What a great year! And things are about to get even more exciting! As we begin 2012 with anticipation that will continue to grow and grow, TORn staffer Justin takes us on a tour of all the events and activities TORn fans participated in during 2011. Read on!
The first half of 2011, though relatively slow in news and information, saw several TORn staffers embark on new initiatives including “Hobbit In 5” webcasts and the weekly live TORn Tuesdays show.
Then magic started happening in June when Warner Bros asked for help with the Blu-Ray release of LOTR-EE. Sala Baker, John Noble, Richard Taylor and all the fans had a great time with the events put together by TORn’s Garfeimao!
A few weeks later, in July, at what seemed like the last minute, TheOneRing.net was asked to host a panel at San Diego Comic-Con about “The Hobbit.” A few of us drove from Los Angeles, while others flew in from other states to present the panel. We also took the opportunity to experiment further with live video streaming by broadcasting live from Comic-Con all 5 days. Thanks to the support of our streaming partner Stickam and the always engaging Quickbeam, “TORn Live From Comic-Con” was the most watched con coverage on the interwebs.
Soon after San Diego Comic-Con, fans got together in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park to celebrate Bilbo’s Birthday. Lots of games, food, drink, and fans made it an especially rewarding event.
Labor Day weekend, as always, was a blast. Dragon-Con Atlanta is one of our favorite conventions as it is by-fans-for-fans. Again, at what seemed like the last minute, the folks at WAR IN THE NORTH provided an opportunity to road-trip across the country. With the help of Stickam and LiveU we broadcasted live video from the truck the entire 5,000 miles, visiting many National Parks and chatting with global ringers 24 hours a day. The live audience ate it up and couldn’t get enough of interacting with the road trip fun.
The best part was meeting fans in person in every state, from all walks of life, for great conversation and an occasional brew. Dragon-Con was even more amazing with standing room only crowds at four Hobbit panels! We were literally seeing the hype build day-by-day.
The annual “LOTR Extended-Edition Trilogy Marathon” took place in TORn’s chatroom in September, attended by over 150 fans who spent 12 hours discussing, debating and cheering the film with glee. Throughout the year fans have gathered weekly each Saturday for Hobbit chapter discussions and to discuss the latest Hobbit news.
Earlier in the year the TORn community gathered in TORn’s forums to once again celebrate “Founder’s Day” — the 12th Birthday of our very own web site — filled with contests, discussions, games and prizes. In fact, every day of the year is an event in our message boards.
New York Comic-Con was only a month later in October, but even bigger in scope with volunteers flying in from all parts of the country to host a panel and manage a booth! It was TORn’s first time with a booth at NYCC and it was an epic success thanks to fans searching us out. I have a feeling there are many more conventions in TORn’s future.
Then as the end of November rolled around, our friends at Air New Zealand offered a generous opportunity to go to NZ while the Hobbit is still in production!
After much scrambling with schedule and passports, our very own Mr.Cere journeyed 14 hours into the west to drive around all New Zealand. Fans were awake at every hour to offer tips for food and lodging in even the most remote locations; and, as luck would have it, sets were still set up. The friendliness of WETA and WB publicity was deeply appreciated and rewarding.
Mr.Cere, a.k.a. Larry Curtis, has clocked in nearly 25,000 miles traveled this year just for TORn, but let’s not forget Gandalf and his global adventures!
In the meantime, our friend “Fandalf” has been traveling the globe visiting LOTR fans from every walk of life. We can’t wait to hear the story of his adventures as we move forward into 2012!
With this much excitement in 2011, I’m really looking forward to what 2012 has in store for TheOneRing.net and all the fans.
~ Justin
