Oh, the things we do for the things we love... - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
The first "Tolkien on the Web" session had a low turnout, which was to be expected since Dragoncon has a full track devoted to electronic media and issues. Nonetheless, we had an interesting discussion and I learned that no one else seems to be getting any richer at this stuff than me (which is to say, no one is getting rich off of these Tolkien Web sites -- we are all doing this for the love of Tolkien). From a technical viewpoint, the discussion about message boards was revealing. We all share similar challenges, but Xenite.Org (my domain) definitely needs new software (and I'm working on it). TolkienOnline recently switched to a Cold Fusion-based system and they are, so far, quite happy with the performance. TheOneRing.Net is pretty satisfied with the power and flexibility of the highly customizable software they use. But we all agreed (when asked by a member of the audience) that message board design is vital for any new site that expects to see a lot of traffic, and you cannot go with the lower-powered freebie software on the Net.
People were simply blown away by TheOneRing.Net's presentation. I was late to the convention Friday morning due to a stomache virus that was going around the convention so I had to sit out in the hallway with several other people, listening to the music but generally not seeing anything. I managed to be available for the Saturday session quite by accident.
In fact, Toy Vault had to pull out of the convention just a few days before Dragoncon began, and I had to fill in one of their sessions with an impromptu Q and A session. The audience was understanding and warmed to the change in plans. Because Main Programming had taken up our idea for a Brad Dourif/Karl Urban panel on Saturday, I decided to cancel one session and move the second trivia game into the second Toy Vault slot.
I decided to play fast and loose with the first Toy Vault session and I pretended to interview Peter Jackson's evil twin (he refused to reveal any details about the movies and instead of sounding like a New Zealander he came across with a very bad Australian accent). The audience nonetheless got a kick out of the interview. And I also talked a little bit about the work I have done for Toy Vault and discussed as much as I could safely say about the upcoming FARSCAPE line of action figures. Ben Browder may owe me a favor. :)
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