UWSAG talks to Diane C Day
of Quartermaster Awards of Excellence

1. What got you started in website design?
   
   "In a roundabout way it was my father who sparked my interest in developing a site. I got my first computer in 1997 and my Daddy suggested we look up his ship from WWII, the USS SAVAGE. There was virtually no information available. A few small entries here and there, but nothing with any substance. From that point I vowed that I would do my research and create a site about this ship and my father's wartime experiences. I started with my father's recollections, I phoned many of his crewmates, contacted the Navy, and spent countless hours at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. As my work progressed, I saw in my father a time in his youth that he had never shared before. His experiences and fears. The joy he had felt being at sea. This turned out to be the most priceless gift I have received in my lifetime."
   
   
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your award program?
   
   "I want to continue to honor the finest patriotic and military sites on the net. My Award Program was created, after my father passed away in 2002, to honor and remember the USS SAVAGE, her crews, her service to country, and of course my father."
   
   
   
3. What advice would you give other program owners?
   
   "Firstly, Award Programs should be created for pleasure. They should be a way of saying to someone you think they have done some fine work. When the pleasure fades, it's time to close your AP. Secondly, it's great to have the highest ratings from AP indices, but the vast majority of applicant's don't quite possess the skills to qualify for the 5.0 or the Platinum award. We should all try to remember the intermediate designers and at least appreciate their hard work and devotion."
   
   
4. What was the biggest problem you faced with your award program?
   
   "The structure of the AP itself was my first problem. Once I figured out how I wanted the AP to flow I was able to create the basic structure and create my pages. The biggest problem I experienced was in writing my criteria. I couldn't ask anyone to do anything that I hadn't done, and I had to get the wording just right in order to reflect a clear statement as to what I wanted to see."
   
   
5. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
   
   "I wouldn't change anything or do anything differently. I learned so much from my mistakes. It took me a while to fine tune things, but I can honestly say "this is my work and I'm proud of it." I know my Daddy would be very proud of what I have done and this makes it all worth while."
   
   
6. What plans do you have for the future?
   
   "I have much more material to add to my site. I have recently started receiving new photographs from shipmates of the SAVAGE. I received a call this weekend from a man in Washington state offering me a ship's plaque from the SAVAGE. It was found in Alaska around 1971. I have more research to do at the National Archives. I also stay in contact with some crewmates from WWII, and shipmates through the Vietnam era."
   
7. What else do you like to do?
   
   "I built and maintain a web site for my church. I love cats - I have 4. I will drop everything for a good 'ship wreck' documentary on the Discovery channel. I love ships in general."