WEBVTT - A Conversation With FanBolt's Emma Loggins 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:12.479 Give Technology with tex Stuff from Hey there, and welcome 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.239 to a very special episode of tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:19.040 Jonathan Strickland. I am live at Speak Easy in Austin, 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:24.440 Texas during South By South Southwest Interactive two thousand sixteen, 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.880 and sitting with me is Emma Logins, someone also who 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.600 lives in Atlanta, someone that I've been I've known because 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:37.080 we're friends with the same people circles. We've never really 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.000 interacted directly that much until now, and I'm questioning why, 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:47.440 because Emma, you run an amazing blog that's science fiction 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.400 fantasy fan base fan Bolt. I want you to tell me. 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:53.480 I have so many questions for you about about running 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.720 a blog. I mean, blogs are something that we're all 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:57.680 familiar with. We know what they are, we know how 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.120 long they've been around. But they're so many challenges to 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:05.400 creating a good one, more challenges to finding your audience, 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.000 being able to nurture that audience grow a community. So 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.959 to start off, why don't you first tell us, kind 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:17.600 of in your words, what fan bolt is all about? Okay, Um, Well, 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:21.080 fan Bolt is a kind of block of the line 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:23.800 between blog and news site because it is it's a 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:25.679 site by the fans for the fans. So all the 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.360 content is very editorial in nature. UM focuses mainly on 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.679 genre programming in genre film, so a lot of sci 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:37.080 fi or UM type properties that we review. We have 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.399 a little bit of gaming on there as well, and 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:41.720 a little bit of just kind of general geek culture. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.680 We're getting ready to do this whole like big geek 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:45.920 travel thing, so when you go to other countries and 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.680 you want to see UM sets that were used in 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.440 Lord of the Rings or UM, you know, Game of Thrones, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:52.960 like where you would go, so kind of like a 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.160 geek travel guide. UM. So it's all about geek culture 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.560 and UM the fan community behind that, and we've had 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.240 a number is on the site that have been there 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.400 since we launched in two thousand and two and we 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.000 still you know, they still posted the site and we 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.799 still talk, you know, almost daily. So the fan community 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.760 aspect of that has been really the driving force behind it. 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.160 That's amazing. So first of all, I've got a tip 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.200 for you. Okay, So on the island of Malta, they 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.880 still have the village from the film Popeye that Robin 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.360 Williams started asked Popeye, they filmed it there. It is 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:29.760 still there. Yeah, so I know it's still as genre 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:32.080 some of the other movies, but if you want to 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:36.840 see Sweet Haven, it exists on Malta. So uh, I 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:41.200 want to ask you about what inspired you to get 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.200 involved in this in the first place. What led to 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.200 the development of fan bolt Well, I was a total 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:50.040 outcast nerd in Meddle school and um, granted it didn't 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.679 start fan Bolts until I was a senior in high school. Um, 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.639 but that kind of got me involved in really just 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.800 like so much gey culture. And then once you know, 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.960 we had the Internet and we hadn't in our house 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.280 and I had I had, you know, it wasn't dealing 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.760 with dial up and getting knocked off line every four seconds. Um. 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.440 I started playing around with designing websites in the late 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.920 nineties and then I was just I was super I 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:16.240 was super passionate about the shows that I was watching, 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.480 and I didn't really feel like there was a good 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:22.360 place online to really come together. And you know, because 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.720 as pre social media, so where do you go to 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:26.760 talk about the shows that you love and the theories 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.600 that you have and you know, um, what you think 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.520 is gonna happen? Spoilers photos from set like all that 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.680 kind of fun insider stuff. UM, but I was also 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:37.360 living in Georgia didn't know how to get any of 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.440 that myself anyways. UM, But I started the site and 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.840 started the fan community, and uh, you know, we would 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.160 have people that would just like flood onto the side 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.760 after an episode would air, and we even would have 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.360 people coming in from productions that would kind of stay 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.480 anonymous and like give us little tips. UM. So we 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.560 had a lot of really cool insider stuff on there 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.560 in the beginning to UM, which really fostered the community 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.400 and my whole I guess, my whole kind of strategy 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.240 with it initially was it was a message board community, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.160 and then I built these other kind of satellite sites 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.360 around it for the different TV shows which had a 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.160 strong fan base. That way, when one show ended, I 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.440 didn't just totally lose that entire fan base that I 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.440 had spent four years building. UM. So that worked out 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.480 really well from an SEO component to being able to UM. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.000 There was a number of shows that we actually ranked 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.840 above the official site for and so we would get 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.760 you know, eight thousand people on after an episode and 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:33.800 back in you know, two thousand to two thousand three. 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.120 That's a pretty big. I thought it was a big deal. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:37.720 I don't know if those numbers would be that big 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.520 of a deal now by any stretch, but it was 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.560 something really cool. I had no idea what I was doing, 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:46.880 and it just opened up so many doors and so 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.960 many opportunities. And I guess the real kind of big 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.520 breakthrough of it. Um Josh Schwartz, the Crater of the 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.880 o C found my site in two thousand and five 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.359 and um and of course O C, which aired on Fox, 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.599 was produced by Warner Brothers, and he told Warner Brothers 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.200 he wanted me to run their official site for the series, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.919 and so I did that. I was their blogger with 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.919 them for three years until the series ended, and I 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.120 really just tried to make the most out of every 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.680 contacts and connection that I got through that. And then 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.000 I realized, oh, I can, like I can actually do this. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.240 You know, this is not just a hobby, Like I can, 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.000 I can make a business out of us. Now you 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.400 mentioned that you were able to turn this into a business, 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.919 which is really interesting as phenomenal, So congratulations on that, 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.080 because you know, I mean, the blog of sphere is huge. 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.480 A lot of people run blogs as a hobby. They 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.360 do it as a passion project. So tell me about 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:45.560 the steps you took moving something that was already obviously 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.920 something you really cared about, but something that you could 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.000 actually make into a business, a legitimate way to earn 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.039 a living. It took a long time. Um. When people 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.599 always asked me about how how I've made money off 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.559 of the site and how I've kind of structured things, 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.440 I always tell people like, if you're not really passionate 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:04.680 about something, then don't do it, because it's gonna take 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:06.480 a long time before you make money off of it, 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.080 and it's gonna feel like work, and you may end 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.920 up hating something that you know, in the beginning you loved. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.600 So you have to be really really passionate about it. 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.560 And making money I don't think can be something that 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.440 you even consider in the beginning. Um, it needs to 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.760 just be a labor of love and a passion project. 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.240 And then when when all the kind of little pieces 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.000 start to fall into place, you start seeing that you're 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:33.000 building traction um and and you know you have great 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.400 content and you're you're getting great traffic, and then start 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.159 off with the baby steps and monetizing with like Google AdSense, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:41.200 and then working your way up from there to work 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:46.600 with larger advertisers and larger sponsorships, and really it's just, um, 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.600 it's like one day at a time, one day at 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.240 a time. It's pretty cool. You know. It's a very 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.279 similar story for podcasting, right again, people asking me all 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.719 the time about how do I make a podcast and 0:06:57.920 --> 0:06:59.360 use that to make a living? And I said, you've 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.839 gotta understand, and it's a very small field of people 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.839 who are actually making enough money to make a living 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.080 from podcasting. And it's exactly what you're saying. You've got 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.080 to be very passionate about the subject. So if you 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.680 want a podcast, ask yourself why do you want to podcast? 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:16.400 Do you want to do it because you have something 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.680 to say about a specific subject, or do you want 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:20.320 to do it because you think it's just a cool 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.560 way to make a living. If it's the second, it's 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:28.680 probably not anywhere. So over the years, you've covered tons 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.040 of stuff. I want to hear some of your favorite 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.680 stories about just experiences you've had, either with the fan 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.920 community or on the creative side, like with some of 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:42.040 the I know you've gone and talked with some great directors, actors, 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.600 all sorts of people writers in that sphere. Tell me 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.080 about some of the experiences you've had, kind of given 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:55.360 an idea of of the highlights that you consider an history. Um. So, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:00.240 my first in person interview I ever did was actually, Um, 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.680 I flew down to Miami and I think this was 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.440 like the second season of Burn Notice, and I was 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.200 a huge Bruce Campbell fan, huge huge Bruce Campbell fan, 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.000 and but I had never I didn't know anyone that 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.920 knew him or had ever interviewed him, or I had 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.080 no idea what he was going to be like. And um, 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.240 we were sitting it was me and I think four 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.600 other press people. We were sitting at this table on set, 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:25.320 and he comes in pouring his Tommy Bahama shirt and 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:29.200 like riding on this bicycle around our table and just 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:30.680 had like a little horn on it and was just 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.720 like hawking it and like just staring us down. I 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.400 was like, oh God, this is gonna be awkward. Sames awkward. Um, 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:38.360 But it was really great experience, and he was a 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.240 He was such a great guy. So was my initial 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.520 kind of experience that I had that I still kind 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.199 of nerved out over because I love him. Um. But 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.160 you know another one that is one of my Absolute 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:54.920 Favorites actually happened here in Austin last June. I was 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.240 out here for a t X Festival Austin Television Experience 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.840 and they had the cast of Girl Meets World out here, 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:04.880 which I don't really watch that show, but I grew 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.240 up on Boy Meets World, and I so I was. 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.200 I was completely geeking out over the idea of meeting 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:15.080 Corey Savage and our excuse me, Ben Savage, who played 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.760 Corey Matthews and his brother Fred was out here too 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.200 and for his show Um Grinder on Box but of 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.000 course I grew up in Wonder Years too. UM, so 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.959 I got the opportunity to interview Um Michael Jacobs, the 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.600 series creator for for Boy Mee's World and Girl Meets World, 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.680 along with Ben Savage, and I got to spend like 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.200 thirty minutes with them. And then from there, Um we 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.320 had gone back downstairs to the bar at the Hotel 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.800 Um from our press room and he introduces me to 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.560 his brother Fred as his friend Emma, and I was 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.480 just like, this is like the most surreal moment of 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.240 my life. And Savage just introduced me as his friend 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:54.280 to Fred Savage like it was just such a great 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.040 a great moment, and then Fred was like commenting on 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.440 my Instagram and I'm like, what world am I in? Like, 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:03.320 I don't then I don't even know the director of 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.680 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, not to mention Wonder Years 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.319 and everything else. Yeah, that's fantastic. It was. It was 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:14.440 just such a great experience. And there's been so many, 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:16.800 um with the different conventions I've worked with, and the 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.040 different kind of you know, after parties and even the 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.720 events that aren't necessarily press related, but getting to actually 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.520 know these people that you know, you watch on the 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.600 screen and you get to you know, just love love 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.880 their talents and love the characters that they betrayed, but 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.679 then also getting to know them as people and not 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:38.560 you know, as the personality, not just personalities. Yeah, that 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.680 has just been you know, I haven't had a single 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.840 bad experience, which i I'm still I'm so grateful for, 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:45.800 but in that kind of shocks me to you that 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.720 I haven't, But um, everyone has been so great and 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:53.760 there's just been just countless really awesome experiences. That's fantastic too. 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.199 So let me ask you a little bit more about 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.960 just sort of the the sort of stuff you do 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:03.320 for fan bold the kind of day to date activities. Uh, 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.480 do you have a stuff? I don't. It is me, UM, 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.520 I do have. It's just me. I don't want to 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.160 say it's just me. But it is a little bit 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.720 overwhelming some days one like a lot of news breaks, 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:17.720 or like last week I got like I don't know, 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.200 it's like seven emails from HBO all the stuff that 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:22.360 needed to go up in addition to everything else, and 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.160 it can be overwhelming, But like I do truly I 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.360 love what I do, so it doesn't feel like work. UM. 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.959 I do have a couple contributing writers that um um 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.520 our friends and for still she does um er recaps 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:40.240 for me and we'll do normally does conventions with me 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.280 and we'll kind of tag team press rooms and newing 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:44.959 interviews and things like that. UM and then a couple 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.199 of other people that will just submit news, Like anyone 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:49.680 can go onto famble and submit a news article and 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.040 if it's appropriate, um I will edit it and then 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:54.880 post it up on the site. So it's it is 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.280 a by the fans for the fans community. Anyone can 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.640 submit news UM, but on the staff's it it's just me. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.880 So you actually do have an editorial voice. You haven't. Yes, 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.840 you have editorial standards. It's exactly. It's not a free 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.600 for all, exactly exactly a lot of people. When we 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.680 first put up that submit news um feature, it was 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.520 just like press release, press release, press release, and it's like, now, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.040 you know. The thing about Fambles and what makes it 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.680 unique in my opinion, is that it is by the fans, 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.520 for the fans, and it's the point is that the 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.400 person writing it is passionate about what they're covering UM. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.480 So it's not going to be an unbiased news type article. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.120 It's going to be heavily biased based upon what a 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:39.880 fan actually thought of of that material. All right, Well, 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.600 what's the backbone of the site, if you don't mind 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:45.400 word press? It was I will tell you. When I 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.320 first started the site, i coded all of it to 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:52.360 work with UM. All of it was in PHP and 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:55.120 it was coded to work with the peoples and message 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.120 board system, which I've since moved on from UM. But 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:03.520 that process of it from a custom like PHP coded 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.400 application and moving fourteen thousand news articles into word crafts 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:11.000 was one of the most stressful things I've ever done 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.880 in my life. Anytime where you're having to migrate a 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:17.760 system over from one thing to another. It's a huge endeavor, 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:23.160 especially when you've built up a long history of material. So, uh, well, 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.520 that's great. I had to ask because I just was 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:29.560 curious how how you could stay on top of things. Obviously, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.000 when you're using something that has its own kind of 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:36.119 structure that you can play around with. Work is WordPress 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.440 is pretty robust. It is. It's a little bit of 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.600 a learning curve. It can be. Yeah, it's um, but 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:46.400 it's it saves you so much time in terms of 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.359 building a site and wanting to add special features and 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.480 and keep things current and up to date in terms 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.760 of you know, versions that are released and all of that. 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.400 It it saves me. It's even though I know how 0:13:58.440 --> 0:13:59.920 to do it, I could code all of that mysel 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.600 off if I wanted to. It saves me so much 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:04.280 more time to be able to focus on the actual 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.840 content of the site and not just you know, all 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.480 of the the back end of the site. Now, you 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.719 also mentioned that you started this before social media was 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.480 really a thing. Now social media is a thing in 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.880 what you do as well. Yeah, I mean it's kind 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:23.960 of a love hate relationship honestly, because yeah, it's it's 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.600 um it definitely. Message boards are a different place now 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:31.600 than they were um back before social media, and ours 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.960 were actually getting ready to relaunch ours because we switched 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.320 everything over, like I said, from people it's and gotten 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.440 away from that and then we're going in this new direction. 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.840 So that's coming very soon UM on the site. But 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.800 everyone took a lot of those conversations to social media, 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.360 so it's kind of an interesting learning curve of like, 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.400 all right, well, how do we get these conversations back 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.120 on the site and how do we you know, continue 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.400 to have that kind of engagement on the site, and 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.200 which is still something I'm I'm trying to figure out. 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.240 And we we figured it out with certain fan bases 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.400 really well. And that's just because you know, Walking Dead, 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.840 Game of Thrones are kind of sweet spots. UM. Even 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.000 some of like them, like the teenage girly shows on 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.640 CW we have they have they have one of the 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:20.160 loudest voices scariest voices in fandom too. UM. So it's 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.400 usually when you say something that either people really agree 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.480 with our people find highly controversial, UM, then you'll get 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:29.960 a you just you have to to take a stand 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.720 and say something that someone feels passionate about, and that's 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.320 really how you create that conversation UM post social media. 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.480 But social media has been great too in terms of 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.600 bringing new people into the site. Um. You know, we've 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:45.400 done a lot of sponsorships and promotions around UM sponsored 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.320 tweets and sponsored Instagrams and all that sort of thing too. 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:52.000 Um So, I definitely see it as a huge part 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.520 that's that's been beneficial to the site. My own personal experience, 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.160 because of course social media is a part of my 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.760 job as well. Is that social media is a great 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.200 way to reach out to people. It's a great way 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.160 to find out what they're thinking. But it's also a 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:11.200 great way to dedicate way more time to managing social 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.760 media than to doing everything else that you need to do. 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.480 It's a time suck, really. Uh So, it is interesting 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.720 that you say that. I do think that sites like 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.880 yours have incredible value because if you look at something 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.560 like social media, you're generally talking about the same group 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.600 of people contributing to this conversation. You're not getting any 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.600 ideas outside of that group. It's patively small, right since 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.920 your Facebook friends or it's your Twitter followers. Maybe someone 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.920 just did a search for a hashtag that you contributed 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.400 to and they they might join in. But Twitter is 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.200 already limited because you have so little space. Facebook, you're 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.200 limited to the people who are your friends generally speaking, 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.320 unless unless you're someone notable who has a lot of 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:56.480 public followers. So sites like yours allow people who have 0:16:56.560 --> 0:17:01.520 no interaction outside of their own circle of friends to 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:03.280 meet up with each other and share a love for 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:08.840 something quite literally. Actually I had to my members get married. Yeah, 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.080 it's two thousand and seven, So that was really cool 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.399 that they met on the site and then started like 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.160 long distance dating and then like three years later they 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.359 got married and um, so yeah, it is a place 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.920 where you can come and for for all of the 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.240 kind of message boards fan communities like that, you do 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.439 get exposed to, you know, other people than you would 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.480 on your your own social network. So that's that's definitely 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.600 a really great opportunity to meet fans. And then if 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:36.960 you end up meeting up at conventions and kind of 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.320 having your your group of con friends when you go 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.359 to the different conventions. Um, that's not something that I 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.440 think is that easy to find, um just through your 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:49.000 Facebook and Twitter and media outside of the con circuit. 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.360 Like for a long time, local science fiction conventions were 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:53.960 really the only way that you would meet up with 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.720 other fans that you did not necessarily personally know beforehand 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.800 and get a chance to talk to them. Internet suddenly 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.080 allows that to happen over on a global scale, so 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:09.159 you can have the equivalent of a fan panel about 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:16.240 a particular TV series or film series all the time, anytime, everywhere. 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.080 Because of that, and uh, it's one of the things 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.480 I've liked. I've been part of various fan communities over 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.600 the years. Uh, for those who want to know, way 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.359 back in the day, I used to contribute regularly to 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.680 a message board called Lebronze, which was a Buffy the 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:38.200 Vampire Slayer fan song. Yeah, so these are these communities, 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.840 These online communities are something that's really fascinating to me 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.000 because it does allow for people who otherwise would never 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.440 have any connection to one another to forge those connections 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:49.520 that can be really meaningful in the case that you've 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:55.560 a lifelong connection exactly. So that's really exciting stuff as well. Well. 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.080 What are you looking forward to in the future? Is 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.280 there anything besides I mean you're talking about the site 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:06.200 is evolving and growing. Is there anything uh, specifically that's 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.400 got you really excited or maybe even just really scared. 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:14.240 Two things actually, so Fampled is launching a podcast in 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.800 partnership with Atlanta Movie Tours Fantastic. I'll be glad to 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.000 be a guest anytime you will totally have you as 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:22.560 I guess, so we'll totally have you on UM. So 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.720 we're still trying to we're trying to be very thorough 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.800 with all of all of our tone in our our 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.000 our kind of structure of the of the show before 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.000 we launch it. UM. So we're still kind of in 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:36.159 the beginning planning stages. We've done a couple of like 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.800 test episodes, and so I hope that that will be 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.360 something you know, um within the next month or two 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:44.320 that will push out. But UM, it's going to be 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.520 called The Atlas Wonderful because a little a t l 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.879 that lovely the hometown exactly exactly. And while we're not 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:57.480 going to focus just on Atlanta entertainment, UM, that definitely 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.000 will be UM a part of the show and every 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.439 eating that's filming in the city and and going on 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:05.160 in the city. UM. But the other thing that I've 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.520 been having a total blast with, UM we've partnered with 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:13.680 Joystick game bar third Thursday of every month for Project Cosplay. Um, 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.080 and so St Patty's Day, we're going to have our 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:19.920 third one and that one will be UM d C 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.200 Comics and we're I think we're gonna do like a 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.560 little spring Break style, So it's gonna be like Batman 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:30.000 versus Superman spring Break style. Um. Yeah. So Joystick, for 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.200 those who aren't in Atlanta, is a bar arcade. Yes, 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.080 so it's an adult arcade because it's it's a bar. 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:40.760 But yeah, one of those one of those really cool, 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.919 very Atlanta kind of feel location. So it's great that 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.640 you've got that partnership going. It's been great. And um, 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:50.879 the two guys that run it, Johnny and Brandon um 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.400 run the bar. Um, They're they're amazing and they've been 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.480 so instrumental in getting all of this together with Project Cosplay. 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:00.080 We have a great group of people that do it. 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.280 R NC Candice amazing. Um. I always kind of describe 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.119