Was just about to post the same comment before I saw this. Creating three productive lasting relationships based on a forum post on a sparsely populated forum is way more than I would have expected.

BTW, I think the reason the post worked out well for you vs. others was because you treated your post as a Resume, and you had a solid one. Most people either haven't done enough to warrant a sidekick, or else feel weird self-promoting and therefore don't list their accomplishments in the most flattering way.