New chores for Chris Amirault

[Fat Guy]

I'm very pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Amirault (aka "chrisamirault") to the newly created position of Director of Operations, eG Forums. In this capacity, Chris will be charged with the operation, organization and growth of the Society's most visible program service. Assisting him will be a team of more than forty volunteers on three continents. eGullet Society Director of Operations Dave Scantland (aka "Dave the Cook"), who has led the eG Forums since 2005, will now be focusing on the Society's editorial content, with a new eG Features segment to launch in 2007.

Most recently, Chris spearheaded a major reorganization of the non-regional portions of eG Forums, a wide-ranging platform where Society members gather to discuss food and drink in their many aspects, from preparation to presentation, food processing to food politics. eG Forums, established as eGullet.com in 2001, had outgrown its original arrangement. The new alignment focuses on topicality and searchability, and better reflects the mission of the Society, which became a not-for-profit public charity in 2004.

Like all Society volunteers, Chris first distinguished himself as an enthusiastic and intelligent contributor to a variety of eG Forums discussions. He also established the wildly popular eG Recipe Cook-off, a series of interactive cooking adventures where members concentrate on a single dish, trading tips, personal associations and historical facts in the pursuit of wider understanding of cooking and culture. He was appointed host of the General Food Topics forum in 2005, and later assisted in managing the Cooking and Pastry & Baking forums as well.

Chris directs a preschool in Providence, Rhode Island, holds a doctorate in cultural studies, and teaches at Brown University.

With relish,