Two major staff retirements have occurred at pistonsforum.com over the last 2 months.

Zoso, a founding staff member, retired from his position as the head moderator in early June 2006 to make time for some health issues he has been dealing with. For those with us from opening day (September 1st, 2005), you will probably know him from the Detroit News Pistons Talk forum as ZosoZep4.

Despite reservations about how much time he could commit, Zoso quickly mastered all of the moderator functions and helped establish the friendly, almost family atmosphere we all enjoy here on the forums.

Zoso was also the original daily news poster, bringing headlines from local sources as well as out of town media outlets to our attention at the start of each day. His consistent effort to keep readers informed is one of the key reasons why this forum has maintained a high quality level of discussion.

This morning, LanierFan also turned in his badge as a moderator, looking forward to a break from Pistons basketball and R&R with his family this summer.

LanierFan joined the team after his name came up as a member who could provide assistance replacing Zoso, particularly with the news postings. His diligence in maintaining the news, as well as bringing the best from the b-ball blogosphere kept all of us informed and amused with a variety of opinions to draw on.

At the launch of Bad Boy Summer Camp, our Vegas Summer League Blog featuring live reports from The Low, I had to attend some personal business and LanierFan grabbed the reins as defacto editor, making sure that content was posted regularly between recaps. The Dobber has also been instrumental in providing support and planning as we have pursued official media relations with various agencies.

Both of these gentlemen will be missed for their hard work towards our mission at pistonsforum.com to create the best fan based community. While no longer fulfilling a staff role, both are valuable members whom we hope will continue to participate on the forums for many years to come.

I have started an "Appreciation Thread" for Zoso and LanierFan here.

When LanierFan joined our staff, Slippy came on board as a moderator and an additional news poster. Mr. Slip has been a key contributing member since his first day at pistonsforum.com setting an example for friendliness and humor while doing the little things that maintain this community for the Pistons' fan nation at large both in the staff room and the open forums.

The current staff team roster can be found here with some additional changes likely as the summer progresses towards Season 2 at pistonsforum.com.