things I did when I started working on rickspringfield.com back in the summer of 1999 was to try and figure out a way fans could interact with each other on the official site.  I set up a message board right away, but what I really wanted to do was set up a chat room.  This would allow fans to talk to each other, all over the world, in real time.

The first chat room that I used on rs.com was actually hosted elsewhere.  I didn’t know much about scripting, but I connected with a guy named Joel at a James Taylor fan site who did.  He told me how he used it for hosted chats with James himself, and I was sold.  Eventually I did learn how to script it myself and set up chats with Rick through it.

When I stopped working on rs.com, I had more time to learn about scripting and eventually set up a new chat room for fans on rs.net.   I loved the FlashChat script four years ago and still love it now.  It’s still a fun thing to do, chat with other fans who get it, so I’ve decided to keep that capability on the new rs.net (and no, even after four years I still haven’t figured out how to set the damn clock!).  Enjoy!

Click the image to enter the chat room.