Is it a for-profit business?
A non-profit?
does Cecil own it?
is it crowd sourced volunteers?
what’s the deal?
The SDMB & The Straight Dope are owned by The Chicago Sun-Times.
The Moderators are all unpaid volunteers. They are generally from the pool of long time posters willing to help and chosen & vetted by the Board’s administrator.
Ed Zotti was the editor of the Straight Dope Column and our board administrator.
Cecil is like the Dread Pirate Roberts, it’s the name that’s important. Also, he is fictional.
Cecil Adams is every bit as real as Betty Crocker, Abigail Van Buren, and Dr. Seuss
I might disagree with Dr Seuss. That is a pseudonym, a nom de plume, that Ted Geisel used. The others, you are correct.
Not true…Cecil and I have known each other well before he came up with the column and the message board.